After pondering about advocacy issues I have identified
three issues that I believe are important for me to support. First I believe Early
Childhood Programs should provide the continuity of care. Second I believe programs
should try to understand and support the child’s home culture. Lastly I identified
the need for programs to be able to determine if their program is the least
restrictive environment for a child with special needs.
I spoke to two individuals in the field addressing the
issues I have identified. I spoke to Martha L. a preschool teacher and M.
Newsome a program director whom both works in a program that offers continuity
of care for children. Martha says she
believes continuity of care is great for children especially infants and toddlers. Martha pointed out that it is especially
beneficial for children with special needs. Families become familiar and comfortable
with the caregiver or teacher once continuity of care is implemented.
I also learned through my conversations that not all programs
are open to understanding and supporting the child’s culture. My interview with these two professional
helped me understand that understanding culture is so much more and there are some
parts of the child’s culture we aren’t able to support such as discipline. Also
I learned that learning culture can be challenging when parents have a guard up
and when there are a variety of cultures in one setting or classroom.
My discussion with these two individuals assisted my understanding
of the legal ramifications associated with creating the least restrictive environment.
I also learned regardless professionals need specialized training to work with
children in special needs.
My topic will be continuity of care. I have some experience
with children whom I have worked with from 15 months to 36 months and then I
was moved to the three year old class and continued to work with that group of
children. I would say our relationship is better. Their parents are more comfortable
with me as their child’s teacher. I see that they know more than some of the
other children and I know exactly what they need extra support in.
Environmental is an interesting topic, and I don’t think you are having trouble find resource. If you are you can take a look on Kendall’s website and go to ebhost, which will have scholarly article for you to use in your paper…Good Luck…
ReplyDeleteI agree that Early Childhood Educators, especially in this day and age and because they are the children's 'first' classroom teachers, they need to be highly qualified in the area of childcare, early childhood education, and professional development of topics, methods of teaching at the early childhood level, early identification and intervention.
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