It has been through many years of
working in various jobs that I have come to realize that I have a passion for
working with young children. While I have been able to gain great knowledge and
insight into child development and family matters, I still found myself wanting
more information on learning ways that I may help to improve the lives of
children and families. I chose the specialization on public policy and advocacy
because I want to gain knowledge on how public policy processes work and impact
the lives of children and families as well as to learn what I can do in my
daily work to be part of bringing awareness to the issues these families face.
Being an advocate in the early
childhood field is crucial to bringing the voices of young children and their
families to the community and the elected officials who can influence the
changes needed or desired. Without having skilled and confident advocates who
are able to speak up and bring awareness to the issues faced in the early
childhood field then we are missing out on improving such a crucial time of
life for a child and helping them to develop to be the best they can be. We
need early childhood advocates to be the connecting piece between the children
and families to the public policy world. As an advocate I want to be the
messenger that helps families have their needs and concerns be heard at the
community, state, and federal levels.
I hope to learn ways to promote the
connection between families and public policy officials. I want to learn about
the public policy process so that I may gain a better understanding of how
policies are formed and can be changed to fit the current needs of children and
families. Finally I hope to use the skills and information I learn daily in my
work to relay information to others so they also may better understand the
public policy process.
Terri,
ReplyDeleteThis course is a great one to help us understand where and how we can begin our advocacy work. There are so many issues that concern children as a whole that there will never be enough advocates working in the field. Learning about public policy and advocacy will be vital to our ability to be successful in helping children and families.
Thanks so much for sharing.I too hope to learn more about public policy and how to get involved to better the lives of children.
ReplyDeleteHi Terri,
ReplyDeleteI know all to well what you mean when you want to learn more information to help improve the lives of children and families. That is why I continue to engage in courses such as this one. I do it simply because I love what I do as an early childhood professional and I truly care about the children and families that I serve.