Young Children - May 2008 - (Page 6) FROM OUR PRESIDENT Anne Mitchell Thoughts on an Early Childhood Educator’s Career (so far) This is my lasT column. On June 1 we welcome Sue Russell as the next NAEYC Governing Board president. Change begets reflection. Being president of NAEYC, the largest early childhood organization on the planet, is truly a career high point deserving of reflection. So how did I get here anyway? Becoming an early childhood educator began with my service in VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in Massachusetts in the early 1970s. It was my job to work with families to start a child care center in a new low-income housing development. Those families, mostly single moms with young children, taught me a lot about life and relationships and perseverance. We learned together what the rules were for child care centers and where the money was to start one. We held fund-raisers, wrote grant applications, appeared before the local council for children to get public funds, and built the place ourselves. We took classes in child development and became the center’s teachers. I am proud to say the center still exists and is accredited by NAEYC. At the time, I was mostly unaware of the public policy context in which child care exists; I was thrilled just to be helping women work and support themselves and have a great place for their children to be—and I found I really loved being with young children and helping them learn and grow. Passion for young children and families has defined my career. I went on to work in another child care center in Vermont. There were then about a dozen centers, five Head Start programs, and a few dozen family child care homes in the entire state (today there are 600-plus centers, and 107 of them are accredited by NAEYC, including the one where I worked). When I first joined NAEYC, the Association had about 20,000 members and no accreditation systems; today, it has nearly 100,000 members and participates in three accreditation systems: NAEYC operates the accreditation of early childhood programs serving young children and the accreditation of associate degree programs, and reviews early childhood programs at the bachelor and graduate degree levels for accreditation under NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education). Directing a tuition-funded center in a community of mixed-income families made me realize that public decisions mattered a lot to the center’s survival. We advocated in the Vermont legislature and succeeded in getting a fairer funding system for child care; we understood that the state was directing federal funds, so we turned to Washington. In those days, the only public funds for child care were in the federal Social Services Block Grant, and attempts to pass bills specifically for child care failed several times during the 1970s and 1980s. With advocates from nearly every state and several national organizations, my fellow directors from Vermont and I created a movement for child care, the National Campaign for Child Day Care for Working Families, and we hammered out a platform that later became the framework for national legislation. The Child Care and Development Fund—the first permanent federal funding specifically for child care—passed in 1990. That work led me to Bank Street College in the early 1980s, where I earned a master’s degree. When I entered the field in the 1970s, Head Start was a new program, and the Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) had just been developed. At Bank Street, I was privileged to work on extending the CDA to include family child care, infant and toddler care, and home visiting. I also used my practical experience and education in creating an early childhood leadership master’s degree program that has nurtured many a leader. Its graduates are influential in managing excellent programs for young children, teaching the next generation of leaders in community colleges, and advancing public policy in their states. I am proud of every one of them. My path from teacher to director to higher education fueled my passion for making the early childhood field a better place to work, making programs for young children the best they can be, and supporting families so they can earn while their children learn. For the past 17 years I have worked as a consultant with states, foundations, and national organizations. My goal is to create a real system of early care and education for children, families, and America’s future. We have made progress since my VISTA days. The field has grown exponentially, along with knowledge about the process of early learning and child development. We have national standards for programs, and states are implementing systems of quality improvement and investing in early care and education. Together we will make more progress. Being your president has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. Leadership in our field and our Association is open to everyone; get involved in your local and state Affiliates, and consider the many opportunities for national leadership on panels and councils and the Governing Board. Visit www.naeyc.org/Getinvolved. If I can do it, so can you. Thanks for the opportunity to serve. Copyright © 2008 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at www.journal.naeyc.org/about/permissions.asp. Young Children • May 2008 http://www.naeyc.org/Getinvolved http://www.journal.naeyc.org/about/permissions.asp
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