my granddaughters

My photo
Granddaughters Gracie and Lillie at Christmas

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Exploring Roles in the Early Childhood Education Community: Local and State Levels



Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) http://www.cehd.umn.edu/CEED/

CEED’s focus is to help children grow and develop to their best abilities they do this through research and community outreach.  Positive change in early education, child care and public policy is their goal.  They work to engage people and programs and coordinate efforts to make a contributions to the quality of life through applies research, policy, and professional development.  I have been a part of CEED trainings before and have found their skills to train fantastic, but I never really understood their role within the early childhood field until I did this research.  What I found is a group of professionals working toward making a difference in the lives of children, professionals and families.  To be a part of these communities of practice would be an honor.  In order to work directly with them you would need to have a Doctorate in the field.    I signed up for their newsletter and look forward to learning from them about what they are doing to make a change, at this point in my career I would not be able to join the team, but what I can do is take the opportunity to learn from them.  I like the fact you can contact any of the professionals via email.  I contacted one and got an answer back within two days.  We were able to discuss a current event and I appreciated her professional input. Because my focus is on professional development they have opportunities to go to trainings that focus on building teacher competencies.

 

Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative (MECI) http://www.ifound.org/children_childhood.php

The Initiative Foundation’s mission is to build and sustain healthy communities throughout central Minnesota.  One of their initiatives is the MECI which focuses on youth and families to educate them on child development and promotes parent /families as primary caregivers.  It also helps community coalitions create shared visions and connects local, state, and national communities to support quality care and education.

This site appealed to me because it is working toward creating quality care for children throughout our state specifically central Minnesota.  It has great research information that can be used to further my understanding of the needs Minnesota has for quality care for all children.  It is a community of practice that would be beneficial to me in terms of learning more of the needs and gain insight into what different parts of our state are doing to provide quality for all children.  It provides opportunities to learn from others and share ideas and concerns that focus on communities in a variety of different capacities.

While the initiatives foundation currently does not have employment opportunities it gives a list of sites that might have employment opportunities for people interested in philanthropy or nonprofit sector. 

 

Northern Minnesota Cluster Groups (Head Start Agencies)

Is a group of Administrative professionals that meet throughout the year to discuss current issues and topics that many Head Start Programs face, it is a time to brainstorm how we are working toward effective change within our own communities and offer support to others who might be struggling or looking for ways to make changes necessary to the viability of our programs. 

I have recently been invited to join this group and went to my first meeting, it was a great time to learn new techniques and gain insight into possible ways of doing things differently.  As a new member of this community of practice, I look forward to becoming more involved and look at how I can help make an impact toward positive change.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment