International Organizations

As I researched international organizations and read about their missions and goals, I found 3 that I felt would pertain to my challenge of parental involvement and help my community of practice.

 

1. The first organization that appealed to me was the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This organization appealed to me because part of the mission is to support and advocate for partnership. In parent involvement, partnership is a key element. Through my research of this organization, I discovered that there are various career opportunities such as External Candidates, Geographical Mobility, Interagency Opportunities, Project Appointments, Short-Term Opportunities, Consultants/Experts and Internships. One career that appealed to me was the professional staff, information and communication position. I think this would be a good fit for me the position would allow for opportunities to advocate for parent involvement.

2. The second organization that appealed to be was the International Step By Step Association. Pillar 3 of the programs and services focuses on “ensuring greater support for an inclusion of family, as well as community participation in young children’s development and learning” (ISSA, n.d.). It was extremely difficult to find careers through this organization. As far as I could tell, there were no links to careers or job opportunities, just membership. After reading the “what we do” section, I am assuming that they have jobs in advocacy in informing the public and influencing policies, developing resources for practitioners who work with young children, attaining new organizations for the network, piloting and evaluating programs, and strengthening alliances (ISSA, n.d.). The one that would interest me the most would be piloting and evaluating programs that pertain to parent involvement.

3. The third organization that appealed to me was the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. This organization offers a resource called “Starting Strong III - A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care” (OECD, n.d.) which offers a policy section on engaging families and communities. I think this would be beneficial to my COP because engaging families and communities is an important part of parental involvement. Some current vacancies include production editor, project implementation coordinator, and policy analyst. The one that appeals most to me would be project implementation coordinator. I think it would be interesting to be the one who coordinates the implementation of a new project, especially one geared towards parent involvement.

I believe that in order to competently fulfill each of these roles, you would need excellent people skills, organizational skills, collaboration and cooperation, assertiveness and understanding, as well as a general competency of how each organization works and their goals or missions. You also may need some administrative experience and experience in working with a diverse group of people, small and large groups, and the ability to speak well in front of others. Experience in working with educators and families of the children served would be important as well.

References:

International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

 

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html