Effective Communication

     When leading policy change, it is essential to be able to effectively communicate to your intended audience. I believe it is most important to be able to clearly communicate your message when leading policy change. As a writer or speaker, you must know who your audience is, and have well organized goals to clearly communicate your message. Your audience will need to grasp your most important topics and concepts to maximize your policy change. The easiest way to do this is to present short ideas with big meaning for your audience. This presents a clear message the audience can understand. In addition to providing a clear message, your presentation must also be concrete. Your short ideas with big meaning also help your concrete message. Your intended audience needs to know why your policy change is important for young children and families. By providing a concrete message with vivid images to your audience, they are more likely to accept and agree with your policy change.

Strengths

     When presenting information to an audience I do tend to be clear. I am efficient at providing a well organized message that captures the attention of the audience. I do not mind speaking in front of small groups or speaking to someone for the first time. According to the Communication Anxiety Index, I have a mild level of anxiety when it comes to communication, and it is not something that I worry a great deal about.

Improvements

     We are not always passionate about every topic we present. This is an area of improvement for me. No matter what the topic, being passionate and providing vivid images to your audience will only help support your policy change. Additionally, drilling down and focusing on more specific short goals will help my presentation be more successful. While I don't mind speaking in front of small groups, I do tend to get slightly nervous before presenting. I think having clear and concrete goals, in addition to being prepared, will help relieve this nervousness. 

Social Media's Influence on Policy Issues

          Early childhood professionals enacting positive social change benefit from the digital age, especially when leveraging social media. I would use two types of social media to communicate my policy issue. First I would include a micro-blog, such as Twitter. Twitter can be used to initiate campaigns and gain public support through brief messages. Second, I would choose to leverage Facebook by creating a page dedicated to early childhood mental health. Connecting with the general public, professionals in the medical field, and politicians would be beneficial for the policy issue. From here, private groups could be created to collaborate on specifics of the policy issue. 

Benefits & Challenges of Social Media

          One benefit of social media is the connection between users of social media. Social media has made it easier to introduce social issues, exchange opinions, and share news in real time to a wide audience (Hong, June, & Sung-Min, 2011). A challenge is ensuring my policy issue stands out and isn't lost in translation among the millions of content submissions in the social media scene. This is going to require networking and collaboration in order to be successful. 

Dynamics of Early Childhood Policies and Systems

Course Goals

I find exploring the policies and systems of early childhood to be motivating as they do shape the foundation of the early childhood field. I understand that policies and systems will impact not only my role as an early childhood professional, but the children and families in my care as well. Early childhood advocacy plays an important role in creating positive social change for young children and families. I have not had experience with constructing policy definitions or policy plans. I believe this course will give me exposure to this important element of becoming a scholarly early childhood professional. 

Professional Goals

1. Promote Pre-K for PA to gain access to high quality early childhood programs which are publicly funded for Pennsylvania's children. 
2. Better understand other state's systems for access to high quality early childhood care, and what makes them successful or unsuccessful. 
3. Create a policy that will impact early childhood services at the state level. 

Current Professional Initiative

I am a board member for the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, which is my local NAEYC affiliate. A lot of the current focus at PAEYC surrounds Pre-K for PA Ready to Succeed. In Pennsylvania, an unacceptable amount of 3 and 4 year old children have access to high quality early childhood programs that are publicly funded. During this election year in Pennsylvania, I want to be a part of ensuring that Pennsylvania children have access to high quality care and education. The work in this course will help support this important advocacy movement. 

Influences of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood

       

          It is hard to believe that another semester is coming to an end so soon! My overall experience in EDUC 8853 has been positive. I have gained knowledge and perspectives from my peers that have helped me grow as an early childhood scholar and practitioner. I have also had the chance to explore various media, and create a presentation through Kaltura for the first time. This experience was both frustrating and rewarding! 

Course Material

          There are 3 specific topics covered in the course material that I have most enjoyed. The first topic is identity development. I enjoyed exploring contextual factors that influenced who I am today. I have a better understanding of how contextual factors influence young children's identity development after examining my own identity development. Young children who are trying to create their own identity face the challenge of being influenced by "isms." When children are faced with misinformation about who they are and what they should do, it creates difficulty for the child's identity development (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). 

          The second topic involves overcoming bias and recognizing unintentional microagressions. Bias occurs in the early childhood setting both intentionally and unintentionally. Bias influences identity development and interactions in early childhood. Unfortunately, many early childhood programs and our education system as a whole, both reinforce and reproduce bias (Duke & McCarthy, 2009). The reinforcement and reproduction of these biases emerge through internalized privileges and oppression (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I was intrigued how unintentional microagressions occur on a daily basis. People on the receiving end of microagressions must deal with psychological stressors. According to Dr. Dearld Wing Sue, microagressions are not usually meant to offend or insult a person, but the hidden messages that are communicated cause psychological stress to a person (Laureate Education, 2011). 

          The third topic I most enjoyed was building reciprocal relationships with families. I believe the most important step in building reciprocal relationships with families is getting to know each individual family. This would include finding out which cultural group the family identifies with, what language they speak at home, what language they prefer, as well as what type of communication they are most comfortable with, and most importantly, if the family is in need of an interpreter (Hanson & Lynch, 2013). These would be important details to inquire about prior to the start of the school year, and I believe a short orientation meeting would be most beneficial for determining this information.  

Applicable Practices

          I believe building reciprocal relationships with families while practicing anti-bias education is the most applicable to my work as an early childhood professional. Early childhood professionals must place an emphasis on cultural sensitivity within their programs, as well as changing needs. Knopf and Swick (2008), examined the changing needs of families in our society and provided research based practices for implementing positive family involvement. Early childhood professionals must be tuned in to families changing dynamics, and understand the challenges of these changes. These topics would also have a big impact on creating positive social change for children and families. 

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J.O. (2010. Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. 

          Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Duke, T.S., & McCarthy, K.W. (2009). Homophobia, sexism, and early childhood education: A 

          review of the literature. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 30, 385-405. 

Hanson, M.J., & Lynch, E.W. (2013). Understanding families: Approaches to diversity, disability, 

          and risk. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. 

Knopf, H., & Swick, K. (2008). Using our understanding of families to strengthen family

          involvement. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, 419-427. 

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microagressions in everyday life. [Video file]. Retrieved 

          November 15, 2013, from https://www.class.waldenu.edu.