Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community

The National Association For Early Childhood Education is always been at the top of my list of well respected national organizations for early childhood education.    One of the first teaching jobs that I held was in a NAEYC accredited facility and their standards for quality care and education have been engrained in to all of my practices ever since.  NAEYC’s first goal within their mission is “Improving professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education” (naeyc.org, 2012).  This is one of my own personal, primary goals that I have for my work in this field.  So, it is only natural that they are one of the national organizations that I choose.

Currently, NAEYC has a position of Accreditation Coordinator that I would absolutely love to make as my profession.  This position assists NAEYC customers with the accreditation process via phone, email and site visits.  The qualification include; a BA in early childhood education, several years of teaching in an accredited facility and strong understanding of the accreditation process; all of which I have.  However, all NAEYC positions are held within the Washington D.C. area and I do not know that I would be willing to move clear across the country at this point in my life.

The second national affiliation that I am interested in is the Council for Professional Recognition.  The council governs and monitors the CDA credentialing system.  Previously, I have taught the core class work for individuals working towards their CDA.  The CDA is a Child Development Associate national credentialing system that works toward improving and recognizing individuals in the field of early childhood education (cdacouncil.org, 2012).  This credentialing certificate is often the first step to catapulting educators further along the educational path within the field.

The Council does not currently have any employment opportunities at this time however, this is definitely a program that I will continue to monitor for opportunities.

Finally, there is the National Association for Family Child Care.  This is a national organization that promotes quality family child care while also focusing on promoting family child care as a profession (nafcc.org, 2012).  The community that I work in is very rural and the survival of many families is depended on access to child care.  Much of that child care comes from home based providers.  It is vital that these early years of children’s lives be based off of quality care and education even if they are in the comfort of someone’s home.  This is where NAFCC comes into play.

I was also unable to locate any employment opportunities within this organization however, there are a plethora of resources available including resources, accreditation information and conference information.

Cdacouncil.org

NAEYC.org

NAFCC.org