Exploring Local Roles in the Early Childhood Education Community
Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement has been the Early
Learning and Care Service sector serving Edmonton, Alberta for over ten years
(The Family Resource Facilitation Program, 2015). The organization provides training for early
childcare certification in conjunction with continuing education in-services to
families and schools. Its purpose is to
provide mentorship, community building, and standardized training to early
learning teams. ARQUE focuses on
supporting learning through play, developmentally appropriate practices, and
child mental health. As an educator, I
am attracted to ARQUE because it offers staff training through hands-on
approach to learning. Workshops
highlight pedagogical experiences in conjunction with the opportunities for
early educators to interact and learn through play themselves. As a
professional, it would be motivating to create workshops based upon
evidence-based practices with an element of engagement that are critical to
making learning more meaningful. Additionally,
outreach is an essential aspect of ARQUE services as teams work with
communities across Alberta. ARQUE
employs a team of professionals who have real life experiences working in early
education environments. Early education
professionals can identify their experiences and examples as being relevant.
Child and Adolescent Services (CASA) has over thirty years of
experiences served children, youth and families’ to address challenging
behaviors and mental issues (CASA Services, 2011). The multi-disciplinary CASA
team incorporates clinic-based assessment and intervention. Psychiatrists,
psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers have
experience with counseling, addictions, and trauma. They also participate in research and resource
development such as the FASD Learning Series (Government of Alberta, 2013).
Here is the link to that resource
http://fasd.alberta.ca/
Working within the CASA education environment and interfacing with
families’ would be an exciting opportunity for personal and pedagogical growth.
While CASA has sites located in Alberta,
they also offer Community Geographic Teams (CGT) work with educators and mental
health professionals across Alberta delivering education and training (CASA
Services, 2011). An Education Specialist
works with the team consultants to prepare and distribute educational materials
suited to adult learners and workplace settings. Areas that I believe to be highly motivating
would include facilitation groups that target in preschool and kindergarten
aged children, enhancing parent group facilitation, and coaching and mentoring
new early education professionals. Within
a work assignment such as this, I would offer proactive behavioral expertise
and understanding of universal strategies for learning.
Grant MacEwan University offers an Early Learning and Child Care
Program that trains early education professionals for employment in early
learning environments (MacEwan University, 2013). While many Faculty members have their
doctorates, there are a significant number who has their Masters in Education
or Master of Science in Early Childhood Development. My primary experiences have been with a school
environment with children, youth and adults with special needs. However, I may not require a doctorate level
education to work directly with individuals training to acquire a diploma in
early education. If seeking such a position, within MacEwan University. I would bring my experiences working with
families’, children and interdisciplinary team members. Additionally, I would be able to share the
importance of responsive and nurturing adult-child interactions in order to
promote health childhood outcomes.
References and Links
Government of Alberta (2013). FASD Learning Series. Retrieved
January 16, 2015 from http://fasd.alberta.ca/
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