Using Social Media
The lack of professional preparation for high quality
teaching of infants and toddlers is a problem that may have its beginnings in
the hiring process. In my experiences,
the requirements are low, so there is a number of unqualified teaching staff
hired to work with infants and toddlers.
In order for change in teacher quality to take place, the hiring
administration must include a professional training course for new hires of
infant/toddler classrooms in a program at the preservice level and a second set
of training components midway to their first year of employment. The series of orientation trainings will be
conducted by the Head Start education specialist, health, and family components
along with the Guilford County Partnership for Children of Greensboro, NC. There must also be staff of expertise in
infant/toddler education to be a part of the hiring process.
Parents of the Early Head Start program have the power
to change some of the policies and decisions made at this level. Using the Policy Council that is comprised
of Head Start parents being 1/3 of the governing body and parent committees of
each center of this program to advocate for high quality, will assist in bring
forth what is needed in early care.
The plan for this solution is to create an
Infant/Toddler Awareness Fair. This
event will take place during the summer months so that more help can be
elicited from Head Start teaching staff of the preschool classrooms while they
are on their summer break. This time
will also help those teachers who are participating in the fair to gain some
knowledge and awareness of the importance of infant/toddler quality care.
The plan is to have area organizations set up booths
with information and prizes for their initiatives that collaborate with the idea
of infant/toddler quality care. There
will be balloons, ice cream, hot dogs, and other celebratory events to usher in
the atmosphere. The Guilford County
Partnership for Children, The Zero to Three/Statewide Network, and
representatives from EQuIPD (Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional
Development for Early Care and Education Programs) will participate, to name a
few. I will also ask Dr. Deborah
Cassidy, a Professor for Human Services at The University of North Carolina at
Greensboro and newly elected president for NAEYC, to be the speaker for this
event. Dr. Cassidy has been in many positions in the early childhood field and
can bring a wealth of knowledge to this issue.
Social media is a great way to advertise and get the
word out, especially parents of the program. The most popular means of
communicating through social media that I would use is Facebook and a blog
created for the intention of sharing information and networking ideas among the
parents of infants and toddlers. The
advantages for these two streams of media hit two important areas. Facebook is a way to advertise the
Infant/Toddler Awareness Fair and can also be a means to get parents and
teachers involved in the event itself.
The local community is also targeted through Facebook and will be able
to get the notification of the event.
Photos, videos, and updated information about infant/toddler early
learning can be shared. The second
stream of media would be a blog for parents that will be for discussion of
concerns, issues and events surrounding their infant/toddler needs. This may add a personal touch and can be a
way for parents to freely express their concerns or ask questions of other
parents that may be intimidating to ask their child's teacher. Since this is the digital age, I believe that
the social media I have chosen will make a difference in getting our groups
closer to where we need to be for the sake of teacher quality and education.
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