This program at Walden University has helped support my own growth and development on a personal and professional level. This journey has opened my eyes to a bigger picture of early childhood education and how to become the voice and advocate for young children, their families, and early childhood professionals and other professionals that have a profound impact on early childhood education.
I remember when I took my start class at Walden, I was nervous and anxious, but excited to start a new journey in my professional development. This program has increased my knowledge on all aspects of early childhood education and the importance of collaboration and cooperation with each other to make change for those who are in need of the services, for young children, families, the community, and early childhood professionals and related leaders.
I have learned many valuable aspects of early childhood education and my role as a professional in the early childhood field to be the voice and the advocate for all so no one is left behind. One of the deep knowledge I have learned is the value of research and effectively analyze and process the research. I never realized the impact research can have on issues and trends within the early childhood field until you take the time to explore the research. This knowledge has helped me support a child in my classroom currently exhibiting challenging behaviors and the support my teaching team (co-teachers) have given to this child has been rewarding with improved behavior. Another aspect I have learned is the value of verbal, non-verbal, and written communication is as an early childhood professional. This program has developed my written communication skills to use a specific voice, tone, and vocabulary to express the needs and services for all young children, families, and early childhood professionals. The writing was never a strong point for me and through this course, I am proud of my development in written communication to express my passion and love of being an early childhood educator. And lastly, I have learned the value of a community of practice. This was a new idea and concept that I never heard before and it helped support my understanding and importance of collaborating with different professionals to benefit the community of all young children, families, and early childhood professionals. I would like to become part of a community of practice with a passion in early childhood education, family engagement, and challenging behaviors.
This journey has helped support my dream for my future and what I would like to accomplish in my career. Through this process, my position was a toddler teacher, and my long-term goal is to become a center director with a focus on family engagement within my program. I would like to support a family engagement program to benefit all early childhood programs worldwide
to strengthen the parent-child relationship. This program has given me the tools, resources, and knowledge to obtain my goal through my passion and willingness to learn and grow as an early childhood professional.
I want to thank Dr. Embree for her encouragement, advice, and concrete feedback through this course as I struggled to understand different aspects of my Capstone Project. You helped push the door open to ease my frustration and reassure that the answers were inside of my heart and mind the entire time. Your kindness, honesty, and support of the last 8 weeks has given me the courage and confidence to find my voice and speak of the passion I hold dear to my heart. Thank you so much for your guidance, knowledge, and support to help me achieve my greatest accomplishment.
To my colleagues, I want to thank you for your honest and open feedback through the discussions and blogs. Your advice, knowledge, thoughts, and ideas have given me a new perspective lens in supporting all young children, families, and early childhood professionals. I feel we have been part of a community of practice from the beginning and I would not have accomplished my Master’s without your support, guidance, and concrete feedback to see the abilities I have as an early childhood professional. I want to thank each and every one of you for your help all this journey that is coming to an end.
Congratulations to all and I wish you the best in your future. I would like to stay in touch with all of you to share ideas, knowledge, and advice relating to early childhood education.
Farewell - this is not a goodbye.
My contact information is: erin_earley@hotmail.com
