My Own Capacity

          I am passionate about getting parents to make more informed choices in regards to their children's early care and education. Many times parents are not aware of the benefits of high-quality care, and other times they are aware, but do not have the funding to send their children to high-quality programs. Research has proven the benefits of high-quality care and education especially for the most vulnerable low-income children. If the government truly wants to increase school readiness of these children, they need to provide more funding to parents so their children can receive better care and education in a center that is licensed and quality rated.

          I am in a good and a bad position in terms of resources. I work for the government so I am involved in the conversations. However, my position in not very high up so I have to be careful in what I say. Because I work with programs in 15 parishes, I am asked for feedback or how I think something should work. I am able to be heard on weekly conference calls, I am also able to keep up with the government's thinking. I am in close contact with the director of an advocacy group that is keeping up with the many changes in early childhood in Louisiana. The director has spoken to me and asked if she could call me for feedback on their ideas. I have the experience of owning a licensed child care center for 18 years. I have experience, knowledge, and now the position to be heard.

          I need to grow in many areas, but mostly I think I need to grow in confidence. Although I have knowledge, and experience, I hold myself back thinking that I do not know enough. There are times when listening to others' perspectives is effective in advocacy, but there are also times when I know I should speak up and I do not. The director of the advocacy group I just made contact with seems to be the kind of person that will pull me out of that place.

My Role as an Advocate

I have spent my entire adult career life in early childhood. However, those were not all years of pride. When I opened my child care center, my parents did not speak to me because I was a college graduate and I was going to "babysit". Most of the parents looked at you as their nanny and you worked for them. Thank goodness over the years, the image of early childhood providers has gotten better but it was not until I started this Master's program with Walden that I felt supported in my passion for early childhood education.

Each element of early childhood (which I am considering micro) is connected to something bigger (macro). Each service or program somehow interacts or overlaps to another program. Getting to know the bigger picture of early childhood systems allows you to figure out what is best for each smaller segment.

To be a leader at the community level you must first have passion and perseverance in the work you are beginning. You must develop relationships and be able to communicate effectively. You must able to address the needs of your community, and include the work of other agencies to meet those needs.

Whenever I think of resources in early childhood I always think of money. In order to educate, inform, or improve the field, we need money. In Louisiana we have tax credits for businesses who donate to early learning programs. However I do not feel that the state has publicized this enough. I do not know of any program in my local area that has received any donations.

Electronic newsletters are a great way to get information to a large group of people. Also meeting face to face is very productive. Many times others in the field need to know their value. So many providers are tired and feel defeated. Motivational speakers that speak to their worth and the worth of their work will get providers joining the movement.

Taking on a leadership role in early childhood advocacy is a large task. You must stay focused on what is happening on the state level while not losing focus of what local communities need. Somehow you must keep the connection between the two to make advocacy work. You can keep that connection by including as many stakeholders as possible. There are many people whose work touches the lives of children and families. Make sure that all perspectives are included.

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I worked with someone named Katie a few years back. She worked for my regional Resource & Referral Agency. She understood my passion for the early childhood years but also understood that I could rarely speak about my opinions. I work in state government and there are strict rules about giving an opinion on a topic because I would be speaking on behalf of state government. When she and I would get together, we could talk for hours about early childhood education, and private child care specifically. I knew how busy she was, but she always took time out to listen to my suggestions. We talked about the latest research and how we wished we could get our communities to understand that research. She was not only advocating for early childhood education, but by giving me her time and attention, she was advocating for me. She was giving me an outlet to talk about issues that I was passionate about. She listened to me talk about all those things that I wished I could talk in public about. Her compassion and time truly impacted my work, and still does today.

Week 1 - EDUC 6766

Well, I would have never thought that I would be this far into the program when I started about a year and a half ago but here I am. These classes move so fast that as soon as you think, I will never keep up, you are finished one class. One class moves into another and before you know it, here we are, almost at the end. I am so happy to share this final stretch of the journey with such knowledgeable, compassionate colleagues as all of you have been to me. I met all of you in the last class for the first time but because of the class size we soon bonded and I feel like I have known all of you for a long time. Everyone take a deep breath because here we go!!!