Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

This week, I shared an experience that I had that helped me to become a part of a community of practice. I had joined a community of practice after I had observed an ineffective teacher-child interaction. The community of practice was filled with a group of members who wanted to improve teacher-child interactions in our community. For this blog post I decided to find three communities of practice that appealed to me and caught my interest. 

1. Workforce Child Care Services http://www.wfscapitalarea.com/ChildcareServices.aspx (Austin, TX)

I chose this organization because it is my favorite community of practice in my community. Workforce Child Care Services wants to promote quality care for all young children. The organization partners with other community members to utilize resources, tools and experience to solve the problem of the lack of quality child care. This organization is also a community of practice for my Capstone Project issue which is teacher preparation because it offers many great resources for teachers including trainings, materials for classroom environments and free CDA classes. They currently have a position open for a mentor/coach for child care directors and teachers. The applicant has to have at least 2 years experience in a child care center, director or administrative titled preferred, a degree in Child development or in an related field and experience as a mentor/coach. 

2. United Way of Austin http://www.unitedwayaustin.org/ (Austin, TX)

United Way has always been a great resource in the field of early childhood. United Way has many locations around the country and I am glad that there is a location in my community. United Way of Austin, works with families, child care directs and teachers to ensure that children receive quality care and develop to their full potential. United Way has a grant that works with NAEYC programs that helps their teachers be successful in the classroom. This organization is also a community of practice for my Capstone Project.  They currently do not have a job open at this moment. 

3. Teachstone, LLC http://teachstone.com/  (Charlottesville, VA)

I know what you're thinking, hey that is not anywhere close to Austin! I know, I know but this organization has remote coaches. This means I could work for this company but work with teachers in my community. This organization focuses on improving teacher-child interactions. I chose this community of practice because teacher-child interactions is in my opinion, the heart of teaching. In addition to making assessments and products for professional development, this organization wants to change the teaching field through interactions. There is a job opening for Professional Development Specialist. The requirement are a master's degree in education or a related field, 5 or more years in professional experience in the field of education, certified of the company's assessment, experience providing professional development and support to education professionals, knowledge of the current trends in the earl-childhood education research and practice, ability to translate research into practice, ability to provide feedback that is both directive and supportive, excellent oral and written communication skills and a willingness to travel. 

These three organizations support teachers which is one of my professional goals. Maybe one day I can join one of their teams!

Cierra