Considering My Capacity

When it comes to my work as an advocate, the special skills that I have would be the ability to persevere toward my end goal. I am also organized and am very good when it comes to writing out what I want to say. There are times when I am writing that I may say something that is going to ruffle feathers, but I am not afraid to speak my mind and be honest. I think the ability to be honest is also a valuable skill to have because people often want to be told in an honest caring manner that something will get done but not lie and say that it will take a shorter amount of time than it really will. I will incorporate all of these skills into my advocacy work because I want to be seen as a caring individual who works hard to see the final result.

I think the knowledge that I have is what I have learned in this class. I also think that it is important for me to never stop learning particularly so that it will help be a better advocate for young children. I think the desire to learn what needs to be done and the ability to do something is really important. I think the fact that I am also a caring individual will go a long way because as someone who advocates for other people and children, it shows that someone who is compassionate is someone that ultimately cares for those that they are striving to help. I think the fact that I have a capacity to be compassionate will go a long way especially when it is backed up by perseverance and tenacity.

I hope that I can grow with the ability to look at the larger picture and not just at the short term. I want to know that I can look at the long term effects that advocacy will work with. I also hope that I can grow and have the ability to be willing to not back down from a fight if I believe strongly enough in something and not want to give up when the fight for change gets too tough. Being able to grow as a person without trying to change the beliefs and values that I hold dear to me is also very important. Basically continue to grow into the type of person that God wants me to be and the advocate that I know that I can be.

My Role as an Advocate

The one thing that got me started wanting to advocate for young children were when a young cousin of mine died from SIDS. After finding out about it and then reading about it in the newspaper it was heartbreaking. The mother was vilified by the community because she let her child die. After learning about SIDS and the causes of it earlier in a previous class, it makes me realize that there needs to be more education about this issue than there has been. My uncle still feels bad about that daughter that died so suddenly. I want to help other parents be able to prevent this from happening to them.

It is important to foster advocacy at both the macro and micro levels because both the small group and individuals as well as the larger group can all benefit from the information that is presented on important early childhood issues. It takes someone who is willing to share information with others when this can help advocacy on either the macro- or micro- level. A community leader can be someone who has a passion to help and is willing to share the resources that are available with other people.

The resources needed to be a state leader in early childhood issues is someone that has been successful at being a community leader with regards to advocating for issues that are important. These resources have to be well established in order for a state leader to be most effective. Someone that has a lot of passion and the ability to lay out the information that can and will help the most people is just as important as being a good leader. When it comes to mobilizing other people, someone who is organized with their information and has all of the facts and evidence laid out is going to have an easier time of getting people to work together on issues that effect the early childhood field than someone who is less likely to be as organized. Another strategy is the ability to build relationships with other early childhood advocates and EC organizations that have the ability to also help with advocacy issues. This and working with people that are good at being able to answer financial questions that come up is another important tactic. Being able to work with people that have the financial backing is also going to help when trying to mobilize people to advocate for other people.

The advice that I would give someone is to persevere. The process is going to be long and take a lot of energy and time. Also gather people around you that you can feed off of and encourage and they can encourage you when things get too difficult. In order to be an effective advocate, having the passion continue even when things get really difficult is going to be the biggest test of whether something is going to get done or not. It is one thing to have the passion, but when you collaborate with other people that have the same passion and perseverance that you do, together the group can continue even after all of the “no’s” that come. Among all of the no’s there will be someone that will listen to what you have to say who will have the power to say yes and can help push the issue along further.

Personal Advocacy Reflection

This was a challenging blog for me to do because I really do not know who to write about particularly. As I have thought about it though, a couple of names have finally come to my mind. The person that has been something of an inspiration for me was a teacher that I have observed teaching in Oregon. Her name is Melissa and she has taught Kindergarten and is currently teaching 1st and 2nd grade at Central Valley Christian School in Tangent, OR. She strives daily in her classroom to make sure that the students in her classroom are able to succeed. She has even tried to help students that have learning disabilities in her classroom so that they are successful. She researches information quite frequently so that she can try to use different methods of teaching in her classroom.

The way this has inspired me to be an advocate is that just from observing and talking to her, I have learned that sometimes it is better to have many different strategies in place when you are teaching children, because they all learn very differently. This was her way of advocating for her students because in the end she wanted them all to be able to learn the information that she presented and do it so that the students that are quicker to catch on to what is taught are still learning while the ones that need more help are able to get the help that they need. She also tries to make sure that she is able to communicate with students whose first language is not English. To me, the way she handles her classroom is advocacy. After observing her, I have realized that even in my own classroom, I can be an advocate.

Seattle’s Preschool Program Is Starting To Take Shape With A Little Help From Boston

This is an article that I read today that came into my email. It is from http://nieer.org

Seattle’s Preschool Program Is Starting To Take Shape With A Little Help From Boston
By JENNIFER WING • MAR 4, 2015

The universal preschool program Seattle voters said yes to last November is starting to take shape. As it works out the details, the City is getting a lot of advice from Boston. That city, which is home to world renowned universities, is also considered a national leader in early childhood education since it launched its preschool program in 2005.

Jason Sachs, the Director of Early Childhood Education with Boston Public Schools, gave a presentation to Seattle City Council’s education committee.

“Quality, quality, quality, I really think who the teacher is and what the teacher teaches is going to be critical. And how it’s evaluated is also going to be critical,” said Sachs.

Researchers say what’s happening in Boston is working. By the 3rd grade, the children who got that extra year in the classroom performed 30% better than their peers who didn’t get that experience.

Boston’s program serves kids not only from different ethnic backgrounds, but also students whose households are low income, wealthy and everything in between. Sachs told Council members that economic diversity is crucial to success.

“If you have some kids with greater background knowledge and vocabulary and have seen things, been exposed to things and can bring different ideas, and that includes culture, ‘Oh, you’re Haitian and you tell stories this way,’ kids learn a lot from each other, especially in early childhood.”

Boston’s program is free for all students. Seattle’s preschools will be free for low income students and some middle income households. But families that make more money will be charged a modest tuition. For example, a family of three with an income of $75,000 will have to pay $1500. To subsidize this, Seattle voters approved higher property taxes last November. The $58-million dollar preschool levy will last for four years.

Seattle is starting out with 14 classrooms. Where they will be located will be announced in June. This is also when families will learn how they can apply. The three and four year old students will start attending in September.

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