Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Head Start and Early Head Start are within my current communities of practice.  My program collaborates a lot with the two programs because we have shared families.  We offer dual services to children that are enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start by providing developmental screenings, home-visitation services and early intervention services in their classrooms.  We work with each teacher individually in order for them to be familiar with them with the target child’s IFSP or IEP goals.  Their classroom lesson plans are discussed and integrated into our service plans as well.  Together we bridge the school to home connection.  We share the same goals, passions and beliefs that the parents are their child’s first teacher and we are there to assist along in their journey. 

Head Start is my first love as it is where I began my career.  I have been a Senior Program Manager in the past and would love to work at a different level in my career.  I have been in Arizona for almost three years and have not connected with any of the local Head Start Groups.  I would love to continue my passion with Head Start and possible one day be a reviewer.  Head Start Parent Center in Arizona would be a great place for a connection. 

FACE is another program that we work closely with.  Although they have a home-based program we don’t currently have any duly enrolled children.  We do however share some center-based children.  They are within my community of practice because we share children.  Together we work to provide children with early intervention services.  The duly enrolled children are receiving home-based services from one Parent Educator and the Exceptional Student Services Parent Educator provided itinerant services in the classroom.  Our interactions and staffing’s on the children are highly important because we have the same goals and passions.  We both focus on school-readiness for the children.  Our meetings focus on the children and how we can better improve our services together.

There is a national training program from Bureau of Indian Affairs for FACE programs.  I am only familiar with the dual service model that were are still in the process of building stronger.  It would be a greater opportunity for coordination of services if I was able to be apart of their national planning team.  I only know the little about working with our local team.

Mesa Public School district is the strongest community of practice.  They are our legal educational agency providing education to our children.  The school district is where we refer children too that require further evaluation.  We have a memorandum of understanding with them to provide the evaluation services as well at provide itinerant services in the Head Start classrooms.  The school district provides teaching services, speech and language and physical therapy.  For children that need further services they offer self-contained preschool classrooms and will pick up the children on our reservation.  We have strong partnerships with classroom and evaluation staff which eases all of our interactions.  Our passions to serve children shines and we work strongly together to meet the needs of the children.

Being apart of the local school board would provide me with more insights of how the districts functions and would form a stronger connection to the MOU that we share on the reservation with MPS.

Positions of Interest

Sr. Subject Matter Expert – Preschool Specialist with Zero to Three

Skills and Experience

· 10 years minimum experience in early childhood professional development systems work · Strong knowledge of early childhood development birth to five, with particular focus and experience with services to preschool aged children ; · Strong knowledge of CLASS Pre-K observation tool and other program, teacher and child-level assessment tools commonly used in early childhood preschool programs · Strong knowledge of Head Start program development, the Head Start Program Performance Standards, Head Start Outcomes Framework, and HS technical assistance resources; · Strong knowledge of CCDF and Public Pre-K programming trends and regulations in states and territories · Excellent conceptual, written and oral skills; · Experience with organizing, developing and providing technical assistance resources to a variety of audiences; · Ability to work with a team as well as independently; · Strong oral, written and computer skills; · Strong interpersonal skills; and · Ability to read, analyze and interpret complex documents. · Reliable CLASS Pre-K observer preferred

Integrated Service/Regional Team Manager with Zero to Three

Skills and Experience · Minimum of ten years of experience in the field of Early Care and Education. · Minimum of two years of experience supervising staff. · Minimum of two years of experience with project management (e.g., identifying tasks, tracking progress, etc.) · Strong knowledge of early childhood development birth to five; · Strong knowledge of CLASS Pre-K observation tool and other program, teacher and child-level assessment tools commonly used in early childhood preschool programs; · Strong knowledge of Head Start program development, the Head Start Program Performance Standards, Head Start Outcomes Framework, and HS technical assistance resources; · Knowledge of CCDF and Public Pre-K programming trends and regulations in states and territories; · Solid understanding of adult learning principles and strategies for coaching/supporting adult learning (e.g., practice consultation), · Excellent conceptual, written and oral skills; · Experience with organizing, developing and providing technical assistance resources to a variety of audiences; · Ability to lead a team; · Ability to work as a team as well as independently; · Strong interpersonal skills; · Ability to read, analyze and interpret complex documents; · Solid knowledge/experience with data collection, analysis, and display;

Zero to Three. (2015). Available Jobs.  Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/careers/jobs/senior-subject-matter-expert-pre-k-specialist-nc-ecdtl.pdf

Zero to Three (2015).  Available Jobs.  Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/careers/jobs/integrated-services-regional-team-manager-nc-ecdtl.pdf

Child Care Partnerships Program Manager I with Olympic ESD 114

Required Education and Experience: 

·         Bachelor’s degree in child development or related early childhood education; or Master’s degree and/or teacher’s certificate.

·         Two year’s supervisory experience in early childhood education.

·         Experience and knowledge of Washington State child care licensing for both family child care and center based care.

·         One year’s experience working with infants, toddlers and pregnant mothers.

·         Experience with staff development training.

·         Experience working with low income families, diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

·         Required Skills, Knowledge, and/or Abilities:

·         Knowledge of early childhood developmentally appropriate practices.

·         Knowledge of the development of infants and toddlers, and of parent/infant attachments.

·         Must have good human relations, interpersonal and conflict resolution skills.

·         Experience working on a management team preferred.

·         Knowledge of infant, toddler and early childhood assessment and curriculum systems.

·         Demonstrated excellent written communication and computer skills.

·         Ability to work effectively with parents, staff, community, advisory groups and boards.

·         Demonstrated understanding of adult learning principles.

·         Ability to organize and manage multiple projects and timelines.

·         Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.

·         Ability to travel; reliable transportation.

·         Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends.

·         Required Licenses and/or Certifications:

Early Childhood Knowledge Center. (2016).  Early Childhood Job Center.  Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/careers/Region10/Washington/Child-Care-Partnerships-Program-Manager-I.html

Final Blog

It has been a great year!  Many of us have shared previous courses and have been apart of this journey together!  I wish you ALL well as we transition to our specializations.

I have decided to enroll in the new tempo program and hopefully complete the program by the end of the summer.  It is self-paced.  

No blogs.  No discussions post.  I will be studying administration, management and leadership.

It has been very informative to read others view points as well as 

learn about programming form different parts of the country.

I have also very much enjoyed sharing my knowledge

especially with my work on the reservation.

Good luck as you continue your education.

Thank you for supporting children and families.  

Building Trust

In my career I haven't had many "projects" that I have been apart of.  Many positions in the beginning of my career as a home-visitor I worked alone with my case-loads.  Then I moved into supervising supervisors and really have been more directive in my roles.

The hardest group (position) I ever experienced was when I resigned at Group Health.  I had been a child birth educator with them for 12 years.  I was leaving a position, a family and a population that I loved serving.  I had been their child birth educator for teens.  For many, many years I was the only educator in the Puget Sound area that served only teens.  It was a difficult decision but since I was moving to Arizona I didn't have much choice.  I cried as I informed my supervisor.  We had a good-bye lunch in which they gave me very nice gifts.  On my last day I taught a class and slipped out the back door.  I hate good-byes.  My position was now over.  I have stayed in contact with all the staff that I worked with over these last few years.  For the first year they still relied on me to provide them with information for pregnant moms as they did not replace my position.  I consider them family and will always have a connection.

I haven't formed a group of colleagues while working on my master's degree.  I have a friendship with one individual who is no longer in the cohort.  She and I were each others support system during the first few classes.  I imagine I will finish the degree and there will not be any need for adjourning for me.

Wrapping things up when apart of a group is essential so that you can discuss what was successful and what things could have made the project better if there was a next time (Abudi, 2010).

 Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Conflict Resolution

Recently, a friend of mine purchased a new car.  I didn't agree with his actions as he always makes bad financial decisions.  I have tried to advice and guide him but yet he does what he wants to do regardless of the circumstances he gets himself into. During the recent conversation I decided to just respect the decision he had made and give feedback to support him with this car purchase.  Two days later he was having buyer’s remorse and I responded to him in a positive manner although my thought process was “I told you so”.  I have decided that the relationship is more to be valued than me continuing to state how I feel about his decisions.  At the end of the day they are his decisions and he is the one that has to continue to face them until he is ready to be financially stable.  I can respect him but it doesn't mean I have to agree with him.  Yesterday, we were talking and he noticed that I was not commenting.  I was providing eye contact, nodding and he said I would simply state I understand.  That kept an argument from stirring over something that really doesn't matter in day but I was able to listen to him vent about his circumstances.  It’s too easy to disagree with someone.  It’s too easy to say if you had listened to me you wouldn't be in the circumstance.  Yet, at the same time it is not respectful and a way to further build a relationship if you are putting your friends down.  Instead I will choose to listen and watch.  People at times have to learn the hard way.  

Who Am I as a Communicator?

I had one of my home-visitors complete the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (Rubin, Rubin, Graham, Perse, & Seibold, 2009) and the Communication Anxiety Inventory (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher,  2009).  Both of our scoring was pretty much the same on both the scale and inventory.  In Communication Anxiety I scored mild and on the Verbal Aggressive Scale I was significant.  Kim stated that the Verbal Aggressive that it was hard to complete because she knows that I am not aggressive at work but I have my personal thoughts that I will share in confidence when alone.  I am not aggressive unless it is something that I strongly stand for but rarely cross the line in a professional environment.  The scale states that “with little provocation you might cross the line” and “involves personal attacks” (Laureate Education, n.d.).  This is not accurate to me by any means therefore I don’t agree with the rating scale and neither did Kim.  Now outside of work I am very blunt and very honest but I still never attack anyone. 

One of the major insights I gained this week was from reading the discussion post.  I am shocked that many colleagues stated that they don’t make judgments and were unable to answer the questions about the ladies picture.  We all have personal schema's and perceptions based upon looking at a person. O’Hair and Wiemann (2012) illustrate this with the example of the outward appearance of Susan Boyle in her audition of Britain’s Got Talent.  The audience and the judges facial features changed after she began to sing and they were enlightened with joy from her performance (O’Hair and Wiemann, 2012).    I feel it is ok to admit we have these schema's and judgments of others.  If we fail to admit them then we lack the ability to self-reflect upon our actions.  It is really just human nature.  We look at someone, we make-up schema’s, and we make judgments based upon our initial observations.

Mindlessness with my position was my other insight.  Often times I am just on auto-pilot when completing certain tasks and with my communication when in certain situations.  I just tune out and am passively answering questions especially if it’s a question I know that someone else should know (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  I know I do that at home as well with my daughter.  I tend to not focus and just nod my head or give some kind of non-verbal response. 

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Rubin, R. B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H. E. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.

Rubin, R. B., Rubin, A. M., Graham, E. E., Perse, E. M., & Seibold, D. R. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures II: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.

Communication and Culture

In early childhood education we as professionals are looking to serve children and families.  I believe the Platinum Rule should be number one when we think about our communication strategies with families.  It serves for us to think of how the family or parent will feel with each statement.  Its makes them the true focus of our work.  

I have gained insight that it’s very valuable to do a continued self–reflection on our bias and communication skills so that we don’t have cultural myopia when working children and families from other cultures.  “Individuals who fail to consider other cultural perspectives are said to suffer from cultural myopia, a form of nearsightedness grounded in the belief that one’s own culture is appropriate and relevant in all situations and to all people” (O’Hair, Wiemann, 2012, p. 45). 

Communication accommodation theory suggests that all people adapt their behavior to others to some extent.  Those who adapt to others appropriately and sensitively are more likely to experience more positive communication" (Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 2011, p. 112). With working with a varied diverse group of children and families we need to learn how to be adaptive in our communication skills.  Being aware of non-verbal communication, body language, facial expression can assist us with knowing if a family is understanding what is being communicated or if they are frustrated.  We can adjust our tones, slow down our speech and allow for processing time.  

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. . New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Communication Skills

I watched the show American Crime that airs on ABC on Thursday nights (Ridley, 2015).

In the beginning of the episode a man is awaken by a phone call what appears to be in the middle of the night because he was in bed and the room was dark.  When the camera displayed his face after hanging up the phone the man appeared to be distraught.  The next scene is at the airport and is greeted by several police officers.  They take him to what looks like a morgue and he is viewing something from behind the glass.  He then goes in to a bathroom and is breaking down.  He is crying.  His body is lunging over in a fetal-like position while clutching his hands to his head.

Second scene is occurring at a club. A girl goes into the bathroom in which she gets attacked by another girl.  Her body is on the floor in a fetal-like position as the other woman is kicking and punching her.  She appears in pain and you can witness the blood on her head and her face.  A man walks into the bathroom and finds her all beat up.  He takes he what I assume is home and is bathing her gently.  She is smiling and he is washing off the blood and her hair.  Next scene they look like they are desperately looking around their place for something while arguing.  They look like they are drug addicts.  After arguing the man takes the woman and hugs her.  The wall in the bedroom is covered in pictures of different bi-racial couples that display happiness. 

I had assumed that the man was viewing a body.  It turns out he was viewing the body of his son that had been murdered.  He was showing anguish after viewing the body.  His body language was imperative of the sounds he was making with his body language.  Later in the show he told his ex-wife that their son had been murdered and she displayed her emotions in a very different manner.  She was more astounded and disconcerted (O’Hair & Dixon, 2011).  Her verbal communication was firm and she wanted answers from the police versus allowing herself to grieve. 

The second scene I was correct by being presumptuous and stereotyping this couple as being drug addicts.  They were looking around their room for a bag of drugs that had been stolen at the club were the girl was attacked.  What you could see was that the man with his physical actions did display both empathy and sympathy while caring for her in the bathtub and after the argument that they had.  He sat with her gently while in the background you could see the pictures that are a vision of how they would like their lives to be. 

I believe if I continue to watch this series that I would be more correct in my assumptions of what is going to happen based upon being able to identify more with the characters.  You attain a sense of how their personalities are in the initial episode and how they display their feelings through their body language.  Once watching the episode with the volume turned on you can put the body language together with their communication styles.

O'Hair, D., Friedrich, G. W., & Dixon, L. D. (2011). Strategic communication in business and the professions. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Ridley, J. (Writer). (2015).  Episode One [Television series episode].  Mc Donald, M. & Ridley, J., American Crime,  Austin, Texas: ABC Studios