Final Thoughts

It has been a long journey this past few years. I say that because this is my second attempt at a Master's Degree. I began my Master's Degree in Elementary Education back in 2003, immediately after finishing my Bachelor's. I found, as I continued, that I did not particularly care for the field. I felt like the teachers I spoke with were stuck by the standards and unable.e to be creative in the classroom. I co tinued my degree off and on for the next several years until it became time to student teach. I then realized I had to make a decision between flipping my life upside down for 12 weeks so I could student teach and get a degree I didn't want and would not use. Or, start a whole different field,which I was already working in and loved. I decided to abandon my Elementary Education degree and begin my degree over in the field of early childhood. One realization I had in this process was that I finally found a passion and a career that I am happy with. I don't feel like I am settling and that I am constantly trying to convince myself it is what I want to do. The second thing I really took away from this process was that I have more passion than I thought I did for issues and trends in the field. Before doing the capstone project, I had never thought I had an interest in policies and regulations until I started researching current issues and trends. Finally, I had a realization this past two years that I am diverse and work with a diverse group of people. My goals for the long term now that I have completed my coursework is to continue to develop training sessions and technical assistance projects in a variety of topics. In a few years, after my youngest child starts kindergarten, I hope to begin coursework for my PhD in early childhood so I can do additional research in the field and teach at the college level.

Job/Roles in the ECE Field - Internationally

Looking at different agencies and Communities of Practice that are international was an eye-opening experience. One of the organizations I was drawn to was Unicef (www.unicef.org) because of the focus on early childhood education. The website explained so many of the issues that I feel strongly about, such as equality for schooling and looking at gender roles in education for young children. They spend a great deal of time advocating for young children and getting appropriate schooling because of the role early childhood education plays in later development of young children. One of the jobs that I found interesting through the Unicef website was a Programme Specialist in Mauritania. It appears to be a management position for the Unicef office for the country of Mauritania. The qualifications are to have an advanced college degree and five years experience that is relavant. In addition, they are looking for someone who can speak both French and English. The second organization I was intriqued by was FHI 360 (www.fhi360.org) because of the complex way of thinking about human development. The mission and vision of the organization is about looking at humans as a whole, not the sum of the parts. They seem to acknowledge the complexity of life and development, and look to help advance the devlepment in any way necessary. The job posting I found on the website that I found interesting was a Project Director out of Washington, D.C. It was a position overseeing the people who provide technical assistance to state educational agencies who, in turn, provide technical assistance to local educational agencies. The requirements for the position are grant writing experience, supervisory experience, as Master's degree and also 10-15 years of relavant experience. The third international organization that caught my eye was the International Step by Step Association (www.issa.nl). I was intriqued by their programs, which include everything from early care and learning to parenting education programs. They advocate for parents' needs and for early childhood programs.