Final Blog

Three Consequences of Researching the International Early Childhood Field:

1. Researching how other countries run and operate their early childhood education sector has caused me to frequently compare and contrast the similarities and differences, as well as the things we could do better.
2. Experiencing that some places are doing more with less resources, and thus, causing regret for the things that you took for granted within your program.
3. The everlasting feeling of wanting to improve your program and implement aspects of other cultures and countries into your program.

One Goal Related to International Awareness of Issues and Trends:

• To continue my research in relation to issues and trends that are relevant in my program/area. There may be solutions to our issues within the experiences and expertise of other countries across the world.

Professional Goals, Hopes, and Dreams

One of the issues I hear about almost daily in my current role as an ECE professional is the recent influx of educators whom are not of the best quality. Throughout my company, centers across the nation have experienced a severe lack of quality teachers whom are dedicated to this field, as well as the growth and development of young children. We are all quite aware that ECE teachers are well underpaid, so it is beyond my understanding as to why so many people gravitate to these positions if they are not passionate about young children.

Professional development is all around me, and this is one of the major reasons why I chose to work in my current center. There are at least two professional development trainings per month, all of which are paid trainings that are center specific and relevant to our current center happenings. Also, the program leadership team gathers together once a year to develop the professional development calendar. This allows us to really cater to the needs of the teachers and ourselves as well. If anyone is unable to attend a training, there are also online training courses offered by our management company that are paid for by our center. A teacher is able to visit our company website to assign themselves trainings, or a supervisor can assign trainings to staff members based on need.

In terms of my professional goals, I would really like to become a center director or executive director within the next five years. In the long term, I would like to own and operate a private childcare center.

I hope that I can continue to learn all that I can to achieve each and every goal that I set for myself. As of now I am happy with my career advancement, however, I know that I still have quite the road ahead of me. One of the main challenges I face is that the ECE field is not the most financially rewarding. I knew this when I began this journey, as my mother has been a teacher all of my life. However, I know that I possess a deep passion for children and education as a whole. Therefore, I enjoy what I do and I know that in the end, my position in this field will always be rewarding. I just hope that someday, educators everywhere will finally receive the monetary compensation that we all so deserve.

NAEYC: Sharing Web Resources

The NAEYC website has a section of their website dedicated to popular topics of issues and trends in the field of early childcare education. Specifically, topics such as Coping with Stress and Violence, Family Engagement, and Social/Emotional Development all cater to the needs of early childhood education programs experiencing inequities. Also, there is a more detailed topic search engine that focuses on more specific needs. Furthermore, this week I have learned that all inequities are not created equally (hence the title). Interestingly enough, I have also learned that some inequities can funnel into even bigger ones. This is why websites and resources such as NAEYC are so important in the fight against inequities in early childhood.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics

Equity and Excellence

This week, I have learned so much about equity and its effects on the field of early childhood education. One of the biggest things that I learned this week is just how much of an impact socio-economic status has on our children and their success. This goes to show that labels and status in this day and age really do affect the people whom we become. Socio-economic issues such as race, English Language Learners, lack of parental education, and so forth are several demonstrations of just how broad the topic of inequity really is.

I was happy to read about "The Center on the Developing Child" this week. I loved hearing that one of the goals of the center is to protect children from any adversity. I feel that in current times, society has become so selfish in dealing with issues that they do not focus on the fact that children are innocent souls. It is up to us as adults, educators, and family members to mold and shape children into who they will be for the remainder of their lives. I truly feel that children cannot remain innocent if they are constantly subjected to adverse conditions.

Sharing Web Resources

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

One aspect of the NAEYC website that particularly appeals to me is the blog section. The NAEYC blog consistently provides its readers with up to date issues and resources as it relates to early childhood education. As educators, we all have the understanding that this field is ever-changing. In order to stay abreast and alert in terms of change, it is important to have a resource such as the NAEYC blog that provide us with consistent and accurate updates related to the field. 

On the blog, I discovered a post titled "My Son's Realization that he is Brown" written by Kim Doan. The post was about a mother and her biracial son whom identified himself as a "brown" kid for the first time at 4 years old. The post goes on to discuss how her son Dylan began to notice that not many of the other children in his class were brown, and of course, he wanted to be just like everyone else. At the conclusion of the article, the author discusses the importance of discussing identity with young children, as they tend to notice differences in race and skin color as early as 6 months. This is something that I never knew personally, so I am glad I stumbled upon this publication. I loved this article because it discussed a common issue that so heavily impacts today's society. It also gave tips as to how to speak to young children about their identity, just incase assistance is needed to get the conversation going. 

Under the "Power of the Profession" tab, the site speaks to how NAEYC collaborates with other stakeholders and organizations to enhance the early learning field.