National/Federal COPs

In my search for National/Federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to me, I found a few. The first organization is actually a person. He was recommended to me by a Walden colleague. Dr. Robert Evans is an Executive Director of the Human Relations Service in Wellesley, MA. He works to help schools to make improvements.

The next organization is called Head Start. It is a nonprofit organization that works to provide early childhood education and family development for low-income children and their families in our county. I previously chose Head Start as a local COP as well, because there are a few Head Start schools in my area. With my position as a teacher at a title-one school, many of the students we have come from head start. I also think they would have knowledge of resources, intervention, and other early childhood advice to offer. Job opportunities include director, assistant director, teacher, and volunteer.

The last organization I have chosen is NAEYC. There is a NAEYC affiliate in my state, MD, but for some reason the link is not working. I think that having a NAEYC representative from my state would be very beneficial to my COP. NAEYC is an excellent resource for educators, parents, and the public. There are also opportunities to work for NAEYC, such as teacher, director, professor, and more. The only one in my state is a teacher position for a charter school that is focused on small schools that integrate the arts. Although I would not be interested in this position, I’m sure there are many benefits to it. I have never worked in a charter school, but it seems that the goal of the school is to have parent partnerships while teaching through the arts. The parent partnership definitely intrigued me.

In my opinion, for all of these positions, you would need to have experience in the classroom setting as a teacher. If you don’t have experience as a teacher who works with the children and their families, I think it would be difficult to make decisions that hold the early childhood knowledge. Degrees are important, but experience can give you more of an understanding of what the job is really like. I think you would also need some degree of administration experience, especially if you’re going to be the department head or director. Working with families and collaborating with other educators would be important skills as well.

Community of Practice Organizations

In my search for community organizations that appealed to me for communities of practice, I found a few that I was interested in. The first one is the Citizen’s Advisory Council for our county. The CAC is a parent involvement committee that works to provide support for the schools, their students, and families. It is based through our Board of Education in Washington County, MD. To become a member you must apply and be accepted. I believe there is no pay, but job opportunities would be to be a chair or head of the CAC.

The next organization is called Head Start of Washington County. It is a nonprofit organization that works to provide early childhood education and family development for low-income children and their families in our county. This organization appealed to me because of the fact that it is supporting early childhood and the low-income families in our area. With my position as a teacher at a title-one school, many of the students we have come from head start. I also think they would have knowledge of resources, intervention, and other early childhood advice to offer. Job opportunities include director, assistant director, teacher, and volunteer.

The last organization is called the Maryland State Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Development. This appealed to me because I believe that being the office for our state, they would have resources, knowledge, and advice, and most likely meetings that would be held. The DECD has six branches within it, including the Early Learning branch and Collaboration and Program Improvement branch, to name a few. I believe that jobs would include being the head of the Division, or one of the branches, as well as Education Supervisor or Specialist, and Human Services Specialist. I’m sure there are more, but they are not listed as opportunities right now.

In my opinion, for all of these positions, you would need to have experience in the classroom setting as a teacher. If you don’t have experience as a teacher who works with the children and their families, I think it would be difficult to make decisions that hold the early childhood knowledge. Degrees are important, but experience can give you more of an understanding of what the job is really like. I think you would also need some degree of administration experience, especially if you’re going to be the department head or director. Working with families and collaborating with other educators would be important skills as well.

I am really happy that I found these community of practice organizations and feel as though they would be helpful and beneficial.