Blog
Post – Week 4
The Early Childhood Community at the
National/Federal Level
I feel working in the early childhood field at
the national level would be exciting. The more advocates you have working
together from different backgrounds and varying levels of experience the
better! I have selected three organizations which appeal to me based on
the ideas I am passionate about regarding the early childhood education field.
1. The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
Throughout my research in this course for my capstone project, I
came across this foundation. Established in 1996, Milton and Rose Friedman
began this foundation in support of their firm belief in school choice for all
American families. They are a well-respected organization often referred
to as "the nation's original advocate of school choice" and "the
nation's leading voucher advocates".
The foundation consists of 19 staff members. Upon review,
the position of National Projects Coordinator sounds interesting. One of
the main functions of this position is to be in charge of their National School
Choice Speakers Bureau. This consists of organizing a list of highly
qualified, successful advocates from across the nation and scheduling them to
speak on behalf of school choice at important public events around the country.
The person currently holding the position has an education and experience
managing a large tutoring program serving over 2000 students.
More information regarding The Friedman Foundation for Educational
Choice can be found here:
2. Children’s Defense
Fund
This organization fights to improve programs and policies for
children. They have implemented summer
and after-school enrichment programs to create positive learning experiences
for children, training programs for young leaders, and religious programs to
instill morals and values in our youth.
I would be interested in working with the faith-based action
programs. A great way to get involved
would be to attend The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute, where Christians from
across the denomination gather together and explore ways to incorporate child
advocacy into their ministries.
More information can be found here:
3. National
Child Care Association
This organization focuses on promotion the
growth of private providers who provide quality early childhood education. It was founded in 1987 as a professional
trade association.
The Board of Directors is made up of
several early childhood professionals from a variety of states and regions. It seems that members come together to advocate
and provide training and professional development for early childhood
professionals to make strengthen private providers as a whole.
More information can be found here:
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWorking with the faith-based action programs sounds interesting to me, especially because the religion is important part of the person’s deep culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010), despite the fact we do not usually talk about it or share our faith beliefs. I would like to share that I attended a Catholic elementary school, and I always felt motivated to do the common things we do at school, not only because I liked it, but because I felt that my faith was increasing, at the time it facilitated my learning.
Thanks for sharing Sarah!
Reference
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Each of the organizations you listed sound very interesting. I agree that working at the national level does sound exciting. I also liked how the National Child Care Association works to provide private providers with more training and professional development. In my role, I am required to have a degree, but private providers are not and by providing training and professional development they make those providers more relevant. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI was not familiar the the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Their work is certainly important. The Children's Defense Fund has been an advocate for early childhood education for many years. It has managed to change with the times. I think working for either organization would be meaningful.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice until I read your blog. It seems like a great resource and member of any CoP that involves children. I too chose the Children's Defense Fund.
Arica
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI like that all the organizations you chose are very instrumental in making positive social change for children. I think working in one of those jobs would be such a gratifying experience because you would be able to advocate for positive social change and help raise awareness. Thank you so much for sharing!