Time Well Spent

I can't believe the time is finally here! My last assignment for grad school. I have to admit I am excited to be finished so I don't have to worry about coming home after a long day of work, fighting the urge to sleep to work on a paper. Do you feel me? But I can honestly say I have truly enjoyed my classes. My mom could probably tell you because when I was home, I would get so excited about a new insight that I gained and I would tell her all about it, or make her listen to me read my papers aloud to make sure they sounded good. She was a daycare director, so I looked to her for guidance a lot. So three things I learned from Walden...

1.  Everyone holds bias and misconceptions. It is our duty as anti-bias educators to recognize our personal biases and rid ourselves of them so we can be truly effective professionals in the early childhood field.
2. That I have already been doing a lot of anti-bias work and did not even realize it. (Like avoiding a tourist curriculum by incorporating diversity throughout the year...) 
• Examples of units I teach already throughout the year: 
• Different modes of transportation depending on where you live
• Compare family traditions and customs among different cultures
• Use diagrams to show similarities and differences in food, clothes, homes, games, and families in different cultures
• Explain why people work and recognize different types of jobs, including work done in the home, school, and community
• Participate in shared research projects to identify and describe the events or people celebrated during state and national holidays and why we celebrate them: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; Presidents’ Day (George Washington and Abraham Lincoln); Memorial Day; Independence Day; Columbus Day; Veterans’ Day; Thanksgiving
3. There are ways to address misinformation, stereotypes, biases, prejudice, and fear in young children, so adults must NOT ignore it when those occur! 

My long term goal is to become involved more in my community to reach outside of the walls of my classroom and educate others on the importance of anti-bias work. I've emailed my school district's communication director today to see if there are any ways I can get involved with cultural awareness in the district. I plan to keep an eye out for programs I can get involved with and eventually start programs myself through the parks and rec department.

Click the button below to here my message to you! =) WE DID IT!!!

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Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

1. UNICEF's website explains that they are deeply committed to creating a world in which all children, regardless of their gender, socio-economic background or circumstances, have access to free, compulsory and quality education. UNICEF’s mandate to serve the most marginalized populations also focuses special attention on girls, who are the largest group excluded from education. Across the globe, UNICEF is committed to nothing less than full and complete access to free, quality education for every girl and boy. Universal access to quality education is not a privilege – it is a basic human right.
2. ISSA’s website states that their vision is a society where families, communities and professionals work together to empower each child to reach her or his full potential and embrace values of social justice and equity. ISSA's mission is to support professional communities and develop a strong civil society that influences and assists decision makers to: provide high quality care and educational services for all children from birth through primary school (birth through 10 years old), with a focus on the poorest and most disadvantaged. To ensure greater inclusion of family and community participation in children's development and learning. To ensure social inclusion and respect for diversity
3. According to the UNESCO website, UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.  Some of their goals are:

• Attaining quality education for all and lifelong learning
• Mobilizing science knowledge and policy for sustainable development
• Addressing emerging social and ethical challenges
• Fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace
• Building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication 

On the UNICEF website, the only job that interests me is developing and implementing Education programme(s) to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness, and accomplishment of programme goals and objectives. Key areas include: Girls’ Education, Education in Emergencies and Post. They also ask one to be fluent in french and local working language. I don't really qualify for this job based on these facts alone, but it would definitely be a cool experience!