Time Well Spent

Three deeply felt learnings from this program:

·         I am very passionate about children and advocating that every child deserves a quality education. It should never be about who your parents know or how much money your family brings in every month for a child to receive a quality education. This course really reiterated to me the importance about being an agent of positive change. It is very easy to notice and speak about the problems you see going on around you but it is very difficult to actually step up and try to change them.

·         I learned the importance of communities of practice. They “are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, 2006. p.1). Once you decide to step up a make a change it is vital to compose your community of practice. Find other people who share your passion and support your cause. I learned to think outside the box when compiling your community of practice. Try to incorporate people of every level. Parents and families, other colleagues, well know organizations, people at the state and federal levels, even celebrities. Amassing your community of practice is important; they will help you succeed in accomplishing your common goal.

·         I learned the importance of learning about the history of your cause. Researching what has been tried and failed or tried and succeeded will help you plan your “angle of attack”. Learning what research has been completed or not completed is vital too.

One long term goal:

My long term goal is to not stop learning. I plan to utilize my master’s degree and work in the early childhood field for at least the next 5 years. After which I will go back to school to receive my Ph.D. in Education. I do not have a lot of hands on experience working in the early childhood field and would like to obtain that before moving on in my educational journey.

Farewell message to my instructor and colleagues:

I cannot believe this part of my journey is over; it seems like it just begun! I want to thank everyone for being on this journey with me. We worked hard and had many of early mornings or late nights trying to work school work into our very busy lives but we did it! We accomplished the goal we set forth, congratulations. Thank you for all your blog and discussion posts, I learned so much from them.

Thank you,

Brande

Reference

Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

·         At least three international organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you and why you chose them

1.       United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was the first international organization that appealed to me.  UNICEF appealed to me because it “is a leading humanitarian and development agency working globally for the rights of every child. Child rights begin with safe shelter, nutrition, protection from disaster and conflict and traverse the life cycle: pre-natal care for healthy births, clean water and sanitation, health care and education” (UNESCO, n.d., p. 1). They have been working and helping children and families for 70 years.

2.      Save the Children organization is the second international organization that appealed to me. Save the Children appealed to me because it “is the world's leading independent organization for children... [They] save children's lives…fight for their rights…help them fulfill their potential. [They] work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives” (Save the Children, 2016, p. 1). Save the Children have over 2 million supporters and last year raised more than 1.9 billion dollars to help children.

3.      Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is the third international organization that appealed to me. The OECD appealed to me because it “uses its wealth of information on a broad range of topics to help government’s foster prosperity and fight poverty through economic growth and financial stability. We help ensure the environmental implications of economic and social development are taken into account” (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2016, p. 1). This appealed to me because on my capstone project on ending childhood hunger in my community and a way to end hunger is to end poverty.

·         Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you

1.       UNICEF: LOCAL CONSULTANT to support the development of a framework for provision of quality alternative and flexible learning programs for the Ministry of Education, Male’/Maldives

Location: Maldives
Work Type: Consultancy

Job description is to support the development of a framework for provision of quality alternative and flexible learning programs for the Ministry of Education, Male'/Maldives. The basic objective of this project is to introduce alternative, flexible and inclusive learning programs equivalent to conventional primary and secondary schooling and accredited and certified by the Government, for children who are out of school to acquire functional literacy and numeracy skills as well as competencies and life skills required to have improved life choices and live safe and dignified lives, thus fulfilling their right to access quality education.

2.      Save the Children: Education Project Manager - South Sudan

Role Purpose:

Enhancing Quality Education and Building Peace in South Sudan program is an inter-state program to increase awareness of peace building and enhance the quality of education provided to primary and ALP students in Rumbek and Bor.

The Project Manager will oversee the implementation of the inter-state Program. The main objective of this project is to support children to learn by ensuring the provision of safe, quality education that equips them with essential skills. The project will support 26 schools and will integrate elements of peace-building to promote peaceful co-existence and build resilience of communities to cope with conflict.

The project will focus of delivering improved infrastructure, increased quality of education, enhanced community support for education and increased awareness of protection issues in schools to promote peace building.

3.      Job opportunities at OECD: Junior Economist – Shipbuilding

Main Responsibilities

Research, analysis and drafting

• Draft analytical papers and information documents on current shipbuilding issues, for consideration by the Council Working Party on Shipbuilding, in order to inform policy development for the projects undertaken by the WP6 in its 2015-16 and 2017-18 Programs of Work, including :
• WP6 Inventories of support measures.
• reports on support taken by countries not participating in the Inventory,
• other monitoring reports on policy developments in the shipbuilding industry, including Peer Review reports of WP6 and non-WP6 members, notably the Philippines in 2017.
• analytical reports on excess supply and excess capacity, focusing notably on the situation of the largest shipbuilding economies including WP6 and non-WP6 members.
• Undertake statistical analysis, including hypothesis formulation, model specification and interpretation of the results; and provide analytical and statistical support to staff working on issues related to shipbuilding.
• Research and assess developments in the shipbuilding sector.

Meetings, representation and liaison

• Establish and maintain professional contacts with key external organizations and delegates.
• Present the outcomes of the work at WP6 meetings and workshops.
• Contribute to the organization of WP6 workshops and meetings.
• Keep abreast of relevant policy discussions in member countries, and participate in missions as required.
• Carry out other related duties as assigned.

·         What skills and experience you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles

1.       For job opportunity at UNICF: Local consultant

Qualifications or specialized knowledge and/or experience required

· A first degree in Education/ Social Sciences, or other related field.

· Experience either in designing or implementing Second Chance education or non-formal education will be an asset.

· Experience in conducting desk reviews and broad stakeholder consultations will be preferred.

· Must have sensitivity to diverse opinions and difficulties arising from differing social and cultural perceptions.

· Effective facilitation skills and communication skills in English and Dhivehi.

· Good writing skills in English.

· Ability to work in teams.

2.      For job opportunity at Save the Children: Education Project Manager

Qualifications and Experience

• Proven international experience in managing education project of similar size and complexity.
• Experience and knowledge on implementing Accelerated Learning Programs, overseeing education construction and teacher training
• Experience in working with partners, strengthening capacity of district level education authorities and improving the gender balance of education services
• Experience in donor reporting (preferably with DFID, CHF and NORAD)
• Understanding and experience of monitoring & evaluation techniques
• At least three years' management experience, including staff management, fund raising and budget management
• Experience of teacher-training and training of trainers
• Experience of working in an insecure or hardship environment
• Experience of working through systems of community participation
• Clear communication, presentation style as well as good interpersonal skills are essential.
• Excellent written English skills and familiarity with budgeting using MS Word and

Excel;

• Excellent computer skills and competency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• Willingness to be based in a remote field location

3. For job opportunities at OECD: Junior Economist

Ideal Candidate Profile

Academic Background

• An advanced university degree in economics, with a specialisation in industrial organization, management, finance or related fields.

Professional Background

• A minimum of two years’ experience in the field of economics and/or structural policy related issues.
• Solid experience in the preparation and use of quantitative and qualitative information and in the use of databases. Experience with microeconomic analysis would be an advantage.
• Experience working on issues related to industry and/or industrial organization would be an asset.

Tools

• Familiarity with Excel and more advanced statistical software notably Stata.

 Languages

• This position requires fluency in one of the two OECD official languages (English and French) and knowledge of the other, with a commitment to reach a good working level.

References

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2016). What we do and how. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/about/whatwedoandhow/

Save the Children. (2016). Education project manager-South Sudan. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.net/jobs/job-details/3254

UNESCF. (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/strategy/