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/