Sharing web Resources



This week I read articles about how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support positive social change through the early childhood field. I educated myself with the essential researches that are done in the field of Early childhood to explain the vital role of qualified early childhood programs on young children and the lasting effect on their lives. I am aware of the way economists and politicians support early childhood programs, as a source of investment that brings back to society. The knowledge I gained this week, triggered my wishes to focus my research on advocacy.

When I think of my goals in terms of professional development, I feel that the area I need to explore, and gain proficiency is Advocacy. This week’s learning material highlighted the need of educating myself with policymaking, in order to be directly involved in supporting positive change through our field. Personally, when I explore advocacy, I think of a challenge and a responsibility at once. It is our duty as professional educators to represent the voices of our students. That what lead me to research the website of my choice, NAEYC, for this topic.

I found a blog, Eight Steps to Advance Your Professional Development In Early Childhood Education, by Teresa Narey (2018). The blog provides readers with eight steps to become a proficient advocate. What I loved about the blog is the fact that the steps start with a reflection of who we are as an educator and proceed moderately to activism. For instance, the first two steps are to have a professional portfolio and a written statement of our philosophy. The steps proceed to join a professional network, get trained, and shifts to activism. For instance, train other professionals, families, and write to our representatives on behalf of young children, (Narey,2018).

In addition, to enhance my research on advocacy, I found the article: Flipping the Script: Educators Driving Public Policy, by Marcia Cox Mitchell & Lauren Hogan, (2019). The article provides explanations about the different perspectives of both professional educators and the Policymaker’ perspective. For instance, when educators speak with policymakers, they should base their speech on their experience and knowledge, and when policymakers speak with professional educators, they should acknowledge the experience of the professional educators and work together to “achieve the shared goal of increasing access to high quality early learning”,( Cox Mitchel,&Hogan, 2019).

As I proceed on my Educational journey, I perceive the vital aspect of advocacy in my professional educator role. Learning about evidence-based researches, policymakers, and people of poverty, for instance, provide me with more tools and knoweldge to achieve my goals.

References:

Flipping the Script: Educators Driving Public Policy, by Marcia Cox Mitchell & Lauren Hogan, (2019). Young Children: YC,(2019), V0,74, N,4.

Retrieved from: https://www.naeyc.org/get-involved/advocate/be-proactive

Eight Steps to Advance Your Professional Development In Early Childhood Education, by Teresa Narey (2018). Retrieved from:

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/eight-ways-professionalize-workforce

Comments

  1. Samantha M. GarciaJuly 25, 2020 at 6:02 AM

    Good morning Ilana,

    The information to become an adovcate in the early childhood field was interesting. It seems like plan that I could follow. :) Educators need to be advocates for the field and students. Thank you for your post.

    Samantha

    ReplyDelete
  2. Behice AksoyJuly 26, 2020 at 3:18 PM

    Hi Ilana,
    I think that NAEYC is a great resource to use. It was the first early childhood resource I learned about when I started mastering. I enjoyed reading your post.
    Behice

    ReplyDelete

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