Afterward? Where do you begin if you do not even know that the resources exist?

I never realized what a web like community there is in the field of early childhood education. There seems to be a lot of resources for our field that I never knew about. I am new to the field, so it's not a surprise that this all seems very new and surprising to me. Some of the things that I read about like the "Old Firehouse School" seemed very interesting. Their intentions sounded a lot like those of Haleakala Waldorf School who states, "Upholding the ideal of the class teacher staying with the class from first through eighth grade.  This allows for a deeply founded relationship between the teacher, students and parents." What an experience and bond these teachers much have by the end of their time with the children and their families. 

I'm happy that we were given this last part of the text as the focus of our post because I feel like it would have otherwise taken me years and years to come to realize how many resources there are out there for the children, professionals, and others involved or relating to the field of early childhood education. In what ways can others in the field find resources like these? Are they advertised anywhere? Can teachers seek out these resources personally for their program needs or do they require directors or higher management to be involved?

MAHALO everyone for being a part of my learning in this class! Your responses really helped further my thoughts and widen my lens in many ways! 

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Specific Blog Assignment #11/ #12

Specific Blog Assignment #11

When reflecting on Sarah’s values of the importance of having a connection and experiences in the natural world, I immediately began thinking about my recent desires to begin a native Hawaiian garden project with the keiki at my program. The reason I began thinking about this was partially due to the fact that there was an over grown area on the playground which was being un-used; and I really wanted to give the children the experience to help cultivate raw land into a beautiful garden filled with native Hawaiian plants. I wanted to give them the opportunity to connect with the earth and be exposed to plants they may otherwise never know about. I had a very raw and basic Idea of what I wanted for this garden, but I went ahead and presented it to my supervisor anyway. She accepted and had me make a list of the supplies I would need for the garden with the children. I also had a meeting with a child’s grandpa (knowledgeable of gardening and plants) and he educated me on the reality of some of the aspects to a garden I did not know. So as of today, I still have a strong desire to fulfill this idea of involving the children in creating their own native Hawaiian garden; but the land is waiting to be tilled by a machine since it’s to hard for the keiki… and as for after that, I would love to expand by doing more native Hawaiian things like making use of different types of plants (e.g. Mamaki tree’s for tea, etc.)

Specific Blog Assignment #12

It’s pretty cool that Roberto felt such a strong desire to make his program more meaningful. I have totally seen where teachers dread using assessment tools, as well as doing accreditation with very little meaning, kind of just getting it done to have the paper to hang on the wall (like stated in the text). I do find it inspiring and very brave to involve parents in something like this. It is definitely more work to plan for meetings, set dates, gather data, and put it to use; but I can see how this type of involvement would strengthen the relationship with families, give the program a good reputation for the sensitivity to parents concerns, as well as improve the programs (keiki and kumu’s) overall potential and performance. I would say that my “next steps” are to work on strengthening my relationship with families in my program. I feel that if I wanted to do something along the lines of what Roberto did, but more at a “chill” level; having a good relationship with families could give the opportunity to receive a lot of useful information simply from a casual conversation. I could then use this information to suggest changes (at this point as a teaching assistant). As a director, I also feel that this would work.

Specific Blog Assignment #9 and #10

Specific Blog Assignment #9

I really loved what Lettie did with her “newly defined vision.” Like she mentioned, she felt that many programs don’t live their ideals. It was pretty amazing to read about how Lettie really strived to build strong relationships with the families from the very first phone call they made to the program. She put a lot of attention towards building and supporting relationships and community in everything she did. She worked her program to what would become the best and most effective result for the children and families in their care. She used her managing and overseeing skills to overcome issues where other programs would prefer to keep it anonymous amongst other parents. Her resolving an issue by inviting the families and Emily’s family to discuss their concerns, and ultimately ending in positive results was neat to read about. I would personally feel a little scared to do this because of how parents could possible react to one another but I guess this shows the teachers abilities to oversee and manage a group discussion by acknowledging everyone’s points but bringing them to a clear understanding of why things happen with children. The thing that I would want to work on in order to strengthen myself and revamp my work would be building relationships with families. I would want to re-design the classroom environment with furniture and space for families to feel more welcome. I feel that a strong relationship and sense of belonging for families is a big deal. I would not want to walk into my child’s class and feel uncomfortable like I should leave right away…

Specific Blog Assignment #10

Michelle seemed very open to reflecting on the things that were not working in her program. She was not in denial, but instead found ways to have better outcomes with things like her employee’s turnover rates, professional development, teachers using paid planning time effectively, etc. The aspect of her vision that appeals to me was the professional development as a daily experience. Although I do feel that much can be gained from trainings and workshops, I think that having resources that come into the classroom environment to help teachers learn new things would be so much more effective for me personally. I actually enjoy being observed, then being able to debrief with the observer after; that way I can hear the things I am doing well and the things I can improve on. I find that very constructive and meaningful to me. Actually, one of the most meaningful experiences I had in the ED program was exactly that. I feel that my desire to learn what can be improved with myself in my work, and that I work to improve those things are similar to Michelle’s dispositions. 

In a privately funded school where seeking outside financial resources is not recommended, how might a teacher or director go about achieving their vision for their program?

In the Visionary Director text, Chapter 5, page 181, it states that, “As a director, you will find that your greatest challenge is to let your vision, not your resources, drive your decision-making process.” This is a reference to the principal: Refusing to Adopt a Scarcity Mentality. I find this relevant to a situation that I have encountered in the field. It seems that teachers (which I have come across) often become motivated by things that they see (Reggio classrooms, outdoor play structures, etc.). They see the beauty and the potential behind the products, and long to have it at their site or in their classroom. Unfortunately, they most often do not receive many of their big budget things due to not enough money in the budget. As much as they seem to push for it with their director and advocate for these things and the value it will have for the children, “budgeting” is almost always the reason for it not happening. Not much discussion is left after this point. I feel that much potential is left unspoken, or unthought-of. Teachers and directors are left with the scarcity mentality. How might teachers and directors go about getting the resources they need even though the “higher-ups” will not approve it and the program discourages seeking outside help? Are there alternatives to buying, and are there considerations that must be made concerning accreditation standards, etc.? Can a director help change the mentality of her staff?

Should all staff be observed periodically?

Knowing your adult learners will take more time than you have allotted during your interview. Although this is a crucial time filled with important information a director may use to decide on who to hire, it's no where near actually knowing someone as a teacher, or a person. I have only been to two interviews for a sub position, then a teaching assistant position. I filled out my application with all the works before hand, and was asked questions of how I would interact with children, handle conflicts, and more at the interview. I also handed them my professional portfolio and a binder of work sampling I had collected in the previous semester to show them more of my capabilities with correlated with their schools system of collecting data. Thankfully, I did get the job. But do I feel that they knew me at that point as an educator? No. I feel that although people may have the training or education, or say what people want to hear- actions speak louder than words. I feel that I learned a lot of things throughout my education, but it was not until I had opportunities to practice my skills in the classroom environment while being observed that I actually got to see, reflect, and appreciate all the good I was doing. It also gave me many ideas and areas to improve and work on. My instructor observed me about three times in one semester, and all were followed up with a debrief. I feel that these observations were one of the most valuable experiences I have had thus far throughout my educational experience, because I gained so much from it. If students are observed during their education in order to recognize the skills they are using, and find areas for improvement, should teaching staff be observed periodically as well? Should teachers be viewed as students as well?