Communication Skills to Enact Change

I spent the last two days in a leadership conference. The keynote speaker today and yesterday focused on communication skills in early childhood.
Adam White is a business man turned motivational speaker. He contends that if early childhood teachers want the professional recognition and clout that they deserve, they have to communicate their needs, desires and issues to people who have the power and influence to make the changes. Adam said that we have to recognize our own worth, at that point others will also see our value.

Bev Gaffiant-Brown said that we have to have three things. Competence, character and courage. With these three attributes, we will be able to craft issues and policies that the general public will understand and potential support. We have to communicate our passion and vision. We must not give up at the first sign of adversary. Change does not come easily.
Make sure your goals are clearly articulated and written for your audience.

Social Media and Early Childhood Education

Social Media is an important form of communication. Most people get their information through some sort of social media outlet such as facebook, twitter, linkin, snapchat, etc, than from any other source of non-verbal communication. The printed word and email seem to be ‘old school’ forms of communication. Developing policy for social media in early childhood programs rather than responding to a negative situation is in the best interest of the early childhood profession, the children, families and the teachers. We need to protect the children and keep the families and community informed.  Good policies are living breathing documents that evolve over time. Using social media effectively is not a one-time event, there needs to be ongoing regular activity that supports your program or policy action.

Facebook, twitter and good old fashion flyers mailed to teachers homes are the modes of communication that I am going to use to advertise the teacher training on the importance of play to the development of executive function skills. The host school has also agreed to post the flyer on their website under the early childhood tab. The local NAEYC affiliate has also agreed to post the flyer in their website and facebook pages.

The target audience is the cooperative preschool teachers of the Huron district and college students in the early childhood program at the local community college. The cooperative teachers will have access to the schools website, an email announcement and a flyer will be sent to each teachers home residence.

The college students will be invited via the college web page, flyers in the hallway and through an email announcement.

Both populations will have access to facebook and twitter as well as other early childhood teachers in the area.

Even though social media can communicate with a large group of people instantly, it should not replace face to face conversations and 

Early Childhood and Social Media

We are having pretty bad thunder storms as I prepare to write this blog about social media. I stopped to get some candles to light in case we lose power. My daughter said, "what do you need candles for, you have a light on your cell phone"

That was a perfect example of how each generation approaches problem solving and communicating.

Goals for Public Policy in ECE

When I read the course description, I thought ‘oh no, I don’t know anything about policies in early childhood systems.' I was very intimidated the week prior to the start of this course. I told my husband that I am actually going to have to read the course materials and work at this class.

As I began to read the course description, textbook and other course materials, I realized that I do know about early childhood systems and how they work together for the betterment of the children and families.

Some ECE systems are broken or have parts that don’t work well together such as the high scope web site that collects great start readiness data is the same place that the QRIS system data is collect. However, a GSRP specialist cannot be a QRIS rater even though the training and the data collection forms are the same. A goal would be to have the data collection systems that monitor the quality of early childhood facilities work together. It would save manpower, financial resources and ensure valid rating scores

A goal that I would like to obtain as I continue to grow as an ECE professional is to be an advocate for teachers. To empower teachers to become professionals that upholds the ethics and tenants of our profession. I am finding that college students who can’t pass the state certification test (Professional Readiness Exam or the Praxis part 1) are majoring in early childhood because in the state of Michigan is does not lead to certification. They think it’s the easy way out of college. When in fact, working with young children and families is very difficult work. Our profession cannot be thought of as an ‘easy out’ or second best career choice.

Another goal that I have is empower families in making child care choices. Families need to have the tools to find and afford quality child care. Families are finding it difficult to identify quality child care, especially in poor or working class neighborhoods. I believe that all children should have the opportunity to have a high quality early childhood experience.

 

 

                                                             Reference

Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early learning. New York,  NY: Teachers College Press.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Final reflections, part 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from    https://class.Walden.edu. Posted by Children are Great Imitators so Give them something great to imitate at 2:20 

Final Reflections

Final Reflections of the EDUC 8853 course
I thought this course was going to mirror the course I teach at the undergraduate level. What I learned was that this course focused on culture and society as they relate to early childhood and families.
The course I teach focuses on the family and how the early childhood educator can support the development of the child and the family.
The book 'A Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" was an eye-opener for me. I have heard of language barriers effecting families, but not to the extent that the Lee family was affected. Their daughter suffered from traumatic brain damage from seizures because the parents and doctors were unable to communicate.
The major project topic I chose was due to conversations I was having with my coworkers. Two woman I work with have infants. They were trying to find child care. The struggles these two families went through got me thinking about how other families choose child care. What I found through the research and interviews was incredible. The families I interviewed supported what I found in the research. Families choose child care based on location, cost and the recommendation from trusted friends and family members.
Once a family has found child care they are happy with, families will drive out of their way to stay with those providers.
Another piece of new information I found through this research was that government subsidies are available to families, but the money doesn't cover the cost for high quality.
I have enjoyed learning from my classmates through the discussions. We seem to have similar experiences from around the country. It says to me that families, children and child care providers all over share the same joys, stressors, and frustrations.

Process of completing the Major Project

The more I talk about the topic of affordable, quality child care, the more people want to talk to me about how difficult it has been to find quality care that is nearby their home or place of employment. I am having difficulty narrowing the interviewees to only two families.

I am enjoying the literature review as there are many directions this topic has taken me. Affordable, quality child care has been the topic of government and private research.

Finding child care

Another colleague asked to meet with me next week to   talk about where, how, and what to look for in quality child care. This woman is still pregnant and worrying about child care, poor lady.
This is a bigger problem than I realized and the professional journals that I have been sifting through don't seem to address a solution.