1. In the current role that I am in, the state of
Pennsylvania the Department of Education (PDE) and the Office of Child
Development an Early Learning (OCDEL) oversees our preschool program and lays
out the guidelines/requirements our program needs to follow. There are many
days I shake my head at the changing guidelines/requirements that come out of
PDE or OCDEL because I do not believe they are always child centered and many
times we do not receive an explanation as to why these changes are occurring. I
could see myself working at the state level in PDE or OCDEL because I have
visions for the future of Early Childhood Education and would like to have some
influence. My thought would be if I am working at the state level, I could
hopefully in some way try to influence what is being decided.
There are two jobs that are listed
on the PDE website that I could see myself in; Early Childhood Education
Advisor and Equal Education advisor. Unfortunately, those jobs are not currently
open so there was no job description available. I can imagine some requirements
would be:
- Master's degree from an
accredited institution of higher learning and extensive graduate level course
work in school administration
-Positive and proven record of
successful experience in a responsible administrative position
-Teaching experience in a
Pre-Kindergarten setting and/or elementary school
-Knowledge of principles and practices
of early child development
-Knowledge of basic child
development and psychology
-Ability to ready, interpret, apply
and explain rules, regulations, policies and procedures
Mission statement of OCDEL:
PDE site:
http://www.education.pa.gov/Early%20Learning/Pages/default.aspx#tab-
2. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is another organization that I would be interested in working for. I am currently a member of NAEYC and this past weekend attended a regional conference. As I said previously I have visions for the future of Early Childhood Education and would like to try to positively influence it outside of the classroom. NAEYC is at the foreground of policy and influence in ECE.
2. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is another organization that I would be interested in working for. I am currently a member of NAEYC and this past weekend attended a regional conference. As I said previously I have visions for the future of Early Childhood Education and would like to try to positively influence it outside of the classroom. NAEYC is at the foreground of policy and influence in ECE.
Currently there were only two job
opportunities listed and I could not find a general list of jobs so I do not know
what skills would be needed for any roles within NAEYC.
3. A local organization
that I have recently become more familiar with is United Cerebral Palsy. I
currently have a student that attends some of their programs and I am working
in collaboration with my local UCP Early Intervention Program. The UCP Early Intervention Program is much
like my Early Intervention Preschool Program. It works mainly with children and
families that have a child with a disability. UCP provides different therapies
to the child and family. One thing I was
impressed with while learning more about UCP is that they offer Family Support
Services and have a calendar of events on their website. I am a big supporter
of family involvement/engagement.
There were jobs listed however none that
specifically dealt with the Early Intervention Program. So again, I don’t know
what skills would be needed for roles within UCP.
http://www.ucpsouthcentral.org/index.html
http://www.ucpsouthcentral.org/index.html
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am often surprised or frustrated by some of the guidelines, rules or regulations that preschool programs in my area are expected to implement. I strongly believe that some of them actually decrease the quality of care and education received by children because of their unintended consequences. In my experience this occurs most often with health and safety regulations where children are denied opportunities to experience real-world situations that might have a small amount of risk involved. Instead of viewing teachers as well-educated professionals who can intentionally support children through these experiences so that children can develop important risk-competency skills, we create rules that lead to sterile, risk-free environments that do a dis-service to our children. I think this is a huge reason I have been interested in policy and advocacy work. I want to be a voice arguing for regulations that empower teachers and not only keep children safe, but also allow them to live in a realistic world and develop the abilities to analyze, problem-solve, and make informed decisions.
Hello Emily,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am a firm believer of the role NAEYC and it's local and state chapter's play in improving ECE in general, and the training of teachers in particular. I concur with Katharine's post above, in that one complaint I have in general about national organizations is that by their very nature--global in scope--they tend to advocate and regulate for the greater good in such a way that there is little local initiative, breeding that sterility (excellent Katharine!!) in curriculum and learning that does not serve small children well.
In any case, my own beliefs is that armed with a master's degree and, importantly, hands-on experience in the classroom, you can be an effective agent of change and a voice for effective ECE at your state an local level. Rather than taking the mandates handed down form the national level, I am all in favor of localities deciding what is best and pushing those strategies UPWARD. Bearing in mind NAEYCs prime directive to provide education in settings that are safe, healthy, nurturing, and responsive, it seems that local and state chapters of NAEYC are best equipped to decide this, and the best and most effective arena where your voice can be heard and made effective.
Good luck!
Sandi
Emily -
ReplyDeleteI find it very refreshing knowing there are strong advocates like yourself that are wanting to change local guidelines and polices currently outlined for early childhood. Utah, where I live, is one state that claims they are very supportive of early childhood education, yet give very little to programs and the regulations set for these programs are not very child conducive.
I, like you, would like to be involved on a local level where a voice and experience from the field can be heard and perhaps persuade law makers to make better choices.
Thank you for post, it gives me much to think about.
Emily -
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, can you explain to me what your main Blog Name means?
Hi Melinda-
DeleteA few years back when I started the blog I was chatting with a guy that I had met online. We had been talking for a few days, and both knew what we did for work. This guy knew that I taught preschoolers. We were talking during my Easter break and I mentioned that I was going into work on a day off. This guy replied saying "Yeah you have to get in there because those smiley faces don't hang themselves." I have not talked to him since that comment becasue as all early childhood educators know, it's more then just smiley faces.
Emily -
DeleteThank you for explaining. It totally makes sense to me know. My mind went to a whole different place than that. ;-)
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and how you mentioned three great organizations that you were interested in joining. They all sound great you have a hard decision to make if you decide to join one of the three. I especially like how you mentioned wanting to make a change on the state level to prevent the many changes that occur that effects the future outcomes of the the Early Childhood Education. With the influence, knowledge becoming an Early Childhood Advisor or Equal Education Advisor is a great way in having your voice being heard for the betterment of the children and families you work with.