Finally, the Final Blog Post!!

First of all I can hardly contain myself!! Finally, finally, we are finished. The blog was my nemesis throughout the duration of my program. This may not count as a deeply felt learning from the course, but I have to admit I am not a blogger!!!J

So…when I began my program I truly felt that I was going to utilize my education to work as a Program Director of an early childhood education program. Now, I cannot see myself doing that. I feel my passion has been discerned over the course of this program and I feel my area of expertise lies in working for organizations that assist children and families that are suffering due to traumatic experiences both locally and internationally. My background is in mental health and I feel both my experience and knowledge are complementary to support this goal.

Next, I had the expectation that I would primarily be working with children and didn’t really take into account the large family component that is necessary for successful implementation of programs.

Lastly, I think I found a belief in myself. I found the belief that I do have the knowledge and skills to make change happen. I finished this program and I now better go and do something with it, because I have been given the gift of knowledge to help others.

My long term goal has always been to work internationally with children and families. I have investigated programs such as Food for the Poor and HEART over the past several years and would love to work for one of those organizations when my children are all old enough to endure such travels. Essentially, I would love to work to help alleviate the suffering children endure from starvation to loss of loved ones in order to help children heal and have the opportunity to grow and learn, give children the gift of childhood!!

I would like to thank all of my colleagues in these courses! It has been inspiring to hear the great work all of you are doing in your communities and for children. I have learned so much from the experience and knowledge you have all shared with me and I wish you all the best of luck!! Dr. Teri, I appreciate the hard work and dedication that you have poured into this final capstone project for all of us. It is clear that you have a passion for helping your students and to see all of us grow and be successful in our profession. I am so thankful for the guidance you gave me and the commitment to our educational goals you have shown.

On a side note, I have been out of touch with the “real” world for so long I look forward to reading some fiction and probably need a good recommendation!!

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

International Organizations

I first chose to explore the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH). This is a membership required organization that seeks to explore ways to improve the overall well –being and healthy mental and emotional development of infants worldwide by taking into account factors relating to culture, geography, and environment. This organization seeks to find scientific research and resources to assist all infants globally. Since my paper revolves around infants and early childhood mental health I felt this organization was a great resource to learn what is currently taking place worldwide with this issue. I felt this was very exciting to find out about, and could prove to be an excellent resource long term.

http://www.waimh.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1

Next, I looked at Plan International. This is an organization similar to UNICEF. The premise behind this organization is to assist all children globally with increasing their overall chance of success by promoting their potential and strengths despite environmental stressors. While education is one factor that Plan heavily supports, other factors such as health and safety are much larger concerns. As Maslow points out, basic needs of safety and security must first be met in order to work on other needs. Once again I am very interested in how to serve children educationally that have challenges related to safety and security. Also, I have always wanted to go and work in India or Latin America when my children are all old enough to endure the travels, so this organization speaks to me on a personal level as well.  

http://plan-international.org/what-we-do/education

Lastly, I researched the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This is a group sponsored by the United Nations to bridge the gap between different countries and cultures in order to promote global collaboration on topics relating to education, health and safety, and communication. In terms of education this organization works to bring educational opportunities to all children of every nation in a safe and humanitarian manner. This organization offers a wealth of information in terms of resources, journal articles, and current events worldwide on topics pertaining to education. The amount of information this organization offers is tremendous and I feel that it offers useful and valuable resources.

http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century

I recently read on LinkedIn that individuals who volunteer are more likely to land a job, due to the experience they gain volunteering as well as the networking opportunities. With that in mind I found internships available through UNESCO. An individual must be enrolled in a graduate or post graduate program in a field that UNESCO supports, such as education. The internship last for 2-6 months, and while there is no pay for the position it offers supplementary experience and education to standard coursework. Individuals must speak and write English, be proficient in MS office, as well as have a student Visa. While I don’t plan to pursue my Doctorate degree just yet, this would be a great opportunity for someone that does plan to do so.

http://en.unesco.org/careers/internships

National Organizations & CoP

National organizations or Communities of Practice (CoP) that appeal to me include the Children’s Defense Fund, Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, as well as Zero to Three. First of all I chose the Children’s Defense Fund to utilize as a great source of information to cite and gain information from. The Children’s Defense Fund offers numerous articles on specific relevant topics to my challenge statement, stays current on policy changes, and can be a source of advocacy or referral information (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). The Cradle to Prison pipeline initiative the Children’s Defense Fund is currently working on directly relates to the early intervention strategies for young children that I hope to address such as how to address trauma in early childhood. The second organization I chose to explore is Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health. This organization offers several CoPs that are specific to topics. For example, there is a specific Child Welfare CoP as well as Early Childhood CoP, both which address current mental health needs of children, which I felt to be very valid to my challenge statement. Each CoP has an individual assigned as the community lead.  Based on the website the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Heatlh state both of these CoPs offer “Access up-to-date information, events, funding opportunities, and resources, or ask a question related to child welfare services and the needs of children and families in the child welfare system” (Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, n.d.). This would be a great resource to learn from other professionals around the country dedicated to a unified goal. Lastly, I looked at Zero to Three as this organization offers resources for early childhood educators, stays current on policy changes, and has relevant information pertaining to the mental health of young children and how this can translate into success in classrooms. Additionally, this resource offers information about state policy changes as well as national policy changes. This is imperative for all early childhood educators despite the challenge as funding, standardization, and other initiatives affect the strategies and models of intervention.

            Current job opportunities available that interest me include a Project Director for Early Education Services division for ICF International. This organization works as a contract agent for community and government projects in key areas of development such as education. The organization serves the United States as well as other countries worldwide. This project actually is located in Fairfax, Virginia and serves to address retention, education reform, and professional development. Qualifications include a Master’s degree and five years’ experience in early care or education, as well as military experience and quality control experience. While I meet most qualifications for this job I do not currently have military experience.

References:

Children’s Defense Fund, (2012). Programs & campaigns. Retrieved from

http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/

Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, (n.d.). Communities of practice.

Retrieved from http://www.tapartnership.org/communitiesOfPractice.php

Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, (2012). Building early childhood

systems. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/

Community of Practice

I just became a member of the Graduation Matters community of practice. This community of practice is dedicated to working to discover why children don’t graduate high school or transition to higher education and find ways to assist in increasing the rates of children that do. This community of practice appealed to me initially because I am the mother of five children, I work in higher education, and I am obtaining a graduate degree in early childhood education. I feel as though I have a lot of offer to this group, but also I have a high investment in it as well. Not only personally as the goals and mission of this group may affect my own children, but also as a professional that has a great deal to offer in terms of knowledge and experience.

Next, I am interested in Early Childhood Professionals of Wyoming. This community of practice is a way for early childhood professionals within the state to ask questions, become informed of pertinent policy changes, or work together to discover best practices for increasing the educational attainment of the children within our state. State organizations such as this are imperative to knowing and understanding our state legislature, funding, policies, and even culture.

 

Lastly, there is not a formal name, but a community of practice exists between the community colleges within my state that offer early childhood education programs. This highly appeals to me as I consider my future goals, career, and endeavors that lie ahead. This community of practice serves to share information, work together when seeking state funding, and also works collaboratively when addressing state legislature about policies or procedural changes that may negatively or positively impact early childhood education within higher education.  

 

As we begin to wrap up our course work and complete our studies I have been exploring job opportunities. I am most interested in ways to combine my background in mental health with my graduate degree. I have been invited to interview for a position that assists children and families that are homeless, have substance abuse issues, or mental health needs to gain self-sufficiency through intervention and support. In order to fulfill the roles of this job I would need to rely heavily on my skills developed as a mental health case manager, but also include the knowledge I have gained in terms of how to offer support to families, encourage families and professionals to work collaboratively together, as well as demonstrate a respect for family cultures, diversity, and individual cultures. Next, I have been working to help pave the way for the development of an early childhood education center on the college campus where I currently work. This would require a great deal of skill and knowledge gained in terms of finding funding resources, budgeting and allocating funds, as well as developing a program from the onset in terms of curriculum, floor plans, marketing, and licensing.

Week 8 Collaboration and Support

This week I have reflected back on the first class of our Master's program that discussed the importance of meaningful relationships and support systems that included colleagues. I have heard it reiterated throughout the duration of our program as well the importance of colleague support. I am hopeful that throughout the past year I have been able to provide support by sharing resources, being encouraging, and providing meaningful input. I know that my colleagues have done this for me. I have had many colleagues share a vast amount of information and resources that I have found to be very beneficial. I have found a community of support with my colleagues that know and understand the demands and pressures of maintaining work, life, and school balance as well, which is equally as important. I hope going forward that my colleagues feel they can reach out to me as a resource if needed.

 I wish everyone the very best in their future endeavours and I am so pleased that such a wonderful group of dedicated individuals will go on and empower so many children and families going forward. The scope of our reach will be magnificent! Thank you all for enriching my education and showing me a different perspective!! I am on LinkedIn and my email address is mtate4321@hotmail.com.


I think the collaboration continuum demonstrates the convergence of our group and how we have been able to move through the process of first contact to collaborative effort!

Adjourning

I often feel the hardest good byes come with groups that have over come and evolved into high performing groups. I think the rocky starts often, not all of the time, build bonds that create an environment where everyone knows the alternative and chooses to work together as a cohesive group.  I was involved with a Mothers of Preschoolers group several years ago that was by far for me the hardest group to leave. In the beginning there was a learning curve for all as to how to communicate and set clear expectations with one another, but once that was established it was a fantastic group that complemented one another in many aspects. Together we accomplished so many goals, and became great friends in the process. Ultimately, several us of moved away, which caused the group to adjourn. As a ritual we went out together, had dinner,  and reflected on our times together. For me when a group adjourns and there is no sort of closing ritual it seems as there is no closure on the experience as well. It is left open ended and perhaps fragments the process and entire time spent together. 

In one of my undergraduate research courses our instructor put us in groups the first week and each week we had assignments with our group that were due. In an online format this was extremely challenging, but it was the first time I actually got to know my other school colleagues, and have made life long friends because of it. I have never really thought about how our cohort group in the Master's program would adjourn. I have spent a lot of time in the online format and it has been difficult to establish the same kind of bond that comes with face to face communication. We have all been extremely dedicated to our studies and straight to the point, so although we will have spent two years together it has all been so focused and concentrated. I believe I must try harder to establish relationships with my colleagues and perhaps wish everyone well when the time comes, but try to remain in contact as the collaboration with colleagues in any format is vital.

Communication and Conflict

Recently in my workplace there has been a lot of disagreement amongst my colleauges in regards to learning how to implement old policies with an entirely new team. Our division has grown substantially and many existing employees have transfered to new positions at our college, so we are all learning each others personalities and experiencing growing pains. Two strategies we have developed to address these issues have first of all been to develop weekly meetings. The goal is to allow each individual the opportunity to share specific concerns and work as a team to approach these concerns to resolve and address them. This creates a collaboration effort that is respectful and reciprocal. Additionally, it addresses NVC as the object is to be empathetic to one another's needs and work together for resolution without trying to strong arm a view point from someone. The second strategy has been to develop a group forum online so that daily tasks can be addressed by the group as needed. The purpose for this was to address issues as soon as they arrive, otherwise little issues can become much bigger when not addressed in a timely manner. Once again this creates a collaborative effort. This is a little more challenging as empathy is harder to address in an online format and non verbal cues are missed, but on the reverse side of this the team is able to work together respectfully to collaborate and address the needs of one another. This had encouraged a team effort by allowing each individual to feel valued for their contribution, but also to feel supported when they are facing a challenge.

My Communication Style

For this assignment I chose to have my husband and my closest colleague evaluate me. I felt it necessary to tell them both to be honest as I would not be offended and knew I had areas that needed improvement. With this being said I still worry about the validity because who knows how honest one can be when they still have to interact with me everyday. I am hopeful they were both honest, I chose them because they communicate with me in different capacities, but definitely more frequently than anyone else, so they should know my communication patterns better.

I was extremely surprised that they both evaluated me as having less communication anxiety then I evaluated myself. They both placed me very low, and I placed myself in the mild range. This is a huge change for me as I have not always been a low anxiety communicator, but due to the demands of my job and my family I have grown into this role. The next surprise for me was that I was rated by myself and my evaluators as being a people oriented listener. This was wonderful for me, as I have always felt I am a time or action oriented listener, which made me feel badly. I was pleasantly surprised and feel maybe I have been giving myself a hard time for years for no reason at all!!

Not surprising to me was that my husband rated me a little higher on the verbal aggressiveness scale than my colleague, not much but a little. I guess he knows my true colors!!

Communicating Differently?

My community is located neighboring the Wind River Reservation. I grew up here primarily and only just moved back last September. I grew up with an awareness that there were cultural differences that existed, and limited knowledge about what exactly those differences were and why. Now as an adult and professional at the community college here I look at these differences with a different awareness. I absolutely communicate differently with individuals of cultures that are not the same as my own.

Yesterday we had an informal meeting to discuss how as a division within the college we can establish better communication with one another. Several of us are relatively new and we all are knew to working with one another. One of my supervisors stated so much is being lost in translation and interpreted differently than the actual intent because we haven't taken the time to get to know one another. 

I believe that this can statement be applied to communication in general or communication with regards to culture. I do not communicate differently because I feel superior or view my culture as the "better" choice. I believe that now I have taken the time to learn about the cultural significance and differences in communication in order to be more affective and accepting. I would much rather learn about an individual, establish a relationships, and build a rapport so that I can learn from others as well as teach to others not just education but culturally as well.

Keeping Up Appearances

I am not sure if it was good or bad, but I told my husband to pick a television show on Netflix I had never seen before so I could evaluate it for this assignment. He chose a British television show from the 90s called Keeping Up Appearances. I had never heard of it, so it worked. I was weary of any cultural differences that may affect my interpretation of nonverbal communciation, but decided to go with it anyways. As I began to watch I was able to determine the main character was not liked very much based on other's facial cues, but also they way they walked away from her when talking and looked down when she spoke to them. She seemed very judgmental based on her facial cues. Other individuals seemed more carefree until she was in the room, and the tension seemed to rise. For example, when she is on her way to someone's house they are relaxing and then when she arrives they begin frantically trying to tidy up.

When I watched the episode with the sound on I realized that I was correct in my assumption that everyone did not particularly enjoy this woman's company, but not to the degree I thought. With the sound off I thought she was in control of others based on her judgments and facial cues. With the sound on I realized she was often the annoyance or joke based on her judgements.

I had two Aha! moments while doing this assignment. The first was that this show overtly stereotyped and tried to set -up non verbal opinions of the characters. They showed a house with a junky car in the driveway, the man of the house wearing a dirty tank top, drinking beer, with a tattoo, sitting on a chair that looked like a hamburger. This has interested me to determine if all shows do this and I have been too focused on the words to notice or if this show was just like that. Also, I realized I may be an awfulizer. I felt the tone of the television show was far more unpleasant based on the non verbal communication than really it was intended to be. This can send mixed signals for me when communicating as the verbal and non verbal commincation based on tone don't necessarily match.

I think if I had watched a show I am familiar with the assignment would have been completely different. I would already have a general idea of the characters, those disposition, tone, and personality to judge from. I would also know more of the history of the characters, therefore be biased in my decision making.

Competent Communication

My direct supervisor is someone I admire based on her ability to communicate. She works with a diverse group of individuals on a daily basis, yet is able to communicate effectively in every circumstance. I have noticed that her ability to pay attention and make everyone feel heard is probably the key characteristic that makes her particularly effective. Next, her confidence and soothing manner when discussing issues often leaves individuals feeling better about themselves and the matter at hand. She often takes notes when having discussions so she can refer back to them if necessary or seek clarification if it is not something she knows immediately. I would love to model my own communication after my supervisor. The primary example of why I would like to be as effective of a communicator as she is took place a few weeks ago. A colleague became upset during a meeting we were having and began yelling at my supervisor. Not only did she remain calm and restate the conversation to try and keep the discussion proceeding, which it did. After the fact she asked myself and a colleague what we felt she could have done differently in that exchange because she felt that for the discussion to escalate like that she could have done something differently to prevent it. Not only did she ask for help with a matter and admit that she felt her communication was not adequate, but she sought to improve how she communicates as well.

Professional Hopes and Goals

First and foremost I would like to thank my colleagues that I have been sharing this tremendous journey with for the past year!! It has been a challenging and rewarding experience so far, and I am so thankful to be able to learn from your vast experience and knowledge!!

Going forward it is my hope that I will become a better person everyday. I hope to see individuals not just people. I hope to treat every child and family with respect and appreciation for who they are. I hope to be a caring advocate and resource for all children and families, and I hope to increase other's knowledge so that within my community and organization there is an increase awareness and acceptance for diversity.

My professional goal with respect to diversity, equity, and social justice would be to be on the diversity committee within my professional organization. I would then like to organize events both within my organization and also in the community to increase in awareness, equity, and acceptance of all individuals. I believe in this capacity I can be an advocate and a resource.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I will be welcoming a family from the country of Estonia. I have no knowledge of the cultural values of Estonians, therefore this will be a challenge for me. To prepare for the arrival of the family I will be working with, I will first learn about the primary language of Estonians and work to establish a point of contact that will be able to offer translation or linguistic help as needed. It has been stated throughout the duration of this course that language is often abandoned as it does not fit with the language of the dominant culture. I would like to establish the native language as a rich learning experience for the center in which I work as well as the new family. Next, I would learn about the history of Estonia. This would give me insight into the evolution of the Estonian culture and society. I would also try to discover the family culture and family structure of Estonians, as working with families and children this is a key component to successfully communicating and respecting the family values. I believe that determining what type of social policies Estonia subscribes to would be important as well to help link the new family to social resources without impeding upon cultural values if necessary. Determining the values placed on physical and emotional interaction would be necessary as well, such as eye contact, handshakes, tone of voice, or physical proximity. This would allow for boundaries to be established and maintained without invalidated or insulting the family. I believe that determining religious values as well as ethnic values would be imperative as well. Throughout the course of preparation for the family I hope to learn how I can be supportive to the family, welcoming in an unobtrusive manner, as well as respectful of their family culture and individual cultures as well. This will allow me to learn from the family as well as to be a supportive resources as the family transitions. It is my hope that the family will feel values and respected in order to maintain their cultural and social identities as they establish themselves in a new country and environment.

Bias and Oppression

Early on in my undergraduate program I took a Sociology course. Part of the course was responding to discussion posts of other classmates, however, our instructor wanted us to present new information or challenge information presented in our classmates discussion post. I remember the topic was not a hot button topic at all, but one of my classmates accused me of being closed minded and racist. It was a very demeaning response to my post and not even on topic of what we were discussing. I was very hurt by the remarks as they were completely unfounded and off base. We had not had any formal or informal discussions with one another prior to this and I was shocked by her response to me. My instructor actually removed her post and issued a very stern comment in regards to her post. Later the student emailed me saying she just needed someone to challenge as she felt that the instructor wanted us to do that. While this may be a cloudy example of bias and oppression it sticks with me. I don't understand why this classmate didn't like me and felt that she needed to attack my character, but it was very hurtful to me. After this occurrence I did my best to avoid this classmate and made sure I didn't not comment to her for fear of retribution or retaliation.I think she made me feel inferior in some way, as if I presented myself as lacking integrity. From that point on I did not feel as though she was a classmate or colleague. I think in order to grow and increase equity it takes both parties being willing to compromise. There was a lack of trust built, but over time I believe with commitment from myself and my classmate to improve communication and acceptance of one another this could have been resolved. Upon thinking of this further I wonder based on her email to me if she thought I was someone that would just accept this model of communication without being hurt by her comments?

The Trouble with "isms"

I work at a community college and spend most of my time on campus. I wasn't sure how this week would go as far as trying to detect "isms". I felt like I may really be surprised with all of the microaggressions I ignore each day, or I may hear relatively few. This week I noticed that the primary "isms" I heard, which included very few I may add, were targeted towards ageism, classism,  and ableism. The one that really struck me was when someone said to me, "I am not working dead end jobs, that's okay for some people but not me...I don't want to live poor". I was speaking with a student regarding his career plan and path to reach that goal. I noticed I immediately became defensive when he stated it, yet I tried to remain professional. He then stated it again, at which point I reminded him that every situation in life can be looked at as a learning experience. My perception is that there is a divide amongst the classes, and a disagreement about how we can all work together to reach a common goal. Is poverty okay for some, but just not others? I think that was the implication. Overall this week when I began to really look, listen, and be aware I was shocked by the acceptance of certain microaggressions. I also feel that populations that do not fit within the dominant culture and are therefore vulnerable may be more at risk of being the target of a microaggresion.

Diversity

The college in which I am employed recently had a discussion amongst the staff about the Institutional Value, Diversity. The discussion of Diversity amongst the college professionals was surprising to me. Culture was identified on more than one occasion as customs, values, traditions. On the other hand diversity in this situation was discussed simply in terms of surface culture. One individual addressed the differences between individual culture and cultural differences, but otherwise many references to diversity simply revolved around ethnicity. Family culture was also mentioned as a difference that is not often taken into account in Higher Education settings, this including the way children have been raised and the roles they play in their family culture. It was stated and seemed to be a general consensus that differences should be accented, not as a means to stereotype, but as a way to gather information and learn from one another. The idea of assimilation and viewing individuals as either a fruit salad or a fondue pot was also mentioned. The fruit salad requires many different kinds of fruit and when all mixed together each still maintains they uniqueness, but collaborate to make a delicious salad. On the other hand different ingredients are also used to make fondue, but over time they all blend and melt together no longer uniquely identifiable, but still delicious.

 I am including a link to a video by Jane Elliott that was done in the 1970s in a classroom to discuss stereotyping, but also to show how teachers and authority can influence the perception of children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWlTZZN3DY

Fleeing the country and all I could take was...

When thinking of what three items I would take if I had to leave my country it was extremely difficult. It is probably really easy to over think this question. What is necessary, what can I not live without, what matters the most to me? I believe I am going to cheat just as little. For one item I am including all five of my children's baby books. These books include photos since their birth, stories, crafts, every little tidbit of information as their mom I never want to forget. The next item I would take is a cement buffalo. The buffalo is the size of small child's shoe box. It is painted, and looks like a buffalo laying on the grass. It is pretty heavy considering it is made out of cement. All of my grandparents died when I was very young, and this buffalo was my grandmothers, so no matter how old or ugly it is, I still have it sitting in my bedroom by dresser. The third item I would take would be a picture of my husband and I on our wedding day. We were married in the Catholic church and again on the beach in Mexico. The picture is of us on the beach in our wedding attire.I believe my explanation of these three items would be that I value family and my relationships the most. I believe that this is how I define myself. These items represent what is most important to me; love, happiness, family and those relationships. If I were told upon arrival I could only take one item instead of all three I would be devastated, however, my family would still be with me and I believe that the memories will still be with my and new memories can be made. For me hands down the item I would take would be my children's baby books. While I make the books to remember and reflect upon, which is for me. Ultimately they are gifts for them when they are older to keep and remember as well. I feel this is how I can teach them part of their culture, traditions, and self -identification.  While doing this exercise I realized that as we have examined surface culture, dominant culture, and family culture the most important to me is family culture. While I would miss many things about the United States, nothing came to mind that I couldn't live without that reflect dominant culture of the United States or surface culture. Looking back I could have taken a flag or a religions symbol, but those things didn't even come to mind until after the fact.