Professional Abilities Essay Example for Free

Professional Abilities Essay There are several organizations for each professional for example: teachers, social workers, accountants and business owners just to name a few. Then there are sororities and fraternities which consist of all of these professionals in one melting pot. The professional organization which I will describe in the paper is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). As an employee in a Child Care Facility being apart of this organization can help improve my career if I choose to become the director in a few months. The following paragraph describes the history of the organization and what it has done for the early childhood program. As a mother of 5 with 4 attending school in the public school system this organization is in the public eye and moving forward with efforts to improve the early childhood system and help teachers, parents and congress to understand how important our childrens education should be to us. I can join this organization and help to change laws that can have an impact for not only my children but also grandchildren, nieces, nephews and the children that attend my Childcare facility my eyes could be open to new information, meeting people from all aspects of life at the national meetings and even go to Washington DC to help influence them to increase the funding, or make changes to existing policies regarding early childhood education. NAEYCs mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources. National Association for the Education of Young Children has become the nations premier organization for early childhood professionals—setting research-based standards and providing resources to improve early childhood program quality, enhance the professional development and working conditions of program staff, and to help families learn about and understand the need for high quality early childhood education. Through position statements, work with other organizations, and its national voluntary accreditation system, NAEYC has been the leader in promoting excellence in early childhood education for all young children from birth through age 8. NAEYCs roots extend to the 1920s when professional researchers and educators began organizing nursery schools for young children. Concerned about the quality of the proliferating programs, Patty Smith Hill identified a multidisciplinary group of 25 individuals, among them Arnold Gesell, Lois Meek (Stolz), and Abigail Eliot, to consider the need for a new association. A public conference was held in Washington, DC in 1926. By 1929, the group was organized as the National Association for Nursery Education (NANE) and had published its first book—Minimum Essentials for Nursery Education. In 1964, NANE was reorganized as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Also that year, the federal Head Start program was launched, focusing public attention on preschool education. In the early 1980s, concern about the quality of early childhood services available to the burgeoning numbers of families seeking child care and preschool programs for their young children led NAEYC to begin planning a national voluntary accreditation system for early childhood programs. NAEYCs work in developing position statements and setting standards for different aspects of early childhood education continued throughout the 1990s. The National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development focuses attention on improving the quality of preparation and ongoing professional development for teachers of young children by providing a place to learn from researchers about new developments and evaluations of pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and teacher education. By its 75th anniversary in 2001, the association was engaged in a project to reinvent its accreditation system (scheduled to be fully implemented in 2006). Funding provided by a variety of contributors has been instrumental to the success of this effort. In addition, a comprehensive restructuring of its affiliate groups (most of which successfully re-affiliated in 2004) had also been launched. Interest Forums were established as a membership benefit in 2001 to encourage communities of learning on issues related to the NAEYC mission. Funding provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation enabled NAEYC to establish the Supporting Teachers, Strengthening Families project to prevent child abuse and promote childrens healthy social development by helping teachers better communicate with families on difficult issues. The Association also adopted standards for professional preparation associate degree programs in early childhood education and launched plans to develop an accreditation system for these institutions. This effort has been generously supported by a number of contributors. The results of earlier efforts to build the Associations policy presence are clearly visible in 2004. Affiliates and members receive training, technical assistance and resources to help them improve the capacity of their efforts to promote good public policies and investments in affordable, high quality early childhood education programs. NAEYC is recognized as a leading voice in Congress and in state capitols on what is needed to help improve early childhood programs and services for all young children and their families, ranging from child care and Head Start, to early elementary grade reading programs and appropriate assessment. Early childhood educators look to NAEYC for journals, books, and other resources that combine a solid research base and information and features that make them highly accessible and useful for practitioners, teacher educators, and policy makers. NAEYC Conferences continue to be the meetings that just cant be missed, serving a critical convening function for the early childhood profession and providing a valuable professional development opportunity. Approaching its 80th anniversary, NAEYC is proud of its traditions, but also looks to the future. The Association is committed to becoming an ever more high performing inclusive organization that invites all individuals, families, communities and organizations to work together to improve the lives of all young children. They offer an Associate Degree Accreditation Program too many Universities that have programs in Early Childhood to make sure they are preparing their students for their career. They also offer Early Childhood professionals resources to improve their practice through training and professional development. After reading all the above information we should all be apart of this type of organization that cares greatly for the education system that our child (ren) participate in on a daily basis.