My Own Capacity



At work with the kids!!

The issues that fuel my passion that impact young children and families, and the early childhood field are that we have high quality programs in place that all children have access to, and that we have providers and teachers that have quality educations and are getting better compensation. It really urks me to see a program for children and they are not learning or the person in the classroom is not educated enough to do the things needed to teach the child. I really have an issue with compensation. If I put forth effort to educate myself so that I can better educate the children then I should see a higher compensation.
The skills that I have that will contribute to advocacy efforts are I am persistent, I have a passion for the field, I am capable of researching the issues. I am a minister in my church so I have spoken to big audiences standing up for Jesus Christ, compelling people to change their hearts and minds.
The resources that are at my disposal that could benefit my advocacy work are my links to the superintendent of our Board of education, the connection I have with community partners affiliated with the school I work for. I also have connections with ministerial partners in the community.
I think the fact that I love children, I am becoming current on the issues at hand, and that  I am driven to see change will help contribute to my advocacy work.
I hope to be able to reach out to elected officials and have my voice heard. I hope I can grow in this area of advocacy. I believe I can do it.

My Role as An Advocate

What motivated me to start advocating for very young children was my love to watch them grow and learn, also the fact that all children have not been dealt equal shares of education.  It is essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro level because you have to begin somewhere. 

At the micro level much help is needed the same as at the macro level. In my research I have found that advocacy is building support for an issue among audiences such as the general public, elected officials, the media, and key opinion leaders. Activities such as educating audiences about a topic, sharing illustrative stories, or working on a solution to a problem are considered advocacy. Individual citizens can always contact their elected officials as constituents. I believe this is what helps you to be community leader.

The resources that it takes to be a state leader on early childhood issues is to be informed of early childhood issues, be present and current and get among other state leaders. You’ve got to be able to communicate with legislators and staff through letters, e-mails, phone calls, or personal visits, testify before relevant legislative committees, work with legislature to compel agency administrators to adopt your proposal; this is just to name a few ideas.

 To mobilize others, engage them on the topic, state the problem, inform others about potential solutions and then call to action what you want done about the issue. Someone who was interested in taking a leadership role, I would suggest they meet with their elected officials, build media relationships, do your homework on the issues, and have your own testimonials.

Personal Advocacy Reflection

I have been impacted by the advocacy of my own mother. I can remember when I was in middle school and having a very difficult time in school. The teachers wanted to put me in special education. This was when special education was not inclusive, you were pulled out from your peers, and made to feel different from the rest. My mother stood up for me and said she may be struggling and having a hard time but we will fight this thing without the label of special education. She made me go to summer school, I recieved extra tutoring during the year and it was hard but I made it. I am thankful that she stood up for me. I may very well have needed special ed services at the time but I believe that my mother felt so many children before my time struggled as well and did not have special ed, nor meds and she felt that with a little more help at home and from other sources I would make it and I did.

This impact relates to my own exploration in advocacy because I see how hard she advocated for me which makes me want to advocte for others. I love children and I want to see the best for them. Through advocacy you can work on providing the best for all children.

Tools for Policy Makers and Advocates Week 1

I am glad to be able to continue this journey with a lot of the classmates I started with. We have come a long way and only have one more class to go. I am so excited and proud of what we all have accomplished with the busy lives that we have.
In this class I look forward to learning about policy makers and how advocates can make change on behalf of the children we serve. I hope to learn how to be an advocate among many policy makers. I pray that I make a difference.