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/)