Exploring Roles In the Early Childhood Education Community: Local and State Levels.
The internet search engine I utilized did not give me any
site or clue for a local or state early childhood (EC) organization. Actually,
this is one of the things that informed my capstone topic choice. The early
childhood community needs strengthening through a membership association to a
reputable organization and for now, it is just a dream in mu heart. Since I am allowed to also look at a state
that has a model of what I dream, I have chosen two organizations.
South
Carolina Child Care Association (SCCCA) The goal of South Carolina
Child Care Association is to promote physical, emotional, social, and
intellectual growth in child care programs in South Carolina; to encourage and
cultivate cooperation between its members; to present to the general public and
the governing authorities factual information concerning the operation of these
facilities; to advocate for quality child care; and to provide member services
and programs. The South Carolina Child Care Association is dedicated to the
education and care of South Carolina children. The South Carolina Child Care
Association is a team of professionals who join together to promote licensed, privately-owned child
care and early education opportunities for the children in South Carolina.
The reason I chose this organization is because it is my
dream that the community of practice in my neighborhood, like the professionals
in South Carolina, who joined together to promote licensed, privately owned
child care and early education opportunities.
My next choice is
Greenville County Childcare Association (GCCA)
GCCA is a non-profit organization whose
purpose is to publicly promote and encourage quality child care in Greenville
County. The GCCA provides for communication, coordination, training peer
support, and fellowship among area child care professionals in Greenville
County.
Membership Benefits: 3 FREE training meetings
(February, September, November), annual meetings to provide a forum in which
all members are encouraged to ask questions and share ideas, and reduced fees
at the Annual Child Care Conference.
My most interesting fascination here is the training
opportunity it provides its members. My dream about the early childhood
organization I hope to emerge in my locale is one that will provide professional
development opportunities for the field of early childhood. I so much look forward
to professional growth in the workforce.
COP
The next is a community of practice (COP) to which I belong. It
has no name because it is just a team of staff of the school where I work. We
usually do an evaluation periodically and we take any weak area, give task to
one or two persons who have strength in the area we intend to study. Such persons will do a qualitative study and
lead an interactive class in our professional learner’s community (PLC). With these classes, we have sharpened our
individual and collective professional skills.
The roles I will love to play in the two organizations is
membership and team facilitator. I already play a lead role in the last team.I believe that my training in the masters program I am about to conclude can give me the requisite knowledge I require to function and make a positive social change, while increasing my competence by taking an educational leadership course.
United way child care resource and referral
Hi Praise, I enjoyed reading your post. I too experienced difficulty locating early childhood organizations in my local community. There were a few listed, but there is a need for more to serve the needs of children and families. Alaska has much work to do, but efforts have begun. I also agree that the knowledge we have gained from this Masters program have given us many tools to build upon and utilize within the profession. Cindy Ferguson
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