Jobs and Roles in the Early Childhood Field

In researching some of the communities of practice that were recommended to me by a colleague, I came across a job opportunity with the Hand in Hand Parenting organization. This organization works with families to help educate parents on any questions that they might have, about raising their child(ren). "Hand in Hand Parenting
is an organization dedicated to transforming parenting through providing support, resources, and training to parents from all backgrounds and economic circumstances. For 25 years, our cutting edge yet adaptable approach, Parenting by Connection, has given parents practical tools to resolve universal family challenges" (Hand in Hand, 2014). They currently have an Executive Director position available, with the job skills requiring:

• Success in fund raising, totaling over $1 million dollars a year
  
• 7 Years of leadership experience
  
• Strong financial and operations management experience
  

This job was intriguing for me, because of the work that they do with families. This job requires a lot of experience in fundraising, which I am impressed that they put an amount of what they would like to see from their job candidates.

The second organization that I looked into was Amma Parenting Center. It is an organization that partners with the local hospital, March of Dimes, and a local toy store. What this organization does, is offer hospital classes to expectant mothers to ease the transition from pregnancy, to birth. I was very interested in their website, and was excited about what they currently offer to parents. In conducting further investigation they also offer classes to fathers, and a lactation support class (Amma Parenting Center, n.d.).

The only current job opening that they have is for an Infant CPR Instructor. There were no specific qualifications that were listed with the posting, there was just an email to use to contact an individual if you were interested in the position. This company sounds very enlightening to work for, and am curious to see what job openings they will have in the future,

The Office of Women's Health was informative as well. I like the way that the information is presented and offered to women. Not only do they offer information to pregnant women, but also to teenagers, and women that are looking to get pregnant. There is informational resources on everything from an ovulation prediction calendar, to a printout question sheet for your babysitter. I like that there is a broader listing of information that is available to women (Office of Women's Health, 2014).

There are not any job postings that are available through their website, but there are links to opportunities for internships. Participants on different educational journeys are encouraged to apply for an internship with the company. Once they have completed their degree, and have completed their internship, there are opportunities for a permanent placement (Office of Women's Health, 2014).

Researching these different organizations gave me more ideas on how I can expand my current CoP, and what information is currently out there, and what additional resources I feel are necessary that are not out there. I am happy that I have looked outside my current CoP and found other opportunities that are out there, that I can benefit from their current knowledge on my challenge.

References

Amma Parenting Center. (n.d.). Programs. Retrieved from Amma Parenting Center: http://ammaparentingcenter.com

Hand in Hand. (2014). Executive Director of hand in hand parenting. Retrieved from Hand in Hand Nurturing the Parent-Child Connection: http://www.handinhandparenting.org

Office of Women's Health. (2014, January 13). About Us. Retrieved from Office of Women's Health: http://www.womenshealth.gov

 

Local Opportunities

One organization that I found is the Newhouse organization. This is a school that they have started within a domestic violence shelter. They have hired a teacher that is Special Education Certified, and they stick to the local school district requirements. They are actually a part of the Kansas City Public School System and work side-by-side with them, so that the students within the shelter are receiving the best educational opportunities available to them. In order to become a volunteer at Newhouse, you must be at least 18 years of age, pass a background check, and attend an orientation/training.

Project Eagle Community Programs "mission is to nurture the healthy growth and development of the community's most vulnerable young children and families by providing a foundation for school readiness and strengthening family engagement" http://www.projecteagle.org/. They have Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms set up around the Kansas City area. They currently have an opening for a Lead Teacher job requirements are: a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education or Child Development. Classroom experience with older toddlers and preschoolers. Ability to establish trusting relationships with young children. Ability to communicate effectively and establish partnerships with other classroom teachers, center staff, community partners, and parents. Willingness to work in a highly collaborative environment. Desire for continued professional growth. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds. Basic computer skills. Ability to individualize care based on individual children's needs (medical, educational, family situations). Ability to become CPR and First Aid Certified within 30 days of employment.

The Family Conservancy has different information on how to help families, child care centers, and children that are homeless. Their mission statement is "helping children and families achieve a lifetime of success" http://www.thefamilyconservancy.org/about-us/overview. They have online resources that are available, as well as classes that are offered within their center. They currently have job openings for: Practitioner II, Head Start Fiscal Coordinator, Head Start Mental Health Specialist, Part Time Child Care Teacher, and a Part Time Practitioner II. The requirements for the Practitioner II: Master's degree in Social Work, or related field required. Three years prior relevant working experience and expertise in serving young children and their families required. Written and verbal communication skills required to interact with health professionals, vendors, and agencies in a professional manner, developing rapport and enhancing business relationships required. Working knowledge of community resources required.

www.healthychildren.org is not a local agency but an online resource that has valuable information for parents, regarding their children. They offer news, tips and tricks, medical advice, and so much more.

All of these organizations are looking out for families that could be going through a hardship, and have opportunities available to them. There are a variety of resources that each one offers, that can help a variety of people looking for assistance.

Passionate Hope EDUC 6358

My hope for the future is that my students leave at the end of the school year feeling proud about their culture, who they are as an individual, and how to thrive with others that are just as unique as them. The past year I was transferred to a school where there were a lot of behavior concerns. I spent most of my year redirecting and correcting those issues, and this year I want it to be different. I want my students to be able to enjoy learning about each other, and know that every day we come together, we are a family unit.

I hold a lot of pride in some of my teaching, and wanting my students to learn that we are a family working together. I feel that so many of my students do not have an abundance of people in their lives that they can turn to, and I want them to know that your classmates and teachers are there for them. It is an exhausting field working in some of the neighborhoods that I do, but I would not change it for the world. They teach me more about myself than what I had ever thought was possible.

Thank you to all my classmates that gave me feedback on all of my assignments. It helped me grow as an individual, and it will help me grow when I start the school year again. I am appreciative for all the support and dedication that everyone has put into the class, and I am excited about working with you all in our FINAL class!!

What I have learned EDUC 6357 (week 8)

My hope is that in learning about diversity, and how to create an anti-bias classroom, that I can truly respect all the cultures, and uniqueness that comes into my classroom. I hope that I have the proper amount of compassion when it comes to talking with parents about tough topics. I have no doubt that I have compassion for the students, I cry whenever I talk to parents and I tell them something amazing that their child did. I am a big softie. Which is why I think that it is hard for me to approach some topics, is because I do not want to upset anyone. In order to reach out to all my families, I have to at least be willing to take that step!

    My goal is to get my students involved! I want them to be able to ask the questions that make us all need to research the topic, and then bring it into the classroom. I want them to be able to understand about diversity and the beauty of everyone being unique. With this goal, I hope that it makes parents stop and assess some of the situations that they put their children in, which would compromise their ability to see an anti-bias society.

    Thank you to everyone that has visited my page over the course of this class. I have enjoyed reading your comments and suggestions, and take them to heart. I have learned some much from all of you, in reading your blogs as well, and cannot wait to finish out this program working with you all again!

UNICEF Oficina Regional para America Latina y el Caribe (UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean)

I chose the Latin America and the Caribbean because I thought that this is a central location where many tourists go to vacation. I did not think that they would be aware of the "real" conditions of the country because they are being shown "the wealthy" side of things. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

 
Here is the truth of the matter. 35 million children do not enter into an educational program.
                     90% of 68,000 thousand children acquire AIDS through their mothers pregnancy because treatment is only offered to 1/3 of the women.
                     Over half of the children in this region are living in poverty.
                     85,000 children die each year as a result of violence in the home.
These statistics are very upsetting. There are so many children that are living in extreme conditions that affect every aspect of their development. UNICEF is working at helping organizations that are working with these children and families, to change the outcomes. They are also working with the media to use them for the cause to change attitudes and behaviors of others around them.
It is sad to think that so many people vacation to these beautiful places, but there is so much hurt that is happening behind the scenes. I do not think I could go to any of these places just to vacation any more, I would have to volunteer my time somewhere!
http://www.unicef.org/lac

Creating Art EDUC 6357

WAR

Where ever we look children are dealing with issues that are not always seen by the naked eye. They have to deal with issues that are way beyond their cognitive level, but many think that their lives are "normal" because they have not seen anything different. These pictures represent the reality of some of their lives. Media can portray the good and the evil, but often times thrives off the chaos of the world. This is brought into their homes, where chaos is being fought on a different level. Whether with verbal, physical, psychological, or inherited abuse, they are suffering. It takes the time to stop and think about the world that these children are living in, to stop and think of how to help them as their teachers.

 

WE DON'T SAY THOSE WORDS IN CLASS! EDUC 6357

Those were the exact words that came out of my mouth when a student last year referred to a police officer as a "Po Po".  Two of my boys were playing Police Officers in the house lab, and I heard one of them say "the Po Po can't get me!", and I told him "we don't say those words in class!" I was shocked that a 4 year old knew that word, and was using it "appropriately".  I stopped myself and realized that just saying those words would have no affect on the student, so I called them over and talked to them about it.

I did not feel the need to ask where he had heard those terms before, I made my assumption and hoped that he would take the information he learned to the appropriate people and help them change their opinion of Police Officers as well.  I asked him what he thought a Po Po was, and he told me " a police officer that arrests people for no reason".  I asked him " well why do police officers arrest people?". He did not know, so I told him that "there are rules outside of school that we have to follow as well.  We have rules inside of our classroom to keep us safe, responsible and respect, and who enforces those rules?" My student,  "The teacher". "Your right, so when we are doing something outside of school that is unsafe, not respectful and not responsible, Police Officers have to enforce those rules.  They have a very hard job to make sure that everyone is being safe, responsible and respectful, and I know that I would not like it if you called me a name that was not my own.  Would you like it if someone called you a name that was not your own?" My student- " No because I don't like it when people call me my brothers name".  "Can we try and use everyone's names when we talk to them, or about them".  My student -"Yeah". 

 In the following weeks of this topic coming up in class, my student continued to play as a Police Officer, but something changed in his demeanor when he would be one.  He seemed very proud to be a Police Officer, and then he would take a note pad around the room and give out tickets to students that were not following the rules.  I think he started to understand what Police Officers do, and that they weren't people to be afraid of. 

Many of my students that I work with have a parent or parents that have been to jail, and unfortunately some of them have witnessed their parent being arrested in their own house.  Even though these things have happened around these children, no one has taken the time to explain things to them.  They are left to the impression that Police Officers knock on doors and arrest people.  I know that what I talked about with my student was nothing major, but I really hope that it leaves a lasting impression with him.