The first Community of Practice that I found that I would like to be a part of is found at futureofchildren.org. It is made up of individuals from Princeton University and The Brookings Institution and these individuals work together "to translate the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy." (futureofchildren.org). They write really great journals and articles on a huge range of early childhood topics and produce policy briefs each year. The reason why I really like this organization is because they have good sound research practices and they get to have a direct impact on politicians who make early childhood policies. One of the jobs I was really interested in is the job of outreach director. This individual gets to work with different groups of people and share the research and work that the group has completed. For this job, you would need excellent communication and organization skills to be able to keep track of all the different research and how it affects different groups you will work with. You would also need great time management skills to be able to prioritize the work you do.
The second organization is my favorite national organization that I have found and it deals directly with my capstone project: Children and Nature Network. This organization can be found at childrenandnature.org and I love this organization!! Their main goal is to bring nature experiences to children and families and try to re-establish a love of the outdoors for today's children. They base their ideas off of research they have found and share this information with a wide variety of audiences. They have different newsletters you can sign up for and the site is loaded with different research on the topic of nature and children. There are guides on how to use nature in your classroom and also how to have nature experiences as a family. The job I would love to have is National Coordinator, Nature Clubs for Families. The individual who currently has this job works with community members in different cities to establish nature clubs for families and helps them get ideas on how to do this and how to get them up and running. You would need to be a very enthusiastic about nature to have this position, be a people-person and be able to lead and coordinate different groups of people. You would also need to be a good communicator over different types of media because you may be communicating with individuals from all over and it may not be face-to-face.
The last organization I found is Early Learning Leaders. I chose this because I feel like it would be great to be part of their CoP. This groups primary purpose is to increase the knowledge of child care owners and directors by providing workshops and a national conference on differnet Early Childhood topics. You can become a member of this organization and have access to even more information, such as different trainings and help with getting your center accredited. The group can be found www.naccp.org. I would choose to keep the job that I have now and become a board member to work with this group of individuals. The board members come from all over the US and have different levels of experience. They meet to discuss Early Childhood issues, look over research that has been found on these issues and plans the trainings and conferences that they offer. For this job, communication and research skills would be necessary. I think you would also have to be a good public speaker, as they do some speaking engagements throughout the year.
The first organization I found is great for any of you seeking information on Early Childhood issues and I hope everyone takes a chance to look over what I have found.
References
futureofchildren.org
childrenandnature.org
www.naccp.org
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