National and International Roles in the ECE Field

Three International programs/organizations that I will include in my Communities of Practice include: AmeriCares, UNICEF and Child Fund International.

AmeriCares, founded in 1975, is a crisis prevention and solution based organization based in Stamford, CT. Founded by President/CEO, Bob Macauley after a jet crash holding Vietnamese infants; AmeriCares operates in 90 countries across the world. Currently, there are no employment opportunities that I finding interesting, AmeriCares has a 12-week summer internship that is held every summer. Internships for this organization are held from June to August and are available to both undergraduate and graduate students. These students must possess interest in humanitarianism, global health and international development for children.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was created in 1946 to assist European children who were faced with famine and disease. Since 1946, UNICEF continues to help children and protect the rights of children globally. By focusing on issues that affect children such as: survival, development, education, gender equality, children with HIV/AIDS, child protection, advocacy and policy; UNICEF is fully committed to ensuring the protection of children. UNICEF is active in over 190 countries in the world. The employment opportunity that interests me is the Education Specialist (Emergency and Cluster Coordination) in Congo. This position is responsible for the “planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of the Education programs” (www.careers.unicef/org) . The qualifications for this position include:

·         Possess an advanced university degree in Education, Primary Education or in the Social  Sciences

·         Five years of progressively professional work experience in National and International levels within the field

·         Experience in working with United Nations or other International development organizations is a plus

Child Fund International has been helping improve the lives of children for seventy-five years through child sponsorship.  Founded in Richmond, Virginia, by Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke and based from the approach that “focuses on working with children, regardless of race, creed or gender, throughout their journey from birth to young adulthood, as well as with families, local organizations and communities globally to create the environments children need to thrive.” (www.childfund.org). The Child Fund International is a great way to help children of the world. With twelve ways to help assist a child or children, those who wish to help children are given options to help.  The job opportunity that interests me is that of a Child Protection Specialist. This position allows a candidate to collaborate nationally and internationally with colleagues as it relates to child protection laws and agenda, maintaining quality programming, and seek out further sponsorship. Qualifications for this position include:

•   Bachelor’s degree required/Master’s degree preferred in a field related to child protection (international development, child development, community development, social work, psychology, education, sociology, anthropology, public health, etc.)
•   5 years of experience in community based child protection in development and/or emergency work
• Demonstrated experience in results-based child protection program design, implementation and/or evaluation
• Proven ability to provide high quality child protection technical assistance, guidance, and coaching to international and field-based implementing staff and partners.
• Knowledge and experience in working with community-based protection
• Experience with USG and other key child protection donor agencies and grant making processes (e.g. USAID, PEPFAR, DoS, DoL, UNICEF, DFID, etc.).
• Knowledge and/or experience in the case management, Organized, detail-oriented, team player, self-starter and results-oriented individual.
• Excellent presentation, public speaking and interpersonal skills.
• Bilingual preferred
•  Significant Travel outside of the US required.

References:

http://www.AmeriCares.org

http://www.ChildFund.org

http://www.UNICEF.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Researching communities of practice within the early childhood field locally, in state and nationally was fun for me and also very enlightening. This provided me with an opportunity to explore. compare and  contrast the different agencies, their services and the job opportunities that are available. I began my search locally with the Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnership, Inc. This agency provides a vast array of services to five different counties in west Michigan. This non-profit agency seeks to assist low-income to moderate-income families with services from clothing to home weatherization programs. This agency also has a head start program that offers head start services to fifteen different locations in Muskegon and Oceana County. I first became interested in this agency during my undergraduate years and contacted the CEO, Kenneth Shelton regarding a possible internship but I relocated and was unable to participate. I feel that this is a great resource that I can use in my current profession as well as in my future profession in the early childhood field.


Another agency that I have a relationship with currently is the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District (MAISD). The MAISD provides strong educational services to the Muskegon County and provides a few services to neighboring counties: Oceana, Ottawa and Newaygo counties. The MAISD is a great resource for educational services for the state of Michigan, especially Muskegon County. I have contacted this agency several times in order to best help teens that are having difficulties in school. The MAISD services children grades K-12 and also participates in many of the school and job fairs within the Muskegon Community. The website is:
Last, the third organization that piqued my interest is the Michigan Department of Education. Through the MDOE, I have learned about the Project Great Start. This program provides services to children from birth to age eight, to ensure that children receive the proper health, reach age appropriate development and reach age appropriate school readiness (http://www.michigan.gov/mde). This appealed to me as I am able to learn from a state level what is being required of the school systems and other child caring programs throughout this state.

Outside from becoming an entrepreneur with a child and family learning center, I also would like to create a non-profit similar to the Muskegon Oceana Community Action Partnership that helps all families who are in need in the Muskegon area. I also am becoming a teacher at a learning center as well as a hospital. Both jobs, one in Michigan at KinderKare and the other at the Children's Hospital in Boston, require previous experience in working with children, excellent communication skills (verbal and nonverbal), willingness to work with children and their families, and a minimum of a high school diploma is required. Both positions also require a college degree as well. For instance, a hospital teacher in Boston must possess a Bachelor in Early Childhood Studies and be certified by the department of early education and care certified.

References:

Michigan Department of Education. http://www.michigan.gov/mde

Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnerships. www.mocap1.org

Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. www.muskegon-isd.k12.mi.us