Saturday, September 10, 2016



EXPLORING ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY:

LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS  

This week's assignment required that we search for organizations, agencies and/or a community of practice that is of interest.  In doing so, I came across several that I would be interested in learning more about. The Association for Early Learning Leaders (AELL) was the initial organization that I found. The organization is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that has been serving directors, owners, and administrators of early care and education programs. AELL is committed to excellence in the field of Early Care and Education by promoting leadership development and enhancing program quality. Their goal is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of directors, owners, emerging leaders and other learning professionals to ensure quality programs for young children. In addition, their primary purpose as an organization and community of practice is "networking and collaboration" among its members and other professionals and national early childhood organizations. This is an organization that has a lot to offer and one that I would seriously become part of. Learning about groups and organizations that help further develop my passion and personal profession is a great step towards building my knowledge in the field. Membership cost is average and would be worthwhile to further pursue (AELL, 2016).

The next organization that really appealed to me is, the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning (CSEFEL). The organization is part of my State’s local programs in Tennessee and part of Vanderbilt University. CSEFEL is a national resource center for disseminating research and evidence –based practices to early childhood programs across the country. CSEFEL is focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children from birth to age 5. As a means to support their goal, the program has developed a conceptual model of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s social emotional competence and preventing and addressing challenging behavior. The program has training materials, chat sites, resources offered to families, teachers, professionals, educators and individuals that are interested in working with young children. In consideration of this organization, training in this area would offer job opportunities as a Behavior Support Specialist that can train and educate others in working with children with challenging behaviors.  

As an international interest, I chose the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). This is an organization that I became familiar with during one of my courses here at Walden. This organization offers a wealth of knowledge and support on issues and trends that are prevalent in international countries. Their work experience is comparable to some of our community of practice and/or organizations here in the States. ACEI is a global community of educators and advocates who unite knowledge, experience, and perspectives in order to exchange information, explore innovation, and advocate for children.  The ACEI offers a variety of programs and sponsorships all for the purpose of children and education. One target of interests is that they are also affiliated with GPCWD which is Globall Partnership on Children with Disabilities. Their mission supports inclusiveness of all children with disabilities (ACEI, 2016). 

References:

http://www.earlylearningleaders.org

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/about.html

http://www.acei.org/

 

3 comments:

  1. Hi Barbara,

    Thanks for sharing these organisations. I particularly liked reading about the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). I am always drawn to associations that focuses on full-inclusion and providing benefits that will help children no matter their circumstances.

    Debbie-Ann

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  2. Barbara,
    You gave some really good information about the organizations you chose. I have heard of the AELL but I have not been online to what they are about. The info you gave about them was very clear, and I have decided to go online to see how I could become a part of it. The one that I really want to be a part of is the one for children with disabilities. I am interested in all kinds of inclusion and this would definitely help. Thanks for sharing.

    Penny

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  3. Barbara,
    I thought that it was interesting the organizations that you chose and I was not very familiar with two of them. After I read about them in your post I became more aware of these organizations, thank you for that. Also I did not think of searching an international organization as you did. I think I would have a hard time up and moving at this stage in my life. Another thing I would like to point out that is great that we are able to network with other organizations and also look for so much great information on their websites. The world is different now because we can apply online for jobs, do interviews online as well in some organizations. I can't wait to see what they future holds for us!

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