Nice to Meet You!

I work in a state funded parent education program called ECFE. I love it there, always have from my first experiences their as a mother nearly 29 years ago to today. I see magic happen at ECFE with parents who do better when they know better, with children who see a community of caring adults support them in their journey of childhood. Since the day I enrolled to now, years later as the coordinator, I have embraced an advocacy role. Over the years, I have come to know and work with legislators, policy makers, and parent and provider groups on behalf of early childhood.

A specialization in Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy seemed designed for my life. It seems obvious to me that we work with the least likely population to hire a lobbyist. I have been trying to politically organize toddlers for years with no luck. Their parents are sleep deprived and doing what is necessary to get through the day, the list does not often include advocating for better programming. And then, this....

In 2011, I was named the Minnesota Teacher of the Year. I was the first teacher from early childhood to win the award in it's 47 year history. The spotlight was immediate and hot! It seemed like the whole country was talking about early childhood. The field is hungry for advocates who are practitioners. I see lots of research advocates, Art Rolnick, a colleague and friend comes to mind. I see lots of public policy advocate groups at the Capitol on lobby day, Think Small, Minniminds, and the United Way are just a few of the dozens in Minnesota. The world needs practitioners, teachers to have a voice in shaping policy on behalf of small children and their parents. 

Meet Minnesota's Early Childhood Champion, Governor Mark Dayton. I hope to learn how to work more effectively in an arena that values research and policy briefs more than a spectacular finger puppet collection. Sometimes you choose a direction your life will take, sometimes though, life chooses you for a role. Three goals: 

• I am working on a piece of public policy now that would bring a piece of digital media to our preschool screening program. I have much to do and will continue to work on the project.
• I would like to learn all I can about vocabulary, influence, positioning, and policy development from this course. I bring finger puppets and charm to the table, that might not be enough. 
• I would like to get a sense of how early childhood initiatives are rolling out in other states. Looks like I will know much more about Louisiana in eight weeks.          

Life is telling me to advocate my heart out while the whole world seems to be talking about early childhood education. I need to elevate the idea of parent education while the iron is hot. I am ready!