Jobs in the ECE Community: National/Federal level

Organizations of interest:

The Child Development Agency in Jamaica wants “children, their families and team members to reach their full potential in a safe and nurturing environment” (CDA, n.d., para.1). I like that this agency wants to help not only children but families on a whole and its team members.

Zero to Three is a non-profit organization that provides the necessary persons with knowledge needed to foster early development.  I like this organization’s mission, the services it provides  and the fact that it targets young children (Zero to Three, n.d.).

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) helps families, children, communities and individuals to do well economically and socially. I that this organization helps all the above mentioned parties to find the resources that will enable them to be independent and improve their quality of life.

Jobs

Some jobs that interest me are : Lead toddler teacher, Early head start home visitor and Co-director.

Requirements

For the first job I would need either an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree and be teacher qualified. The second job requires an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in child development; and knowledge and experience in child development and early childhood education. Bilingual ability to speak English and Spanish is preferred. The third job requires a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, child development or a related field; experience as a Lead teacher or Director;excellent communication and organizational skills; proficiency in Microsoft Office and the ability to maintain good interpersonal relationships.

References:

Administration for Children and Families. (n.d.) What we do. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/what-we-do

Child Development Agency (CDA). (n.d.). Mission, vision, values. Retrieved from http://www.cda.gov.jm/about/mission/

ZEro to Three. (2015). Early experiences matter. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/

The ECE Community

In Jamaica, the following organizations appeal to me:

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - because its mission includes helping countries provide quality education to everyone (Education, 2014).

Caribbean Early Childhood Development (CaribECD)- plays an advocacy role in the early childhood field and it is a community of practice focused on exchanging information focused on early childhood issues within the caribbean (Early Childhood Development, n.d.; ).  

The Early Childhood Commission- is responsible for early childhood development in the island (Early Childhood Development, n.d.).

Some job opportunities that interest me are:

1. After school program director in Georgia
2. Toddler Teacher in Georgia
3. Early Childhood Development Supervisor in Jamaica

The skills and experience needed for each are:

1. At least 1 year experience in child care, managerial skills, organizational skills, knowledge of curriculum development, knowledge of state licensing  requirements, computer literacy skills and communication skills (After School Program Director/Coordinator, 2015).
2. Child Development Association (CDA) or Technical College Credential (TCC) credential or previous child care experience, communication skills and organizational skills (Toddler Teacher, 2015).
3. Master’s degree in Early Childhood Development/Leadership/Education or and equivalent; at least five years experience in early childhood development or related field; 3 years experiencing coordinating early childhood programs; knowledge of the laws and Acts governing the early childhood sector;knowledge of childhood development, parenting, computer literacy and basic statistical applications; must have a driver’s licence; leadership, planning, organizational and communication skills (ECC, 2008).

References:

After School Program Director/Coordinator [Job posting]. (2015). Indeed.Retrieved from http://www.indeed.com/cmp/White-Oak-Learning-Academy/jobs/After-School-Program-Director-Coordinator-17b29de299082e20

Caribbean Early Childhood Development (CAribECD). (2015). Retrieved from http://www.open.uwi.edu/caribecd/about-us

Early Childhood Commission (ECC). (2008). Vacancies. Retrieved from http://www.ecc.gov.jm/vacancies.htm

Early Childhood Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from unicef website: http://www.unicef.org/jamaica/partners_2055.htm

Education. (2014).Retrieved from UNESCO website: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/coordination-and-integration/

Toddler Teacher [Job posting]. (2015). Indeed. Retrieved from http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?cmp=KidsRKids-%2F-Sprayberry-Academy&t=Toddler+Teacher&jk=ea1ab49b2e85e34f&sjdu=QwrRXKrqZ3CNX5W-O9jEvb2lB-P8-fGFZkR5xh5kv4V-cufrneQPzi5vhVpAB_I3GgS7Ez-ab7BI6e70dh74Jg&pub=pub-indeed

My Wordle

Thank you

As we near the end of this class I would like to say thank you to my colleagues. Thank you for your insights, encouragement and support through your comments. I have enjoyed reading your posts and comments, I have learned a lot from all of you. I wish you all the best and hope to see you in other classes.

Groups

It is usually hardest for me to leave social groups. I feel most connected to the individuals in these groups and knowing that we will not be meeting or seeing each other regularly usually makes me sad. In these groups we have already gone through the forming, storming, norming and performing stage. Knowing that we will not be doing things together anymore makes adjourning hard. The hardest group for me to leave were my friends in college. We were all international students and a great support for each other. In time, we came to realize that we had a lot in common even though we were from different countries. The similarities in our cultures were amazing. We often ate together and had discussions about several issues that concerned us. We tried to help each other as best we could in every aspect of our lives. Of course there were disagreements sometimes but we always worked them out. We had a closing ritual of sorts after our graduation. Our friends and family all gathered together and some of them prayed for us, we celebrated completing four years of college with speeches and a cake. Afterwards we all went out to a restaurant and had a meal which served as a celebratory and farewell dinner. I also gave everyone in the group a personalized letter of appreciation which I had written to them. I imagine I will probably adjourn from this group by thanking individuals for their contributions. Everyone has helped to make this experience a more enriching one with their contributions and advice. Adjourning is important because it helps to bring closure and sometimes helps you to look to the future and the next thing instead of living in the past. Adjourning also gives you a chance to look at your successes and failures as a group and possibly how you can improve next time (O'- Hair & Wiemann, 2012).



Reference:

O'- Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Conflict Resolution

I recently had a disagreement with my boss about the way I discipline some of my students. He thinks that I can be a little harder on them. Two strategies that I have learned to help me manage disagreements are to:

listen to what the other party says and give feedback telling them what I heard. This way I can ascertain if I understood the message the way they meant it.

to take the win win approach (Conflict Resolution Network, n.d.) in which sometimes both parties can have their needs met satisfactorily without having to necessarily compromise on anything. In this case I asked my boss if he could come in and teach my class for a day so I can see exactly what he would like me to do in certain situations. This way I can implement some of his strategies and we can talk over things that I might not feel comfortable employing in my class.


Reference:

Conflict Resolution Network. (n.d.). CR kit. Retrieved from http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3

Communication Style

The two persons I chose to evaluate me were my friend and my husband. We all had similar scores for communication anxiety and listening skills. My husband’s score placed me in the moderate category for verbal aggressiveness, which was the same category that I placed myself in. However my friend’s score placed me in the significantly verbally aggressive category by one point. I was surprised that she perceived me in this way. I do not consider myself to be so. I always try to consider others and not hurt their feelings as much as possible. If anything I try to attack ideas and not the individual who puts forth the idea. I suppose my friend either perceives me differently than I perceive myself or perhaps she made a mistake when she was filling out the evaluation. Whatever the case, I need to ensure that I am not verbally aggressive in my dealings with others. It can be damaging to any relationship, and especially to any bonds that I may have formed with my students. I learned that communication is truly a two-way street. It is not only about what you put out there or what you say but it also involves how others perceive your actions and words.