Time Well Spent

As I look back on my journey through this program, I remember thinking and saying to my family that I did not think that I would finish. There was too much work, it was too hard, and I would never be able to keep up the pace. I began to take one assignment at a time, one week at a time, and then one class at a time. Before I knew it, I was nearing the end. There are some life changing concepts that I have adopted into my thinking that I never had before this program.

1.Poverty - before I started this program, I was apt to believe that poverty was just a culture. I now understand that poverty belongs to the whole community. We are all responsible for the poverty in our neighborhoods, and are called to help.

2. Diversity - I do not think anyone can graduate from Walden and not have a respect for diversity. I have learned so much about diversity and how we as educators can become culturally responsible in our classrooms. An eye opening concept around cultural diversity is that we cannot just teach it for the holidays or for a theme one week. Cultural diversity must be implemented into our daily lessons as well as our daily lives.

3. Advocacy - Previous to my education at Walden, I believed advocacy was something that large organizations performed in front of Congress or other bodies of legislation. I never thought about advocacy beginning with one person. I have learned from Louise Derman-Sparks that passion drives advocacy, and that we as early childhood professionals are responsible for taking a stand for children and be their voices.

Goal
I will join an advocacy group and formally begin to be a voice for children in their early childhood years.

I would truly like to thank Dr. Dartt and all of my colleagues from my classes for supporting me and being a sounding board for me to talk about my issues. Some of the classes we took,
asked us to look deep inside our ourselves and discuss our biases, issues, insecurities, and weaknesses. Those are not easy things to talk about. But with trust and compassion, I was able to talk about some uncomfortable issues in my life. I think it takes a special kind of Professor to teach online courses, and I have had some excellent ones here at Walden. Congratulations everyone!!

 

The future which we hold in trust for our own children will be shaped by our fairness to other people's children.

Marian Wright Edelman 

 

This poem can be seen many places and is read many times. However, I feel like the words are never taken seriously enough. If parents and educators truly followed these words, we would have happier children with high self-esteems.

Children Learn What They LiveBy Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

 

 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community - Internationally

My family keeps me pretty much grounded here in the United States. I do no think I would want to work outside of my country.  I did some research on websites and found some employment opportunities. Although I had the education required for some of the jobs, I did not have any experience working on the national or international level. Almost all the jobs I reviewed had experience in international work as a requirement.

UNICEF: There were temporary job opportunities and one of them was for a Child Protection Specialist. However, being able to speak two languages was required and I would need at least eight years experience in humanitarian work. Another position with UNICEF was a Consultancy Assignment. I would be able to work in Geneva Switzerland. The job involved supporting early childhood development. I would work with developing quality programs and policies around early childhood. The requirements were an advanced degree in a relevant field and three to five years experience at the national or international level.

Save the Children:  There was a position with this organization in London England. The Director of Program Quality would work to raise quality of early childhood by increasing child protection, children's rights, and working with the health and education of early childhood. I would also ensure that the Save the Children's objectives were being met. A Master's degree in early childhood or social sciences field is required. As with the job with UNICEF, experience on the national or international level is required also.

Academy for Educational Development:  On this website I came across the Fullbright Teacher Exchange Program. This would involve a direct exchange of teaching positions with teachers in other countries. We would share knowledge, and build networks. There were seven countries taking part in this program. I would love to be able to teach in Switzerland. A Master's degree is required and five years teaching experience. This job was the only one I would be qualified to even apply for.

Through this search, I realized that working on the international level involved so much more than just a degree. I would need to have experience working with other cultures and learn another language. I was very interested in the work that is out there in the field of early childhood.