Hello and welcome to my first blog!
I look forward to beginning this journey and getting to know each of you and learning from each other.
Time Well Spent
Three deeply felt learnings from this program:
I have learned so much in completing this journey to my master’s degree. I have a deep understanding of what it takes to be successful in my career and how to better the lives of young children and their families. I also understand the importance of continuing education and staying abreast of the current research in the early childhood field. Finally, I have a new found respect for building a community of practice with leaders in the early childhood community to make improvements to present systems.
Long-Term Goal
My long-term goal has been influenced by my desire to continue to learn as a professional by continuing my education with the pursuit of my EdS or PhD in early childhood education or child development.
Farewell Message
To my instructors and fellow classmates: I thank each and every one of you for the support and guidance during my time here at Walden. I have learned from each of you through our discussions and projects. I have gained so much valuable information and knowledge that I am able to use in my work with young children. Once again, I truly have learned so much and I will miss spending time in our learning environment together. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community Internationally
The first international organization or community of practice that appealed to me is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This organization works to create communication between diverse communities and to build relationships to better sustainable development of human rights with mutual respect. This appeals to me as I want to be a part of an organization that works to achieve peace, to erase poverty, and to create dialogue among civilizations.
The second international organization or community of practice that appeals to me is the Organization for the Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The mission of OECD is to offer a forum for governments to work together to share ideas and solutions to common problems. This organization appeals to me as I believe this is a great organization to add to my community of practice to develop more high-quality early childhood programs in more areas around the world.
The final organization or community of practice that appeals to me is Save the Children. This international organization is dedicated to making the lives of children better across the world. This is so true to my beliefs of the importance of advocating for children and how each child deserves the best in life.
As I researched these organizations, I found OECD has interesting positions open such as the Head of Education Innovation and Measuring Progress Division. This division works to support operational objectives such as promoting international research and forward-thinking in approaches to education and learning. This position requires an advanced degree in education, social sciences, economics, public safety, or other similar discipline. The skills needed to fulfill this position include 10 years’ experience in educational policy research, knowledge of research methodologies, understanding of international policies, the ability to provide strategic direction, and to lead a team of analysts.
Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level
The first job I found that appeals to me is with the FBI as a Special Agent who has a background in education. The description for this job is very interesting:
As an FBI Special Agent with expertise in education, you have a gift for relating to people of all ages and backgrounds. You are methodical and analytical and can simplify complex material and present it with clear explanations. Your education experience, whether K-12 or higher education, can easily translate to a Special Agent career, where you’ll enhance your team by identifying threats and building relationships with communities and individuals.
The skills and experience include:
- Exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Ability to quickly grasp the facts and details of a case and put them together into a cohesive picture that you can communicate clearly both internally and externally.
- Ability to be detail-oriented, yet keep a strategic focus.
- Ability to objectively evaluate information and make sound judgments.
- BA/BS degree in education or a related field, with teaching experience.
- Honesty and integrity must be the foundation of who you are.
- Demonstrated ability to understand key concepts in a wide range of subject areas and to develop lesson plans and instructional procedures to teach and explain material to individuals from many backgrounds and educational levels.
- The drive and commitment to make a difference in the communities you serve.
I also found a Training and Curriculum Specialist job that I think is very interesting. This person oversee the curriculum for all preschool, family child care, and other child development programs offered on an Air Force Base.
The requirements for this job are:
BASIC REQUIREMENT for GS-1701 Positions: A Bachelor’s degree (or higher degree) that included or was supplemented by major study in education or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position.
OR
Combination of education and experience — courses equivalent to a major in education, or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position, plus appropriate experience or additional course work that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study described above.
AND
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-07, or equivalent in other pay systems. Examples of specialized experience includes developing curricula covering physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development to include children with special needs; principles, theories, concepts, and practices of early childhood development encompassing infant through school-age youth to provide training to child development center staff members.
OR
EDUCATION: Master’s or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. NOTE: You must submit a copy of official transcripts.
The third interesting job I found is a principal on an Indian reservation in New Mexico. I find this interesting as I would love to learn more about this culture and would like to travel.
The qualifications for this job are:
EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Master’s Degree with twelve (12) semester hours in School Administration OR a degree in a six (6) year University Administration program.
QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. To be creditable, qualifying experience must have been in school administration, teaching, counseling or other professional education experience.
For Pay Level 08 position: Five (5) years experience in school administration teaching, counseling or other professional education experience. A maximum of three (3) years teaching or counseling experience is creditable toward meeting the full qualification requirement.
The responsibilities include:
As a Principal CE-1710-8, your typical work assignments may include the following under supervision:
- Provide professional and instructional leadership to the faculty and is responsible for the development of a school curriculum.
- Oversee the budget program, acquisitions, and HR services.
- Responsible for complete control, planning, implementing, supervision and coordination safety and the school’s Facility Management program.
- Assign, supervise and direct the work of professional, paraprofessional, contract education staff and wage employees.
- Responsible to promote activities for the general welfare, to enhance public relations with the community and public school, and cooperate with other Bureau program personnel including Federal/State officials in administering their programs in the community.
- At least three national/federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you and why you chose them
- Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you
- Skills and experience you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles
All of these jobs can be found at USAJobs.gov. If you have not yet registered for this site, I highly recommend you do.
Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels
As I am researching local and state organizations or communities of practice that appeal to me, I found the Texas Education Agency or TEA. TEA has a goal of ensuring all children in our great state enter school with the knowledge and skills to be successful learners. TEA provides support for effective early learning opportunities, polices, and programs (TEA, 2007). This goal aligns with my own vision of all children having the same opportunity of going to a high-quality preschool program.
The University of Texas at Austin offers graduate programs for the early childhood field. The professors have a wealth of information to share in regard to improving the quality of care young children receive.
The final organization I would like to continue to work with is Can-Tex Family Services who offer Head Start services in the local area. Partnering with this agency and the local school districts will help to create an effective community of practice.
Each of these organizations have job opportunities and I would be interested in working with of any of them. TEA really appeals to me as I would like to be a part of this program to better the lives of young children. I plan to conduct more research to determine how to accomplish this.
The University of Texas offers careers such as professors who teach ECE. This is interesting to me as I have found a passion for working with adult learners. I would need to obtain my PhD for this and earn a teaching certificate.
As for Can-Tex Family Services, I currently work with them as the Education Coordinator. I oversea the curriculum, coach teachers, monitor assessments and screeners, and support our centers in all aspects of education.
References
Texas Education Agency. (2007). Early Childhood in Texas. Retrieved on January 16, 2019 from http://www.tea.texas.gov.
EDUC. 6165 Week 6 Blog
When I reflect on the various groups I have been involved in, I recall different aspects of the group and how I felt when it was time to leave the group. Some were quite easy to leave, especially if the group was not well formed or did not function well. Others were a little more difficult as I formed bonds with the people who I worked with.
I do believe the high-performing groups are much harder to part with because we had worked well together towards a common goal and then we had to part ways. It feels good to be a part of a successful team and to accomplish goals.
I recall one particular team I participated in and we had a celebration at the end to celebrate our success. We all went out to a nice restaurant and just enjoyed each other’s company.
I imagine I will feel a little sad when I adjourn form this group of colleagues when I finish my master’s degree program. I have been in many classes with most of them and I will miss the connections we have formed. I hope we can continue to be in touch after the program is finished and maybe one day meet face to face.
EDUC. 6165 Week 5 Blog
When I think about any disagreements or conflicts I have recently experienced with a colleague, I recall an disagreement I had last week in my workplace. I honestly was surprised this particular conversation turned into a heated argument, as I am not one for confrontation or to argue my point to this intensity.
A coworker and I were discussing the practice of celebrating holidays in our program and I was stating that we give guidance to our staff to be aware of the culture of each family in their classroom before incorporating any type of holiday activity or decorations. My coworker took this as a complete exclusion of holidays and states we are doing a great discredit to these children by ignoring main stream traditions and holidays. I explained we were not excluding anyone but we are trying to include all children and families and we need to learn how they chose to celebrate. Anyway, this went on until I decided to walk away. I knew he was not using any sort of active listening and was doing his best to bully me into agreeing with his way of thinking. I chose to disengage and move on to other tasks.
From this conflict, I have learned some people simply like to argue to try to sway the ideas of others. I know that he is a competing type of communicator and does not care if he is right or wrong but only cares about hisself in the argument. I, on the other hand am not this type of communicator. I prefer to discuss and then compromise. I would have preferred to have been engaged in a nonviolent type of communication but I do not think this was possible with the brain state my coworker was in. He was not in his frontal lobe and was in his brain stem in the fight mode. Maybe later I can try to have this conversation with him but I honestly am not ready for that after this incident.
EDUC. 6165 Week 4
As I think about the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how my spouse and brother evaluated me, I realize that I am harder on myself and my skills than what my family is. My husband and brother both see me as a more effective and fair communicator than I do. I always feel like I can do so much better, especially with public speaking. They, on the other hand see no issues with that. I was really a little surprised by this, but it really boosted my self-esteem to see the results of the questions answered by them.
I was also surprised by the score for verbal aggressiveness. I strive to be a fair and just communicator and mediator when talking to people. I did not realize how much my family noticed this and appreciated it.
The results from all of the evaluations will be helpful to me in my professional and personal lives as the need for communication is everywhere. I must be able to effectively communicate with others in a way that is respectful and fair to all. This is very important in dealing with young children and their families.
EDUC. 6165 Week 3
When I think about the cultural diversity I see in my colleagues at my workplace, I realize I work with a diverse group of people, each who has their own culture, beliefs, routines, customs, backgrounds, race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and varying abilities.
I communicate often with my colleagues and I thought, at first I do not communicate with people from different groups and cultures in various manners. However, when I made mental notes of who I communicated with and how I communicated, I realize that I do change my way of speaking or chose of words, depending on who I am speaking to.
An example is how I communicate with my supervisor. My supervisor and myself make up the education team for our Head Start agency. We have a very open type of communication and we are able to express ourselves in a respectful manner to each other at all times. We are able to agree to disagree on some items and it does not affect there rest of our communications with each other.
On the other hand, when I speak to teachers that I am coaching, I use a very different type of communication. I use a lot of open-ended questions to determine what their needs are and how to get them to be the best teacher they can be. The way I speak to them is vastly different than how I speak to my supervisor and other members of the management team.
EDUC. 6165 2nd Blog Assignment
For this assignment, I chose to watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory. As I watched with the sound off, I was not certain of the relationships of the characters based on their nonverbal communication skills. I considered they were a group of friends but I was not 100% certain of who was closet to who. I was able to tell that there were distinct couples but not the extent of the relationship.
At one point, one character was obviously upset. This was evident in his body language as his head was hanging low and his face was sad. Another character put his hand on the first one’s back in an attempt at comfort.
As I watched the same scene with the sound on, I soon discovered the group relationships and how they relate to each other. There seem to be two married couples, a dating couple, and a single friend. They all seem close but the relationships among the male characters seem to have a longer history than that of the females.
The character who was upset was the single friend. He apparently was dumped by a girl and his friends were trying to cheer him up. My assumption he was upset was correct even though I didn’t know why he was upset. I would have been able to pick up on that quickly if the sound was on.
Lori Fers 