Advocacy Messages

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http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-Work/Education/Early-Childhood-Development#Asset1774

Advocacy message

These advertisements are so precious.  I believe that they are effective because they demonstrate how everyday moments can become teachable moments between parents and children.  I believe that a lot of parents forget to talk to their children about learning experiences as the opportunity arises during the day.  What is cute is the way the commercials do not show the children at first so it looks as though the adults have lost their minds at first, but then when you see the infant and toddler it is clear that the voice and the actions are to amuse the babies but at the same time the information the parent and grandparent are sharing are valuable.  

In the brief overview that follows these commercial on the Ad Council.org it states that learning begins at birth.  Born Learning is an organization that has made it their personal mission to assist parents and grandparents in making the most of the years between birth and third grade so that there is no achievement gap in the child’s learning.  Children are born absorbing information.  We tend to consider babies as “non thinkers” but the truth is their little brains are ready to learn from the moment they are born.  It begins with the most crucial survival instincts, but then it moves on to other information in the environment such as emotions, speaking, moving, eating and all other actions that are taking place around it on a daily basis.  In psychology we learn that a baby’s brain is like a sponge constantly absorbing information, it can also be compared to a blank slate when it arrives that the child’s environment determines how and what is written on the slate.  WE as parents, grandparents and caregivers have a responsibility to our children to be the first teacher that they know.  Therefore we must begin at birth teaching them all that they need to know to be successful in life.  And yes that does mean that we have discussions with infants that we perceive cannot even understand what we are saying, because we may never know just what kind of impact the conversations we have with babies before they can speak back may have on their intellectual development.  So the next time you are around a newborn, infant or toddler take the opportunity to teach them, do not allow teachable moments to escape and add to the gap in the child’s learning.

http://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Work/Current-Work/Education/Early-Childhood-Development#Asset1774

“My Own Capacity”

     The issues impacting young children and their families and/or the early childhood field that fuel my passion are providing high quality early childhood programs for all children ages 3-5.  I truly believe if we are going to turn around our failing education system in the United States that we have to reach children at younger ages.  With the current state of our economy, there are going to be more at-risk children that will be in need of services in the future.  I am also passionate about these high quality programs identifying children with learning or other developmental disabilities at early ages so that they can receive services that may improve their abilities and their rate of success in school in later years.

     The skills that I have that contribute to advocacy efforts are that I am a people person, therefore I love to talk to and listen to people, I also am willing to devote time working with organizations and committees to improve the circumstances for children, I am a patient person and finally I have great communication skills.  All of these skills can help me as an advocate because you have to be able to listen to people and determine how you can best help them, you have to have the patience to work through an issue by meeting smaller obstacles and achieving them in order to make the path for your goal to be accomplished, and you have to be able to communicate your thoughts and ideals effectively with everyone that you meet and those that can assist you with accomplishing your goal.

     I also believe that I have experience working with professional organizations that will help me when necessary to make contact with different organizations.  Past experiences and relationships are always learning experiences but also are a valuable way to expand your support for an issue. 

     In order to be a more effective advocate I hope that I will continue to learn strategies, procedures and policies that will help me to know the best way to accomplish the objective or issue that I choose to pursue.  As a professional I am aware that there is always room for growth and improvement and I seek daily to improve myself in all areas.  

My Role as an Adovocate

What motivated me to start advocating for very young children I believe was my experiences in school and those I observed with other children made me passionate about helping children learn.  However becoming an advocate for young children began to truly blossom with the birth of my oldest child and has become more prevalent as I have proceeded on my professional journey.

It is essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro level, as well as the macro level because without communication or feedback from the micro level the macro level has not ideal of the impact they are making on the population.  It is the advocates at each level that work together across the grid to ensure that the best interest of a certain group or population is being maintained as policies are being made or changed at the macro level.

To be a community leader it takes passion for an issue and being able to “move public will and promote community-wide investments” in that issue. (Zero, 2008) 

The resources that it takes to be a state leader on early childhood issues according to Robin Roberts is  that as state leaders on early childhood issues you have to be open to working with other organizations at the state level.  Collaboration is key to the success of state leaders because you “cannot be effective unless you are collaborative” says Roberts.  The article also shares that there has to be a partnership from the “grassroots level all the way to the state level”.  Without collaboration work at the state level is ineffective and individuals at the local level feel unsupported in their work. (Zero, 2009)

Strategies and tactics to mobilize others are uniting community, organizations, parents/families, teachers, local, and state officials to discuss issues and support policies to improve early childhood education.  Public education about early childhood development and education is also a strategy to mobilize support for early childhood issues.  Other strategies include passing on information through mailings, emails and other sources.  Newsletters that highlight advocacy events and strategies and proposing opportunities for action on issues can be passed out and forwarded to local and state officials.  Workshops also provide a strategy for mobilizing support, through workshops others can get information about programs and clear up any myths they may have.  Also, organizations can hold meetings to update others on advocacy opportunities and discuss successes they have had with advocacy to help others with future advocacy efforts.

To advocate for young children and their families one should take on a leadership role by being a facilitator for families and stakeholders. According to Brian Spicker  “bringing all the stakeholders together to support the face-to-face work with children and families” is key to being an advocate.  Robin Roberts suggest that building relationships is key to advocating for infants and toddlers.  Once you have determined what goals you would like to achieve you should seek out people and groups that are working to achieve the same issues or goals.  By working with others and maintaining an open line of communication, the work you do will be much stronger.  She also recommends creating a common message to present in order to prevent confusion or conflicting information when presenting information in public.

Zero to Three Policy Center. (2008). Advocacy strategies to improve outcomes for very young children: Interviews with leaders at the state and community levels. Retrieved from
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/AdvocacyLeaders_final.pdf?docID=1882

Personal Advocacy Reflection

Thinking back over my life time there are many instances where people have advocated for me, when people were willing to go the extra mile to help me achieve goals or dreams.  I believe that I have been fortunate.

For this assignment, I believe it would be most fitting to share my earliest recollection of advocacy.  Being a minority in an all white school in Warren Michigan in the late 1970's was probably one of the best opportunities that I have had in my life.  The advantage I had was being of mixed race where it was difficult to tell my race, unless you had met my father in person.  My teachers were the best teachers!  They were patient, polite and dedicated.  As a child I probably wasn't as appreciative as I am today for all of the times I had to stay in class and redo or complete work while my classmates were outside playing, but I know today it is because of these ladies that I am who I am today.  They identified that I had a speech problem and referred me for services, although I am not sure if I had a speech problem or if it was a dialect issue, but either way I was given the opportunity to learn to speak proper English.  They did whatever it took to make sure that I had the same opportunity as every other child.  No excuses.  Mrs. Mabry and Mrs. Thompson were my Kindergarten and First grade teachers and I truly feel that they went beyond their teaching duties to make me successful as a student. 

It is this spirit that I would like to offer my students. I want every child to have the best opportunity possible, and that means that early childhood educators have to identify developmental delays or neurological impairments and help the families get the children the services they need.  The first five years of life are so vital to the development of children, if we can identify delays or problems with development there is time to correct or improve the issue.  

Tools for Policy Makers and Advocates

Hello classmates. :) Here is the blog page for this class as well.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts of my posts and to reading your blogs as well.

Jennifer