BLOG 1 My Personal Advocacy Journey

An inspirational quote on advocacy that I chose is "Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate”- Anonymous. I chose this quote because my advocacy plan is on the integration of play and the arts into the curriculum. As teachers we are their role models and the ones to give the opportunities to explore and investigate learning as they play.

I am most excited about my advocacy plan for the children and teachers. By providing a wide variety of play, music, gross motor movement, and art, we develop well-rounded children that are interested in what they are learning. The children get exposed to different learning materials and activities that benefit each child individually and they will participate with their peers and learn to communicate effectively. I love to be with children and watch how they interact and learn with and from each other. From my own experience, when the children are provided with materials that are age appropriate and constantly throughout the day, the students tend to be more interested in their learning.

In my thirteen years in the early childhood field, I had never really considered myself to be an advocate for any one cause. As I started this process in Internship 1, I have recognized the importance of advocating for the benefit of those that need your help and support. I feel very confident, happy and proud to be able to work for some changes in the curriculum of the students of my center in an effort for them to have a more enjoyable, relatable, personal, and interesting education. I feel that in this way they will also mature their communication and social development.

I am not a very good public speaker and I feel anxious when I have to speak with the various targeted audiences. I feel that once I start speaking I can keep moving from there, it’s the worry of what their reaction might be; will they agree? Disagree? Not understand? Will they think that it’s not worth it? I really want to be prepared with as much research and information and responses to all their questions so that I can really persuade them.

I think that being fully prepared, have the information, lesson plans, activities, web site resources, articles, observations, and professional feedback will be most effective in helping me overcome my challenges and anxiety. Also, I think that once I help the teachers to implement the curriculum into their daily schedules, they will feel more comfortable as will I, seeing it all fall into place. I feel strongly and passionate about this action plan therefore I think that will also help me overcome any anxiety because I am confident that it is for the benefit of the children so that they feel comfortable in their learning environment, one that is meant for them to explore and learn.

As a team of teachers we can encourage each other by providing suggestions, ideas, and constructive criticism. We come from various different backgrounds and experience which can be helpful to those that may be new at this or just need a new pair of eyes and ears to put a different perspective to our plan for us. I always appreciate feedback and believe it to be necessary for an effective Advocacy Action Plan to happen.