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

Farewell

Hi All,

This has been an interesting and enlightening course. I have learned a great deal about to how communication builds or destroys relationships within one's professional and personal lives. With this increased knowledge and techniques, I feel that I am better equipped to effectively communicate. I would also like to thank my colleagues for their viewpoints, experiences, and suggestions throughout this course. I have read how other's have reacted or can react in situations and been provided feedback that will be utilized in the present as well as the future.

Furthermore, as we venture into our next course and throughout our personal lives, I wish all of you good luck and prosperity. It has been wonderful interacting with so many educated and professional people who possess so much knowledge in a field that is somewhat new to me.

Anetri'a

Adjournment

Throughout one's life there are numerous instances in which group work presents itself. While working in groups individuals participate in five stages of group/team development. These five stages include: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. The last stage adjourning occurs when the group work has ended and the group members are given a chance to reflect on their experiences. (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). Participating in group work is an experience that everyone will partake in.

When I recollect on my group experiences I have found that one groups that share common goals, possess clear and establishes norms while learning to perform to to reach the goals. The group that was difficult to leave occurred when I was a participant in the TRiO/Upward Bound Program. This program allows for at-risk teenagers and first generation potential college students to experience life as a college student. This six-week summer program taught us about time management, self-sufficiency, autonomy, education, people skills diversity and etc. This program taught us how to work in groups and how to be independent as well. Living in the dorms with new people and other life skills were also learned. I think that living in close quarters and interacting with other students on a daily basis for six weeks helped mold long-lasting friendships. I was in this program for two summers and our closing rituals included a ceremony/graduation of each participant. We would receive individual awards and have a celebratory dinner that included our families. This adjournment was hard for me as the participants and staff became a significant aspect of my life.

As I think about the adjournment from this Master's level program, I think that outside from graduation, my colleagues and I will be able to express our accomplishments and experiences via our blogs and within our course site. In general, the stage of adjournment allows for thoughtful recollection of past, present and future goals.

Conflict Resolution

When thinking of a recent conflict or disagreement that I have been involved in, I automatically thought of a conflict that I have had with my cousin and my uncle over a cell phone bill. Although, this is a personal conflict, I used some of the communication techniques that I had learned in the professional arena. Like many teenagers transitioning into adulthood, my cousin was leaving for college and about to live in his "own" in an off campus apartment. Long story short, I added him to my account for a cell phone. The first few months his portion of the bill was paid on time however, before I realized it, the bill wasn't paid for three consecutive months. At this point, I was livid but decided to take a step back and think before I reacted. I called a "sit-down" and we were able to compromise on payment arrangements. These was done only after phone conversations, text messages and emails. In the past, I have observed situations like this one destroy friendships, familial relationships and other interpersonal relationships. I did not want to cause a rift in these relationships because we are a very tight-knit family. This compromise worked out because it did not lead to further conflict and we were able to maintain our bond.

Colleagues, what would you have done differently or can you offer further advice?

Communication Style

As I learned more about myself as a communicator it was surprising to learn that others scored me within the same range. I scored myself to have moderate communication anxiety, moderate verbal aggression and as a people-oriented listener. As I used my mother and a colleague, they scored me to have mild communication anxiety, moderate verbal aggression and as a people-oriented listener. I feel that I was scored less by my mother and colleague as they are unaware of the physical anxiety that I experience when I communicate with others; such as my heart pounding and I also begin to break out in hives. This usually happens when I speak in front of a large group of people. As I communicate better in one-on-one situations and in small groups.

Also, as I learned more about communication this week the communication aspects that I found most interesting are that our self-concept affects how we communicate and interact with other. I have been able to realize the value of self-concept. Considering the discussion assignment, I was surprised to see how much of the things that I identify with I instantly attributed to someone else just based from a picture. Another insight, that will assist me in both my professional and personal life is self-efficacy. Which is the predicting one's success based on one's self-concept and self-esteem (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). Self-efficacy also plays a vital part in communication with others as it assists with choosing how one will communicate. Using these two communication methods will better assist me personally and professionally by allowing me to remain mindful of myself and how I behave during communication with others.

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Communication Strategies

As I ponder on the many instances in which I communicate with others who are culturally different than me, I find that my communication styles vary. I find that the these instances are based upon the settings and/or situations that I am involved in. These settings, whether they be in the workplace, local eateries, at home; while I am communicating with my neighbors and other locations.

While I am continuing to learn about communication and while I am learning better communication techniques, I feel that utilizing the following three strategies to become a better communicator both professionally and personally:

1). Learn to be become a more action-oriented listener as I am first a people-oriented listener and less tasks are accomplished. This primarily occurs in the workplace.

2). Lessen my incidents of rudeness. I am aware of instances where I may appear to be rude and easily frustrated, which can be observed in my matter of fact speech and language.

3). Become more knowledgeable about the cultural differences of others in order to become more empathetic to help others.

Using these strategies will assist me in becoming a better communicator while building positive relationships with others.