Farewell

I have come to the completion of my master’s in early childhood. I am proud of myself and really didn’t think I would ever start or finish at my age.

I have identified my true passion, which I have known was teaching since the fifth grade. God laid on my heart a love for children long ago. This is a legacy I have carried on from my grandmother, father and mother. They have always served in children’s ministries in church and loved and served children.

I have learned that my passion is really the driving force behind what I do, and I love what I do. I discovered and identified my personal microaggressions, which I had never heard of before. I also realized that I feel very deeply about the loss of recess in our early educational system.

One long term goal I have is to pursue my doctorate and ultimately teach up and coming teachers.

I would like to thank my professors for their intelligence, insight and professionalism. They have helped me learn so much.

I also want to thank the many colleagues that I have been learning with. They have made a great contribution to my education, as well. Good luck in all your future endeavors!

For my master’s this week, I was to research three world organizations and find available employment positions of interest, or not, to me. I looked at The Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children an UNICEF.

The Academy for Educational Development FHI 360 is a global development organization with a rigorous, evidence-based approach. Their professional staff includes experts in health, nutrition, education, economic development, civil society, environment and research. They operate from 60 offices with 4,400 staff in the U.S. and around the world. They have worked with 1,400 partners in 125 countries, forging strong relationships with governments, diverse organizations, the private sector and communities. Their commitment to partnerships at every level and our multidisciplinary approach enables them to have a lasting impact on the individuals, communities and countries we serve–improving lives for millions (The Academy for Educational Development, 2011). When I searched for any jobs in the United States in the area of education, my search turned up no jobs available.

Save the Children is the world's leading independent organization for children. Their vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Their mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. They have work in many parts of the world, including the United States. According to their data “nearly one in four American children lives in poverty-that’s 16 million kids who understand all too well what it means to go without. What does ‘go without’ mean in America? For the children we serve in rural America, going without can mean no access to things many take for granted. Simple things like books, healthy foods, and places to play and exercise. And not so simple things, like knowing there will be food on the table at all, a safe place to sleep at night, or just the comfort and hope that comes from being able to see a future outside of poverty” (Save the Children, 2011).

Current employment positions available through this organization are emergency responders. These people deliver rapid, high-impact programming in emergency response to achieve inspiring and dramatic change for children. Standard deployments include individuals with functional expertise in Operations, Logistics, Media, Proposal & Grants, Human Resources, Finance, Communications, Security, Technical Programmes, Education and Monitoring and Evaluation.

UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. They have the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality. That makes them unique among world organizations, and unique among those working with the young (UNICEF, n.d.).

Junior Professional Officers are currently needed with UNICEF. The Junior Professional Officer programme (JPO) comprises a special category of staff members who are young professional men and women, interested in acquiring experience in the development field. These staff members are sponsored by their respective Governments to acquire experience in international development cooperation activities under the close direction of senior UNICEF officials, while contributing to the implementation of UNICEF’s country programmes. I would not qualify for these positions because of my age.

The New and Emerging Talent Initiative (NETI) is an entry point for dynamic professionals interested in an international career with UNICEF. NETI participants will work actively in a multicultural environment within the development and humanitarian arenas, while contributing to delivering results for children. I would not be interested in this position because it would require moving and living in a foreign country. This is not an option for me at this time.

As a result of these searches, I was unable to find any jobs that would appeal to me at this time. 

References:

Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.aed.org/

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/