My journey has only just begun…

 

 

This week is the last week of my Master’s program and I am being asked to write about my journey through this program, some things I have learned, goals that I have, and a farewell message.  However, this is not a farewell to my journey because my journey has only just begun!

Over the past 18 months, there are so many things that I have learned about myself, about the field of early childhood education, and about the new journey that I am about to embark on.  I have always seen myself as a leader and as a team player.  I love working with children, but more so I love working with adults and helping them to find their passion in working with children.  What I have learned about myself through out this program is that I have way more of a passion for this field than I ever thought I did.  When I really dug deep into research, the issues and trends of the field, the organizations and resources that are available to ECE providers and professionals; I realized how much work we have to do to make a difference in the lives of children.  I have learned that we are teaching young children as if they all come from the same mold, teachers are teaching the same curriculum and using the same strategies in classrooms across the country.  We cannot continue to go down this path.  Children are all different, unique, and have so many different things to give to this world.  With that being said, EC educators are also all unique and different.  If we are going to prepare our young children for the future, we must look at ourselves, reflect on ourselves, what we do each day and make our classrooms fit the needs of the children that are in them at that time.  If that means changing what we do year after year then so be it.

My goal is to continue on this journey of following my passion for working with children.  However, I will do this by motivating and working with adults.  In our week 8 assignment, I made my “speech” based on what I will be doing in 15 years.  I would love to meet that goal of starting my own professional development consulting business.  I would love to work with organizations so that they can obtain the best, quality professional development that is out there for their educators.   There is no doubt that there are plenty of professional development resources and organizations out there, we just have to do right by our teachers to help them find what is best for their own professional lives and the children that they are working with.

I would like to thank every professor that has assisted me during this program, provided me with amazing feedback and support.  It has been a long time coming for me to complete my Masters Program (20 years, 3 kids and a marriage later…) but I have FINALLY done it and I am so relieved and proud of myself!  This program has been amazing, supportive, and flexible to meet the needs of working parents.  To all of the classmates and colleagues that I have met along the way…. thank you!  Thank you for your support and all of your amazing feedback on discussion posts as well as blog posts.  I will keep copies of all of my blogs posts and discussion posts for a long time to help me along my journey.

With that all being said, one door is closing, another chapter to my journey is ending and a new one is just beginning…..

Best of luck to each and everyone of you!!!!

My personal email address is-

ryanathanleia@gmail.com

 

 

This is my FAVORITE quote of all time! It speaks volumes for what we need to do as teachers! Take responsibility for your professional development, make it happen! I am on a journey to help you do that!

International Organizations-Jobs and roles in the ECE community

UNESCO is an international organization that interests me because they are very set on helping and promoting education for children and for all learners alike. ”UNESCO’s educational objectives are to support the achievement of Education for All (EFA); to provide global and regional leadership in education; to strengthen education systems worldwide from early childhood to the adult years; to respond to contemporary global challenges through education” What also caught my attention was the Incheon Declaration Education 2030. This declaration states a mission and vision to have equal and quality education for all learners by 2030. There are an abundance of jobs available for UNESCO at this time however none that would interest neither me right now nor that I seem to qualify for. Most of the jobs are in other countries and require dual language speakers.

UNICEF- their priority is to make sure that all children regardless of their backgrounds or their upbringings have access to quality education. UNICEF focuses on the most vulnerable children to make sure that they receive the education in which they deserve. “UNICEF helps governments, communities and parents gain the capacities and skills they need to fulfill their obligations for children. These obligations include ensuring the right of all children to free, compulsory quality education, even during a humanitarian crisis, in the recovery period after a crisis, or in fragile or unstable situations. We focus on gender equality and work towards eliminating disparities of all kinds” (unicef.org/education). UNICEF has a goal to decrease inequalities in education and eliminate discrimination in education. It is also very critical for children that are living in countries that are in conflict to still be able to receive and education. UNICEF works to make sure that the children in these areas are not missing out. UNICEF is a very important organization. Education of children is just one of their many priorities. I would love to work for an organization such as UNICEF. They also have many, many job opportunities. Although. I did not see one that would fall under my expertise and experiences.

A last organization that I chose is the Alliance for Childhood organization. They are based in the US, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, United Kingdom, Thailand, and Germany. The Alliance for Childhood organization works on critical issues in the filed such as restoring the importance of play into childhood, childhood and media, childhood obesity, high stakes testing, and the commercialization of childhood. These are all great topics that really peaked my interest. The website has some amazing publications and research based articles that relate to all of these topics. There were no job opportunities that I came across.

 

www.allinaceforchildhood.org

www.unicef.org

www.unesco.org