For this blog, I will share about why I chose this subject this specialization, why I feel advocates are essential in the early childhood field, and what I wish to learn about public policy and advocacy.
- Why I chose this specialization? I chose this specialization, because during my tenure as an early childhood professional I have worked with numerous children and families from diverse backgrounds. However, majority of my work has been with children from low income families and neighborhoods. So as I worked with these children and families, I learned about some of the issues that were affecting them. Some of the issues I would hear them talk about were the inability to find higher paying jobs, the lack of quality education for themselves and their children, the need for affordable quality child care, and adequate affordable housing. With all of these issues affecting children and families, I thought if would be beneficial to learn about whys I can help better situations for them.
- Why I feel advocates are essential in the early childhood field? I feel that advocates are essential in the early childhood field, because we are the ones that have to work with the children and we are also aware of issues that affect children and families, because we often times hear first hand from parents and guardians about the hardships they are experiencing. Early childhood professionals also have connections with community resources that can be of assistance by partnering to offer services for children and families in need. I believe that advocates are essential, because they can help work for better conditions in the early childhood field. When I say conditions, I am mainly referring to better pay for example.
- What I wish to learn about public policy and advocacy is how to influence policy that promotes better conditions for children, families, and early childhood professionals. By understanding how to be an effective advocate, I will be able to create and promote change that will be beneficial to many of the children and families that I serve. There are so many things that I see that I would like to change, but understanding where and how to begin is critical to whether or not positive change can occur.
Priscilla,
ReplyDeleteYou bring out a good point that connecting families to community resources can be a great way to advocate for a family's needs as well as demonstrate the continued need for that service. I have often found that many communtiy services need to show how they are benefitting those in need in order to continue receiving donations or funding from other sources and to continue to offer services. Locating community resources can be a challenge for at times with families because I am unaware of the services available myself. This is an area that I wish to improve over the next year so that I may increase my own advocacy skills.
Priscilla, you are right. These families are like being part of our families. What affects these children; affects us as educators/ advocacy. I have had the opportunity to work with these families, listen to their concerns about high paying jobs. These families like anyone else want the best for their children. I want to learn what it takes regarding public policies to help these families.
ReplyDeletePriscilla,
ReplyDeleteI was forewarned early in my teaching career that if I did not stop getting personally involved in the lives of my students and their families that I would not last very long as an educator. However, as you mentioned, it is difficult to have the knowledge of what a family is going through and not attempt to intervene. Now I realize that I am not just becoming an advocate, I have always been an advocate. I have advocated on behalf of others more times than I can number. It is inspiring to know that other people are just as passionate about advocacy.