Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This blog is going to focus on my journey finishing my Masters Degree in Early Childhood. I am super excited about my journey thus far and look forward to focusing the next 8 weeks to social change and issues in ECE. Thank you for coming I hope you enjoy!
Three deeply felt learning from this program: This EDUC 6990 course has taught me so much over the course of 8 weeks. I honestly felt myself growing in my profession week by week. If I had to choose three deeply felt learning from this program I will definitely say creating a budget for my ideal program in the EDUC 6167 course, planning and managing a program in the EDUC 6168, and building and completing my Capstone Project in this course. I have a long term goal of building an Early Childhood Program here in my home city of Washington, D.C. The three learning I chose that have resonated with me over the course of this program have all set me up for success and I could literally take the plans and the budget I created in this program and utilize them when I am prepared to lead my own charge as a Founder of an ECE program. I am truly grateful for the challenges and the hard work I was encouraged to put in to learn about budgeting, planning, and inclusion in programs.
Long Term Goal: One long term goal that I will continue to build and focus on is developing the Hilliard Child Care Center. I have a true passion for educating but most of all leading and changing the lives of those who are usually overlooked and counted out.
Farewell Message to colleagues and Dr. Embree: First off to my peers I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS! We have completed one of the most challenging task some of us will hold on to for a life time. All those long hours of studying, completing assignments, pushing one another in discussion post have finally paid off. I must say it has definitely been a journey working with you all and watching us all grow week by week. To Dr. Embree, thank you for pushing me, encouraging me to see that my hard wasn’t being unnoticed, and I truly appreciate you forcing me out of my comfort zone and challenging me to find my passion in education and use it for the greater good. Each week I found myself working to be better than the last and for that I am appreciative that I had you as a professor who answered my many emails when I had questions beyond me (laughs). Again Thank you, I wish everyone nothing but success and I look forward to seeing what our journey in early childhood takes us all.
Favorite Poem to Describes my learning in the M.S. ECS program
Three Organizations or Communities of Practice:
I chose these international organizations that appeal to be for several reasons, I was excited to actually research organizations because later down the line I would like to travel and teach early childhood in different countries. The organization Save the Children appealed to me because it focuses on improving the quality of education in preschools by training teachers to incorporate play-based learning and activities that increase school readiness. I am a strong advocate for professional development of teachers to strengthen a program. Being able to go to another country to influence the lives of scholars who come from different back grounds and different conditions is inspirational to me.
The OMEP-USA is an organization that puts emphasis on providing resources for families in regards to children’s wellbeing, rights, and their education. OMEP-USA focuses on advocating for high quality education for all children and speaking up for children whenever, wherever the opportunity present itself. This organization provides international support to families and scholars all across the world through jobs, internships, and volunteering.
Childhood Education International is a global organization that provides education progress by equipping teachers in different countries with the ability to transform and reinvent education to meet the needs of children. C.H.I. understands that scholar’s needs in the community and school should be emerging consistently to a more dynamic interconnected world. I find that this organization provides so much knowledge and adequate resources that I feel I would be resourceful to teaching internationally.
Three Organizations or Communities of Practice:
I chose these organizations that appeal to be for several reasons. The organization Zero to Three focuses on providing parents of babies and toddlers the support needed in regards to positive health and education. The organization also provides educators and policymakers with the knowledge and tools support early childhood development, and developing policies that strengthen families and caregivers. I believe that as an educator I could not only learn through the professional development the organization provides but to also play a role in developing policies that will benefit early childhood education years from now.
The organization Childcare Aware of America is an organization that assist parents who are seeking childcare nationwide with referrals and resources to locate a quality program for their scholar. The program also assists providers with resources that would benefit their program to be a high quality program. I chose this organization because it operate a toll-free referral line that is operated by Child Care Consumer Education Specialist. Those specialist assist parents as well as providers with information about child care and referrals to local Child Care agencies. This organization is something I believe is effective and accessible to educators and families.
Another important organization that I really would like to be a member of is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I chose this organization because not only is it located in my home city Washington, D.C. but because the organization focuses on high quality for all young children from birth to age 8. The organization does this through combining many individual members of the early childhood community like educators and advocates. NAEYC provides so much knowledge and a wealth of resources that I feel I would always be able to have someone to turn to if I need support and be able to give it as well.
Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you
This week I focused on researching three Communities of Practice that I could see myself becoming a member of to influence the future of education.
These Communities of Practice I chose are all organizations that speak to my goals as an Early Childhood educator. I chose Teach for All because the program is a community for educators who want to influence education all across the world in different countries not just where they live. One day I plan to possibly teach in another country and I believe this COP would allow me to learn from educators who are already teaching all over the world.
In D.C. the Office of the State Superintendent of Education provides the guidelines and regulations for programs and schools in the D.C. area. Within OSSE there are different COP’s that are put together to support one another and provide support for educators and programs in D.C. The COP I would like to become a part of within OSSE is the Professional Development team. The team is designed of ECE educators retired or current and they meet yearly to speak about issues in ECE and what professional development educators want and deserve. The team then creates a quarterly PD schedule for programs and educators to use. I chose this COP because I have a passion for educators who always seek to learn to be professionally prepared for scholars and families.
Education Pioneers is an organization that provides support to programs and schools with things like finances, data & analysis, and daily operations. As a educator I would like to be a member of a COP where other leaders like myself create strategies to assist educators and advocate for scholars all through D.C.
For the ideal jobs above the following skills are required:
This week in EDUC 6990 we created a Wordle that best described issues we have a passion for. My Passions at the moment are Advocating for Children in Foster Care and Inclusion for children and families with disabilities. As I continue this course the goal is to choose between those two issues to focus my capstone on.
Dean Hilliard (ECE) 