Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

In exploring the many organizations within my area, I found several that were of interest to me. 

The College of Early Childhood Educators (www.collegeofece.on.ca).

To use the title of early childhood educator, individuals in the province of Ontario must register with the College of ECEs.  The College is made of up of 14 elected members and 10 public members (College of ECEs, 2011).  The College confirms the professional status of early childhood educators (College of ECEs, 2011).  Unfortunately, there are no job opportunities available at this time.  Recently, the College of ECEs created the “Standards of Practice” document, a first of its kind in Canada (College of ECEs, 2011).  Individuals who are interested in policies, assessment of internationally trained early childhood educators to name a few would be able to pursue a career within the College of ECEs.   If there were opportunities within the College of ECEs, I would be most interested in pursuing the assessment of internationally trained early childhood educators.  I would love to learn about other countries early childhood education standards. 

  The Ontario Reggio Association (www.ontarioreggioassociation.ca).

This is a non-profit organization created to support the “ongoing collaboration of Reggio inspired individuals, schools, and institutions” (OntarioReggioAssociation,n.d.).    If you have a passion or interest in “studying and working with the inspiration of the Reggio approach” (OntarioReggioAssociation,n.d.),  then this supportive organization would be of interest to you.  Workshops and Saturday sessions where people share their documentation offer opportunities for teachers, parents, early childhood educators to connect and explore the Reggio Emilia approach.   Good communication and collaborative skills would be needed to participate.   It is one of my goals to join this particular association as I am very interested in learning more about the Reggio approach.

   St. Lawrence College (http://www.stlawrencecollege.ca)  is one example of a community college in Ontario, however; there are 24 Community Colleges that offer an early childhood education program.  Currently, St. Lawrence College is seeking part time teachers who are interested in teaching and field placement supervision.  To work at St. Lawrence, you must have at least 5 years’ experience in licensed child care, an early childhood education diploma and related degree as well as post-secondary teaching experience.     It is interesting to read the job posting at St. Lawrence as this is where I earned my early childhood education diploma and worked for 10 years in the early learning center. Teaching involves much more than the outlined criteria.  Additional skills involve communication, presentation skills, knowledge of how adults learn, organizational skills, problem solving,  ability to work with others, collaboration skills to name a few.   Teaching is a passion of mine.

   The Association for Early Childhood Educators (AECEO) ( http://www.aeceo.ca/) (provincial)

    Ottawa Valley Branch (http://www.aeceo.ca/Branches/OVB/default.htm)(local)

The AECEO serves and acts on the behalf of all early childhood educators in the province of Ontario. The AECEO is made up of elected members who implement and support the mission and mandate of the association (AECEO).   The AECEO supports professional growth by hosting an annual conference.  This year the theme of the conference is "Navigating your Career for Success: A Roadmap for Professionals."  The conference will be held in Toronto, Ontario.  I think the AECEO is a wonderful way to keep up-to-date with what is happening in the field of early childhood.  The Ottawa Valley Branch (local) meets each month.  They have planned local events such as the "Week of the Child" and hosted many mini workshops and conferences in Ottawa.  With my busy schedule, I appreciate the emails, newsletters, and links to what is happening in the field.  The local branch at the AGM last evening elected new members to the Board of Directors. Good communication skills would be essential to being a board member of the AECEO.