5/11/16

Professional goals

My work in the field of early childhood education began in high school simply because I wanted to help pay for many of the activities during my senior year.  As I began looking for jobs I followed the example of my parents in choosing something not because of the pay but because it was something that I am interested in and I ended up as an infant room caregiver.  This began my career and I spent over 10 years teaching in various age groups and capacities with my favorite being pre k and kindergarten.  As Kagen and Kauerz (2012) noted this field has gone from invisible to the center of attention and being a part of this shift I have grown in my idea of how I want to impact early childhood education and understanding my role.

As a teacher one issue that has always bothered me was the lack of professional development opportunities for early childhood teachers.  So when I consider my professional goals in a course on policies I find that easy to answer.  My overall goal is to improve the lives of the children and families that I serve.  In order to achieve this goal I must look to my team and work to develop them (goal 2).  And my third goal is to continue to advocate for young children, teachers and families.


Each of these goals will help me as I learn more about early childhood systems and subsystems.  In the past two weeks alone I have learned about new subsystems from classmates that may help me in achieving my own goals. In order to help my families and children it is necessary to know what services are available and work to connect them with those services.  By the same token seeking out and encouraging professional development among my team is a necessity.  I want to help them find trainings that are going to speak to them so that they can implement it in the classroom.  Advocacy is a must because no one knows what teachers need more so than teachers.  We have to speak up for early childhood and make sure that we stay the center of attention to continue to create policy and build early childhood systems.

Reference
Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.



8 comments:

  1. LaTresa,

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post. I have also advocated for professional development that provide assistance with the issues and problems that teachers face on a regular basis. These problems include providing assistance to families that lack basic necessities that would help their child succeed. Building systems that help to bridge these gaps for parents by assisting with access to eye care and dental services. This could greatly improve the lives of these students (Kagen & Kauerz, 2012). Early childhood systems can indeed provide the needed services that can help children become 21st century learners.

    Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Jacquelyne

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jacquelyne,

      Professional development is near and dear to my heart because I've seen too many good teachers with potential leave the field due to lack of training and support. When the teachers are aware of cure entry trends in early childhood and issues affecting families they are better able to help families.

      Delete
  2. LaTresa,

    I enjoyed reading your blog post this week. I am an advocate for professional development opportunities. As a consultant, trainer, and coach in Texas, I visit many early childhood programs that need quality training. Last week I visited a center that is on their last opportunity to improve their quality or they will be closed down. As I spoke with the program director, she informed me that the owner, who does not have any early childhood training or experience, continues to override the director’s directions. The owners are more concerned with saving money, then providing quality care for the children. I do think this is not the norm in our profession, but our State of Texas policies allow centers to sometimes accumulate hundreds of deficiencies (write ups) before they are closed. I advocate for more accountability on the part of the owners.

    Rhonda

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    Replies
    1. Rhondda I truly feel we are kindred spirits! Our paths are very similar. Once I stepped out of the classroom my next step was to focus on helping teachers. It hurts my heart to see programs like the one you described because people are looking to make a quick buck not realizing the importance of what we do.

      Delete
    2. Rhondda I truly feel we are kindred spirits! Our paths are very similar. Once I stepped out of the classroom my next step was to focus on helping teachers. It hurts my heart to see programs like the one you described because people are looking to make a quick buck not realizing the importance of what we do.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5/15/2016

    LaTresa,

    Thank you for your post. I feel that is very important to have valuable professional development opportunities. My school system plans our professional development according to the goals they want to achieve. I feel that this is sometimes not very beneficial to all teachers. Teachers are more willing to learn when they have the choice to learn about subject matter that interests them or will advance their personal goals. We used to be able to sign up for courses that mattered to us, but now that the choice is gone many teachers have poor attitudes towards the learning. I think choice is a valid point to consider when providing professional learning.

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  4. Anonymous5/15/2016

    LaTresa,
    The lack of professinal development is causeing a lot first year educators to leave this wonder field of education. I have a few peers who are first year teachers and are not coming back to field next year due to the lack of professional support provided to them their first year. Professional develpment is very important in our field and is also very valuable. I love your blog background also.

    Tamara

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  5. Hello LaTresa,

    Great post, professional development is need. Early educators who have access to additional educational and professional opportunities are more likely to incorporate new research findings into their work and to achieve career satisfaction. In reality, many early educators have inadequate resources, opportunities, and professional support. Infant, toddler, and out-of-school-time teachers, as well as family care providers, often lack access to professional development opportunities that are appropriate for their needs. According to research, professional development opportunities will expand participants' current knowledge of research on key issues in the field, such as learning environments, curriculum, schedules, teacher-child interactions, family engagement, and reflective practice ("Early Childhood Professional Development | Collaborative for Educational Services," n.d.)
    Tabiyes W.

    Reference
    Early Childhood Professional Development | Collaborative for Educational Services. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.collaborative.org/programs/early-childhood/professional-development#sthash.3d7Rv0pT.dpuf

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