Sunday, March 26, 2017

My Role as an Advocate



Honestly, my intent was not to advocate for children. I believe children have a number of people advocating for them and could definitely use more however, I have been drawn to advocate for early learning teachers. Preschool teachers seem to have a bad rep. People are constantly thinking all we do is babysit all day when that is clearly not the case. With there being a rise of high quality preschools, more school are requiring that teachers have a degree, certification or license. 

In this case it is essential that we acknowledge the issues on all levels when it comes to the education of our educators. You cannot properly teach children if you do understand what developmental stages they are at currently and you cannot properly guide them going forward if you do not understand what is expected of them in the next class. With this knowledge comes education. Which is why continued education is important. Even teachers who have been in the field 10 plus years needs a refresher , a reboot because as times change so does how children learn change. 

Even though I am discussing advocating for teachers this is still an issue concerning the well-being of children. If I were to become a community leader I would express the importance of an early learning teacher and roles that teacher plays throughout the day to care for a child, teach a child and so on. I would express the importance of early learning and how great of impact early learning has in the life a child. I would take the time as a community leader to  understand my audience. 

The communities that suffer most is lower-income communities. I could express them all day long, the importance of early learning teachers and what they deserve but some would ask at the end of my spill what would it mean in cost for them for children to attend high-quality preschools. As we know hiring teachers with degrees and so on could be added on cost in tuition fees. I would begin to seek sponsors, partners, people willing to donate annually etc. Paying teachers should not be the job of the parents. 

Being a leader in any forum takes thick skin and understanding that a no, isn't always a no and a set back doesn't mean you have to quick. As long as we have children in this world then we have a reason to advocate, to fight. As long as we have people that want to teach our little ones,love on them while mom and dads make a living then again we have a reason to advocate, fight. Leaders must press on.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I don't have so much as a story of how I helped someone advocate for me or even someone being close to me being advocated for. However, now learning more about advocacy I wish I would have had someone advocating for me when I was younger. When I was younger I was sexually abused and I had to go through courts, custody, judges etc. I feel like people did the bare minimum even though I was removed from the situation but it was basically my choice because of lack of evidence. Now learning about the lengths advocates go to to ensure a child's safety and well being and even that justice is served, I wish I would have had an advocate. Someone who understood the severity and who wouldn't give up the fight so easily. Advocates are truly essential and working in this field I get to become the person I wanted when I was younger.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Advocacy



This quote is pretty self explanatory. If we don't care a whole lot about what we are doing then there won't be change. 

Saturday, March 4, 2017

When I Reflect About My Collegial, Professional Learning Community

Being apart of this learning community has definitely been different from what I have experienced in the past courses. Having a smaller classes presents a different challenge as far as accountability. Definitely felt a little more pressure to do assignments better and be on time,which is a great thing. I have enjoyed reading posts and gaining other insights from you wonderful ladies. One goal I have is to continue to do more research and ask more questions. As time is coming near to the end of this program another goal is to take advantage of the awesome resources Walden offers!

It has been a pleasure these past eight weeks with you ladies! I wish you both the best going forward and hope to see in other courses!