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

In search for national/federal organizations and communities of practice that work in the ECE field, I came across several that have visions and missions similar to my own. In searching for future jobs or organizations to become apart of, it was important that they not only promoted quality education for children but promoted quality educators as well.

The first organization I found is the National Education Association (NEA). This organization provides a voice for educators and focuses on providing every child a great public school education. Public schools are not always seen as the best schools and many feel that children in public schools are not being provided with an adequate education. The mission and vision of this organization is to advocate for education professionals and to unite members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world (NEA, 2002). The work this organization does here in the United States is pushed by their passion and belief that every student, regardless of family income or place of residence, deserves a quality education. NAE focuses their energy and resources on improving the quality of teaching, increasing student achievement and making schools safer, better places to learn. The work NEA does is important to me because children in low income areas are often over looked and educators in that are not motivated to making a difference in these children's lives. They are judged and stereotyped because of their up bringing and are seen as failures. This organization has several positions opened that appealed to me. The one I think I would work towards is Sr. Prog/Pol/Spec/Analyst (Labor Relations/Bargaining). 

The primary responsibilities of this position include serving as an expert in collective bargaining and compensation research, and education policy that impacts employees; assisting affiliates with analyzing collective bargaining agreements and legislation impacting collective bargaining; researching and developing new compensation models; and providing technical assistance to affiliate collective bargaining and advocacy campaigns. For this job, a Master's degree, with advanced studies/training in labor relations, or a related field and you must have several years of experiences as the primary spokesperson  and or/chief collective bargaining negotiator. You must also demonstrate the ability to develop and carry out successful collective bargaining campaigns.

The next organization that I would like to be apart of is National Association for Family Child Care. NAFCC is  a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care. Since I currently work in a child care facility and  have seen the issues that the children, families, and educators face, I feel that working with this organization can help change the views and quality of child care centers. The goals of this association are:

• To strengthen state and local associations as the primary support system for individual family child care providers.
• To promote a professional accreditation program which recognizes and encourages quality care for children.
• To represent family child care providers by advocating for their needs and collaborating with other organizations.
• To promote the diversity of the family child care profession through training, state and local associations, public education, and Board Membership. (National Association for Family Child Care, 2014)

The NAFCC did not have any job openings but have opportunities to become a member and attend trainings.

The last organization that I found is The Association for Early Learning Leaders. This organization is committed to excel­lence in the field of Early Care and Education by promoting lead­ership development and enhancing program quality. Their is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of directors, owners, emerging leaders and other early learning pro­fessionals to ensure quality programs for young children. As I previously stated I work in a child care facility and I believe many view us a baby sitters and not educators. By providing children with quality programs and services we are able to show others that the work we do is important to the development of children and that we are not babysitters but facilitators in the education of our youth. The Association for Early Learning Leaders promote and creating meaningful collaborative connections, provide professional development opportunities, and promote quality improvements, and provide access to a variety of quality professional resources. I feel that this association would be a great community of practice to collaborate with. I feel that I can learn so much from the work they do and I would be able to share it with those I work with in order to provide our students and families with a quality service.

Sources
National Education Association (2002-2014) http://www.nea.org/home/index.html
National Association for Family Child Care (2014)  http://nafcc.org/
Association for Early Learning Leaders (2014) http://www.earlylearningleaders.org/