Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

As a mother, an advocate and also an early childhood educator, I have always believed in differences, abilities and teaching from strength. A child’s first teacher has always been the parent/parents. As a community we should try to identify differences and unique qualities we find in every child we come across because there lies a positive strength in every dissimilarity.

There are so many stories to back up strength in each difference we come across, but I want to use the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as an example. Rudolph was a “Rare” breed, his shiny red nose made his fellow Reindeer to keep away from him. They never let him take part in their reindeer game.

To his fellow reindeer, that red nose was a weakness, but to Santa, that nose was what he needed for Santa’s sleigh to be guided because of its glowing nature. Yes we can find a “Glow” in every presumed “Not good enough” if we look deeply. I know it is not easy but with resilience and perseverance and also with the greatest virtues of all time (patience) we will see light at the end of the tunnel.

Let’s keep supporting our children positively they are our future/leaders of tomorrow.

Wishing you all a happy holiday. Merry Christmas.

                             Time Well Spent

It has been an educative roller coaster ride for me this past twenty two months. There is a common saying in Nigeria that goes “If you think education is expensive why not try ignorance? Yes ignorance is the most expensive thing in the world, education gives each and every one of us knowledge that is priceless. Walden provided me instructors that guided me all through and supported me amazingly.

   I can proudly say my knowledge on early childhood development/diversity has given me leverage as an educator. When it comes to diversity I think beyond culture, I know that diversity goes beyond culture, it embraces the differences in learning style, it tells me about the different abilities that exist in children and family backgrounds. I have learned how to be culturally responsive because it is a necessity in my line of profession, embracing differences and accepting every individual for who they are and what they represent is very important.

Nurturing early relationship is also very important. It is necessary for me as an early educator to earn trust from the children I will come across and families too. This will encourage free communication between me and the family, where there is free communication, there is trust, and trust wins people over and as such it helps our job to move smoothly.

My long term goal as an early educator is to continue to follow my passion of getting better professionally, this means that I have to improve my knowledge of taking care of children by taking part in an ongoing professional evaluation. This requires me to take part in early childhood seminars and also register with early childhood organizations that will be sending me current articles that has to do with early childhood.

   It has been an amazing time working and reading alongside with my colleagues I want to say a very big thank you to each and every one of you for the efforts and contributions you made in various ways, through the discussion post and blogs as well. Your comments made a big difference and made my work better each week. Dr. E thanks for having the patience to continue to correct and direct me, thanks for listening to me each time I called you despite the time difference. I wish each and every one of us continuous professional growth in our career God bless us all.

        

     

                   

 Photo of me

My personal email address is ediri.obi@gmail.com

Job/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Growing up as a child I was taught about the importance of international organizations in my social studies, the assistance they give to children that are deprived of bare necessities in live and also how they help people from war- torn countries.  The three international organizations that appealed to me are;

·         United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

·         United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO)

·         Save the children

I chose United Nations children’s fund because they are all about helping children globally. They fight for the rights of every child beginning with save shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster. They try as much as possible to provide both health care and education for children.

  United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural Organization is another organization I like, I see this organization as one that brings unity among all nations, creating an atmosphere where everybody is welcomed to dialogue irrespective of your country of origin. Their mission is to create peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. The most amazing thing I like about this organization is how they try to bridge the gap that exist in the world through;

·         The building of inclusive knowledgeable societies through information and communication

·         They provide quality education for all and lifelong learning.

·         They promote cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace

·         Mobilizing science knowledge and policy for sustainable development

·         Addressing emerging social and ethical challenges

   The third organization I chose is Save the Children. I chose this because it represents everything I stand for when it comes to educating young children. They support education not only in the classroom but also at home. What they do include;

·         Training teachers to engage their students through more effective teaching practices.

·         Parents and caregivers are taught how to help their children learn early on, in preparation to enter school.

·         They introduce ways to parents and community volunteers on how to get kids reading and doing math outside of school hours.

·         They introduce children to the power of artistic expression, drawing, painting, music, drama, dance and more, to help them heal, learn, and to do better in school.

·         They work to make sure children don’t stop learning during crisis, by keeping them healthy so they don’t fall behind or drop out.

There are so many job opportunities advertised on the site of Save the Children International, but the one I am interested in is, Head of Learning & Development. The skills and experience I would need to competently fulfill each of these roles include;

Being a proven Learning & Development leader with a track record in developing, implementing, and evaluating learning with large global organizations. Degree educated and holding CIPD (or similar) qualifications in Learning& Development. Being a creative and credible learning professional, with experience of influencing and collaborating within a complex global stakeholder network. Experience of working within another NGO would be an advantage, but is not essential. English language is essential for this role, and a second language (preferably French, or Spanish) is desirable.

References:

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

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethe children.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGlpl4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official site

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

   One of the early childhood organization I am really interested in is the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. This is one of the first early childhood organization that I subscribed to their newsletter so as to be current with the trends in early childhood. The reason why I chose this organization as my support system is because of what they have to offer as regards to early childhood and teacher education. Their mission statement includes

·         Supporting the professional growth of early childhood educators through the provision and promotion of ongoing professional development, training and best practices;

·         Advocating on behalf of the profession;

·         Promoting and supporting quality early learning and care as an integral part of a child’s healthy development;

·         Disseminating research, educational resources and topical information about early learning and care to the public, government and other related professionals;

·         Coordinating opportunities for communication and networking among early educators and others interested  in early childhood education and care;

·         Promoting and supporting research and advancement in the field of early childhood education and care;

·         Building capacity and leadership between the profession, communities and stakeholder groups to advocate for children and families;

·         Making known to parents and the general public the value and importance of early childhood education and early childhood educators and;

·         Facilitating certification and supporting equivalency of early childhood educators.

I chose this association because they are not only into in the business of promoting quality early learning and care but they also make sure they advocate for a better working condition, better wages for early childhood educators in Ontario and also job satisfaction.

Another organization that appealed to me is the association of teacher educators (ATE). Their job basically is to support quality teacher education in Kansas by cooperating with the National Association of teacher Educators and with other professional organizations and institutions that is interested in making sure that the teachers get the best in their profession as educators.

The third organization that appeals to me would be the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). They are into promoting quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8. They also advocate for policies that best suits approaches that put all children’s ability into perspectives, focusing on children living in poverty, multilingual children, children of color, children with disabilities. I call this organization a diverse and anti-bias organization because of their input to help families get access to quality education irrespective of who they are.

I noticed that there are early childhood jobs available in Ontario but not under the auspices of the association of early childhood educators Ontario. The job description is basically to organize and lead activities for school age children that are designed to encourage intellectually, physical and emotional growth. To provide engaging and developmentally appropriate activities, utilize appropriate behavior management techniques in all interactions with children.

The skills and experience I would need to competently fulfill this role is to have Early childhood Education (ECE) or Early Childhood Education Assistant (ECA) or equivalent. First Aid/CPR certified.

References:

www.atekan.org/wp/

www.aeceo.ca/about_us

www.naeyc.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels.

Each week we come across interesting topics that enriches us both professionally and in our daily lives. Without a doubt we all need support systems that make both professional life and personal life easy. No man is an Island so we all need to rely on each other for information and collaboration is a huge part of giving and receiving assistance. “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern for something that they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”. (Wegner, 2006).

   Communities of practice are not defined by a particular uniform look or shape but what binds them together as a group is the shared interest. The three communities of practice that appeal to me include Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario AECEO)

  I chose these three organizations because they all are linked to education, the first is Nigerian union of teachers, this is a group that all teachers in Nigeria belong to and new and upcoming teachers are mandated to be part of. The second is a professional membership organizations in the United States that works to promote high quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8 by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. The last I chose is the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO). This association is located in Canada and they develop and implement activities in early childhood settings for children from infancy to twelve. They are also responsible for planning and organizing activities that protect and promote children’s intellectual, and physical, social and emotional growth. This association consist of Preschool teachers, childcare workers, Day care workers, child Care Practitioners, Home child care visitor/consultant, Nursery school teachers, child care assistant supervisors, Day care supervisors and child care coordinators. Just like Helm (2007) said “members of a COP develop relationships and learn from each other. They enjoy sharing their knowledge and engaging in joint activities and discussions. The members may or may not work for the same organizations or positions”.

  

     Association of Early Childhood Education Ontario is a typical organization that has members from different organizations, just like Helm (2007) described. They stay active in the COP even when they organizations or positions.

I chose these three organizations because the Nigerian union of teachers is the first communities of education I belonged to as a teacher in Nigeria, the second National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the one I got to know because of my online study in Walden University the third one which is Association of Early Childhood Educators in Ontario is the organization I intend being part of when I eventually get to Canada for my second masters.

There are no job opportunities currently available that interest me but if there is an opportunity for me to work there I would probably go for a position as a nursery school teacher. The skills and roles I need to competently fulfill each of the roles in this organizations is to have a teacher’s qualification to be able to teach and also share a common interest that they all share to be able to make difference in a child’s life by keeping abreast with the latest trends on how to teach children, problem solving and knowledge sharing with each other.

References:

http://www.aeceo/(http:/www.aeceo.ca/)