Time Well Spent

I would like to start off by thanking all of my colleagues and Johnna! Without the feedback and encouragement I received throughout this course I do not think I would have grown as much as I did. I appreciate the time you all spent learning about my challenge and why it is of importance to me. 

I wish everyone the best in their future endeavors! If any of you would like to stay connected my email is chrissy.silk@gmail.com - I would love to add each of you to my Community of Practice.

The three things I learned during this course and program:

1) This program has helped me to make small manageable goals for  myself, both academically and personally. Having the courses on a consistent and shortened schedule helped me think in the moment and short term. I was able to accomplish the goal of achieving my master's degree without feeling as overwhelmed. 

2) I can be an agent of social change. Prior to the start of this course I thought that to be an agent of social change I had to think on the national or global level. This course taught me that I can make small changes within my community to ensure positive outcomes for the children, families, and the early childhood field.
“Everyone has the power to make a difference, whether big or small or local or global” (General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church, 2014).

3) The last and most important thing I learned through my time at Walden was how to be a leader. Leadership, to me, is about guiding and inspiring others to be the best version of themselves. Leaders help others to achieve a common goal. Through this course I realized my potential at becoming a leader within my workplace. 

The long-term goal I have decided on for myself is to build relationships within my new position at Head Start. I have been a teacher at Head Start for six years and have built relationships among the other teachers. All of those relationships are now having to change, which is something I will be needing to grow in. 

Reference

General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church. (2014). 6 types of social-change agents. Retrieved from https://umc-gbcs.org/faith-in-action/6-types-of-social-change-agents

The ECE Community - Internationally

Three organizations that I found interesting are: 

1) International Coaching Council - this organizations offers Master Coaching Courses/Certificate. Although this organization is not specific to Early Childhood, it is relevant to my Community of Practice and coaching. There is a membership for this global organization and a directory for members to connect with each other. http://www.international-coaching-council.com

2) World Organization for Early Childhood Education - this organization defends and promotes the rights of the child to education and care worldwide and supports activities which improve accessibility to high quality education and care (World Organization for Early Childhood Education, 2013). There will also be a conference in June in Croatia for the members and non-members of OMEP. http://worldomep.org/en/

3) Global Partnership for Education - this organization is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries in order to dramatically increase the number of children who are in school and learning (Global Partnership for Education, 2017). There are children worldwide who are unable to receive quality education, especially those in developing countries. This organization is bound to increase the number of children who have access to quality early childhood education. 

Job Opportunity

Senior Education Specialist - Learning Assessment Systems

 

Here are some requirements for the position:

 

• Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in a social science discipline (education, economics, public policy, psychology, or a related discipline). 

• At least 8 years of experience in country level education sector reform and planning, with specialized expertise in the area of learning and assessments.  10 or more years of experience is preferred.

• At least 5 years’ experience in a developing country, with successful experience in implementing learning assessments or supporting national teams to strengthen learning assessment systems. Experience can include working on large scale assessments, national examinations, and/or classroom-based assessments. 

• Good understanding of the challenges developing countries face in designing, implementing, and sustaining efforts to monitor learning and use learning data to improve learning. 

• Good knowledge of the institutional environment, including familiarity with global initiatives to monitor learning and key actors working in this space. 

References

Global Partnership for Education. (2017). About us. Retrieved from 

                  http://www.globalpartnership.org/about-us

World Organization for Early Childhood Education. (2013). About OMEP. Retrieved from 

                 http://worldomep.org/en/about-omep-2/

ECE Community: National/Federal Level

When researching organizations that appealed to me I wanted to focus on those that could help in my future management position.

1) Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC)

• This organization provides resources throughout the early childhood field and is where I receive my information around coaching. 
• Through this website you can find standards, employment opportunities and resources particular to Head Start.
• There is a director position posted for a Head Start in Texas. Some of the preferred requirements include a Doctoral in Early Childhood Education, Business Administration, Management, Human Relations or related field, head start experience, and bilingual in English and Spanish.

2) Association for Early Learning Leaders - www.earlylearningleaders.org

• This organization has a membership attached to it, if you would like to utilize all of the benefits.
• They offer webinars on various topics along with an annual conference.
• The goal of this association is to strengthen the knowledge, skills & abilities of early care directors, owners, emerging leaders, and other early learning professionals to ensure quality child care programs for young children (Association for Early Learning Leaders, n.d.).

3) National Head Start Association (NHSA) - www.nhsa.org

• This association is key to my program and provides resources and professional development opportunities related to Head Start.
• There is a section that focuses on getting involved in the association and advocating.
• There is a membership opportunity with NHSA, as well. 

Reference

Association for Early Learning Leaders. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.earlylearningleaders.org

Exploring ECE Roles

When I think about the early childhood world my passion has changed within the last year or so. Of course, the children are always number one but recently I have enjoyed exploring the coaching realm within early childhood. The job opportunities and communities of practice I chose for this post revolve around coaching for educators. 

The three communities of practice/organizations I feel relate to me are; the coaches within my current program, Colorado Shines, and Colorado Coaching Consortium. The coaches at my current workplace will help me to guide my way through the coaching process. The Colorado Shines and Colorado Coaching Consortium appeal to me because they are platforms to professional development and networking opportunities. I feel that the more focused and informative professional development one can become involved in will really help better themselves and those they are working with. Colorado Coaching Consortium offers Relationship Based Professional Development trainings around adult learners, coaching competencies, reflective practice, and coaching implementation tools, which will offer current/future coaches the tools for success. 

I have recently accepted a coaching position at Head Start, which is the job opportunity of interest to me and one that I have been working towards for almost two years!! This position will be a coach/supervisor to a select number of teachers within our Head Start program. I am not sure the exact experience needed but I know they wanted the candidate to have Head Start teaching experience with some knowledge of the policies/procedures.