As I have
thought about my program coming to an end and how much I want to help advocate
for change, I thought about organizations that already exist to promote change.
While on the national level, I would like to join organizations like NAEYC, we
were asked to find some closer to home and I thought of one I was already a
part of, one I found during a previous course, and one my mom was just a
delegate for this summer at a national convention.
The
first is found at www.nieer.org. It is the
national institute for early education research and strives to connect
educators, politicians, and writers to promote positive successful change in early
childhood. While a national institute, it is located here where I live in NJ at
Rutgers University. Having such a vast array of resources through this site
locally may give me an outlet to turn to for references to enhance my ability
to advocate effectively for early childhood and children here in the state of
New Jersey. Currently I did find out they are looking for data collectors. It
is a position for graduate students who can be flexible. With the research
source I have available to me through NIEER, it will allow me to connect with
the next organization more effectively I believe.
The
second organization I found is advocates for children of New Jersey. This site
allows for those who browse the site to make donations, sign up for monthly
newsletters, become a part of “action alerts” allowing you to send letters directly
to officials on issues, connect through social media, and spread the word
through family and friends. Through this site, I can find out what issues are
already being addressed here in New Jersey and what avenues I can use to
advocate for the concerns and issues I have for early childhood. Currently at
this time I was unable to find any current job opportunities but was able to
find a list of positions with background information on those who hold the
positions as well as a board of trustees list. While both of these would be
useful to me and contacting current members of both to join my CoP to further
enhance the reach of my goal, the one with members closest to me I believe is
the last one I found.
The
New Jersey Educators Association, or NJEA, has members local to my community’s
school district, has regional members, and members who represent the state. As
I looked through the site, I found the NJEA is currently in need of a variety
of positions to be filled. Although I would like to make a difference, the
positions NJEA needs requires more public policy and advocacy experience as
well as more experience working with professional development of fellow
educators which I do not possess. However, I do know that the NJEA has
delegates that attend a national convention and vote on issues affecting
education nationally. My mom recently went this summer with a fellow teacher in
our local district to represent at the convention held in Atlanta. The one
downfall I have found about NJEA is unfortunately at present members must
either be in college or work in a public school, so someone like myself who was
employed at a private preschool is ineligible to join.
All
of these resources could enhance the advocacy opportunities I wish to pursue.
In addition, connecting with members of each of these organizations as a part
of my CoP will give me more support for the issues I hope to change.
References
www.acnj.org
www.nieer.org
www.njea.org
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