Jobs/Roles
in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level
I found a variety of positions that
I found not only interesting but inspiring in the early childhood field while
exploring national organizations and federal agencies. The first was a
management consultant for Head Start to promote high-quality programming for
children and families. This job requires working with regional Head Start
management teams and parents to develop greater leadership skills and refine
their management methods and approaches. The position requires a Masters of
Education in a related domain, correlated work experience in the field, and a
commitment to Head Start’s foundational principals. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) (2014)
strives to work as a leader on policies and procedures and advocate for Head Start
programs across the nation. The non-profit organization is “committed to the
belief that every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability
to succeed in life” and “healthier, empowered children and families, and
stronger, more vibrant communities” (National Head Start Association, 2014,
para. 4). Leadership, people and communication
skills, basic technology capabilities are essential skills to successful
accomplish this job.
The second career choice that I discovered
was with Save the Children both a national and international organization for
children experiencing hardship. Save the
Children (2014) aspires to create swift and lasting change in the lives of
children in need through improvements in education, health, and economic
opportunities. The organization offers
positions at their headquarters in Westport, Connecticut and office in
Washington, D.C. in many different specialties and also field positions
internationally and in the United States.
Save the Children presents internships opportunities to qualifying
applications perusing a graduate or undergraduate degree. Interns have a direct supervisor to expand
their knowledge and experience in their chosen vocation. The career choice that I am most interested
in is the field-based positions that work with local and national partners to
implement programs in Early Childhood Education and literacy. Most employees
have at least a Bachelor’s degree in education, health, economics, business or
technology as there are many with individual talents and strengths contributing
to the whole (Save the Children, 2014). The
skills needed for this career choice would be leadership and communication
capabilities, ability to work in collaboration with others, strong work ethic, motivated
to accomplish goals and objectives, knowledge about literacy attainment, and
general management skills.
The third job opportunity with the
United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF] (2014) requires professionals committed
to making a lasting difference in children’s lives. Workers are involved in a broad range of global
issues at both country and regional levels.
The area of most interest to me is in Early Childhood Development and
would entail being “responsible for developing and implementing Education
programme(s) to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness, and accomplishment
of programme goals and objectives” (UNICEF, 2014, para. 5) for the world’s most
vulnerable children. The least
requirements acceptable are a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with two years of
relevant work experience. The skills necessary to successfully do this job are
abilities in conflict resolution, high work ethics, good communication skills,
able to engage with multi-cultural groups, flexible and competent in absorbing
and implementing new ways to accomplish goals and objective.
References
National Head Start Association.
(2014). About NHSA [Website]. Retrieved from http://www.nhsa.org/about_NHSA
National Head Start Association.
(2014). Jobs @ Head Start [Website]. Retrieved from http://jobsatheadstart.org/Consultants.html
Save the Children. (2014). Internships
[Website]. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8631185/k.9CAE/Internships.htm
Save the Children. (2014). Working
at Save the Children [Website]. Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6226565/k.BFEA/Working_atSave_the_Children.htm
United Nations Children’s Fund
[UNICEF]. (2012, December). About UNICEF: Employment [Website]. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_what_we_do.html
