Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

As soon as I think of national early childhood organizations, I immediately think of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  I chose this organization, because it provides an overall wealth of information regarding early childhood.  While their specific goals are listed on the home page of their website, in my opinion, the mission of NAEYC is to support young children and early childhood professionals.  NAEYC is a strong supporter of what is developmentally appropriate for each individual young child.
There are an immense variety of journals and/or articles located within the web page, questions are answered, issues are discussed, and upcoming conference information is shared.  As an early childhood professional, I skim through this web page on a weekly basis; there is always something new to read.  Although I have mixed emotions regarding NAEYC accreditation, I am a huge NAEYC supporter.  I will be attending their DAP Conference in 2 weeks, which is being held in San Francisco; I am presenting “Squish-Squash Open-Ended Art.” 
There are currently 3 job listings on the NAEYC web page.  I would be ecstatic to have any of the jobs, although there is little chance that my husband would move to Washington.  On the other hand, I am almost tempted to submit an application; they are ‘dream’ jobs.  The first job is for a Manger of Member Relations to work directly with volunteer leaders who want to improve the quality of early childhood education within their areas.  A B.A. degree and 3 years of experience are required in working with volunteers.  The next job that I located is Senior Director of NAECY Academy for Early Childhood Education, which works to improve the quality of early childhood programs recognizing and accrediting programs.  Basically the requirements are a strong knowledge of early childhood, communication and organizational skills. Without a doubt, this would be my ideal job, if located in a warm region of the United States.  Finally, NAEYC is hiring temporary workers for the summer months to give assistance by writing, reading, or editing their web pages or articles.  Again, if I could do this job from my home computer, I would be doing the happy dance.  I would LOVE to work for NAEYC!  The NAEYC web page is www.naeyc.org

The National Head Start Organization’s web page was my next choice to examine.  I chose this organization, because it is directly related to my Capstone project.  Their overall mission is support the Head Start community, including educators, students, and families.  For me, personally, I put ‘dual language learners’ in their search bar, and I was amazed that 23 records appeared.  I am eager to read carefully through them with the hopes of integrating some of the information within my challenge.  I would like a better understanding of the organizations philosophy of working with dual language learners.  I was unaware that so much information of specific issues of early childhood was located on Head Start’s web page.  This information can be found at www.nhsa.org
When I looked for job opportunities, I expected to see many positions available for teachers and directors.  There were 2 jobs listed, and I have doubts if they are current.  Perhaps, this part of the web page is not regularly updated.  The first job is for assist at a conference with various tracks; it is a part time position.  However, the conference was held in 2010!  The job listing after this is for a Nutrition Coordinator in a Philadelphia Head Start program.  Obviously, I do not have the experience or knowledge for such a position.  I did think this was going along with Head Start’s healthy kids program, because this individual would directly supervise the children’s nutrition, making certain their foods are healthy.  I liked that a lot!

The third national organization that I explored was the ADL web page.  This was a web page that I wanted to examine due to my diversity challenge.  Although I have searched my local web page, it is scarce compared to the national page, which is located at www.adl.org  There is SO much information related to my topic and to the world.  I was unaware that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was initially formed to combat anti-Semitism.  As a Jewish individual, I should have known this!  I was aware that currently they are advocates to stop all forms of racism. 
There is a wealth of information available for early childhood educators.  This is definitely ‘the’ web page that will offer assistance to early childhood educators wanting to implement an anti-bias curriculum within their classrooms.  I have been reading about the Miller Early Childhood Initiative, which provides a wealth of early childhood information.  In addition, as I stated previously in a discussion, the No place for HATE program would be amazing for early childhood.  While it has been initiated in various elementary and secondary schools, I think it has relevance in early childhood.  The program could easily be adapted to younger children.  I just might e-mail them my suggestion!  In addition, I must include that there are also articles for families, and I really enjoyed the bias free cooking activities.  I definitely am going to include information from this ADL to solve my challenge.
There were no jobs listed on the web page, but rather, it was suggested that individuals contact their local ADA office.  Personally, I would love to be employed by ADL to put together an anti-bias early childhood program; however, I am certain this would not be a paid position.  I will, however, seriously consider getting involved with No place for HATE, and of course, I WILL be putting together an anti-bias curriculum in a book or workshop form.

For me, this blog posting was extremely worthwhile, and I am thrilled that I chose to tackle it early in this week.  I will return to these web pages for additional information to help me solve my challenge, for sure!