Farewell Message

Where do I begin…..? 18 months ago I made one of the biggest decisions of my life to further my education and now I am happy to say this chapter of my life I complete.

As I think about the entire program and the interactions with different instructors and classmates I am so happy I chose Walden University. Being a part of this program has taught me to first find who I really am, who I represent and my true passion in the field of early childhood education. I have learned that diversity within the professionals, children and their families allows us as educators to step out our comfort zone and embrace people, their backgrounds, ethnicity, religion, culture etc. I have also learned that equality can mean different things to different people so my focus should be working on children and families individual needs and not thinking what I do for one family has to be done for another.

I have to say when I enrolled at Walden University I was leery about the online experience. I was not sure if I would be able to make connections with other professional around the world “only via text”. But Walden proved me wrong and exceeded my expectations.   

Now that I have completed my master’s program my hopes is to teach adults at a local college or university in Philadelphia, however I still want to be hands on with children and families. I would like to start a non-profit education program in North Philadelphia where I was born and raised that will provide early education and tween programs for teenagers in the community. I do not have all the details just yet but I am confident I will find a way to invest in my community.

To My  Fellow Colleagues…  Believe it or not you all helped push me during  the course especially during group discussions and  blog assignments. Thank you for every comment, question and personal input. Lastly to Dr. E….. I had a moment during week three when I thought I was not going to get my capstone topic and goals right. But after an encouraging conversation with you via phone….. It just clicked ! Thank You.

P.S I had a really nice thank you video that REFUSED to post so here’s a Farewell Picture.

Contact Info: 267-496-2043

Taniafiggs99@hotmail.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Below are three international early childhood organizations that interest me.

Home

The World Forum Foundation mission is to promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings. This mission is accomplished through convening gatherings of early childhood professionals around the world and by promoting the continuing exchange of ideas among participants. They have forums for professionals to discuss resent trending topics in the field of early childhood education and global projects on specific topics and issues.  I  signed up for their WoFo chat groups last year which allows me to discuss specific topics like outdoor play or  parent  involvement with other professionals around the world.

http://www.dec-sped.org/

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) promotes policies and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of young children (0-8) who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities. DEC is an international membership organization for those who work with or on behalf of young children (0-8) with disabilities and other special needs and their families. I really like this organization because it focuses solely to help children with special needs.

Current Job Position:

PT Instructor, Education and Child Development (Part-Time)

Essential Duties:

1. Provides instruction for courses at a variety of times and locations.
2. Demonstrates a commitment to student engagement, student success, and instructional excellence.
3. Maintains access to students through posted office hours and electronic communication.
4. Prepares and utilizes a course syllabus and assessments for each course using guidelines established by the institution.

5 .Maintains current knowledge of effective teaching methodologies and utilizes a variety of instructional delivery methods, classroom media, and educational resources.

Minimum Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Master’s degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, or related field.

Master’s degree with 18 graduate hours in child development, early childhood, education, special education, or related field.

http://www.cdacouncil.org/

The Council for Professional Recognition promotes improved performance and recognition of professionals in the early childhood education of children aged birth to 5 years old. The Council works to ensure that all professional early childhood educators and caregivers meet the developmental, emotional, and educational needs of our nation’s youngest children.

I have been considering to become a PD Specialist as a side job.

CDA Professional Development Specialist Eligibility Requirements

To conduct Verification Visits as a CDA Professional Development Specialist, an individual must meet the following criteria:

EDUCATION

• MUST hold a minimum of a Baccalaureate or Associate degree from an accredited college or university in one of the following disciplines:
  – Early Childhood Education/Child Development
  – Elementary Education/Early Childhood Education
  – Home Economics/Child Development
• The degree must include, at minimum, 18 semester or 24 quarter hours of coursework in Early Childhood Education/Child Development, studying children birth through 5 years.

EXPERIENCE

Option 1For those with a Baccalaureate degree, two years in a child care setting serving children from birth to 5 years of age to include:

• One year working directly with children as a caregiver, teacher, child life worker, social worker, or similar role and one year facilitating the professional growth of at least one other adult.

Option 2For those with an Associate degree, four years in a child care setting serving children from birth to 5 years of age, to include:

• Two years working directly with children as a caregiver, teacher, child life worker, social worker, or similar role and two years facilitating the professional growth of at least one other adult.

 

This assignment this week really made me realize so much related to early childhood education is going on besides in my community and state. 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The three national/federal organizations I would like to briefly share some information about that appeals to my professional career are Council for Exceptional Children, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood National Center and ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) – http://www.cec.sped.org/

The CEC is the largest international, professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities, gifts, and talents. CEC advocates for governmental policies, sets professional standards, and provides professional development. It also advocates for individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources needed for effective practice. Because I have a passion for teaching and education I think this organization could offer employment opportunities that interest me. I also like this organization because it is inclusive of all people on the education learning spectrum.

Job Opportunity: The Life-Centered Education (LCE) Coordinator is responsible for the operation of the LCE portal and providing customer service and support to LCE users and potential customers. Education/Experience: BA/BS degree; experience in an educational field (special education preferred)

T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center – http://teachecnationalcenter.org/

The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood National Center develops, implements, and sustains programs and strategies that result in a well-educated, fairly compensated, and stable early childhood workforce. The goal is to ensure the long-term success of our nation’s children in school and in life. When I was a director I had many teachers that was able to afford to get their associates/bachelor’s degrees in ECE because of the T.E.A.C.H.program. As a director I had to make sure their work schedule accommodated their school schedule. It was difficult at times but my teachers loved the program.

Job Opportunity: I was unable to find any open job positions however, a position that currently exist that I see myself performing is the VP, Professional Development Initiatives. Currently the position is filled by Edith Locke she is the person to contact regarding the day-to-day operations of T.E.A.C.H. Projects and is the lead team member responsible for organizing and conducting orientation sessions for new staff, scheduling and conducting on-site monitoring visits and participates as a reviewer for the competency assessment process.

ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families – http://www.zerotothree.org/

ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization. It provides parents, professionals, and policymakers the knowledge and know-how to nurture early development. I especially enjoy this organization because it supports positive relationships between parents and their young children. They off an abundance of resources for early childhood professional and diverse families (including military families).

Job Opportunity: Senior Training & Technical Assistance Specialist.  The Senior T/TA Specialist will provide content related to support the goal of the national center which is to promote the implantation of evidence-based child development, birth-to-five, teaching and learning practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive and that lead to positive child outcomes across learning environments, and that support strong professional development systems. The educational requirement for this position is a Master’s degree in Early Childhood related field preferred.

As I reflect on the three organizations I think that a representative from Zero to three would be a great addition to my community of practice for my Capstone project. The resources they provide on their website for parents could be helpful when arranging my parent toolkit for the training series to promote and encourage family involvement in preschool early education programs.

 

 

 

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

The three organizations I would like to briefly share some information about that appeals to my professional career are Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), Elwyn and JEVS Human Services.

http://www.phmc.org

Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that builds healthier communities through partnerships with government, foundations, businesses and community-based organizations. I chose this organization because they work closely with early childhood programs when it comes to training and regulating high quality programs. PHMC has served the Greater Philadelphia region since 1972 as a facilitator, developer, intermediary, manager, advocate and innovator in the field of public health. I have attended training’s and been visited by PHMC staff when I was a director several years ago. I personally like how the organization is all about empowering and educating parents, staff and the community about early education and the benefits of being actively involved in young children lives.

Job Opportunity: Family Services Coordinator. This position is responsible for assuring all Head Start program mandates and standards regarding the provision of high quality family services are achieved and maintained. This position is responsible for ensuring the provision of high quality services to all families, with a specific focus on the needs of families with child welfare system involvement, families experiencing homelessness, and immigrant and/or refugee families.

Skills & Experience: I have experience running a Head Start program with my last place of employment. However, the position also requires a minimum two years management and supervision experience, experience in case management, human services, and child welfare systems (which I do not have), and an understanding of Head Start philosophy and the ability to implement it.

https://www.elwyn.org

Elwyn is an organization that supports individuals with diverse challenges in shaping distinctive, meaningful lives. Through partnerships with families, communities and government, Elwyn is the provider of choice for people with diverse challenges. Currently they offer services in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. I chose this organization because their services address a variety of needs for people of all ages in behavioral health, early childhood services and work and adult day programs.

Job opportunity: Director, SEEDS Service Coordination – Early Childhood Intervention  The Director provides programmatic oversight and administrative supervision of all the processes involved in the placement and services of eligible preschool age children.

Skills & Experience: I really think this job opportunity could be a great fit for me however, the top four requirements are Bachelor’s Degree required, Master’s degree in Education or related field preferred Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) certification in Special Education required (I do not have), Dual certification in Special Education and Early Childhood preferred, PDE Supervisory certification preferred. What is hopeful about this position is that several sections are preferred but not required. So there could still be hope.

http://www.jevshumanservices.org

My final organization is JEVS Human Services. I like this organization because there vision is to enhance the employ-ability, independence, and quality of life of individuals through a broad range of programs. They specifically offer adult education opportunities which is specifically related to me next career goal.

Job Opportunity: Currently they have a Part Time College Counselor/Education Consultant position open. As part of this position I would advise students and their families on the steps needed to initiate and complete the college admissions and financial aid processes, provides resources and tools to navigate these processes, and develops individualized plans and tasks for clients to help them meet their educational and career goals.

As I reflect on the organizations and job opportunities I realized I am still struggling with if I want to go straight into teaching at a local college/university or stay in the administration field of early child education. I am open to a variety to job opportunities because I am ready for a change in my career. Graduating from Walden is going to open the doors to some great opportunities… I can feel it!!

From Passion To Action

It is great to be blogging again. As a embark on my last 8 weeks of my masters program I look forward to sharing and reflecting on my learning experiences, and the interactions I have had with colleagues, instructors, and professionals in the early childhood field. Below is my Wordle that represents words and terms that provoked my thinking with regard to being an agent for positive social change in the early childhood field.

Thank You & Farewell

To My Fellow Classmates

It has been an amazing journey during the completion of our core classes this past year. I sincerely appreciate every suggestion, comment and words of encouragement that you have offered on my blog post and/or weekly discussions. It’s amazing how people I never physically met can still leave a memorable impression in my life. This Walden community of educators is diverse, knowledgeable and one of the best groups of advocates I have gathered with in a long time.

I would like to send a special thank you to Lori who has been in my group since I started my first class with Walden. You have offered me so many positive and encouraging suggestions on various topics. But what I love even more is that you offer addition resources and will just send them as a “thinking of you” or “though you would find this interesting”. I sincerely appreciate that! I wish you the best as you begin your specialization courses. You are the definition of a true early childhood education advocate.

Lastly, I have to send a “shout out” to Joseph you have also been in groups with me since the beginning. I love your personality and your approaches to promoting diversity in your classroom and people you come in contact with. I can tell from your blogs that you are an excellent teacher and truly love what you do. I wish we had more males in the field of early education. They offer something different and unique to the world of education.

I wish everyone the best as you move towards their specialization courses!

Adjourning – Bringing it to an End

When working as a team the final stage is called the adjourning phase.  In the “adjourning” stage the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions. This stage looks at the team from the perspective of the well-being of the team rather than from the perspective of managing a team through the original four stages of team growth. The team leader should ensure that there is time for the team to celebrate the success of the project and capture best practices for future use. (Or, if it was not a successful project – to evaluate what happened and capture lessons learned for future projects.)

I would say leaving the team of Area Mangers I just recently worked with was very hard to say good-bye. We created such a bond and worked so well together. We knew each other’s strength and weaknesses and helped each other through difficult task. Although we had different centers that we over saw if a center that was not mines struggled another Area manager on the team still assisted with getting the center back on point. There was never the attitude of “that’s not my center so not my problem”. At the end of the day we all knew that we represented ONE company and would do anything in our powers to make sure every center shined because it was a direct representation of our leadership capabilities.

Although our team never really “ended” we would meet with different task and deadlines. So when a major task and deadline was successfully completed and accomplished either two things would occur. We would either go out to lunch to laugh and discuss non-work related events in our life. Or we all decide who would bring in a dish from home and have a smorgasbord or food in the office. It was our way of celebrating our small victories in a very high demand environment.

My hopes is as I begin the see the light at the end of the tunnel with my master’s degree program that the connections I have made with fellow classmates will go beyond Walden University. I absolutely look forward to meeting many faces at graduation and possibly even arranging a dinner at a local restaurant to just finally have all the faces I have learned with in one place at one time. Online schooling has been a huge adjustment in my life and so typing is for the most part our only way of communicating (which has tendencies to leave out the “personalities of people”. Getting together will finally allow me to put the face with the name and actually meet the person behind the texted words.

I think adjourning is something that naturally will happen with any group formed. It’s just a matter of how the group ends. Is it because the assignment is completed and successful or is it because the team just couldn’t make it work and had to know when to call it quits. Either way in my opinion it’s inevitable… however the hopes is it’s a positive departure with a little celebration of everyone’s hard work!

Conflict Resolution – The End Result is Not Always What We Expect

About a month ago I was promoted to HR for the early childcare program I work for after some management changes. But before then I was an Area Manager who supervised two full service sites (services 6-weeks to 12yrs old, three afterschool programs and one Head Start program. Unfortunately in this business things don’t always go according to plan and as a result of lack of supervision at one of my full service sites their DPW license was taken and given a provisional which lasted a year after hard work, trainings etc. Lost of a DPW license meant lose of Pre-K counts and Keystone Stars, which is a quality initiative program in Pennsylvania.

All this to say when you’re the supervisor you have to suffer the consequences of your teams actions. With a new vice president of finances with the company (about a year ago now) he came in right when these issues occurred. He had no real knowledge of my work ethic and diligence just that my center failed. His attitude toward me was pretty much rude, half speaking and a look of dissatisfaction. One day I had to talk to the VP of Finances about a concern my director had in regards to him speaking rude and unprofessional. I sat down in his office and began to express my directors concerns, he quickly got angry raising his voice, yelling, pointing his finger at me while standing. The whole time I was sitting. After about 5 min of his aggressive behavior I quickly stood up (I’m 6’1 and he is 5’9 maybe) and with a strong tone told him if he did not sit down while speaking to me and lower his voice I would walk out his office.

 

As a result of that conflict it was always unresolved tension between us. Which the management change and switch of my position (about a month ago) I was somewhat relieved and excited about learning new things. However he was going to be my supervisor. In hopes that his demeanor would change I stayed positive and open to whatever his expectations would be now that I was HR. But something was still not right I felt he wanting me to fail in my new position. To make this story short I ways laid off this Friday from my job. I believe a lot of different things contributed to his decision but I do not doubt he was uncomfortable working with me.

Even though this may sound like a sad story I am relieved. Unresolved conflicts demands so much of ones time that it can be emotionally draining and I was going into work everyday unhappy for the past month. I am a spiritual person and I have laid my professional desires to the Lord so I actually see this as a power move in my life verses a step back. Through this all I had to look in the mirror and say to myself “What Could I Have Done Better”

One area I need to improve in is how I respond to people even if it starts in a negative. I have to reroute the conversation to make it positive. I have to manage my emotions and how I handle others better. I have come along way but I can be very defensive when I feel my character is being compromised. In one of our resources this week it discussed my exact issue:

 

Due to Power Play                                         Better Alternative

You feel provoked or threatened and react by fighting or giving in. Their aggression is intensified or they comply defiantly.

Disengage from the struggle. Help them to use power constructively by enlisting co-operation. Support their self-worth and autonomy.

Evaluate My Communication and Listening Styles, Dispositions, and Skills.

This week I conducted all three evaluations (communication anxiety, verbal/aggressiveness & listening styles.  I then had my second to youngest sister and my best friend since daycare complete the same  evaluations about me.To my surprise all my scores were almost exactly the same maybe off by three or four points.

I was nervous that I would not capture my true communications styles through the survey questions but after receiving their scores I was right on point. I agreed with most of the results but I was also somewhat disappointed in with one of the comments.  Under the verbal survey it stated I often resort to character attacks and ridicule when talking to others who do not share my viewpoints. It also stated that with little provocation, I might cross the line from “argumentativeness,” which attacks a person’s position or statements, and verbal aggression which evolves personal attacks and can be harmful to the listener.

                           

This is not the first time someone has told me I come off aggressive at times but usually it’s not work related but rather people I come in contact with in my personal life. Regardless this is an area I need to improve in. I do not enjoy being personally attacked so I must not do that to others. I know I can be very defensive at times and if that occurs I have tendencies to transform to attack mode. Working with young children and families I have to possess a great deal of patience and slow to anger.

I need to practice more active listening. Most people are thinking of how they are going to reply when someone is talking. Instead of doing that, I need to focus completely on what the person is saying.

Communicating Differently with People from Different Groups and Cultures

Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

I had to think about this question long and hard because I was quick to say “Absolutely Not” I talk and act the same no matter who I am around. However, if I am around co-workers I change my voice, posture and I am conscious of my entire presence that it speaks professional. Even when I am around people of different ethnicities and race I switch up voice and use less body gestures because some people could consider it offensive while speaking.  If I am around children I get to their eye level because I am 6’1 so sometimes just my physical presents makes them nervous or amazed and I want them to feel comfortable.

Here are three strategies anyone could use to help them communicate more effectively with people or groups

• Notice differences in communication styles and values; don’t assume that the majority’s way is the right way
• Listen to people tell their stories. Every person has an important story to tell. Each person’s story tells something about their culture.
• As we are building relationships with people who have different cultural backgrounds than our own, we will probably make mistakes at some point. If you say or do something that is insensitive, you can learn something from it.