I DID IT!

There were a number of times when I didn’t think I would make it., especially on this last quarter of classes. But here we are and I am but a few hundred words away from being able to say I AM DONE!

This last year of this program has been incredibly challenging because not only was I learning about how to be an effective leader and administrator in class, but I was living the challenge as well as I settled into my new role as Director at work. So, many of the areas that we have been studying, I was living and while this first-hand experience came in handy many times, there were also plenty of times where my career trumped school. There were many times where I had to dedicate more hours or more time and attention to ensuring my students, staff and families were taken care of and their need being met and I could not dedicate that necessary time to class, assignments and studying.

But, I did it. And what I have taken away from this particular capstone project is that I can see a vision to fruition as long as I am committed and dedicated to see it develop, flourish and prosper. I also learned that there is also a bevy of support available for any goal you may hope to accomplish, it is up to you to however to seek it out and utilize it, and finally, I learned an area of focus that is very important to me-which is ensuring our young children of color have a support system in place and an equitable opportunity to succeed despite their immediate barriers (lower-income housing, single-parent households, institutional and societal racism).

One of the immediate goals I hope to accomplish is to simply survive the first semester of my Doctorate program. Once that is complete, I know that I am on the way to achieving my greater goal of providing high quality education and equal access to high quality education for all.

To Dr.Teri and all of my colleagues in the program and this capstone course: it has been a wonderful journey getting to know most of you and as our cohort moved through the program, it has been a tremendous experience seeing how much we have all learned. Dr. Teri, you are truly committed to seeing us succeed and again, while it seemed difficult at times, you kept us going and wouldn’t allow us not to succeed. From food poisoning to dental surgery, the month of July was a very difficult one for me, but I did the best I could and knowing I can do better, I will take that and apply it to my Doctorate program.

 

International Communities of Practice

UNICEF has always been an organization that I respected because as I was growing up, one of the parents of my childhood friends worked at the NY headquarters for years. She often came into our classes and did presentations on the type of work that she did and the work that UNICEF did. One of the areas that UNICEF focuses on is basic education and gender equality through early childhood education and school readiness (2012). At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any positions available that I would be interested in applying for, however there are a number of different areas in which I would be interested in working: education in which I would be responsible for implementing education programs to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness, social and economic policy, where I would work with governmental agencies and partners in the design and implementation of key areas of policy work including child poverty, budget policy, social protection and other areas and how they impact women and children and finally, human resources always appeals to me because it involves planning and staff development (2012).
UNESCO is another organization that has appealed to me because of their mission and goals. Based on their website, UNESCO seeks to promote dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, with a foundation for respect for commonly shared values (2013). With a mission to contribute to building peace, eradicating poverty and sustaining development and intercultural dialogue through education, focusing specifically on Africa and gender equality, UNESCO works to foster cultural diversity through education, which is an area that I am incredibly passionate about. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, working for UNESCO means a commitment to education, science, culture and communication. Their ultimate candidate is someone who can be considered an expert in their field, who believes in dialogue, someone who promotes multiculturalism, and who embraces mobility. There are opportunities for professional careers at UNESCO based on varying tiers of knowledge and responsibilities, from Junior Professionals to Middle-Ranking Professionals to Management Professionals (2013). Unfortunately, there are no current postings available.
The Legacy Center of New York City is a Community of Practice committed to providing opportunities for development, educational programs, providing access to resources and guidance in reaching financial stability (2010). While they are a locally based organization, their work exceeds international boundaries as their work often includes visiting other countries and educational programs for immigrants, as well. They offer a number of educational programs that appeal to me because their goal and their mission is to provide support to ailing communities. This COP also appealed to me because their Executive Director is a childhood friend of mine. Knowing his base as a humanitarian and the work that he does within the local community and in developing countries, this was an easy choice for me to select as a international COP. Unfortunately, there are no current opportunities for employment at this time, however as I expand my educational base and prepare to enter my Doctorate program, I would welcome the opportunity to serve as a member of their Board of Directors.

 

Communities of Practice

There are a number of COPs that exist to work on a specific goal, mission or vision. Based on our course, the three that appealed to me are:

• NAEYC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. This appeals to me because their main mission is to educate and to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources (NAEYC Bylaws, Article I., Section 1.1). 
• Child Care Council of Nassau County appeals to me because it is a local entity that is dedicated to all families having access to quality child care and early learning that fosters successful growth and development for every child. This COP is a significantly important resource as I seek to answer my challenge question-how can all families have access to high quality child care and education? What resources are available to help them do so?
• Big Brothers Big Sisters is an organization that I have been familiar with since I was a young child. Their work appeals to me because they practice their vision that all children succeed in life. Knowing that success encompasses much more than education; it requires an incredible amount of stability and security emotionally, financially, spiritually and developmentally, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program is committed to doing this.

There are no current positions listed with the NAEYC or Child Care Council that I would apply for. However, I do know that I would like my ultimate work to involve policy planning and implementation while surrounding diversity initiatives and ways of bettering the educational system for our youth, beginning with early childhood systems.

The following is an open position with Big Brothers Big Sisters that I would apply for.

Title: Director  Program: Education Initiative  Reports To: Chief Program Officer Education: Master’s Degree in Education, Social Work, Policy or any similar fields Experience: 3+ years in a project management leadership role Experience with Department of Education Experience with education policy
Skills: Organized professional with superior written, verbal, and computer skills, profound understanding of  project management strategies, proven leadership and organizational abilities, strong time-management skills,  ability to work efficiently and effectively in a deadline-driven fast-paced environment, and communicates well  with diverse groups of people
DESCRIPTION:

• Reports directly to the Chief Program Officer
• Works closely with the Chief Program Officer to understand program vision,  develop and implement strategies of reaching program goals
• Responsible for identifying, planning, and managing all project work in support of designing,  building, and implementing BBBS of NYC’s Education Initiative programs
• Communicate and guide team member (s) through project planning  processes to ensure plans  align with organization’s strategic plan and  goals
• Support partnership development strategies, both in seeking new partnerships and sustaining existing  partnerships with outside organizations (i.e. NYC Public Schools, CUNY, SUNY,  Harvard Square Tutors, Kaplan, etc.)
• Coordinate youth development workshops within schools
• Manage in-house scholarships

SUPERVISES: Community Impact Program Manager

                         Education Specialist

How to Apply: Send resume and cover letter for this position to the Hiring Manager at: bbbsresume@bigsnyc.org.  Resumes without cover letters will not be considered.   No phone calls please.  EOE

 

The importance of adjournment

The adjourning of a meeting is similar to closure in a relationship. It allows all parties to properfly reflect on the scenarios that occurred and think on if they were correctly handled, how they could’ve been handled differently and/or if they felt the situations were resolved.

I continually relfect on my last position because so many things that occurred in that office were reflective of the themes we have been studying in this course. The same holds true for this assignment, when I think of the practices and traditions that we held in high regard. For example, if someone who was an integral part to the team experienced a life milestone (wedding, baby, divorce, graduation, retirement, etc), we did a big celebration in the office and out of the office by way of roasts, party buses, karaoke, happy hours, house parties and etc. As the years went on and things began to change, those traditions and practices died down with no explanation. It was just understood by all that, that was the way it was now. When members of that old team started to get fired or placed on probation, there was a serious lack of understanding that wa never explained and therefore the adjourning of the group as knew it never happened. It just fell apart.

When I left that job, I had put in almost 8 years of service. After receiving numerous accolades and awards on a company-wide level and within the office, my farewell was simply chips, a photo collage and about 8 people attended. It had soured just that much and I know it was nothing of my doing, but because the dynamics had changed so drastically, that in a sense to adjourn my time there, made it feel like the end for so many people. By that time, it wasn’t hard to leave. But I do wish I was able to leave in the same manner as those before me.

 

Family Conflict & Communication

This may seem like a menial conflict, but I take pride that my family and I have little to no conflict. So I chose this example to use for my blog assignment because it was recent and I figure I have talked about my work conflict often enough.

I went on a family trip for Thanksgiving with 3 of my cousins. Thanksgiving night, the original place we were supposed to go for dinner didn’t work out, so we found ourselves trying to find a restaurant on Thanksgiving night at 8:00 in the evening. Not a very easy task, especially when out of town. Throughout this debacle, small tempers started flaring as we got hungrier and hungrier, random suggestions were thrown out without much thought given to the entire idea (one restaurant was suggested that would cost between $175-200 per person without beverages, another one was suggested where it was obvious you needed to be dressed up and we had on sweats and sneakers, another suggestion was just to stop anywhere we passed and sit down), and we were just randomly walking without much thought given to where we were going. Finally, I said “Ok, hold on, let’s stop and regroup.” I was able to get everyone to stop for a minute, take a break and rethink our plan. What type of food do we want, how much do we want to spend, how far do we want to be from our homebase, etc. We agreed on a few things and I used my trusty phone to look up some restaurants in the area, call and get an estimate of whether or not reservations were required, if they had any seatings available, was it a special menu, etc.

My ability to gather the group, regroup and replan our strategy helped us out of a potential conflicting issue. You’d be amazed how important it is to take a deep breath and try to clear your mind before working out an issue. Many times emotions, feelings and opinions cloud your best judgment, from something as simple as my issue above to bigger problems. The younger generation in my family gets along so well because we don’t allow miscommunication to lead to bigger issues. The older generation can go years without speaking to each other, simply based on one small thing or miscommunication. We promise to never let that happen with us and I’m proud that we have been able to communicate effectively in years past and hopefully going towards the future.

 

Friends?

Extension granted-week 2 blog assignment

By chance, the other night I watched an episode of the television show, Friends-a popular show from the 90’s, early 2000’s the documented the journey of 8 friends based in New York City. I do not have a DVR or Tivo to record the show, so I watched it on a first-run with the volume up, yet I paid very close attention to the communication styles and interactions. What I noticed is that there was a lot of bickering, crying and even physical abuse. Understanding that most of those moments were for the slapstick comedy factor that so many valued, I also found it amusing that those interactions were considered the epitome of a great friendship. More so, the “violence”, if you can call it that. Considered to be all in jest, but when you really think about the situation the characters were in (one was upset that her husband took a job offer in another state without talking to her first and another was upset that his friend offered to marry the woman he just had a baby with because he didn’t want to marry her), those are all situations that can be discussed conversationally and emotions and feelings communicated throughly as adults.

I, for one, do not enjoy slapstick comedy and things done for shock value, especially not in an arena in which I am expecting or supposed to be entertained. Entertainment for me, is something that challenges my mind and stimulates my intellectual capability, therefore increasing communication on the topics being observed or studied at large. There are many ways to convey anger, disappointment, sadness, and hurt without relying on physical violence (again, comedy or not).

Because this is a show that I never liked when it originally aired and never found quite appealing even as the reruns aired, it’s very possible that I had some assumptions going into it. But, on the flip side, many of my favorite TV shows, I have dsicovered after their first run and by watching repeats (Will & Grace, King of Queens), so after all these years, I hesitate to believe that my judgment of Friends has been clouded by assumptions.

 

Communicating under pressure…

It’s interesting to me that my exercise for the assignment this week took place while I was away with family for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to complete the entire assessment, but what I can tell you is how I was able to communicate with different people over the course of the last 5 or so days and what I have learned is that I have made a very good practice of being courteous, appreciative, thankful and grateful for any service that was given to me or done for me. We received excellent service on our trip and I found myself saying “please” and “thank you” when others did not. Another habit I picked up a few years ago from a colleague of mine is saying “I’m sorry?” when someone says something that you did not hear or understand, in order to ask them to repeat it again. That is so much more considerate than saying “What” or “Huh?” There are so many etiquette guidelines with regards to communication that you would think common courtesy and manners would be a given practice but unfortunately, so many do not have that skill.

 

Communicating Differently

As I read the assignment for this week, I was immediately drawn to my workplace for ideas of whether or not I communicate with people of different cultures and groups because that is more than likely, the place where I have the most common interactions among people unlike me. However, in answering the specific question, I was drawn to situation that occurred a few weeks back and the results, which spoke to different generations, cultures and backgrounds and how we all work together.

A teacher who spent most of her childhood in Russia has been with my school for about three years. She is also one of the younger members of the staff. In previous conversations with other coworkers, she was unaware who the group Menudo was. She said it was because she grew up in Russia, but many attributed it to her age. A few weeks ago, she sent an email to all staff asking for suggestions on kid-friendly hip hop songs that do not contain cursing, references to sex, drugs, guns or violence and finally, songs that refrain from using *the n-word* (for the purposes of my blog, I WILL NOT spell the entire word out, however please be aware that she did do just that, in her email).

As Director and as Chair of the school’s Diversity committee, I gently sent her a cautionary email, advising her to be mindful of using that word in its full context as some still consider it offensive and despite how mainstream it may have appear to gone by younger generations, older generations and possibly people of other cultures may still feel the cultural, negative sting of the impact of that word. She feigned to have no idea what word I was referring to and when I specified what it was, she couldn’t understand why she would have offended someone. When I told her this would be a conversation better to have face to face instead of email, she became defensive and asked that an administrator be present (seemingly forgetting that I am the lead administator in charge). I just find it interesting that there was a clear generational and cultural gap of something of this magnitude that occurred in my workplace. However, I am pleased that I was the person in such a position that I had to be the one to clarify the miscommunication and level of appropriateness on all parts.

 

Admiration & Respect

As I tried to think of one particular person who stood out to me for their effective communicaiton skills, I found myself at a loss. Sure, it would be easy to use the typical power players, such as mayors, governors, the President, etc (especially after having seen so many of them for the past few days in press conferences due to Hurricane Sandy) but I wanted to look a bit deeper. The problem is that I know what effective communication skills I admire, but I am having a difficult time trying to think of one or a number of particular people that I can use for this post. Of course, I do believe my mind is out of sorts as the dark skies approach earlier than usual, due to daylight savings time…and I have to face the idea of another night with no power. So, forgive me if my mind wanders on this blog post and I veer off course.

I know that when it comes to effectively communicating, I admire people who stand firm with their words. Those people who say what they mean and do so with no hesitancy or questionmark in their voice. Over the course of the past few years, this has been the topic of debate in one of my inner circles, as we discussed how many women speak with that unnecessary question mark at the end of each statement, almost as though they are seeking validation from their counterparts and are not confident in what they are saying. For that reason alone, I try to make sure that every statement I say ends firm and with the period or exclamation mark is was intended to have. Far be it for me to let anyone think I am slipping from my position of authority and that I, in any way, doubt, my abilities because I do not.

I respect those that can command the attention of a group of people in a crowded room, those that can garner the attention while faced with the challenge of speaking publicly to a group of people. I have had many people remark in my ability to remain calm, poised and able to effectively get my message across, but what many do not know is that somewhere inside of me, once I have the confidence to get the message out, I become extremely nervous in making sure that I’m getting the message out to EVERYONE in the room. I begin to think of how I am being perceived, can the people in the back of the room hear me and on my end, I can tell these little things affect my calm and poised demeanor. Maybe others don’t see it, but I feel it and that is something I aspire to work on. As I move further in my career, I hope to be called upon to communicate more with people in a group or public setting. The only way to get better is to practice and to furthermore, look at those that I admire, those that I respect and take important cues from them.

 

Is this the end?

The title of my blog entry this week happens to be the name of a song by my most favorite musical group ever-New Edition. And as I use the title Is This The End, I think of how the group’s name is so appropro to the answer-which is that, no this is not the end. It’s simply a new edition.

• One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds

     I hope that the passion I have and the sincerity and the level of compassion that I have carries over to other educational professionals and that they have the same (if not more) sincerity when working with our families. With so many lower-income families in our district that need the support, I hope that I can serve to teach my team and guide them on how to be empathetic, sympathetic and understanding.

• One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice

    One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to diversity, equity and social justice is the equal supply of high quality educational resources and facilities for all. To establish a national standard that all educational facilities must follow, with regards to physical environment, supplies (technology and otherwise) and staff requirements will help to ensure that all children have access to the best resources and that they are available to all.

• A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

     To my colleagues, I thank you for your insight, for your comments and your discussions. As we prepare for one last class before we move onto our specializations, I hope that one day we can all meet face to face. It’s always nice to put a face and person to the name and pictures on our blogs. Good luck in the rest of your program!