Rachel Gillen's Blog

Deeply Felt Learnings From This Program All children deserve the access to high-quality education that will set them up for success in life and that high-quality education and program should meet the needs of the child and the family.  Leadership and proper support are essential for early childhood professional and their ability to provide high-quality care and education. Collaboration is key within a successful early childhood program and for collaboration to be successful, a community must be built within the program and surrounding the program.  It's hard, after completing a program filled with so much beneficial information, to chose one long-term goal. I think, after completing this course, and really thinking about this my long-term goal is bringing mental health trainings weaved in with early childhood practices to the general public. My long-term goal has always been training but, after completing this course and returning to an organization that I had left but...

International Organizations or Communities of Practice that Appeal to me: United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization After reading their vision, I find this to be an extremely important challenge to address and when this challenge is addressed at a younger age, a greater impact is made.  International Step by Step Association They are a membership association that focuses on holistic development. With my background in mental health, I have a strong passion for holistic development as it greatly impacts our mental health.  World Organization for Early Childhood Education Created for nothing more than benefiting young children. I regularly say I do this work for the kids and that should be everyone's thought when working in our field. International Job Opportunities: I am not sure this job opportunity exists but, I currently work for an organization that utilizes the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and I would love to be a ce...

Three National/Federal Organizations or Communities of Practice that Appeal to me: I have always been interested in Zero to Three as the impact they have on the field across the country is so great. I have always seen this as an organization that supports the passion of early childhood development. I also believe this organization stays up-to-date on early childhood issues like mental health in early childhood which is something I am very interested in.  HighScope also sparked an interest for me. This was an organization I did not know a lot about until I hired a teacher who came from a HighScope program. Unfortunately, due to life I was never able to look more into the program but, this week I was able to look into it more and found it incredibly interested. Child Trauma Academy-I currently work for a mental health agency that partners with this agency and their focus on mental health in the early childhood years has always been a topic I am incredibly interested in and passi...

Local and State Organizations and Communities of Practice: Clayton Early Learning- https://www.claytonearlylearning.org/ I chose Clayton as they are an organization in Colorado who are known in the field for their strength in the Early Childhood field. They receive a great deal of funding to provide care for all children and continue extensive research into the early childhood field.  United Way of Weld County- https://www.unitedway-weld.org/ I recently interview here and was extremely impressed with what they are doing for early childhood education in their rural communities. Had the pay been more livable, I would've jumped at the occasion to work for this organization. The team working for early childhood programs seems like a strong community of practice.  Denver Preschool Program- https://dpp.org/?npclid=Cj0KCQjwn_LrBRD4ARIsAFEQFKtyXWDeA8PuAdgGWSNabr8cA504LVOJzAAp7l3L-GCFTr0ROs2rbOoaAuEnEALw_wcB This organization works to provide tuition assistance for all pr...

I have had group experiences where I have been relieved that a group project has come to an end and there have been a few times in my professional life where I have been sad to see a project come to an end. I recently left a team of supervisors at my old job that was extremely hard to walk away from. Although we had our challenges amongst each other, we were a very hard working group who was extremely close. Due to the field we worked in, we had all been through crisis situations together which I think always make you stronger as a team. It has become a tradition in that group that whenever a person leaves, we go out and celebrate together to ensure that we have closure. Unfortunately, the majority of this group has left over the past year. I do believe this group was hard to leave due to the level of functioning we were at as a team. I was very scared to walk away and never experience another team like that again.  It will definitely be interesting to adjourn from my master's ...

I have recently started a new position at a new agency. Due to this, I wouldn't say I am experiencing any major disagreements or conflicts but, more challenges in communication due to learning how my new coworkers, supervisors, and staff communicate. We recently opened two additional classrooms in our school and there were times that I disagreed with my new supervisor on a specific item for the new classrooms. In the past, at my previous job, we were really pushed to lead with the facts and then tell our story based on a training called Crucial Conversations. I have found this to be extremely successful when communicating in disagreements or conflicts. It was helpful to tell the facts behind why I thought what I thought regarding the classroom and then finish with how I felt. Another incredibly important piece is allowing the other party to present their facts and stories as well. After this, it leads you to a resolution which could ultimately be a compromise. I think Crucial Conve...

One of the people I asked to complete the questionnaires for this assignment has been a supervisor and a friend and that made things more interesting. She didn't necessarily look at my communication in regard to only my professional world or only my personal life, she looked at both. The other person I asked to complete the questionnaire mainly looked at my professional communication and I would say I did the same. There were definitely times where my supervisor and friend struggled to answer the question because I might communicate differently in a professional setting than a personal setting.  I learned this week that communication can cause anxiety even when you feel extremely confident in communication. I believe I am confident when communicating with parents but, I have recently experienced a lack of confidence when working with new families. I definitely think this showed in the questionnaires.  I think these questionnaires will help my communication growth in the...

I do believe, when communicating with people from different cultures and groups, I communicate differently. I find myself hesitant and less confidant than I may be when communicating with people from my culture or group. I think it can be hard to find strategies that would benefit both sides as what they both need from the conversation is different. I believe the following strategies could begin to help communication with different groups or cultures. Allow for open line for communication and avoid starting the conversation on a negative front to allow for open communication to be the center of the conversation. Avoid assumptions about that persons culture or group as that can lead to treating them differently.  Keep in mind that they may communicate with you differently because you are from a different culture or group. They may be working just as hard to keep the communication positive. 

I chose to watch Modern Family. What I learned from this activity is, we read a lot into facial expressions and body language and I believe we don't put so much emphasis on the words that are spoken. As I sat and watched the show in silence, I was making assumptions of feelings based on the characters body language and facial expressions. When I went back and watched the show with sound, there was definitely times where I was correct about the character's feelings but, there were many other times that I was off how they were feeling or what the situation was about. If I had been watching a show that I regularly watch, I believe my assumptions would've been less or at least correct. Watching a show that I normally watch allows me to know what the relationship is between the characters and know the characters individually. This helps avoid assumptions and allows me to understand more what might be going on even if there is no sound. Although this might seem like a positive th...

I have two people in my life who I believe communicate effectively. In my personal life, I believe my Dad communicates extremely well. He has always remained very calm, spoken his feelings but also had facts to back him up, and allowed the other person or people to speak their thoughts and feelings. In my professional/work world, one of my previous supervisors was an amazing professional communicator. She always presented calm, respectful, and caring to the person she was speaking to. She rarely came off angry or hurtful and when she did need to address a serious concern regarding performance, she was able to do so without degrading the person she was speaking to.  I absolutely model some of my own communication behaviors after my Dad and my previous supervisor. I believe both have made me a better communicator. My previous supervisor to this day coaches me on proper communication techniques when supervising staff or even communicating with coworkers. Many skills I use in my pers...

My hope while working with children and families is that I can create a program where diversity is accepted and celebrated. A program where bias, prejudice, and oppression is not ignored but, there is awareness around it as I feel this will help make a long lasting change in oppression, bias and prejudice on a larger scale.  One goal I would like to set comes from the article we read about the school that built its program around diversity and social justice. I would like to be an advocate to build programs like this in all early childhood programs. Thank you to all of my peers for sharing your thoughts, feeling, and experiences. This class asked us to discuss many different things that are not always comfortable to share and it felt like a safe space to do so. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors!

Name of Country: Ethiopia Five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family:  Research and locate local agencies that support families from Ethiopia. Visit these agencies to to learn more about the culture and resources that may be provided for families. Reach out to the family prior to them joining the program to begin an open line of communication. Locate and put in place any resources needed like translators.  Prepare staff and the program environment to be welcoming culturally to this family.  Conduct research to increase my knowledge and my staff's knowledge around the Ethiopian culture.  A brief statement describing in what ways I hope that these preparations will benefit both myself and the family: I think preparation to work with families from different cultures is extremely important. This will allow myself and staff to be fully aware of the families initial beliefs and values which I believe will allow...

·        What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like. Outside of my early childhood job, I judge high school dance competitions. The hip-hop division is still relatively new in Colorado but, growing rapidly. Last year, at the state competition, we had two teams that were tied for the final competition. Although, both teams were very talented, they were also very different. It was clear that one team had more access to dance resources due to program funding as their costumes, choreography, formations, etc. were more technical then the other team who came from a school in a lower income area. The school from a lower income area had ...

My experience with microaggressions was not a recent event. Although, I am certain there were examples in my daily life this past week, this example sticks out in my memory. My first few years teaching, one of my coworkers, was a teacher from Ghana who had come to the United States when she was 13. This coworker spoke perfect English and without asking, I would've never known that she was born outside of the states but, she shared this fact with pride and we regularly heard her speak on the phone in her native language. One day, while completing a questionnaire for our quality rating, this coworker was asked what she considered her first language. She looked at out the staff completing the survey and responded that her first language was english and she looked extremely offended. The staff member specified that she meant the language she spoke before english. My coworker answered that her first language has always been english but she also speak her native language.  Like a few e...

When asking my three people their definitions of culture and diversity, the answers were quite similar and held aspects similar to definitions given in this course. Two of my coworkers had very similar definitions which included concepts like ethnicity, language, religion, values, beliefs, etc. My stepmom reminded me of one of the video clips we watched where they discussed how culture represent everything. It's connected to how we walk, talk, look at other people, etc. Diversity was included with culture in all the differences we have in our cultural items. What I thought was extremely interesting was my stepmom talked of culture in regards to the dominant culture, and discussed what her culture is. I found this interesting because she is the dominant culture and I have found in talking to other people that they don't really see themselves as having a culture if they come from the dominant culture, they see everyone else as having a culture. I think she omitted this because ...

The three items I would take with me that I hold dear and represent my family culture are a family picture, a quilt made by my Granny, a necklace my Dad gave me. My family picture would need to be a multi-picture frame as my parents are divorced and, at this point in life, the family is very separated into two separate families. The quilt made by my Granny is a quilt she made me when I was very little and I used all the time. All of the quilts my Granny made hold many memories and remind me of so much when I see the fabric or cover up with any of them. The necklace my Dad gave me, although materialistic, was given to me before his stroke. Now that my Dad can't say much due to his stroke, the necklace helps me remind me of the love and support he has always given me. I definitely think it would be extremely hard to pick one item to bring but, I think my Granny's quilt holds so much of my childhood memories that it would allow me to hold onto everything dear. I am not a mat...

I feel my simulation is important to the field of early childhood education because, I have seen first hand what can happen to a child if they don't have social emotional development at an early age. Children who did not have the experiences as a child that allowed them to develop in their social-emotional development struggle greatly later on in life and it's extremely hard to change their blue print. If we can intervene at an early age, my belief is we have a greater chance to make a lasting impact on their life.  If I were to conduct my research simulation I feel like early childhood professionals and mental health professionals would benefit. Children and families would benefit, and the the early childhood field and mental health field would benefit because there would be research showing what benefits children which could potentially mean more funding.  My perception has always been that there is more to early childhood professionals then teaching or taking care of...

The international research website I chose to look at was the European Early Childhood Education Research Association. While looking through this website I discovered this is a widely respected journal and includes articles on many different topics. Some of the topics I found were technology and children under five, parent partnerships and early childhood services, play versus academics in early childhood, the impact of policy changes on early childhood teachers in Australia, etc. It was so interesting for me to see how many topics are incredibly similar if not identical to research topics we see in the United States. I also found that they also release topic specific journals like an entire journal dedicated to mathematics in early childhood. Overall, I have discovered that many topics are the same across different countries and we should utilize research from other countries to broaden our perspectives. I also think would allow us to determine the wide spread issues that affect all c...

If I had the ability to conduct any research I wanted, I would look into a research study that would study the long-term effects of Early Childhood Education. Are there any? What are they? Are they positive or negative? Does it make a difference the type of program a child went to or different aspects of the program? I have always known that there are skeptics in our world about the benefits of Early Childhood Education but, I have always seen the positive effects on every child I work with. I gave a tour one time to a single mom who was worried about convincing her ex-husband to send their daughter to preschool. She informed me that he did not believe in early childhood education. This tour made me think about the lack of knowledge or understanding on all of the benefits early childhood programs bring for children. I know there have been studies that have looked into this but, I feel like there are not that many due to the challenges that come up with completing long-term research l...

Working with children in a residential treatment facility, I have become increasingly interested in mental health. All of the children we work with have had some form of trauma, abuse, or neglect in their early childhood years which has greatly affected their mental health. I see everyday the affect adverse experiences can have on our mental health. This Youtube video had a great impact on my overall interest in early childhood mental health. Due to my interest in mental health and the early childhood field, my research simulation topic is, if a child in a high-quality early education program that focuses on social emotional development, will see a positive impact on their mental health even if they are exposed to adverse experiences like the ones discussed in the video above? An insight I have gained so far through this course is the literature review. This has always been an extremely hard concept for me. I have always been the person who looks for articles and studies that are...