Final Farewell :(

• This has been an amazing experience.  In 2011, I was unsure about what I was getting myself into.  I even tried to find reasons not to continue the program.  Now that I have learned and accomplished so much, I am beyond grateful that I finished what I started.  There have been areas in this journey that have been weaker than others but from receiving feedback from the instructors and fellow colleagues, I   have gotten stronger in those aspects.  

  
  

  Throughout this journey there has been a lot to take in but everything that we have learned focused on children and advocacy.  What I have deeply learned is that bias is within everyone.  Beginning this class, I has biases and did not even realize it until it was brought to me attention.  Biases are not intentional but people have them because of the way they were brought up.  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  Another factor that has impacted me are the wide range of policies, including those directed toward early care and education, and family economic supports, that can promote the safe, supportive, and stable, caring relationships that children need.  Our children just need caring professionals to make sure they are getting the education that is deserving.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

    Lastly, intervention is very important in this profession.   In society, we cannot afford to postpone investing in children until they reach school age, it may be too late by then.  Investing and intervening in children while they are young will improve basic learning and socialization skills.   

  
  

  One long-term goal is to open a community based school.   Community schools, offers students ways to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for success in adulthood.

  
  

  
  

  To my instructor and colleagues,

  
  

  Thanks so much for all the input you have given throughout this course for it has helped me to understand from a different perspective.  Getting feedback and insight from others create new ideas and new areas of interest.  I am deeply satisfied with all of the great work that I have witnessed of you guys and hope to keep in touch in years to come.

  
  

  God Bless!
  
  Contact info,
  
  email: lacolia05@yahoo.com
  
  

  talisha.stewart@ang.af.mil

  
  phone: 601-862-1874 
  

International COP

For this assignment, I was particularly interested in Unicef, Save the Children, and Academy for Professional development.  I chose Unicef because of the multiple focus areas that they provide.  It is a very multi-faceted organization that has an overall vision to advocate for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper care at the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future.  The job opportunity that I am particularly interested in is Child Protection Specialist (Child Rights & Child Justice) which requires the skills and experience of:

Having an advanced university degree in a related technical field.

Candidate has to have eight years of relevant work experience at the national and international levels in a relevant field.

Fluency in English. Knowledge of one or more languages of the regions an asset.

Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.

Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.

Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.

Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear.

My second organization of choice is Save the Children.  The purpose of this organization is to assist when disaster strikes around the world.  The organization is there to save lives with food, medical care and education and remains to help communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs. As quickly and as effectively as Save the Children responds to tsunamis and civil conflict, it works to resolve the ongoing struggles children face daily.  It was pretty interesting to find out the many ways to give funds to children in need.  They had the option of Wecare.com which allows you to shop online and shopping through certain websites gives a donation of funds to the organization.  I thought that was especially cool.

A position of interest is the Director, Food, Division of Humanitarian Response position.  It is located in Washington, D.C.  The purpose of this position is to provide leadership and oversight to the food programming and logistics functions of Save the Children US.  The incumbent will coordinate with cross-functional units dealing with commodity management, logistics, and emergency food aid programs so that they are most effective.  S/he will also, on behalf of SC members and SCI, consolidate and build a strategic relationship with the World Food Program.  The function is also responsible to ensure rapid provision of technical assistance to emergencies in the area of food programming and logistics   I chose this because I have never had the opportunity to see what emergency response is about and this would give the perfect opportunity to give back to those who experience disaster. 

The skills and requirements needed to perform this job are:

12 years humanitarian experience, a combination of field and headquarters positions

4 years responsibility for high level relationship building with UN, government donor, or similar entity

Prior management responsibility for headquarters team

Involvement in logistics and food aid programming, with at least 2 working with World Food Programme resources

Master’s degree in related field

Strong understanding of international donor arena and relationships.

Ability to work collaboratively across departments and in teams.

Good representation skills

Tolerance of ambiguity and demonstrated ability to optimistically work for positive change in an environment of rapid organizational change

At this present moment I am not qualified but it seems like a very exciting and very hands-on position to be in.

The last organization I chose to learn more about is Academy for Educational Development.  The vision of FHI 360 envisions a world in which all individuals and communities have the opportunity to reach their highest potential. The Mission is to improve lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions for human development.  I chose this organization because it focuses on a wide array of practice areas to understand complex issues. 

A position of interest in this company is a technical advisor who is responsible for increasing access to and use of quality family planning services across select urban and peri- urban areas in four focus West African countries -  Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Togo.

Job Requirements are:

Background in clinical and community-based FP services delivery approaches; working with governments, NGOs, private sector

Experience testing and adapting services delivery models and approaches to a variety of context and organizations

Experience building capacity at individual and organizational level

Experience in policy analysis, developing and implementing advocacy plans/strategies

At least 10 years of experience in a senior technical position for a public health and/or FP/RH project;

Roles in The ECE community: National or Federal Levels

http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/poverty.asp

Communities of practice, in my opinion, are life-changing organizations that share a common interest in a situation, and bring thoughts, expertise, knowledge, and passion together to solve an issue that will make society just a tad bit better than what it is.  I have been tasked to share national organizations of communities of practice that I would be interested in being a part of.  The first that I have chosen is National Association of Social Workers.  NASW (2012) view on poverty is what appealed to me greatly.  This organization is very hands-on within communities and is a great support system to those who are experiencing poverty.  Within this community, social workers tackle the complex issues of poverty through community organizing in poor neighborhoods.  For instance, the communities’ assets are combined with additional resources to build up the local systems that support health, education, and financial viability (NASW, 2012).  The organization strives and fights for poverty on a national scale.  This organization has even joined forces with Congress to increase the minimum wage and advocates for the importance of ending poverty rather than just reducing the number of welfare recipients (NASW, 2012).

There was one job that I became immediately interested in, the community impact director, under the sector of advocacy.  The job requires a Bachelor’s, but a Master’s is preferred and the skills and experience needed include: five to seven years relevant experience, including: positive youth development, public policy, program development and evaluation; strategic planning and analysis, grant-making, and/or research; experience in collective impact and working with low-income communities and other diverse groups, with the ability to build and sustain productive relationships with diverse individuals, groups, organizations and communities, experience; demonstrates ability in planning and implementing community-based initiatives; ability to build consensus; collaborate with and convene multiple partners in efforts that produce specific deliverables and demonstrable outcomes; ability to meet aggressive deadlines and handle multiple priorities; proficient in attending to detail with ability to organize, prioritize and effectively contribute within team setting; excellent analytical ability and superior problem-solving skills; excellent communication, interpersonal, listening, writing and facilitation skills; ability to take concepts from initiation to completion with minimal supervision; knowledge of current youth impact area research, local and national issues and trends; Microsoft Office skills and experience required; Commitment to excellence and the mission of United Way!

These are some available resources listed on the site:

Resources
• Code of Ethics
• NASW Bylaws
• NASW Chapters
• HIPAA
• About the Profession
• Governance
• NASW Foundation
• Social Workers Across Nations

http://www.communityactionpartnership.com/

The second organization I chose consists of members of The Community Action Partnership that developed Rooting Out Poverty.  It includes input from several hundred key leaders from the local, state, and national levels. It offers solutions and strategies for promoting quality child care; employment and training opportunities, especially for those lacking basic skills; responsible health, energy, and conservation policies, assistance to those elderly and otherwise most vulnerable of people, and more.  I chose this community of practice because it focuses on setting up statewide summits on poverty, and long-range action plans.

Rooting Out Poverty was designed to educate and inform every American that the country's poverty epidemic is intolerable -- and correctable. It can also help reframe and refocus work, encourage collaborations, spark community discussions, and stimulate new ideas.

A position that interested me most was a family visitor.  A program called The Parents as Teachers program is seeking a Family Visitor to provide home based and family development support services in Anchorage to families with young children prenatal to 5.  Knowledge of child development and the ability to work independently is preferred.

http://www.halfinten.org/

The last organization I chose to share is Half in Ten Campaign.  This organization discusses poverty issues in relation to creating good jobs, strengthening families, promoting economic security, and cutting poverty in half.  My reason for selecting this organization is self-explanatory. 

I have learned so much about communities of practice during this blog assignment.  More importantly it expands my research knowledge. 

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Local and State Levels

Mississippi Early Childhood Association is a chartered, non-profit, educational organization with affiliates in many local areas. It is an association for all persons concerned about the care and education of young children that exists. I chose this organization because it focuses on the whole child which includes helping people that are genuinely interested in young children to work together, increasing knowledge and understanding of members through educational means, bring relevant issues about needs of  children to the attention of the public, encourage development of local associations to support the organization (http://www.msearlychildhood.org/links).

 Early Childhood Association (MsECA) is to connect early education professionals to one another on the local level.  Affiliate groups of MsECA meet regularly to discuss issues of interest in the areas in which members work.  Most of their meetings also offer educational programs which are approved for contact hours for child care licensure.  In addition to this grassroots support of early education, each affiliate has representation on the MsECA board.  The affiliate president serves as a voting member of the executive board a nd is able to bring a unified voice from the local members into statewide decision making. 

The next organization that I chose was Early Childhood Institute.  The mission of the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute is to develop and provide research-based practices and policy recommendations that promote high quality early childhood development and learning for all young children in Mississippi.  The motto was very appealing to me.  It touches the lives of children, families, professionals, and the community.  It serves communities statewide and provides expertise in several counties in Mississippi.

The last organization of interest is Every Child Matters.  This organization was established July 20th, 2001.  The Every Child Matters Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization working to make public investments in children, youth, and families a national political priority (http://everychildmatters.org/).  I was interested in this organization because it takes a different approach on the well-being of children and families.  What makes ECM different is that it focuses on raising the visibility of children’s issues during “elections”.  The organization encourages candidates to support, and the public to demand, greater investments in programs that address the needs of America's families. 

 Job opportunities of interest are strictly the managerial positions for organizations.  I like to come up with ideas that help everyone individually and collectively. Skills needed for any job within leaderships requires effective communication, collaboration, enthusiasm, knowledge of the purpose, etc.

References

http://www.msearlychildhood.org/links

http://everychildmatters.org/

http://earlychildhood.msstate.edu/

Reflection

No one can imagine the joy that I feel as I type about my passion and hope for my future and the wonderful insights that I have gained from all of my colleagues.  It is more than a privilege to express the feeling of dedication, determination, and longevity that I have possessed throughout this course that has helped to become a better professional, both knowledgeably and socially and to believe that dreams really are possible. 

For my future continued success, my passionate hope is to try to touch the inner, outer, and mental lives of the children I will work with especially and hope to have great partnerships with families in the program.   I am adamant about touching the lives of children because every child deserves to be curious about their social identities and explore themselves so that they can make sense of this world of differences.  I want every child to understand difference and be acquainted with those who are different because there is much to learn about different cultures and ways of living that helps children develop a sense of pride about themselves and to care and connect to human diversity.  Focusing on the WHOLE child helps to develop the social, emotional, and cognitive abilities that will help our children navigate effectively through life. 

Having partnerships with families is required in this field of study.  Professionals have to involve families because they know their children best, and it is relevant that I include them in curriculum planning.  You always want parents to feel welcome and non-hesitant about participating with activities.  What I have learned is that there is so much you can learn from parents, why take the opportunity for granted? 

 As I close, I would like to thank each of my colleagues, who have shared thoughts, insights, references, questions and more to the classroom these past 8 weeks.  It has been indeed a pleasure to share such valuable time together within our classroom.  We have almost reached our mountaintop!!  I am excited for each one of you and I hope and wish you all the best of moments in future endeavors!

Very Respectfully,

Talisha

Impacts on Emotional Development

The Area that I chose to investigate was West and Central Africa.  I chose this region because I wanted to learn about this region in regard to the conditions that children and families face and think of ways to promote healthy development.  Some of the challenges that I read about were a little disturbing.  I was disturbed to read that children in this area normally get their rights violated daily than any other region in the world (UNICEF, 2011).  The website also states that it is common for children to die from malaria, diarrheal diseases and diseases such as measles every 2 out of 10 children.  I was saddened to read about the malnutrition rates in this region as malnutrition is the cause of high mortality rates.  It was stated that a percentage of children do not reach their fifth birthday.  This region has high poverty levels and 40% of the children do not attend school.  This is definitely a challenge that can affect the social skills, intellect, and mental capacity of these children.  The children who do attend school, particularly girls, face sexual and other forms of violence in school.  Children are involved in trafficking, child labor, children in armed conflicts, and children even being victims of harmful traditional practices (UNICEF, 2011).  This is a huge factor in the children not being able to excel in education, or any other milestones in life because the resources are not available and no one to show the children the way or road to success.  Water and sanitation are issues faced in the region as well.  This affects the health of individuals who live in the area.  From the educational aspect, high drop- out rates and low transition rates are challenges faced as well.  The government is hit so hard by poverty that is almost impossible to keep sufficient and highly qualified teachers and learning materials to help pave the way for our children.  Quality education is not available to the children due to these challenges.  Children who want to go to school may live far and have to walk and their parents do not want to take that risk.  The shortage of teachers, low teacher salaries, and limited training and development opportunities adds to the struggle.  These challenges definitely affect the emotional aspect of children because the early years lay the foundation for healthy development for children.  This is the time for great growth and vulnerability.  These years are more important for the social and emotional development.  The challenges that I have presented can definitely impair the child’s mental health, and also affect their cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development.  From a personal standpoint, I realize how grateful I am to have windows of opportunities available for me to better myself in many ways.   Reading about West and Central Africa helped me to focus on why I chose to study early childhood.  I feel more sensitive to the fact that innocent children who have the desire to better themselves do not have the resources to do so.  From a professional standpoint, I am more eager to advocate for children’s rights and help make resources as available as possible so that children have equal opportunity for the road to success.  Children deserve the best, no matter what culture they are a part of, financial status, gender, or race and/or physical ability.  Windows of opportunity should await every child’s future. 

References

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

Trustees of Columbia University, The. (2010). National Center Center for Children Children in PovertyPoverty (NCCP). Retrieved from: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_882.html

Sexualization

The topic of sexualization is indeed a touchy topic to discuss, but it is indeed the truth that is happening around the world with young children.  What I have to say about sexualization is that I am afraid of what will happen next with our children in years to come.  At age nine, I was not worried about how pretty I was; better yet even thinking about a boyfriend was not in the picture.  I was too busy trying to play sports with boys.  This article helped me to understand that it is acceptable for children to be curious about sex and sexuality, but the conflict is how they are conceptualizing it.  I understand that media and popular culture play enormous roles in the process, but what are parents doing to explain sex and intimacy at age-appropriate levels?  Children know more than enough about these topics at a very early age, but with older siblings, it seems hard to keep topics like that secretive.  Some examples of sexualization would be: shows that portray young girls in pageants with heavy mascara and make up, possibly wearing bathing suits and heels; or fashion dolls with very revealing clothes, fishnet stockings and more; or underwear that is shaped like thongs available to young children.  All of these are readily available for young children to view which could easily trigger thoughts about sex.  This affects young girls more than boys because girls think that they are supposed to be beautiful, thin, and sexy in order for boys to like them.  Children could possibly fail in school if they solely concentrate on how they look or concentrate on viewing girls as sex objects.  This could develop low self-esteem, and there is a possibility that adults or professionals will look at children differently because of this. Professionals want the best for our children.  Professionals must let parents know the value of parental guidance and advice to their children.  If it is possible, professionals need to help children reject and resist pressure from media and provide age appropriate terms for them to understand. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Being that I have not yet had the opportunity to work on a daily basis with children other than on volunteer work, I have not experienced many of these –isms within a childhood setting.  However, by me being knowledgeable and aware of what to expect, I can say that –isms do affect teachers or educators within the early childhood sector.  For instance, if there is a situation presented into my classroom or presence pertaining to stereotypes or prejudice in my personal life, I would probably respond in positive ways since I am learning about how to be anti-bias in a well-rounded way.  I personally feel that it depends on the attitude of the person to be able to handle stereotypes and prejudice well.  I have always been able to adjust to change, work-related or life-related.  That is one of the strong aspects of my character.  There may be something said or done to me that could possible hurt me emotionally, but I am strong-minded and am able to remain focused on my career.  If it ever gets to the point where I am overly frustrated or feel overwhelmed with –isms pertaining to my personal life, I may become disconnected from work or even side-tracked from teaching anti-bias curriculum.  I may even begin to feel that parents are becoming bias toward me as well when they really are not.  Children will begin to notice a change in daily activities if I am not as enthusiastic as I normally am or begin to ask questions about how I am feeling.   Families may feel that I am disinterested in teaching their children and perhaps will begin to evaluate my classroom more.  There are many consequences pertaining to experiencing –isms in your personal life, it depends on how you as the person responds.   

Observing Communication

The resources this week were well worth spending time on. Its great to know that we have systematics in place to ensure that the children we work with are surrounded by affirming and nurturing environments. I observed a mother and her son in a store called Charming Charlie. The mother was shopping for jewelry and her son was just following her around everywhere. From that itself, I can say that he is a well disciplined child. He wasn't running around the store like some children would do, nor was he speaking loudly as some children would do. He seemed very happy and as he was singing along to the songs that were playing in the store, his mother would ask him questions about the jewelry she selected. This allowed him to feel that what he was saying is relevant and meant something special to his mother. By her interactions with him, anyone could notice that she gives him the opportunity to express himself the way that he chooses to.  Your attitudes influence how you communicate with

babies. I have learned that the value of talking to babies directly gives the nurturing environment children need.  In my time with children, I learned that each child will have a different style, and is likely to talk in different ways and in different contexts. (Stephenson,2009)We should all find ways that they can communicate that are enjoyable for them. (Stephenson,2009)

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=37131016&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Creating Affirming Environments

In my childcare setting, I envision having a safe environment and friendly atmosphere most importantly.  I would allow up to nine children in my home daycare, two infants, five toddlers and up to two school age children.  My staff would include three respectable, responsible, vibrant professionals who value morals just as I do and have an elongated desire for anti-bias curriculum.  The elements of cultural variety that I would want to include are visual learning aids, games, books, and dolls.  Visual learning aids can be interactive and can help customize the learning process. When children have something interesting to look at, it helps to hold their attention.  Games can incorporate many of the different skills important to children learning: word connections, motor skills, social interactions and emotional control and development. For instance, playing hokey-pokey teaches different body parts and following directions.  Do you not agree?  Books are important because they introduce the love of reading as well as similarities and differences of individuals (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p 52). Dolls and art are important because they offer children a variety of objects to play with and explore -- banging on a pot with a spoon, dressing up with scarves and funny hats and putting on skits that teach them how to creatively explore the world.  The visuals that I would have in sight would include paintings and pictures of a diverse group of people and animals, letters and numbers, shapes, puzzles, board games, activity and coloring books, toys for all ages, dolls that represent boys and girls, men and women of different culture,  available computers, a section for dramatic play with costumes, hats, jewelry, phones, play kitchen sets/ laundry sets, reading books for all ages, and dvd’s that provide educational information only.  I would also have musical cd’s that reflect on American culture, Chinese culture, Native Indian Culture, Hispanic culture, and Latin culture etc. so that I could introduce diversity to my students with more than just reading materials. I am not a huge fan of watching a lot of television so we would not watch it as much, but the children will be allowed to get an hour of television a day.  The back yard would also have visual materials for children to play with and learn from.  I would have a sandpit, plastic fishing poles, small basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and soft baseballs.  I would have a swing set with a slide set up as well for the children.  Having many options to choose from allows the children to become excited about what they see and use their imaginations.  When reading Richards article, I realized that it takes more than just play time and activities, if you want anti-bias education as a priority.  His goals for helping children develop a strong and positive self-concept through healthy intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and moral development inspired me to think of ways that I could achieve that.  He helped me to understand why allowing children to express their emotions helps them solve conflicts with one another.  I now understand the importance of incorporating family traditions so that all families feel welcomed.  He has helped me to understand that whatever I put into my program will reflect me and my leadership.   Bisson (2010) asks questions that relate to an all- inclusive atmosphere and it helped me to decide what I need for a successful environment (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p 42).

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)