Time Well Spent

I can not believe we are at the end of this journey. We have achieved a goal that required a lot of hard work and dedication. I have learned so much throughout this program that it is hard to narrow down to just three, but I will give it a shot.

1. I have learned a great deal about diversity and the importance of teaching children about diversity and acceptance of differences. Of course, as a teacher and a mom, I did this through teaching respect; however, I realized how much I lacked the knowledge of different cultures, so therefore, I was afraid to teach about it. Now, I have realized that we can learn about differences together. I have enjoyed learning about new cultures throughout this course and plan to continue to expand my knowledge of diversity.

2. Another topic I gained a wealth of information about is advocacy. I have a new found inspiration to advocate for children and education. I am not one to speak in large crowds or even small crowds of adults. However, I now have such a deep understanding of the importance of making a difference and the many ways in which one can be an advocate. I am thankful for this new understanding and plan to use this knowledge to benefit the early education field.

3. I have learned a great deal about technology and collaborating and learning with others using technology. In the beginning, I was worried that I would not get enough out of this program because it was all on-line. However, now I feel the total opposite, as I am amazed by all the knowledge gained from professors and colleagues throughout this program.

My future goals:

In my near future, I plan to open a learning center in my community. Before this program, I wanted to be able to offer underprivileged children an education at my center but had no idea how I would do that. Now, I have new ideas about ways to achieve this goal. I am so thankful that my capstone project allowed me to come up with these plans. Hopefully, in the next five years I will have my own center focused on educating low-income children through scholarships from the community and businesses within the community.

Saying Goodbye Is Hard To Do

Dear Professors and Colleagues,


Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to achieve a goal that was very important to me. I have enjoyed learning with each of you and appreciate all of the time spent helping me grow both personally and professionally. I have learned a great deal about myself and the education profession, and to each of you I am truly grateful. I wish you all the best in life with hopes that our paths will cross again!


Tabitha Krueger

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

International Websites:

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

This organization provides hope for millions of children and families around the world.  They help families in times of disaster and provide relief, recovery, and new developments. They work to provide education to children in over 30 countries around the world that need education to survive.

International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html

I like this organization as it is a tool for professionals to connect with other professionals in the early education field. This can provide educators with many valuable resources and insights into how to improve early education.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, fromhttp://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

This organization would be beneficial to research efforts or just for information regarding education topics. It also has information of policies and ways to improve economics and well-being of people around the world.

Job Opportunities:

Junior Professional Programme

The Junior Professional Officer programme (JPO) comprises a special category of staff members who are young professional men and women, interested in acquiring experience in the development field.  These staff members are sponsored by their respective Governments to acquire experience in international development cooperation activities under the close direction of senior UNICEF officials, while contributing to the implementation of UNICEF’s country programmes.

The general minimum requirements an individual must meet for entry into UNICEF as a JPO are:

• Citizenship of the respective country (Note:  selected participating donor governments sponsor a limited number of nationals from developing countries*).
• Age: between 28 and 32 years. 
• University degree equivalent to a Master's Degree or, as an absolute minimum, to a Bachelor's Degree;
• Two years of relevant professional work experience;
• Computer literacy in standard software applications;
• Demonstrate a keen interest in the work of the United Nations (UN), and of UNICEF in particular, and have a personal commitment to UNICEF’s mission and to the ideals of the UN Charter; and
• Demonstrate the ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes willingness to try, understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views. Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English and another UN working language, i.e. Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish or Russian.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

National/Federal Organizations:

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children birth to age 8. It has 80,000 members and offers a wealth of information on a variety of topics related to early education.

The US Department of Education community of practice would be beneficial to an advocate of early education because it has the latest news on education and displays many policies and practices and information on funding.

 The National Association of Child Care Professionals, the nation's leader among associations serving child care owners, directors, and administrators. The organization's goal is to improve, enhance and strengthen the credibility of the people who lead the child care industry by providing membership services and benefits. NACCP is the only association exclusively dedicated to child care management without regard to a center's tax status and corporate sponsorship.

Job Opportunities:

·         Instructional Specialist at University of Central Florida, 2^nd largest university in the U.S.

This is a lead teacher position in a preschool setting. Preferred candidates will have a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or similar from an accredited institution. Additional preferences include those who have previous teaching experience with children between the ages of 2 through 5 years. Knowledge of high quality early learning environments and Project Approach curriculum preferred.

·         PARENT-INFANT CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR www.parentinfantcenter.org

The successful candidate will have:

Strong belief in and love of early childhood education •Able to work independently with close attention to detail °Excellent communication skills, verbal and written •Able to identify priorities, plan work schedule, meet deadlines °Honesty, integrity and commitment to confidentiality °Able to manage multiple tasks and frequent interruptions °Basic computer skills and familiarity with word processing, spreadsheets, accounting and database programs.

Qualifications •MA in Early Childhood Education, Social Work, Nonprofit Management or related field. Five years’ experience working with both preschool and school age children in formal or informal educational settings. •Minimum of three years' experience in an executive position at a comparable non-profit organization.

·         Vice President, Young Children & Families

The Martha O’Bryan Center is looking for an experienced and creative leader to join our executive team. You will provide strategic leadership for our programs and Center-wide efforts around Young Children & Families. You will also work with leaders in the fields of parenting and early education locally and nationally to strengthen the network of services available to the students and families in Nashville 

REQUIREMENTS:

Required: Experience managing teams of exempt-level professionals in a human services organization or school. Strongly preferred: Master’s degree (M.A. or M.S. ) from a college or university in counseling, psychology, education or social work, with a minimum of five years of experience with children/family programming in a supervisory capacity.

Local and State ECE Community

Local or State Organizations:

• The SCEA organization is the South Carolina Education Association, a professional association for South Carolina educators. It is the leading advocate for educational change in South Carolina providing legislative initiative, professional development, and  support and guidance for a career in education. This is a large organization that has many members. I feel like it is a helpful place to find information on leading education topics and issues.
• The Children’s Trust of South Carolina is a nonprofit organization that works to make sure parents have access to the services needed to make a difference in the lives of their family. This organization provides numerous programs that promote safety, prevention, and advocacy for children and their families. This organization may be able to offer resources and information for the families affected by my Capstone challenge. Hopefully, this will be an organization that can help me and the families that I will be focusing on throughout my Capstone project.
• My local YMCA is an organization that focuses of youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. The YMCA believes that the values and skills learned early on are vital building blocks for life. My family spends a good bit of our time at our local YMCA, and I would like to volunteer more time to this organization.

Jobs of Interest:

• Director of Early Childcare Center: A bachelor’s degree or two year degree in early education; experience working in child care setting and/or school setting, management experience would be a great addition
• Early Education Center Owner: A bachelor’s and/or Master’s degree in early education; experience working in childcare setting and/or school setting, management skills, director experience in childcare center
• Children’s Services Coordinator at Children’s Attention Home:  A Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services, Education, or a related field OR work equivalence is required.  Prior experience with a children’s service’s-related group home or similar organization is preferred but not required.

Hopes and Thanks

A Special Thanks To My Colleagues


Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights with me over the last eight weeks. This small town southern girl has learned a great deal about diversity in the world we live in and the importance of providing all children with an anti-biased education. I have always been an accepting person but lacked the knowledge to truly educate children about differences. I appreciate all the stories, posts, and responses from each of you that allowed me to grow as a professional and a person.


My Hopes For Early Education


My hope for early education is that we teach all children that importance of diversity and accepting others for who they are. Children need to learn from an early age about other cultures and understand that it is okay to be different from your friend and neighbor. If we teach children acceptance for others and respect for all people when they are young, our schools and communities will be better places to learn and live. In order to accomplish this goal, educators must be willing to understand the importance of diversity so that they can share this understanding with young children. 


Good luck to each of you as you work to be an anti-biased educator! I wish you all success in your future goals!


Tabitha

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose the East Asia and Pacific because I do not have knowledge of the impacts on early education in this area. The other areas it seemed that I have some knowledge on and hear more about in the media.

Challenges of children in this region:

Childhood poverty:  In Lao PDR, while 38 percent of children are assessed as income poor, as many as 75 percent are assessed as living in poverty. Inequalities are the major factor to child poverty in this area. Adults see poverty primarily as a lack of income; children see poverty as not having enough to eat or not being able to go to school.

Nutritional Status: A survey reported that one in three children under age five in Viet Nam do not currently meet their full height potential which causes problems with cognitive and social growth. This is caused by chronic nutritional deficiency during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. The damage caused by this deficiency to a child’s development is permanent.

Fiji Floods: 14,000 people (5,000 children) had to leave their homes due to the flooding in Western and Central Fiji. These people are sheltered in evacuation centers that are lacking access to water, food, and other items. There is concern for sickness and disease, as Leptospirosis, diarrhea and typhoid are a real threat in the flood-affected areas.

Any time a child is living in unsafe or unhealthy circumstances it can affect their emotional wellbeing and development. A child that lives in poverty does not get proper nutrition, and experiences horrible natural disasters will have challenges in development.

Exploring this website and reading about the challenges in East Asia and the Pacific reminds me of the many emotional challenges that children all over the world experience.  Although issues of severe poverty are not prevalent in my local community, I know that we have these issues in parts of our country as well. I would be interested to dig deeper and try to find out if there are government programs that support some of these families in this region.  Reading information like this inspires me to find a way to make a difference (even if it is a small difference) in the emotional well-being of young children.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

As Levin & Kilbourne (2009) states, "Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture." Like most parents and early educators, I am extremely concerned about the effects of sexualization in the media on our children. As a parent of 9 and 5 year old boys and a 10 month old baby girl, I am terrified of the things that they may be exposed to when I am not around.

The most recent example of sexualization in the media is the song, "Sexy and I Know It." This song is all over every radio station, used as theme songs in numerous television shows, and even in a M&M commercial that aired for the first time while my family was watching the Superbowl. My five year old son loves music and loves to dance, so obviously this song is one that makes you want to dance. However, the lyrics and moves that go along with it are not appropriate (what so ever) for children. I have tried really hard to avoid this song at all cost, but it is hard to do when it is plastered all over the media. I have attached a link to the commercial for those of you that have not seen it. It may seem somewhat innocent; however, the original song and video are so inappropriate and the commerical is making reference to what is now called "the wiggle dance" made famous by the singing group of this song. You can also look up the original song on YouTube (just know that it is totally vulgar).
Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q33drZUXSzY

Another example of sexualization that I have experienced as a parent happened when my oldest son came home from school to tell me about a drawing on the school bus seat. Apparently, a middle school child had drawn two people doing sexual things on the back of the school bus seat. Well, of course, this led to the elementary children discussing what they thought the picture represented. My son came home very confused about things that some of the older children said on the bus. Unfortunately, my husband and I had to clear up some things with our 9 year old child that we were not yet ready for him to have to comprehend.

As an educator of fifth graders, I am often disturbed by the things I hear these children talk about. They seem to be very informed about sex, sexuality, and sexual content. I hear them talk about television shows, movies, music, and video games that are clearly not appropriate for children. Not only do I blame the media for completely exploiting sex to make money, I also blame the adults that are suppose to be supervising these children. I am not naive enough to believe that parents have complete control of what their children are watching and being exposed to; however, I do believe that part of the problem is the lack of supervision of children.

As educators, we can continue to provide positive, age-appropriate learning experiences for children. I would love to read this entire book, so that I can be prepared to help children survive and thrive in this sexualized world.

References:
Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1–8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf