Farewell to Walden

This will be my last post for my graduate studies program. Here are three important things that I have learned over the past 20 months that directly correlate to three goals/commitments that I want to make as I graduate.

I have learned the importance of being a lifelong learner, and commit to continuing to learn!

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”
― Albert Einstein 

I have learned that I have a strong desire to advocate for the field of early childhood in every way possible, and I commit to continuing to be an advocate at every opportunity!

"How our nation treats its children reflects our societal values. Children can't vote. They depend on us...to do right by them, stand up for them, and advocate for what they need to grow and prosper."

-T. Berry Brazelton

I have also realized the importance of being an advocate of social change, and I commit to assuring that all of the work that I do is viewed through this lens!

 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

-Margaret Mead 

 

Thank you to all of the professors and colleagues that have helped me to grow during my time at Walden. It has been one of the most amazing journeys of my life, and it has been a pleasure sharing it with all of you!! Carolyn

International Professional Opportunities

This week we were asked to identify international agencies or organizations we would like to work for.

    1. Save the Children:(http://www.savethechildren.org  
                      /site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E    
                      /Official_Site.htm)

·        The position I am interested in with this organization is a Basic Education and Literacy Advisor. This job entails leading basic education programs in early childhood, literacy, nutrition, and exercise through the technical design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and documentation of activities that promote results for children using the SCI Theory of Change.  

·        This job would be based in Washington D.C. and requires a Master of Education degree plus ten or more years of experience.

·        I chose this position because I am familiar with the reputation of Save the Children and this job description has components that I have learned about in my courses at Walden University.

    2. UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund. (http://www.unicef.org/)

·        The position I am interested in with this organization is Education Specialist for the Central African Region in Bangui. This job entails doing analysis, partnering with stakeholders, focusing on education for girls and gender mainstreaming, emergency and post-crisis education, and supporting areas of regional concern such as HIV.

·        This job would be located in Bangui and requires a college degree, fluency in English and French, and at least eight years of experience.

·        I chose this position because it would help me grow professionally and allow me the opportunity to work in a culture that is growing in their understanding of the importance of early childhood

    3. UNESCO: United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.  (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco)

·        The position I am interested in with this organization is Professional Staff in the Education Sector. This job entails fostering partnerships to strengthen the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all, including working on the publication of the annual Global Monitoring Report which tracks the international community’s progress towards the six “Education For All” goals. These goals are:
  1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

  2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
  3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.

  4. Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.

  5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
  6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

·        This job would be located in Paris and requires a college degree, 10-15 years’ experience, and fluency in French and English.

·        I chose this position because I believe that the six “Education for All” goals are worthwhile, and I believe that I have skills that could create momentum with goal number one.

National Professional Opportunities

This week we were asked to identify three national agencies or organizations we would like to work for. These are the three that I chose.

1.    The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning (https://education.uw.edu/faculty-and-research/centers/NCQTL)

The goals of this organization are:

• To identify the research-based practices that support school readiness.

• To work with Head Start programs and staff to inform development of relevant training materials and products.

• To improve professional development through individualized and innovative coaching and mentoring strategies for Head Start teachers and staff.

• To encourage effective transition to kindergarten.

• To professionalize early childhood education and to develop and implement degree-bearing higher education curricula that is affordable, accessible, relevant and effective for Head Start teachers.

          

   The reason this organization appeals to me is the school readiness aspect. I am a firm believer that children can be prepared for school in a developmentally appropriate way, and after hearing Dr. Joseph (the program Director) speak, I believe they are doing some great things at NCQTC to make strides in that direction. I would need a Doctorate degree to work there as a faculty member, but there are several positions working as support staff that only require an undergraduate degree.

2.   National Center on Child Care Professional Development Systems and Workforce Initiatives aka: The PDW Center

(http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/child-care-pdw-center)

The goals of this organization are to:

• Provide TA in coordination and consultation with OCC, OHS, and the Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN) partners to maximize and individualize TA for States and Territories.
• Create TA tools to support State/Territory professional development system’s self-assessment and decision making.
• Support infant/toddler/preschool and school-age communities of practice.
• Develop and maintain a repository of early childhood education distance learning criteria, policies, and procedures.
• Support evaluation, design, and building of criteria that recognizes credentials, promotes reciprocity, and improves workforce access.
 

     The reason this organization appeals to me is the strong technical assistance component. I work for an organization that receives support from the PDW center and I think it would be exciting and fulfilling to work with other states in this capacity. Experience in the field working with children and adults and a Master’s Degree in EC are the requirements for employment.

  
     3. ICF International Early Education Senior Technical 
         Assistance Specialist 

            (http://icfi.jobs/virtual-usa/senior-technical-   
             assistance-specialist-early-education telecommute/
             19B6B419C3F344219855D66AFAAFBC2B/job)    

            

The goals of this organization are to:

• Support T/TA staff to work with grantees in school readiness initiatives; professional development of TA staff; sustainability of non-compliance and deficiency corrections; and other Regional and Office of Head Start (OHS) priorities as identified.
• Assist with strategies that develop collaboration between Head Start Programs, State and local agencies as well as other community partners supporting the HS/EHS grantees.
• Maintain on-going communication with the Regional Program Manager and Program Specialists (to include T/TA updates, new materials/resources), partner with T/TA staff, develop progress reports, goals and quality improvement plans to ensure high quality services are being provided. 
• Support the development and implementation of TA plan for grantees ensuring implementation of all client (ACF) priorities. 
• Collaborate closely with peers and federal staff in the provision of training and/or TA to grantees and other primary audience. 
• Build strong, positive relationships to facilitate ongoing communication, collaborative planning, and shared problem solving. 
• Coordinate Training/TA with ICF project staff, other federally funded technical assistance partners, and/or other TA partners 
• Develop and facilitate peer linkages between grantees (state and local grantees). 
• Participate in presentations at national meetings and conferences. 
• Provide a monthly record describing the TA activities provided in the Information System Technical Assistance Management database. 
• Participate in weekly TA team and full-team conference calls.
•  Develop information products useful to priority users. Stay abreast of the latest research, tools, and resources that support the TA activities in order to be effective and understand the challenges the grantees face. 
• Support client designated priorities and special projects, including development of TA materials (e.g. issue briefs, handouts, brochures, presentation kits, and webinars).
• Help design and facilitate meetings sponsored by the client. 
• Participate in hiring, termination, and annual performance appraisal procedures for all assigned project staff.

        This position appeals to me because it is outside of my comfort zone and would really challenge me to grow. This organization is tied to the NASDAQ stock trading world, and they work with agencies to help build financial capacity. It would be challenging to braid the information and experience I have with this “new world”! It would also be fun because it is based at home with some national travel. For this position it is Master’s degree preferred, 12+ years of training and TA expertise, collaboration experience with early care and education systems and State and Federal stakeholders, development of adult curriculum, knowledge of Head Start and child care, and computer skills.

Professional Opportunites

Wow! It's been a few months since we had a blog assignment for school. This is my last class and I am pleased that blogs will be a part of our weekly work because they allow for the most creativity as far as our assignments go.

The blog this week focuses on three organizations or communities of practice that appeal to me and that I would like to belong to, and three jobs in the field that I would like to have .

• United Way of Utah (UWU) is an outstanding agency whose primary focus is breaking the cycle of poverty by focusing on early childhood. Two specific UWU initiatives that interest me are the expansion of the 211 number with Help Me Grow and Promise Neighborhoods. 211 is a number that people can call to find resources about anything, and UWU is partnering 211 with Help Me Grow-whose mission is to promote the importance of developmental screenings-to ensure that all parents of young children who call the number know about screenings and early intervention support. Promise Neighborhoods are working with extremely low income communities to ensure that their young children have what they need in order to be ready for kindergarten.
• Higher Education Consortium of Utah is a new group comprised of the heads of early childhood college programs around the state, as well as key stakeholders. The purpose of this group is to collaborate on the curriculum being taught in the programs and establish what elements are important for students to have in order to be prepared for work in the early childhood field.
• Early Childhood Council, or Early Childhood Utah (ECU), is the group established in statute for every state to coordinate policy and work around young children and their families. Two initiatives that interest me in this group are Strengthening Families and School Readiness.
• State CCDF Administrator-the skills needed for this job are an understanding of CCDF Funds and how to best spend them. There is a lot of paperwork and meetings with this job but I believe it could be fun.
• University Professor-my Master's degree is actually all that is standing in the way of my becoming an adjunct teacher, and I have several opportunities awaiting for the fall semester. I have been fortunate that the other two skills needed (an understanding of how to teach adults and early childhood development) are things that I have been working on for many years.
• Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Provider-I will also need a Master's Degree for this position and an understanding of the Head Start Performance Standards. The position I am interested in is working with American Indian/Alaska Native programs, so I will also need to study more about how to work with those groups in a culturally relevant way.

Adjourning

           The post for this week examines the fifth stage of Tuckman's Stages of Team Development, which is adjourning (Abudi, 2010). I have been involved with several groups where the adjourning stage was very difficult. The aspect of the groups that made it difficult to say goodbye are the personal ones because, although I enjoy working with individuals that bring their unique strengths and perspectives to the situation, it is the human attachments that are the hardest for me to loose. This stage of team development looks specifically at the well-being of the team, and focuses more on the emotions than the concrete successes that the team has experienced (Abudi). 
           I do think that high performing teams are the hardest to leave because they have learned to know each other, to trust each other and to rely on each other (Abudi, 2010). This leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes and makes it harder to move on because not all teams reach this stage, and once you have experienced, it you want it for all of your team experiences. I also think that teams with the clearest norms are the most successful because the work becomes about the project and isn't focused on individual goals (Abudi). This is also good for the relationships of the team members because there is a sense of collaboration instead of competition, and the team members trust one another.
          I had one group that was particularly hard to leave because it encompassed all of the aspects of a great team: leadership, clear norms, high performance from each member of the team, and a deep sense of respect and trust. We worked hard, were enthusiastic about our mission, and had a great time. The larger organization did some revising, and because each member of the team was seen as strong team player, they disbanded the team and sent each one of us to work on another group that wasn't working as well. There were several consequences of this. First, we didn't get a chance to have an adjourning, it was foisted upon us and we were expected to pack up and move to start work at the new location the following Monday. This was so abrupt that several members of the team experienced physical ramifications. Second, although we were great individually, what made us really wonderful was our team. Each member did okay at their new location, but no team was ever as strong as the whole group of us together. Third, we lost trust in the larger organization because they didn't let us say good-bye to each other and wish each other luck as we left for our next adventure (Abudi, 2010) We still talk about it when individual members see each other, even though it's been over ten years ago.
           The closing ritual that I enjoy most is getting together one last time, away from work, to socialize, celebrate, and plan a way to keep in touch. I think that whatever else the adjourning stage consists of, it needs to be determined by the members of the group and not an outside party. Often members of high performing early childhood groups end up working together again on other projects, and when groups are allowed to adjourn in their own way, each member of the team can decide how connected he/she wants to stay with the other members. I realize that there are only a few weeks left before I start the coursework for my emphasis; there are some members of my Walden cohort that will go in a different direction and I won't be able to correspond with them again. I imagine that adjourning will need to take place via technology. I think that this it a good time to say farewell and good luck to all of the wonderful people that I have met in this experience, and if you are ever in Utah please look me up!! 
     



Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved (November 30, 2013) from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

• 
  

Communication During Disagreements

           The assignment for this week was to think about a disagreement that has happened recently in my life and what tools I have used to resolve the conflict. The conflict that comes to mind is one with a colleague of mine at work. We are both passionate people, and sometimes we disagree about the direction that projects should go. We are also have very different personalities and ways of doing things; I am comfortable with spontaneity and see things from a global perspective where she is detail oriented and feels more comfortable with thinking everything through carefully.
           We recently put a few strategies in place that have helped our communication. We are doing an Action Log where anything that happens regarding our project is written down and shared so that no one is caught off guard. We are also meeting for a few minutes after other office meetings to touch base and catch up. These are good examples of the 3Rs in action (Laureate Education Inc., 2013). They show respect because they honor both of our processing styles, they are reciprocal because it gives us two places to have our voices heard, and they are responsive because it keeps us connected in a way that moves our work forward. She has expressed her appreciation to me for my efforts, and has explained that clear communication helps her feel less ambiguous.
          Today we had a moment when there was a conflict about a discussion that was happening. I took it as an opportunity to to use two additional nonviolent communication skills that I learned about this week-empathetic listening and honest expressing (Center for Nonviolent Communication, n.d.). When she made a comment that seemed aggressive to me, instead of filing it away and letting it fester, I calmly explained to her that I felt uncomfortable with her comment. I asked her to listen to me and I listened to her, and we worked through the issue. I think this is important because little miscommunications can build up over time and cause big problems later on. I loved the quote from The Third Side website (n.d.) from Lao-Tzu that says, "Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts." Being mindful of communications and working toward effective interactions daily is the most effective way to solve disagreements and keep the lines of communication open!  



Resources:

Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). Foundations of nvc. Retrieved (November     

           25, 2013) from http://www.cnvc.org/learn/nvc-foundations

 

Laureate Education Inc. (2013). What are the 3 R’s of skilled dialog? Retrieved    

           (November 25, 2013) from http://class.walden.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp

 

The Third Side. (n.d.) 3s skills. Retrieved (November 25, 2013) from

           http://www.thirdside.org