Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

     When I began researching different national and federal organizations that benefit children, there was a vast majority to choose from.  Each organization had beneficial qualities that contributed to the health and well-being of children and families.  I was really surprised so many were available.
      The first one that interested me was the National Association of Young Children (NAEYC).  Their center for applied research is dedicated to strengthening the connections between early childhood research, practice, and policy (NAEYC.org)  One of their primary goals is to encourage and support those individuals working in the early childhood field to become critical consumers of research  about early childhood development and education (NAEYC.org).  My first priority as a professional is to teach at a community college or pursue my PhD so I could teach at a university as well.  Their current job opportunities includes college level instructors, this would be my ideal profession, if possible as an online professor.
        The second one that interested me is the Save The Children organization.  As part of their mission, the Save the Children organization gives children in the United States and around the world what every child deserves- a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and care when disaster strikes. (savethechildren.org). They provide quality education and preschool programs books, supplies, and educational toys as well as health and nutrition programs that save children's lives and protect children from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence in all regions of the world (savethechildren.org).  The job opening that interested me was a basic education learning specialist.  The basic education learning research specialist will extend the Department of Education and Child Protection ability to provide technical support to country offices to expand access to quality learning opportunities (savethechildren.org).  This opportunity focuses on learning outcomes across sponsorship and Save the Children International sites.  He/she does this through the support for the implementation  of the Literary Boost assessment component, including data analysis and evaluation (savethechildren.org)  Master's degree required in education as well as 3 years applied research, experience with quantitative analysis methods and computer skills proficiency in Microsoft office.  I will have a master's shortly, quantitative analysis experience from my career as a research chemist, and computer experience but no previous experience in applied research in education.
          The third organization that interested me was the Committee for Children.  Their vision is to invest in developing new ideas, initiatives, products, and services that provide social-emotional development, safety, and well being of children (cfchildren.org).  Their job opportunity as an instructional designer is to design and develop e-learning courses through defined educational standards.  In addition, they work with researchers and developers to ensure e-learning courses are accurate and reflect the content necessary for quality education (cfchildren.org).  Qualifications include bachelor's degree in education, instructional design as well as 5-7 years of e-learning curriculum design  and experience with e-learning development tools such as Storyline, Captivate, Articulate, Adobe Creative Suite, and Photoshop.  I do not have any experience with the e-learning development tools but about 2 years ago  I was asked to help design the e-learning curriculum for an online high school in science.  It would have allowed me to put my past profession as a research chemist together with my new profession in early childhood but between opening a business and four children, and an online master's program, life was just too busy.  I thought designing e-learning programs would always be interesting though and it was an opportunity I was sad I passed up.

References

Committee for Children.  Retrieved from http://www.cfchildren.org

National Association of Young Children (NAEYC).  Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org

Save the Children.  Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

     In Massachusetts, we have many organizations established with the mission of providing services to individuals in need.  In addition, many offer additional services such as job training, professional development and organized play groups for children and families.  The first organization that appealed to me was the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children (MassAEYC).  Their mission is to collaborate with families, educators, and agencies to support high quality early education and care through professional development and advocacy (MassAEYC.org)  An affiliate to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children birth through eight.  I was interested in working for this organization as an instructor.  I am actually hoping to further my education and enter a PhD program upon completion of my master's degree.  To teach one of their courses, I would need to become more specialized in a specific area of early education.  In our area we have an instructor from a local community college who also provides professional development opportunities for this organization. This is something I would really like to do.
       The second organization, community of practice that I found appealing was People Acting in Community Endeavors (PACE).  Their mission is to mobilize and utilize both public and private resources to affect the improvement of the economic and social quality of life for low income residents. (PACEInc.com)  Their programs have included fuel assistance, child care subsidies, family literary programs, family visiting program, health coverage assistance, and training programs for teens looking for employment.  As part of this organization I would like to be part of the grant writing process for the family literary programs and working with childcares and schools to support literature in children.  I have a friend who actually has this job and she works with all the local schools and childcares and with her help has been able to bring in additional funding for books for the children in addition to the workshops, trainings, and seminars she organizes promoting literacy.  In my previous career as a research chemist, grant writing was an essential part of my job and it was something I very much enjoyed.  Writing for education would be very rewarding and hopefully with my previous work experience, my master's degree and director of my own childcare I would be that much closer to being qualified for this.
       The third organization that appealed to me was the Massachusetts Children's Alliance.  They are an advocacy center in the forefront of child abuse intervention.  Their mission is to foster collaboration and communication among agencies and provide sensitive and culturally competent coordinated response to child victims and witnesses. (machildrensalliance.org)  Services include investigation teams, mental health evaluations, victim advocacy, training, and research (machildrensalliance.org)  In childcare, we sadly see many cases of dependent care children who have been through very stressful unfortunate situations and need additional services to help them through the traumatic events they have suffered.  Organizations like this one give these children the services they need while being sensitive to their individual experiences.  A job opportunity that would interest me would be that of a child councilor.  I have not made the decision if I want to pursue a PhD in education or in psychology but that would be my ultimate goal if I chose psychology..

References

Massachusettes Association for the Education of Young Children (MassAEYC).  Retrieved from http://massaeyc.com

Massachusetts Children's Alliance (MACA) Retrieved from http://www.machildrensalliance.org

People Acting in Community Endeavors (PACE). Retrieved from http://www.paceinfo.org/