Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community (EDUC 6990)

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community

     While research on different organization and careers that are education based I came across three organizations that caught my eye. Each organization plays a special role within the early childhood field and the field of education in general. Looking for job positions available made me think about other branches of education that I might be interested in.

Three organizations that I chose were:

            – COTA (Children of the Andes)

            – NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children)

            – U.S. Department of Education

     I chose COTA because it hits close to home. COTA helps the children in vulnerable areas of Colombia that face poverty and violence on a daily basis. COTA helps these children get the education, healthcare, and special support that they need in order to survive and have more fulfilling lives. Since I am living in Colombia I thought this would be a great organization to be a part of. A job opportunity that interested me as part of COTA was to become a COTA promoter. There are no necessary skills or experience required for this position. COTA holds induction meetings where they give you all of the information you need in order to become a promoter. For many of these organizations, advocacy is the only thing missing.

     NAEYC is a huge national organization that has thousands of members from all over the world. I chose this organization because it covers many aspects of early childhood education and is a great resource to have. While reviewing their website, NAEYC has a link ‘Job Seekers’ that posts all jobs that are associated with early childhood in NAEYC affiliated childcare centers. Through these job positions I found a job opportunity to work at the University of Michigan CDL (Child Development Laboratory) as the head teacher, My responsibilities would be to be the head teacher in the preschool classroom but also training, supervising, and evaluating university students. Having my masters I fully qualify for this position. I would be interested because it is not only dealing with teaching children but also teaching university students to be better teachers as well. I think this would be a great combination in careers.

     The U.S. Department of Education has a variety of information that all surrounds education and what is happening all over the U.S. There are many resources for educators, administrators, and parents as well. Through this website I found a job that interested me. The position is for an Associate Education Research Scientist/Analyst. Required qualification for this position is a doctoral degree in the appropriate field, experience conducting research in education, and demonstration of research skills and knowledge. Although I would not be qualified for this position it seems like a side f education that could be exciting and informative. Working from the research side of education would be a great change and a new experience.

     These new positions have made me think about maybe expanding my interest in the early childhood field and maybe joining another branch like university teaching or leading professional development. This is definitely only the beginning.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community (EDUC 6990)

 Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

     Before beginning this assignment I thought it would be something rewarding and exciting to find resources from the community that would help the early childhood field. After a couple of hours of investigation, this assignment turned out to be a lot harder than what I imagined. Three organizations that appealed to me were:

– Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar

– UNICEF Colombia

– SISBEN (Sistema de Identificacion de Potenciales Beneficiales de Programas Sociales)

     I chose these organizations because they are the ones that make the greatest impact in this country. The Bienestar Familiar is similar to the Department of Children and Families in the U.S.. SISBEN is a program that rates very low income families and depending on their ranking they receive certain benefits from the government. UNICEF has also made great contributions to the low income families and schools within this country as well as all over the world.

     Within these organizations there was not much information on job opportunities. The Colombian websites were very outdated and not very useful when it came to looking for information about the responsibilities and roles of the people who work within these organizations. I tried calling some offices in order to get information but all I got were automated machines where they just looped me around and was never able to speak to a real person. Some job opportunities that were available were basic teaching positions and teacher-aid positions. One job that I researched that interested me was that of an advocate for programs of first infancy. This program reaches out to families whose children are from zero to 5 years of age. They educate and follow these families in order to make sure that parents are contributing to their children’s education and well-being.

     For the teaching positions I would actually be way over qualified because they only require a teaching certification from a vocational school and one year experience with children in the classroom. For the advocacy program I would have to pass some computerized tests they administer in order to determine my skills in technical skills and financing. I would also have to have 2 years of experience developing and programing social and community programs. Although I would not be qualified for this position, I believe I would be able to start somewhere at the bottom of the line where I could just help relate to these families and offer them someone to talk to and share their experiences.

     This assignment was very difficult for me. I feel like if I wanted to get more involved in other aspects of the community, I would have to personally try and visit these offices and find out who the directors are in order to get more information.