Time Well Spent

There are so many things I have learned through my journey in this Master's of Early Childhood Studies program.  The one thing that sticks the most with me is that in one way or another we are all advocates and that advocating for young children and families is what we do everyday!  I constantly share this insight with my colleagues who find themselves surprised that they are considered advocates.

I also learned all the ways in which we can advocate for families and young children from voting, to writing letters, blogging, and communities of practice.  I am excited to share and utilize what I have learned to better advocate for families and young children. 

I have also learned how to identify issues and challenges that I am passionate about.  I have learned out to analyze these issues and challenges and how to create a response to these challenges. 

My long term goal is to continue my education and to go on for a Doctorate in my field.  While I am still trying to decide on an exact specialization and program, it is definitely something I want to achieve.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow students.  It has been a joy to experience this journey with each of you.  Your feedback has been invaluable and I look forward to staying in touch with each of you.  I would also like to thank the instructors of our program for their support, encouragement, and feedback that assisted each of us in achieving our goal of a Master's Degree in our field. 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Field: Internationally

The first international organization that comes to mind in the early childhood education field that I would like to work for would be Parents As Teachers (PAT).  This organization is dedicated to families and promoting quality care and education from birth to three years of age.  I chose this organization last week as well and would like to be a trainer if I worked for this organization or even in their administrative department.

The second international organization I found appealing to work for was the World Family Organization [WFO] (www.worldfamilyorganization.org).  This organization's mission is to "promote means, opportunity, equal rights and chances for women and men to assume their role and functions within the Family and Society, in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity, and promote policies and actions to bring about better life condition to all families, respecting their diversity and culture" (www.worldfamilyorganization.org).  I found their WFO University and Research Centre the most appealing to work in. 

The last international organization I chose was the United Nations  Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  Their mission is to:

provide international leadership to create learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations.

provide expertise and foster partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all.

work as an intellectual leader, an honest broker and clearing house for ideas, propelling both countries and the international community to accelerate progress towards these goals.

facilitate the development of partnerships and monitors progress, in particular by publishing an annual Global Monitoring Report that tracks the achievements of countries and the international community towards the six Education for All goals (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/about-us/how-we-work/mission/). 

For this organization I would like to work in the Education department in some capacity. 

The skills, knowledge, and experiences I would need to work for these organization would include learning another language; continuing to become culturally competent; staying current on the latest research and issues within the field; and continued work experience in the field of early childhood education.