My Own Capacity

Which issues impacting young children and their families and/or the field of early childhood fuel your passion?

Childhood poverty is a social issue that impacts young children, their families, and the early childhood field and fuels my passion. My advocacy objective would be to reduce childhood poverty and improve optimal development of the child and family by offering parent programs in ALL early care and education facilities that assist in helping families achieve educational/employment goals by offering support and resources. This issue is so significant to me because of my personal experience with childhood poverty and low-income families and I fully understand the detrimental impact it has on the child, the family, the community, and society as a whole.

What special skills do you have that will contribute to your advocacy efforts? How will you incorporate these skills into your work?

The skill of experiencing life as a low-income family but also the education and knowledge of an early childhood professional is the greatest resource I have to contribute to my advocacy efforts. I fully understand the physical, mental, social, and emotional toll this circumstance has on the child and its family. I will incorporate this understanding into my work by sharing my story and my success and being the resource needed for families to have positive, life-changing outcomes.

In what ways do you hope to grow in order to be a more effective advocate?

To be a more effective advocate, I hope to become a more informed, organized, well-researched resource for children and their families. I want to become deeply absorbed in finding solutions to issues that affect children, their families, and everyone connected. I want to discover the leader in me and to obtain an understanding of social issues that affect these individuals so that I can help change lives and make an impact (even on a micro level) in the early childhood field.

My Role as an Advocate

My journey in the early childhood field began in 2004 as a receptionist for the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Bend. Attached to our organization, we had an early learning center and being the greeter for the entire building, I began to form relationships with the children and their families. I enjoyed seeing and interacting with the children and their families and began to spend more time in the classrooms helping out than answering the phone! At the time, I thought it would be impossible to become a teacher but 4 years later, I received my opportunity!

It is essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts the micro as well as the macro level because there are significant issues that affect the optimal development of children and their families at each level. To be a community leader, it takes dedication and passion to the purpose, communication with stakeholders, organizations, and policymakers. One must be willing and able to connect with those who are directly affected by issues and confident enough in their ability to speak on the behalf of children and families. A community leader must be a believer and participant in life-long learning. Continuously learning about the issues, learning about the field, and learning about oneself as a professional and individual. It takes the resources of the people...meaning partnering with early childhood organizations such as NAEYC, local organizations, governmental agencies such as Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education.

The advice I would give to someone who was interested in taking a leadership role in advocating for young children and their families would be "to be the grain of sand that forms the core of the pearl, you must learn the gentle art of using disagreement about educational practice to your advantage…and you must choose when to stand firm and when not to. Not every issue is worth fighting; not every battle can be won. As an ethical professional, you may have hard choices to make. We urge you stand up for children and to make their well-being your primary concern; to say no when asked to do what is wrong; to insist on speaking what you know to be true; to risk making yourself unpopular; and to give others the courage to do the same. It’s a lot to ask. But it’s the right thing to do, and children need you to do it (Morrison, 2009; Feeney, 2010)"

As an early childhood professional, our goal is to teach young learners life skills that they can build a solid foundation on. It is essential for early childhood professionals to “stand up” for children and their families because “You are influential with your family and friends. They know and trust you and what you tell them about early childhood education and care may be more powerful for them than what they read in the newspaper or see on television. You are influential in your community. The people on your street, in your neighborhood, in your town know you. You are their expert on early childhood education and care, they trust you. You are influential in your local government. You know the friends, families, and associates of the members of your school board, your municipal council, and your state legislature. You represent the opinions and votes of those who elected them. You are as important, or more important, to them than any expert (Feeney, 2010)”.

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I would like to tell the story of my mother and how her selfless actions have encouraged me to be selfless in my dedication as an early childhood professional. Throughout my life, my mother has not only been an advocate on my behalf but so many others that have come into her life. Being a severe asthmatic since I was 14 months old (being hospitalized 46 times before my 17th birthday and on life-support four times), I KNOW the only reason why I am alive is because of my mother advocating on my behalf. But, one particular story that comes to mind of my mother advocating for others...is of a man who worked for my mother as her transportation specialist for her company. When he was hired for his position, he was a little overweight but reasonably able bodied and seemed as if he could do his job. But, after a while, she started receiving complaints from clients saying that he would fall asleep at red lights or at stop signs or in the car within 5 minutes of sitting. She investigated the complaints and questioned him about it. He admitted to it and began telling her other symptoms that he was experiencing. She researched his symptoms and suggested he see a doctor. He had no insurance. She took him to apply for medicaid and walked him through the whole process (including sitting with him during his medicaid eligibility interview). Once he received health insurance, she made him an appointment, attended the appointment with him, and he was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. He had no idea. I still remember her telling me that the doctor told him during his appointment that his condition was so bad...he was surprised he was still alive. After receiving his diagnosis, she helped him get his CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device and now 20+ years later he is still thanking my mother for saving his life!

This is just one example of how my mother advocates for those who cannot help themselves. And by her life-long example, I found that when became an early childhood professional (and in life), it was my purpose to help beyond the classroom as many children and families that I connected with. I realized from my mother's examples that people are brought into your life for you to encourage and empower them to make positive life-changing decisions. This will always be part of what fuels my passion and work as an early childhood professional.  

When I Reflect About My Collegial, Professional Learning Community

When I reflect about my collegial, professional learning community, I can wholeheartedly say that I cannot come up with three consequences that I have experienced being a part of  a caring, collaborative learning community for my professional growth and development. The information that I have gained from my instructor as well as colleagues has challenged my perspectives, inspired me to work harder for understanding within this field, and has given me educational fulfillment. Now,  this may not be the correct way to answer the question: "Post at least three consequences of your experience being a part of a caring, collaborative learning community for your professional growth and development."; but, I have completely enjoyed my experience within this course (EDUC-6765-1,Early Childhood Systems.2016 Spring Sem)

One goal to enhance my system development on behalf young children, families, and the early childhood community would be to conduct further research into the early childhood system in place for my particular state and formulate a plan of how I can use this information to be a better advocate for the children and families that I serve in my program.

My Hypothetical Family Situation

Part 1: Who Are You?

Hypothetical Family Situation: I am a English native speaking, 17 years old woman. My child is a 6 months old infant who was born at 24 weeks with gastroschisis (an abdominal wall defect like omphalocele in which the anterior abdomen does not close properly allowing the intestines to protrude outside the fetus) which was corrected and is currently experiencing signs of developmental delay due to being born premature. As of a month ago, she stopped eating and is now being fed from a tube. She has now learned to turnover but has yet to crawl, coo, pull up, or sit up on her own. She does have stimulation of her extremities and communicates through crying and smiling. I live with my  60 years old aunt and uncle (who suffers from COPD) in a middle class neighborhood and my daughter's father passed away from Sickle Cell complications a month ago. I have several friends and family to support me with my daughter so that I can graduate high school and hopefully attend college.

My aunt cares for my daughter while I attend school but doesn't provide any cognitive or physical stimulation. I have been advised from my pediatrician to begin researching child care centers so that my infant will be able to socialize with others her age and in return gain certain developmental skills that she is currently missing. I need a facility that can handle his condition efficiently. As stated, she is eating from a feeding tube and can only turnover. She does not communicate verbally outside of crying and smiling. While my pediatrician has been a wealth of information, I have found it difficult to find outside care for her. When I find a facility that meets my needs, they are full and those who have spots available aren't equipped to provide care for my daughter's condition. A center that can provide Health, Early learning and Development as well as Family Leadership and Support would be a great resource for someone in my position. I receive public assistance/disability for my daughter but that is a journey within itself but it helps to pay for all my daughter's care (including medial supplies and doctor visits). I feel as if I am in need of a Family Advocate...one who can connect me to the resources we so desperately need. I am exhausted and running out of answers. What should I do?

The Political Will to Improve Early Childhood Systems

I'm not sure if the National Governors Association is currently being used by advocates or organizations to influence political will toward improving early childhood systems in order to foster the well-being of young children and their families but I found this website mind-blowing! The purpose of the NGA (National Governors Association) Center for Best Practices in regards to early care and education is to “provide information, research, policy analysis, technical assistance and resource development for governors and their staff in the areas of early childhood, K-12 and postsecondary education. The division focuses on helping governors develop effective policy and support its implementation in the areas of: early education, readiness and quality; the Common Core State Standards, Science Technology Engineering and Math and related assessments; teacher and leader effectiveness; competency-based learning; charter schools; data and accountability; and postsecondary (higher education and workforce training) access, success, productivity, accountability, and affordability (http://www.nga.org/cms/home/nga-center-for-best-practices/center-divisions/center-issues/page-edu-issues/early-learning-from-birth-throug.html)”. It, also, assists with policy issues related to bridging the system divides among the early childhood, K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems.


                                 

In the paper,  Alliance for Early Success: Building State Policies for Children and their Families, the NGA highlighted on different policy solutions that could improve the early care and education field. One of such solutions was: Adopt policies that encourage involvement of fathers (or noncustodial parents). The work that NGA does in regards to highlighting and implementing effective policies for governors and the early care and education sector, appeals to me the most because it specifically researches and organizes various policies for the betterment of the early childhood field. This entire section on the NGA website and its suggestions is for the betterment of improving early childhood systems.

References

National Governors Association. Retrieved January 27, 2016 from http://www.nga.org/cms/home/nga-center-for-best-practices/center-divisions/center-issues/page-edu-issues/early-learning-from-birth-throug.html

Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

In reviewing the Parent and Family Stories found on Head Start: An Office of the Administration of Children and Families Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website (http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs) the story of Melinda George (a Head Start parent, staff member, and doctoral candidate) had the greatest impact on me. Her story had such a significant impact on me because it was how my HS journey began! She started off as a parent, became an employee, and now a doctoral candidate. My journey with HS began with me being a parent and several years later, I became an employee where I was encouraged to finish my B.A. degree in Early Childhood Education Administration as well as receive my Director's Credential. "...if you want people to want more, you have to show them that's it's achievable (http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs)".

                                               

This is why involvement opportunities for parents and family members are so crucial and benefit young children, families, and the early childhood field. It is as Almeta Richards Keys states, "...there are many stories that I can tell, but I think the main story that I would like to say today is that Head Start is about empowering parents, empowering families -- about moving families to self-sufficiency (http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs)". In my experience with HS as a parent and teacher, I accomplished the goal of self-sufficiency and now I am a testament to the fact that when the teacher is successful, then he/she can show the parent how to be successful. When the parent achieves success, then he/she can show their child how to achieve goals. When the child is able to achieve their goals and dreams, then he/she brings even more to the community in which he/she resides or is employed in. From my experience and that of Melinda George and Almeta Richards Keys, HS set the foundation for such achievements which has a great impact on the family as a whole. When parents are encouraged to and supported in becoming involved with various opportunities within the classroom/center, this then strengthens the parent-teacher relationship, the student-teacher relationship, and everyone's overall experience within the program.

Reference

Parent and Family Stories on the website of the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC), part of the Office of Head Start. Retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs.