Time Well Spent

This program has allowed me to grow in my professional life as well as my daily life.  I have learned a lot about being a successful leader in the early childhood field and I have become more confident that I will be able to manage my own early childhood center one day.  What I have learned about communication has also allowed me to become a better listener and to develop positive relationships with colleagues as well as friends and family members. 

My primary long-term goal is to create an organization that would help young children in need.  I am hoping to become an advocate for young children and families and to make positive changes in their lives and in my community.

In this last post I want to thank you Dr. Darragh for all your support and feedback that allowed me to improve my skills.  I also want to thank my colleagues for their support in blog posts and discussions.  Finally I want to thank my family for encouraging me to pursue my studies and for believing in me. 

I can’t believe we are graduating this weekend! I will miss you all and I am really thankful to have spent the last two years getting to know all of you and to have learned so much from your ideas and experiences!  You have all made me a positive change in my life and I wish you all good luck in the future!  Congratulations! We did it!

I would love to keep in touch, this is my email: Ghayna@gmail.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

            The first international organization that I chose is the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which supports children’s survival and development, basic education and gender equity, HIV/AIDS prevention, and child protection around the world.  This organization appealed to me because of the work they do in my home country, Syria.  This issue is especially dear to me because I have already lost family members in this conflict and I know many others who are struggling to survive.  War is the only thing the very young children of Syria have ever known, and working with these children to make sure that violence does not become a normal behavior is imperative.  Working with the UNICEF to help the children is something that I am hoping to be able to do. 

            The second international organization that I chose is Save the Children, this organization gives children around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.  This organization appealed to me because it gives children around the world an opportunity for success by providing quality education, emergency response, quality health and nutrition programs, disease prevention programs, improving livelihoods, disaster prevention and protecting children from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence. 

            The third international organization that I chose is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which has several sectors such as education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.  The mission of the UNESCO is to build peace, eradicate poverty, contribute to sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.  The UNESCO focuses on education in Africa and promoting gender equality. 

            These organizations offer many job opportunities as well as volunteering opportunities.  There are also international professional vacancies that offer the opportunity to work abroad.  Another job vacancy I would be interested in is working at UNESCO as a translator or interpreter because I had the opportunity to learn languages at school and I am fluent in English, Arabic and French. 

References

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

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.unicef.org/

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

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

The first organization that I chose is the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  The NAEYC’s mission statement is to promote high-quality early learning for all children (NAEYC, n.d.); that is what appealed to me most in this organization.  All children, regardless of their background, deserve to have access to a quality education.  The values and principles of the NAEYC make it an inclusive organization that gives early childhood programs guidelines to providing quality services to families and children. 

The second organization that I chose is the National Institute for Early Education Research.  The NIEER conducts and communicates research to support high-quality, effective early childhood education for all young children (NIEER, 2015).  I have been following the NIEER newsletters and I have learned a lot from their research.

The third organization that I chose is the Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training.  The DECET promotes quality education that supports diversity and that is free of discrimination.  This network will actually provide me with resources that I could use for my capstone project. 

These organizations are a great asset to the early childhood field and I would be interested in working with them to create positive change.  There are several positions available such as assistant research professor and data collector.  These positions would require me to collect and analyze data, and manage field studies.  The position I am interested in is being the director of a childcare center; I think it would allow me to make positive changes in young children’s education.

References

Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training (2015).  Retrieved from http://www.decet.org.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (n.d.).  Retrieved form http://www.naeyc.org.

National Institute for Early Education Research (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nieer.org.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first organization that I chose is the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children (Illinois AEYC); it is an affiliate of the NAEYC.  Its mission is “to facilitate the optimal development of young children by advocating for the rights, needs, and well-being of young children and educating, supporting, and collaborating with individuals and organizations working in direct or indirect service to young children” (http://illinoisaeyc.org/about).  This organization appealed to me the most because it meets the NAEYC standards including promoting positive relationships, using effective teaching approaches, promoting the health and nutrition of children, building positive relationships with families and the community, and providing quality education for children.  The Illinois AEYC advocates for young children and educates the community about the importance of the early childhood years and the value of early childhood professions.  Advocating is a great way to mobilize the community for the benefit of young children; it would give children a better chance to have access to quality education, and therefore secure a better future. 

The second organization that I chose is the Illinois Education Association (IEA).  Its mission is to “effect excellence and equity in public education and to be THE advocacy organization for all public education employees” (http://www.ieanea.org/about/history/).  This organization appealed to me because I believe all children, regardless of their background and economic status, deserve to have access to quality education.  The IEA also supports the education of teachers and advocates for public school employees.

The third organization that I chose is the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development (OECD).  Its mission is “to create an integrated system of quality, early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten” (http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/OECD/Pages/AboutUs.aspx).  Early childhood education is essential to give young children a foundation before preschool.  Providing early care to all children will help them succeed in kindergarten and school, and therefore have a successful adult life, which would greatly benefit the community. 

The job opportunities that are available at these organizations are intern positions and two director positions.  The intern position would allow me to grow and develop my knowledge of the organization.  It would also allow me to gain skills in advocating for young children.  For the director positions, I would need to gain more experience in leadership and get more involved with educators and organizations in my community. 

Thank You,

I want to thank all of my colleagues for supporting me through this course.  We were a great team as we shared knowledge and resources, and we worked together with one same goal, which was to succeed in this course.  I had my baby last week so I won’t be working with you in the next course as I am taking a few months off.  But I really hope we will stay in touch. 

Ghayna Alsafadi

Ghayna@gmail.com