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Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

 

Early childhood professionals take on a multitude of tasks. We teach life skills, create an academic foundation, and on top of that, we also work to encourage healthy family dynamics. Whether that is through providing resources, or services, it is crucial for professionals in early childhood to share their knowledge with families to ensure a safe and healthy upbringing for children and families.

In my own state of sunny California, we have amazing resources available to teachers and families. One I access often is the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAAEYC). Their mission is "advancing excellence throughout the early childcare and education profession" (CAAEYC, n.d.). I am a part of their mailing list, and regularly see the content they put out. From conferences to webinars to blog posts, their website has plenty of information to grow early childcare professionals. In addition, they have a jobs section to help facilitate early childhood workers and employers.  This is a great resource for early childhood professionals in California at every stage of learning and growth within the field.

Another resource in California is First Five California. They provide an array of resources, from political advocacy, to family programs, to professional development for educators (First Five California, n.d.). They have book packages providing essential information and development information for parents. At my current work, we gift those books to families who just had a newborn to help provide important information for their child's development. I did not see a section for employment, but with the resources they provide, it would be great to include some of their webinars or trainings on a resume.

The last state-wide organization that stood out to me was Early Edge California. They are an advocacy group that lobbies on behalf of early childcare centers, and in the best interest of the children. In addition, they promote useful resources and programs to families (Early Edge California, n.d.). They did not have an employment section, but they do offer various ways to get connected as an educator or family member. They also provide lots of useful data regarding early childhood development.

Looking through these websites, I realized there was a common trend. All the websites that attracted my attention discuss advocacy of some kind. As someone who did not receive any type of advocacy in my early childhood, I became an adult that highly values advocating for young children. Where I live, child advocacy looks like social work, teachers as advocates, and research at a university providing more information about best practices. After looking online, there are not many organizations or companies hiring for those positions at the moment. After looking at my resume, I seem qualified for some of these positions, though I would need a doctorate to work as a professor. I could also take some online courses or webinars regarding early childhood advocacy so that I could be better prepared. 



References

California Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). Mission & Vision. Retrieved

    from https://caeyc.org/about-us/mission-vision/

Early Edge California. (n.d.) About Us. Retrieved from https://earlyedgecalifornia.org/about-us/

First Five California. (n.d.). What We Do. Retrieved from

    https://www.ccfc.ca.gov//whatwedo/index.html

Comments

  1. Cynthia HuntNovember 13, 2021 at 1:45 PM

    Hi Itze, I also use the very resourceful NAEYC website. It is my go to. We also have a state afflicated chapter NCAEYC. I agree that searching for positions in agencies are not always easy to find. I not sure if some of them even exist as solo positions. I have been seaching for positions or organizations that promote diverse literacy in early childhood settings but mainly get directed to early literacy progams and libraries. I wish you luck in your search.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 14, 2021 at 11:15 AM

    Itze,
    I agree that growing up I too, did not have the advocacy then that I strive for now. It can be difficult to find organizations that align with these values but I challenge you to create your own lane for such diversity. I feel as though we all chose this path to do something great and maybe you have not found a position or agency that works for you because you are supposed to be the one that sparks this idea. I believe that you could be in the prime position to be that voice you have been looking for all along. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SScottNovember 14, 2021 at 3:52 PM

    Itze,

    My mother was a single mom who worked liked crazy to provide for my brother and I. The only time she advocated for my brother and me was when the school did not want to sign off for my brother to attend the same middle school as me. There were other opportunities, but she did not know how to fight or if the school was “just right” because they were the educators. When I became a teacher, I knew that I would provide resources to families and help them find their voice in a system that could be encrypted.
    For all of your local resources although they did not have job opportunities, they found ways for teachers and parents to help advocate for children. My resources were similar to yours and I had to go through their affiliate sites to find jobs dealing with early childhood advocacy. Which was good to know because up until this assignment I have only looked at schools and early childhood centers. I wish you luck as we narrow down where we see ourselves in the community.

    SScott

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cynthia HNovember 14, 2021 at 5:52 PM

    Itze,
    Thank you for sharing your communities. I think many of us were a little scared or just didn't have enough knowledge on advocacy is the reason why we thought it was something we could not do. Now that we have the knowledge and the skills, we realize that advocating for our children and their families is something we do daily.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TakeishaNovember 14, 2021 at 7:28 PM

    Hi Itze,
    I enjoyed reading about the "Early Edge California" I like the fact that your state has an advocacy group that speaks up on behalf of the early childcare center and the children. I don't believe that we have any organization that is like that. The other two organizations that you referenced sounds like a few of the programs that we have here in NC just called something different , but same concept. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

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