Time Well Spent

This is it!  I have reached the end of my graduate studies!  Soon I will be holding my Master of Science in Early Childhood Studies degree in my hands!

This has been an incredible journey!  One thing I have learned is about leadership.  I have learned what defines a good leader and what type of leader I am.  My leadership skills have grown and will continue to grow and strengthen.

Another thing I have learned about is advocacy.  When I started graduate school, I knew about advocacy, but I was unsure of what role it would play in my life.  As I conclude graduate school, I have learned that I am quite passionate about advocating for what I believe in.

Finally, I have learned that life is enhanced by continued learning.  Although my formal education is ending, I will continue to seek out new learning opportunities.  I can only continue to grow and develop through learning.

Goals, both short-term and long-term, are an important part of life's journey.  As I am currently midway through my life's journey, one long term goal I have is to make a difference through educating others and advocating for play and learning.

We have reached the adjourning stage!  I have truly appreciated the discussions and feedback with my professors and colleagues.  I have felt supported by all of you throughout this learning adventure!

Exploring International Careers

While I am quite certain that my home is forever here in Connecticut, it is fun to explore what positions in the early education field exist.  So far, I have looked into positions that are available in my state and positions available nationally here in the United States.  This week, I searched for positions that are currently available internationally.

I chose to look on the Save the Children web site (www.savethechildren.org).  I found a couple of open positions that sounded very interesting.  The first job I found was that of an Education Technical Advisor.  This position is something I would love to do, but I would need a lot more experience working with an NGO, the ability to speak and write Arabic, and experience working in the Middle East.

EDUCATION TECHNICAL ADVISOR

Save the Children is the world's leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children's lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfill their potential.

We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

We have over two million supporters worldwide and raised 1.9 billion dollars last year to reach more children than ever before, through programmes in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises.

Following a major transition, our international programmes are now delivered through a merged operation with c15,000 staff, managed through seven regional hubs and reporting to a relatively small, central office. We're changing to become more efficient, more aligned, a better partner, a stronger advocate, a magnet for world-class people and relevant for the 21st century.

Contract length: 12 months

The role

The Education Technical Advisor is a critical position for Save the Children in Lebanon and will play the lead role in ensuring the design, implementation and monitoring of high quality education programmes for thousands of children across the country.

The Education Technical Advisor provides technical leadership to all our work in the education sector, with responsibility for developing clear strategic and operational plans, identifying fundraising needs and leading the development of technical proposals, forging strong partnerships with Government, UN, NGO and local civil society counterparts, as well as providing technical support to our education teams across four different field locations in Lebanon.

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Master's degree in education, development or other relevant social science degree.
• A minimum of 5 years in a technical leadership role in education for an NGO, UN agency or other development or humanitarian organisation.
• Proven experience leading education in emergencies (EiE) programming and in participating in emergency coordination forums (education cluster, education working groups etc)
• Proven experience raising funds and developing proposals for education programmes in excess of $1million.
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children's aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches.
• Previous management experience in an NGO or other humanitarian environment, including experience directing and implementing programs for children in both emergency and development contexts.
• Familiarity with key international standards for humanitarian work and education in emergencies (e.g. INEE, SPHERE, HAP principles, etc.).
• Excellent understanding of the Monitoring and Evaluation processes and methodologies.
• Proven representation and advocacy skills.
• Strong report writing skills, including experience in writing funding proposals and donor reports.
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically
• Knowledge of key areas of programme operations, logistics and grant management relevant to delivering quality education programming.
• Ability and willingness to change work practices and hours, and work with incoming teams in the event of major emergencies.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Desirable

• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic.
• Technical knowledge and experience in community based education programming.
• Previous work experience in Lebanon or other areas in the Middle East.
• Previous work experience in response to the Syrian crisis.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Please apply in English saving your CV and covering letter as a single document, including your salary expectations for this role.

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The next job I found did not specify the need for educational requirements.  It is only a two month position; however it sounds like such a crucial role that needs to be filled.  The position is as a Child Safeguarding Technical Advisor.  For this position, it is beneficial that I speak Greek, Farsi, and/or Arabic.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING TECHNICAL ADVISOR

Save the Children is the world's leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children's lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential.

We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

We have over two million supporters worldwide and raised 1.9 billion dollars last year to reach more children than ever before, through programmes in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises.

Following a major transition, our international programmes are now delivered through a merged operation with c15,000 staff, managed through seven regional hubs and reporting to a relatively small, central office. We're changing to become more efficient, more aligned, a better partner, a stronger advocate, a magnet for world-class people and relevant for the 21st century.

Contract length: 2 months

The role
Initially, under the direct supervision of the Response Team Leader and with technical support from the programme staff, the Child Safeguarding Technical Advisor will oversee the child safeguarding policy and quality standards implementation. S/he will be responsible to set up child safeguarding systems across the Greece response to ensure that quality child safeguarding practices are exercised and delivered across all sectors.

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Experience in child protection/child safeguarding practice in humanitarian setting.
• Experience of managing as well as undertaking complex child protection/safeguarding investigations and or disciplinary investigations.
• Multi-disciplinary experience of working successfully with senior management.
• Experience of planning and undertaking training programmes/workshops in child protection/safeguarding at a range of levels.
• Excellent verbal communication and report writing skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to manage and maximise the benefits of cultural diversity.
• Self-sufficient, proactive and self-motivating.
• Ability to prioritise and deal with competing demands to deliver results.
• Ability to provide long distance support and establish supportive relationships and networks.
• Awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and evidence of commitment to self-managed personal development.

Desirable

• Written and spoken Greek, Arabic or Farsi.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Please apply in English using your CV and covering letter as a single document, including your salary expectations for this role.

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I came across the web site for World Teach (www.worldteach.org).  Through this organization, you can work with children in Africa, Asia, Pacific, and South America.  There is a link on the site to apply.  I have included a brief description of what a position in Namibia would involve.  I would love to do this (If I wasn't already settled in my life)!

YOUR ROLE

As a WorldTeach Namibia volunteer, you serve as an English, health, computer, or mathematics and/or science teacher in a wide range of schools, primary or secondary, rural or urban. You are responsible for 20-25 hours of classroom teaching, including lesson preparation and grading. In addition to teaching at least one core subject (English, math or science), you likely have additional elective courses to teach, such as physical education, art, health, or working in the school library or computer room.

In addition to your subject teaching, you are also encouraged to serve as an HIV/AIDS Resource Teacher should you be interested. As an HIV/AIDS Resource Teacher, you help facilitate HIV/AIDS awareness programs, such as clubs or activities that build life skills and empower learners to make healthy decisions, as well as working with teachers and administrators to integrate HIV/AIDS awareness into subject teaching and throughout the school.

Outside of the classroom, you are able to run secondary projects, such as teaching extra English classes, coaching sports, starting art clubs, developing the school library or computer room, or establishing scholarship funds to help learners access further education, just to name a few.  You have a prime opportunity to contribute your skills and interests to the broader needs of your school and community.

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Another great site I explored is CARE (www.care.org).  They are currently looking for an Education Advisor in Somalia.  This is another job that would interest me if I wasn't content to stay where I am.  I would also need to know how to speak Somali.

Education Advisor

CARE International is an international NGO working in Somalia. CARE and its partners work with vulnerable communities to address the underlying causes of poverty and promote peace and development, as well as mitigating immediate suffering caused by drought, conflict and displacement. We invite applications from experienced and talented individuals to fill the following position:

CARE seeks an Education Advisorfunded education project is Somalia. abilities to manage and lead the education sector in Somalia. million USD range.

The procurement is expected to be released on March 30, 2016, and awarded by September 30 2016. This position is subject to project award and funding.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide key technical leadership and support to education support and youth engagement interventions; provide technical assistance and strategic guidance in the development, implementation and monitoring of activities.
• s education and youth program in areas such as developing standards, tools, guidelines, policies, procedures that will contribute to sustained enrollment for youth in Somalia.
• Promote high level of collaboration, communication and co-operation with government ministries and other stakeholders in the community.
• Work with the education team to build their knowledge through mentoring and technical supervision and through sharing experiences.
• With other senior technical staff, ensure that the Ministry of Education is linked to and informed of s education/youth interventions and that Ministry strategy is fully incorporated into programming.
• Support the Curriculum Developer to ensure coherence between the Accelerated Learning program and education support/youth engagement activities for the same cohort of enrolled children.
• Assist with, prepare, and/or submit reports, work plans, and various project documents and deliverables in conjunction with the project’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor.
• Contribute to a learning and continuous improvement and accountability for results.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a field related to curriculum development, teacher training, or education.
• At least six years of experience in designing and delivering education programs in Somalia.
• Experience supervising education program development and implementation including curriculum and materials development, and teacher training.
• Expertise in interdisciplinary learning approach for curriculum development and good knowledge of life skills and employability skills.
• Previous experience working on donor-funded programs.
• Experience working in institutions with a focus on serving the needs of youth.
• Evidence of productive and positive working relationships with colleagues and peers.
• Demonstrated skills in program design, implementation, and evaluation.
• Fluent Somali and professional proficiency in English.

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There are many opportunities for early childhood education professionals to reach out and grab!

Exploring National Career Opportunities

At this time in my life, I have no desire to move to another state.  I am happy here in Connecticut!  However, this week I explored national career opportunities in the early childhood education field that would interest me if I were willing to relocate.

The very first place I chose to look at was the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  All of their positions are located in Washington, D.C.  The first position that interested me was a professional learning coordinator.

Professional Learning Coordinator

Major Responsibilities and Essential Functions 
● Provide logistical and administrative support for the Department.
● Provide excellent customer service and timely responses to email and phone inquiries regarding professional learning resources and activities.
● Responsible for managing the Department's general email account.
● Support and participate in the development of face-to-face and technology-based professional learning resources.
● Identify and summarize information and collect resources on diverse topics related to early childhood education for the Director and others. 
● Serve as primary liaison between the Department and other NAEYC teams.
● Coordinate advertisements, newsletter submissions, and social media campaigns with the Marketing team.
● Provide basic maintenance for the Department's web pages keeping all information up-to-date.
● Provides technical support to internal and external customers.
● Ensure NAEYC's new content matrix is kept up-to-date, relevant and ready for use by internal staff and external content partners.
● Update and maintain a master content calendar with information provided by the Director and other content leads.
● Perform other responsibilities that may be assigned or requested.

Qualifications
● Experience or degree in early childhood education, child development, elementary education, or developmental psychology as well as experience or degree in teacher training both in person and online.
● Minimum of 3 years of experience working in the education field either as a teacher, or in developing professional training, or professional development supports and materials. 
● Excellent oral and written communication skills.
● Expertise in developmentally appropriate practice for children birth through age 8, and professional development for early childhood educators.
● Knowledgeable about trends and current research in early childhood education, teacher training, adult learning principles, instructional design, and online learning.

Salary: $40-45K, with excellent benefits and work environment.

The other position with NAEYC that interested me was a professional learning specialist.

Professional Learning Specialist

Major Responsibilities and Essential Functions 
● Work independently and collaboratively to develop, plan, and deliver a robust offering of learning events.
● For the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development, serve as the lead content and program developer with responsibility for high quality, relevant, interesting, and engaging sessions. 
● For the NAEYC Annual Conference, assist with the development of high quality, timely, engaging presenters for four to five specific conference tracks.
● Provide content and engagement support for online communities of practice. 
● Support the roll out of NAEYC's digital badge system to include recognition for NAEYC engagement, professional learning, and mastery of competencies.
● Serve as project manager on special initiatives with internal and external collaborating partners.
● Perform other responsibilities that may be assigned or requested.

Qualifications:
● Experience or degree in early childhood education, child development, elementary education, or developmental psychology as well as experience or degree in teacher training both in person and online.
● Minimum of 3 years of experience working in the education field either as a teacher, or in developing professional training, or professional development supports and materials. 
● Excellent oral and written communication skills.
● Expertise in developmentally appropriate practice for children birth through age 8, and professional development for early childhood educators.
● Knowledgeable about trends and current research in early childhood education, teacher training, adult learning principles, instructional design, and online learning.
● High proficiency in learning and using digital software and platforms (e.g. learning management systems, webinar platforms, content authoring software, online communities, etc.) is highly desired.

Salary: $55-60K, with excellent benefits and work environment.

The U.S. Department of Education has a position available in Washington, D.C. that sounded interesting:

Associate Education Research Scientist/Analyst

DUTIES:

The incumbent serves as an Associate Education Research Scientist/Specialist in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S Department of Education. Incumbents will engage in one or more of the following: (1) develop plans for agency support of education research, evaluation, and statistics; (2) oversee research, evaluation, and statistics activities and programs carried out or funded by the agency; (3) conduct scientific reviews of research, evaluation, and statistics plans and products; (4) analyze data and synthesize information from education research and related areas; (5) prepare written products to convey research-based knowledge and information to a variety of audiences; (6) conduct evaluations of agency activities; (7) engage in dissemination and outreach activities, such as publishing scholarly work and attending scientific conferences; and (8) consult with, or advise staff. 

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

ASSOCIATE EDUCATION RESEARCH SCIENTIST/ANALYST requires a master's degree or equivalent experience in an appropriate field pertinent to the needs of IES (e.g., cognitive, developmental, educational, or social psychology; economics; education; statistics). Associate Research Scientist must have experience conducting research in education-related fields or topics (e.g., reading, teacher professional development, psychology); and demonstration of research skills and knowledge.

SALARY RANGE:

$60,000.00 to $95,000.00 / Per Year

The Erikson Institute is an organization I would love to work for if I lived in Chicago, IL.  They currently have a few positions available.  One of the positions that interested me was an early math coach.

Early Mathematics Coach

Position Summary: 

Erikson Institute, a graduate school in child development located in downtown Chicago, is seeking to hire a part-time early math coach for ongoing teacher training being implemented by its Early Math Collaborative.

Primary duties:

The part-time coach position will report to the coaching supervisor, and provide school-based support to Math Teams at Chicago Public Schools and/or preschool centers throughout the Chicago area.  This includes the following activities:

Providing ongoing group and/or individual instructional coaching around mathematics teaching to teachers and teacher leaders in the preschool to second grade.

Participating in monthly individual supervision with a coach supervisor.

Participating in monthly coaching meetings at Erikson Institute with other coaches.

Participating in and help facilitate ongoing Professional Learning Community meetings.

Building and maintaining confidential relationships with teachers and teacher leaders.

Building and maintaining relationships with Administrators at the schools or centers where the coaching takes place.

Timely and accurate maintenance of records of services provided and submittal of invoices for services and travel.

Qualifications:

Native like Spanish language proficiency

MS or MA in Early Childhood Education or Elementary Education

Five years of experience teaching in pre-primary and/or primary school

Expertise in mathematics instruction

Experience facilitating adult education

Knowledge and skills to implement standards-based instruction and familiarity with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

High level of interpersonal, problem solving, and organizational skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

High level of personal maturity and ability to operate independently

Comfort in using portable devices such as iPads or Android tablets to communicate and maintain records

Salary:

Competitive

These jobs are important in the education field.  If you live in Washington, D.C. or Chicago, or if you are looking to relocate, I think these jobs would be challenging, interesting, and allow you to make a difference in the field of education.  I have enjoyed exploring these national career possibilities.

Future Career Possibilities

As I am nearing the end of my graduate studies, I have been thinking about ways in which I will put my education to work.  I am currently an education manager for an early childhood education program.  I love the work I do, but I have been exploring other options that may be available to me once I have my Master of Science in Early Childhood Studies.

One position that recently presented itself to me is actually within the agency I currently work for.  The position is the Assistant Director for the early care and education program.  After reading through the job description, I would need to have or quickly develop grant writing capabilities.  In addition, I would need to be knowledgeable in financial issues such as our state budget.  While I am a quick learner, I do not currently possess these skills.

Another position I looked into this week was teaching early childhood courses at our local community college.  The director of the program invited me to come and speak to one of her classes.  I took the opportunity and spoke to them in-depth about learning experience plans and intentional teaching.  It was very exciting!  At the end  of the class, the director talked with me about the qualifications I need.  As it turns out, once I have my MS in ECS I meet the qualifications.  Unfortunately, they currently have a hiring freeze in place, but she added my name to her list.  Yeah!

Finally, since beginning my graduate studies, I have seriously considered an online college teaching position.  I believe I could maintain my current position and obtain a part-time online teaching position.  I believe it would work out as I have been working full-time as I have completed both my BS in ECS and now my MS in ECS in accelerated online programs.  I am used to the time schedule and planning that goes into balancing both.  So, I looked into positions that may be available.  I found a few at colleges that are in my state or in the New England area.  Once I have my MS in ECS, I meet the qualifications and can apply.

I have been so focused on completing my degree that I hadn't really thought about how I would apply it to my career.  It has been great fun exploring options and discovering what career options are available.  I am looking forward to the next chapter!

What is Your Passion?