Time Well Spent

Throughout my time here at Walden University, I have grown personally and professionally with the help of these courses and you, my colleagues. 

I have been able to: 

Improve my knowledge, skills, and dispositions in the field... 

Connect to the knowledge learned and... 

 Implement the information in my daily practice with children, their families, and colleagues. 

You have supported me throughout this program both personally and professionally. You have opened my eyes to new perspectives and new strategies to approaching different situations. 

I thank you for all of it! 

I think the biggest realization that came to me was the concept of my capstone project and how it could not only help improve the quality of care throughout CYP's but also how easily achievable it is. 

For me, learning is a lifelong process and I fully intend to continue to look for PD opportunities over the next several months- in and outside of this field.

But until then, as I will have more time on my hands, I plan to go on some great

Literary Adventures

Stop to smell the flowers

and enjoy every minute I have until my next big adventure comes around...

Best of luck to ALL of you on your future endeavors.  

Feel free to contact me at: 
E-mail: a.j.david@outlook.com
FB: Amy Joy David (I am also part of the Walden Edu FB page!)

Exploring Careers: Internationally

Save the Children

As an independent organization the focuses on creating and maintaining immediate and lasting change for children in need, Save the Children, helps to improve their health, education, and economic opportunities to support and sustain the improvements (Save the Children, n.d.). Save the Children staff are on the front lines, working directly with the children and families in need and being a part of that, being able to initiate change directly as opposed to indirectly resonates with me. One job opportunity that caught my eye was their Education Manager who “provides early childhood technical assistance, management, oversight, and support to the Head Start program to ensure effective coordination, implementation and monitoring of the education services (Save the Children, 2019).” Ideally, I would like to take the role of their HS Education Manager who “provide[s] training and technical assistance to the Head Start staff to ensure high-quality programming… monitors child and teacher progress and performance” (Save the Children, 2019). The required experience and skills include:

·  Minimum of Baccalaureate or advanced degree in Early Childhood Education, Child Development or any subject and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education with experience teaching preschool-age children.

·  Minimum 5 years of experience working with infants and toddlers or pre-school age children.

·  Experience in supervision and training; and experience with developing consistent, stable and supportive relationships with very young children.

·  Extensive knowledge of early childhood education and child safeguarding and methods for communicating effectively with infants and toddlers or preschoolers, as well as parents and other staff.

·  Must have extensive knowledge of Heat Start Program Performance Standards, developmentally appropriate early childhood education practices in preschool programs.

·  Experience with program planning and supervisory techniques and practices.

·  Ability to exercise sound professional judgment and evaluations.

·  Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with agency staff, children and parents, and outside agencies.

·  Effective communication skills, strong problem solving and time management skills.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO works to develop the educational tools needed to help all children and citizens gain access to quality education and “helps countries adopt international standards and manages programmes that foster the free flow of ideas and knowledge sharing”(UNESCO, n.d.). What resonates with me about UNESCO is their passion for cultural equality and ensuring that, regardless of one’s culture, heritages, etc. they are offered the opportunity to participate in quality education to improve their future success. One of the job opportunities that stood out to me was their Head of Learning and Development Unit based in Paris. Some of the responsibilities of this position include: “Lead[ing] and manag[ing] a team to design, deliver and maintain learning programs and ensure that programs are offered on a global scale meeting the needs of the Organization… Lead[ing] the conceptualization, design and delivery of new and/or revised development activities at all levels of the organization in both HQ and field locations…ensuring that policies, practices, procedures and content are in line with the organizational priorities… monitoring and evaluation of learning supported by on line delivery and as part of blended learning programs… Monitor[ing] and evaluat[ing] the effectiveness and impact of staff development programs, oversee[ing] impact assessment projects, and recommend[ing] ways to enhance effectiveness and impact” (UNESCO, 2019). Required qualification include:

Education

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in adult learning, pedagogy, organizational design, psychology, education, human resources management or related discipline.

Work Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience in the field of talent management, learning and development in the private and/or public sector.
• Demonstrated experience in identifying learning and development needs for different staff groups.
• Experience of designing and delivering learning and development interventions in an international context.
• Successful experience in leading, managing and motivating a small team of professional and administrative staff to deliver learning in a global organization.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong communication, interpersonal, leadership and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and to maintain good working relationships with external and internal stakeholders.
• Strong IT skills.

Languages

• Excellent knowledge of English and good knowledge of French.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Qualification in executive coaching from a recognized institution or association.

Work Experience

• Experience acquired at the international level.
• Experience in using 360 degree evaluations as part of development processes in organizations.

Languages

• Good knowledge of another UNESCO official language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

The Online & Overseas Teacher

With offices on the UK and China, The Online & Overseas Teacher (TOT) places teachers in progressive schools physically or virtually to teach English to 3-12 year olds and provides ongoing support throughout their teaching career. I looked into and interviewed for a teaching job in China a month ago with the thought of travel, saving money, and stepping (waaaaaaaaay) out of my comfort zone. I had a skype interview with one of the representatives who places you and was offered the opportunity to interview for a position in a kindergarten class in Hangzhou, China but I decided last minute to pull from the interview as it would be a significantly big move, too far away from my family. As an online/virtual teacher you would be responsible for “deliver[ing] well-prepared classes, adapt[ing] your teaching material to fully engage your learners, motivate[ing] and inspire your students and identify[ing] their strengths and weaknesses. [Additionally, you would] use readily-available technology such as virtual white boards and screen-sharing to supplement your teaching [and] strive to improve and develop your teaching style” (TOT, n.d.). The requirements to teach online include:

·     Graduate or currently studying towards a Bachelor’s degree.

·     Native English speaker.

·     Must have meticulous time keeping.

·     Reliable and strong broadband speed (20mb/s or above).

·     Suitable PC/laptop with built-in or external webcam.

·     Availability to schedule a minimum of 10 hours of teaching per week.

·     Cultural sensitivity and awareness of your learners’ needs.

References

Save the Children. (n.d.) About us: Careers. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/careers

Save the Children. (2019). Manager, education: Job details. Retrieved from https://recruiting.ultipro.com/SAV1002STCF/JobBoard/7d92e82b-af74-464d-859b-c5b8cba6e92e/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=df0896d6-79db-4eb5-8e45-cc0c8c6791b5

The Online & Overseas Teacher (TOT). (n.d.). Teach online. Retrieved from https://www.the-online-teacher.co.uk/teach-online/

UNESCO. (n.d.) UNESCO in brief: Mission and mandate. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

UNESCO. (2019). Vacancy notice: Head of learning and development unit. Retrieved from https://careers.unesco.org/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl;jsessionid=txcXbQr9Jbyl8m6nQHMWOg11uqLmhus8OllYqwr2fIfCkLJ-ctuD!895292952

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

After some research, the agencies I would like to become a part of are the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Peace Corps, and the Division for Early Childhood’s (DEC) community of practice (CoP) DECIDE.

UNICEF, among a magnitude of other organizations and agencies, understand the importance of receiving proper care during the early years as those years help to set the foundation for future success. They work in 190 different countries to defend the rights of all children around the world. They offer individuals the opportunities to work directly with disadvantages populations and help to improve their conditions (UNICEF, n.d.). One job posting that caught my eye was Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer. As an ECD Officer I would be able to offer professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance to the ECD programs and projects throughout a given country/territory. I would aid in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting program information to help support the formation and development of the ECD program as well. TO qualify for this position I would need the following:

·       A university degree in education, public administration/health, nutrition, economics, psychology, sociology, human development, child development, family studies or other social science field is required. * Degrees and/or specialized professional courses in early childhood education, child development and pediatrics are an asset.

·       A minimum of 2 years of relevant professional experience in early childhood development related areas.

·       Experience working with international organizations or UN agencies in an asset.

·       Fluency in Spanish and English is required (UNICEF, n.d.).

The Peach Corps is a 24 month service opportunity to work directly, as the grassroots level, with disadvantaged populations and work alongside local leaders to address challenges in their area. The Peace Corps aims to promote world peace by helping to meet the need for knowledgeable and skilled men and women in interested countries, and promoting a better understanding of Americans and people from other countries. They are federal agency that works to build and sustain global relationships through volunteering (Peace Corps, n.d.). One of the volunteer options that stood out to me was the English Education Teaching in Thailand. I would co-teach with 1-3 Thai teachers about 20 hours a week with children from 1^st grade to 6^th grade to help develop lessons and classroom resources and conduct community outreach to promote parent involvement in their children’s English learning. An additional pro of this position is that I would be able to take part in the TEFL training program and receive a TEFL Certificate by the end of my volunteer time. The minimum required skills for this position is:

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any discipline AND

• A strong desire to teach English

However, they are looking for theses desired skills:

• Degree in elementary or secondary education or another field of education

• Experience or an interest in curriculum and resource development

• Classroom teaching experience, tutoring experience, and/or teacher training experience (Peace Corps, n.d.).

The DEC’s DECIDE CoP works to enhance the quality of doctoral education programs through innovative approaches to learning. DECIDE aims to promote higher education institution, policy makers, researchers, ECE specialists, and doctoral students to engage in a CoP and a peer mentoring relationship  to help inform and shape the future of the early childhood intervention and special education (DEC, n.d.). This CoP sparked my interests as it has a lot to do with continuing education and professional development and ensuring the early educators working with our future leaders are fully equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to provide the appropriate ealry learning experiences and interventions needed to support children’s healthy growth and development.

References

Division for Early Childhood (DEC). (n.d.). DECIDE. Retrieved from https://www.decdecide.org/

Peace Corps. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/

Peace Corps. (n.d.). English Education Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/volunteer-openings/english-education-teaching-5654br/

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). About. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Vacancies. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=520566

CoP and Possible Career Changes

After doing some research, the three community of practices (CoP) I would like to be a part of include the California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project’s (CALPRO) Effective Teaching for Adult Educators CoP, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Higher Ed CoP and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE).

CALPRO’s mission is to provide a comprehensive, statewide approach to foster continuous program improvement through high-quality professional development (PD) in adult education. They aim to offer PD opportunities to adult educators to not only improve their practice with students to promote optimal learning but to also aid adult learners in continuous lifelong learning.

NAEYC’s Higher Ed CoP is an online CoP that offers adult educators the opportunity to share best practices, provide current resources on relevant topics, and engage in meaningful communication to aid in strengthening their practice.

SCOPE focuses on the research, policy, and practice involved in advancing high-quality and equitable education in the US and internationally. This organization and community work to engage adult educators from various universities to collaborate on a common agenda of research, policy analysis, educational practice, and dissemination of ideas. They focus on four main areas: equitable resources for all students; professional capacity for educator, meaningful learning for students; and vibrant communities.

Ironically, I have been looking for positions outside of the Navy CYP to help me grow beyond my comfort zone and challenge me to continue to learn new policies and roles and responsibilities. In my pursuit of a new job, I have found two that are of interest to me: Adjunct Early childhood Development Instructor and a Student Teacher Supervisor.

As an Adjunct Earl Childhood Development Instructor, I would be teaching adult learners in a community college setting- something that has more recently been of more interest to me. The minimum qualifications needed are one of the following:

1. Master’s degree or higher in child development, early childhood education, human development, home economics/family and consumer studies with a specialization in child development/early childhood education, educational psychology with a specialization in child development/early education from an accredited college or university; OR

2. Bachelor’s degree in any of the above AND Masters in social work, educational supervision, elementary education, special education, psychology, bilingual/bicultural education, life management/home economics, family life studies, or family and consumer studies from an accredited college or university; OR

3. Valid California Community College instructor credential appropriate to the subject per Education Code 87355 (issued prior to July 1, 1990); OR

4. A combination of education and experience that is at least the equivalent of items 1 or 2 above (Applicants applying on the basis of equivalency must complete all Equivalency questions on their application in addition to all other required materials).

As a Student Teacher Supervisor, I would be responsible for placing student teachers in ECE settings, observing, analyzing, and evaluating their knowledge, skills, and practices and providing guidance and feedback throughout their time in the classroom.  The qualifications needed are as followed:

1. Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree in Educational Administration

2. A valid Administrator certification or evidence of an advanced degree in Educational Administration

3. Expertise in Educational Leadership, Data-Driven Decisions for School Improvement, Legal Issues in Education, Public School Finance, Supervision and Instructional Leadership, and Curriculum and Development for School Improvement

4. Minimum of 2-3 years of administrative experience

5. Provide a positive example to students by supporting the University’s Doctrinal Statement, Ethical Position Statement, and Mission of Grand Canyon University

References

California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project’s (CALPRO). (n.d.). About CALPRO. Retrieved from https://www.calpro-online.org/about.asp

Child Development/ Early Childhood Educations Adjunct Instructor. (2019). Indeed.com. Retrieved from https://www.indeed.com/viewjobjk=10abde71b5a1ff95&from=myjobs&tk=1d66ca6mq1dl2000

NAEYC. (n.d.) Higher Ed Community of Practice. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/get-involved/communities/interest-forums-online-communities
SCOPE. (n.d.). Our Mission. Retrieved from https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/
Student Teacher Supervision- Education Administration, College of Education. (2019). Indeed.com. Retrieved from https://www.indeed.com/viewjobjk=c2c9b37e837545c4&from=myjobs&tk=1d66c613j1dl7000

Best of Luck

The past 8 weeks have been an educational journey of communication.

I appreciate all of your feedback and perspectives not only on the weekly topics but also with regards to the issues I've brought up in these blog posts about management. You have showed support, offered suggestions, empathized with me, and helped me understand how to better the situation.

It has been a long and yet short year of courses with an abundance of new "faces". As we embark on our specializations and the end of our educational journey at Walden, I wish you well.

I wish you support- to help you through tough times.

I wish you challenges- to help you grow.

I wish you success- so you can see how far you have come.

Best of luck to all of you. It has been a great semester- I'm sure I'll "see" some of you throughout the last 3 courses!!

Adjourning

I think that the hardest group for me to leave was my group of friends on the East Coast.

They have been such an integral part of my early adult life and have helped me to grow into a completely different person. It was hard leaving them because the bonds we shared were formed through many personal experiences that I won't ever have with other people. 

(This was our Friendsgiving 2016 !) 

(Our 4th Annual Camping Trip 2018 - I fly back home for it (; )

 Whenever any group I've been a part of have adjourned, we've always celebrated with food and drinks. Kind of like a last HOORAH! Before I left for San Diego we did dinner at one of the local restaurants and then proceeded to Karaoke and our "go -to" Irish pub. It was a great night filled with good food, great friends, strong drinks, and awesome music. All things the members of this groups enjoyed. 

Thinking about the future and how our cohort of colleagues will adjourn once we've graduated, I don't honestly know what we could do. Online classes make forming interpersonal relationships hard because you only ever see (really read) the professional early educator as opposed to who the person really is. We can identify each others passions and goals, and help each other achieve them but we won't every really "know" them. Plus- we're all in different time zones! 

Adjourning I think is important for a group because it's (possibly) the last chance the members have to see each other or work together. Regardless of the context of your group- you have extended your personal or professional network of support.  

Conflict Resolution In My Life

I'm sure, if you have been reading any of my posts, you know that I am going to bring up the conflicts I face on a daily basis with the management team at my job. So, in thinking about everything that I've learned through the assignment this week, I think understanding their unmet needs, as well as my own would be a great strategy to use to help ensure more effective communication.

The communication goal I set for myself this week is to work on understanding my own unmet needs and addressing them in order to communicate more effectively- practicing this with the management team will most definitely help me meet this goal. I think that the only issues that I am going to come across is if management would be open to exploring their unmet needs in order to help improve our communication as well. I honestly don't know how to even begin to approach this with them.

Another strategy I could use is just taking that step back to ensure I respond instead of react to their approaches. Use "the balcony" strategy to calm myself and take a more objective perspective. This can be hard because I realize that I often use others as my "Balcony" but they too have indifferent feelings towards management so they only feed my emotions. I also think that it is hard to separate the person from the issues when I feel like part of the issue is how they talk to others. And in order to address that issues, management would have to be open to seeing how the way they address people affects them. I feel like I'm talking in circles and it's a never ending battle- any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Me as a Communicator

I was happy to see that the two people I had fill out the communication questionnaires rated me relatively the same as I rated myself. I chose to have two colleagues, both at different levels than me, complete the questionnaires because I interact and communicate with both of them differently. The scores were as followed:

(Communication Anxiety, Listening Style, Verbal Aggressiveness)

Me: 38 Mild / 32 People-Oriented /  67 Moderate

Trainer: 48 Moderate / 36  People-Oriented / 66 Moderate

Program Lead: 38 Mild / 43  People-Oriented / 63 Moderate

It surprised me that the Trainer rated me as having moderate communication anxiety-indication that that I show concern in many communication contexts, depending on the situation-  but then I realized why and it made sense. I communicate well with the Trainers and staff  however, when it comes to management- it's a completely different story.  

I continuously refer to the Trainers before ALL of my interactions with management. This management team is very unsupportive, negative, and always trying to find a scape goat- never admitting to their own mistakes. I find myself overly cautious in any communication with them because of these facts. They do not actively listen to you and only pick up on the words, phrases, or ideas that they want to hear. Whatever  information fits their ideas or perspectives they will retain and use to support their argument. 

Aside from this difference, I wasn't too surprised about the results. I am glad that others view me the same way I view myself- it just means that I am as real as I try to be. I'm not fake, I don't pretend, I am honest and straight forward and people see that. I did read a little bit more about the different tests we took this week and I found an article on the communication anxiety  and it offered different types of anxiety and after reading I've found that I have acute communication anxiety- or momentary anxiety depending on the situation.

These two example perfectly summarizes my acute communication anxiety as well as the type of management I work with:

We have 2 child development complexes- each having their own Director/Assistant Director/ Trainers/Assistant Trainers. The other site's Trainer asked if I could do the Parent Involvement Training on potty training and transitioning due to scheduling issues. I agreed- nervously and excitedly- She had already created the powerpoint for potty training and I had to do the transition one. When it came to the day of the training, I was nervous AF to present her slides- but when I did mine- I was gooood. See, I knew the content in mine, I created it, I knew what the slides entailed her's on the other hand- although I knew the information and I reviewed the slides, I did not create it, I was not comfortable presenting it. <--------- Acute Communication Anxiety

When I informed management that I would be doing the training they wanted to see and approve the powerpoints first. They reviewed and told me to make changes to about half of the slides. They informed me that a member from Region would be there (mandatory to attend one parent training and it just so happened to be mine insert eye-roll) The day of the training, the director told the Trainer that she had to be there with me. Then the Director and Assistant Directors came as well... leaving NO management or Trainer available next door in case of an emergency (this was a Training issues before and we were told that at least on of us had to be available during trainings... insert another eye roll). The next day after the training, the Director of the other center called our center to praise me for doing a great job. He offered me constructive feedback and reassured me that I did a great job. Management in my center, to this day, has not said a single thing to me about the training. I presented 2 months ago.

Commuication

In reflecting on my interactions with others I've come to realize that I do talk to people differently depending on their age and culture. We have a few older staff members who have been in the field for over 15-20 years. For some of them, English is their second language so I find myself explaining things a little more and taking my time to make sure they understand what I'm tasking them with and so on. It's hard for me to figure out if I'm communicating effectively because they usually just respond with a "yea", "ok" or a head nod. Most of the skills that we are learning about that makes communication effective are not displayed by these colleagues. A few things I could do to improve my communication with others are:

Reflecting on my culture, personality, and identity would allow me to understand how my own behaviors and perspectives affect the way I communicate with others.

Stop trying to predict other's behaviors or reactions when communicating. Gonzalez-Mena noted how we often use a person's culture to predict their reactions however a person's culture is not rigid and does not apple to every individual of that culture.
 

Work on becoming more knowledgeable in how others communicate motivated to learn about and appreciate those who are different from me  skilled at adapting to how other's behave. 

On Mute: Analyzing Non-Verbal Communication

I decided to watch the Netflix original The First. I watched the first 15 minutes of it with the sound off- honestly that’s all I could take. 

Based on the context, visuals, and the nonverbal cues it was easy to pick up what was going on. They were getting ready to launch the first humans to mars and the two main characters were worried about it failing. I deduced that the man and women worked together on the project. The man did not feel it was safe to do the mission but the woman was determined to complete it. 

In a flash back the man shook his head and looked down as the woman looked straight at him- with no expression. 

The man pulled himself away from the project and the woman pushed it forward. The man was worried the entire morning as was the woman- probably doubting her decision to go through with the mission and unsure of how safe it really was. 

He sits up in bed looking worried. He shakes his head and scratches it and runs his fingers through his hair. Throughout his morning routine he has a serious yet nervous look on his face- at times even an angry expression displayed by a furrowed brow. The woman is shown on TV talking about what could only be the launch. Although she is smiling throughout the interview you can see her clenching her jaw and often moving her eyes off to the side or looking up. She hesitated in some of her responses- slightly opening and closing her mouth and then responding. As she sees the astronauts to this shuttle she smiles and shakes their hands and then crosses her arms over her midsection and clenches her jaw. She is worried. 

My assumptions were pretty on point after watching with the sound on. I think it had a lot to do with understanding the context of the show and how they planned out the visuals and images throughout the episode. From the flash back and the nervousness on the main characters faces you could feel how worried they were. I thinking that knowing the context is the biggest "aha" aspect for me as well as the images/visuals they played aided my understanding of what was going on. 

Communication Role Model

My last Assistant Director was a great role model for me regarding communication skills. She was a huge help for me after I attended a training on Effective Communication and Coaching Through Feedback. There was a lot of information to take in and she helped me to understand and implement it. As an Assistant Director she not only had to deal with parents but also the staff.

She was respectful of the other person and their time.

During conversations she would stay focused on the situation, issue, or behavior and not the person. 

She maintained the self-confidence and self-esteem of the other person and took the initiative to help improve the situation.

 She also lead by example and practiced what she preached.  

All of these are traits that I would like to implement and model within both my personal and professional life. I firmly believe in the saying " treat other the way you would want to be treated" and if I can implement or model these traits then hopefully others will do the same for me. 

A Final Note...

I hope that I can overcome the biases I've discovered in order to support the families, children, and professionals I work with. 

I want to be able to build the relationships that are necessary for optimal growth and development. 

I hope to see a change within our educational system that promotes the unity between professionals, families and children in working towards a more fair and accepting environment for all individuals. 

To all my colleagues who have helped me to understand the diversity we have within our profession. For sharing with me your stories of oppression, prejudice, and unfair treatment. Thank you- for all of it has lead you to where you are now. <3

Finland

Finland

1. Research Finnish cultural norms and values to ensure I am aware of how to appropriately greet the family and child without disrespecting them. 
2. 

   Add elements of the Finnish culture into the classroom environment such as their flag, common words and numbers, pictures of famous monuments, artwork from well known Finnish artists or photographers.
   
3. Offer resources in both English, Finnish, and Swedish. 
4. Invite the parents to come visit the center and classroom and take the time to talk to them and clarify any questions or concerns they may have with regards to their child's participation in the program and about the curriculum.
5. Be respectful of their wishes and goals for their child.

These preparations will help me to gain a better understanding of the family's cultural norms ensuring that I am culturally and linguistically respectful in our interactions. Adding the Finnish images, words, and artifacts will help the family and child feel more welcomed and represented within the classroom. Resources available in the family's home language will ensure that information is shared and understood and meeting with the parents beforehand to eliminate any concerns and answer questions will help the parent's feel more confident in the program and curriculum. Being respectful of the family's wishes and goals for their child's development will help to build the foundation for a strong partnership- being on the same page as the parents will also allow to the most beneficial learning environment.