The Final Farewell

This has been a welcomed ending of this journey. I started at Walden in 2011 and after 7 years I am finally at the end.  During this journey I stopped three times due to surgery and other health challenges, withdrew because I was going through a divorce and then was dismissed from the university due to low GPA at the beginning of this Capstone in 2015. I appealed three times, rejected the first two and finally in September I was readmitted.  I say this to say one lesson learned is to never give up on a desire or dream; no matter how many roadblocks you may face, keep pushing. Another lesson from this program is the importance is building your community of practice.  Within the profession of ECE, there are various roads to meets every passion and interest.  Having a variety of members in your practice enables you to stay informed, maintain resources, and gain knowledge.  A third lesson is the importance of gaining and retaining research-based knowledge to defend your actions and choices in how you work with adults, choices we make for families and children, and ideas and programs we develop and support. This last lesson is the reason for my long-term goal: to maintain yearly memberships with at least one national and one international early childhood organizations in efforts to sustain and gain knowledge in trends and best practice.  

To my professor and colleagues, thank you for challenging my thoughts and ideas.  I appreciate you feedback, questions, and support.  Everything you gave to me helped in my professional growth.  I found your ideas interesting and your projects captivating as we all served different needs under the same umbrella of early education.  I wish you tremendous success in your journey.  I hope you strive for excellence in your work as you did with each course.  I hope your find yourself in areas if discomfort and challenge because the gold is working your way through them.  May every wish and desire come true for you.

I hope to have you as members of my community of practice moving forward. **I am technology illiterate, so I have no idea how to record or upload a video on here**

Best of luck to you. Looking forward to 15-20 years out to see how our visions have manifested into reality. 

Talibah Thomas

FB: Talibah Roxy Summers Thomas

Email: Talibah.thomas@gmail.com

            

International Organizations and Communities of Practice

Since becoming an expat, I have found great importance in expanding my community of practice to include international organizations to keep up to date in my profession as well as possible employment and professional development opportunities. Below are three organizations I have found in my research:

OMEP (Organization for Early Childhood Education and Care)

OMEP was founded in 1948 the welfare of young children was impacted due to World War!  This non-profit organization has committees in over 70 countries and “consultative status” with UNICEF and the United Nations.  Their mission is to promote and defend the right of high-quality education and rights and care to every child worldwide. OMEP organizes and facilitates international conferences, training for early education and care, family education, research and study in issues related to early care and education and collects and disperses information worldwide. Currently, there are no job opportunities posted (there is no option for them on the site). However, there are links to professional development and volunteer opportunities (www.worldomep.org).

Save the Children

Save the Children is an organization that supports children globally to ensure they are healthy, safe, and learning.  Supporting children in crisis and those who are in need, Save the Children has Emergency Response efforts, as well as global programs to create educational programs and health support in vulnerable places and those countries in crisis.  Aside from loads of volunteer opportunities, they have 108 job openings across the US and positions in three other countries.  One job that caught my eye an Early Childhood Development program specialist. Responsibilities included, management of program implementation, compliance programs, start up support, and partner and budget planning. Surprisingly, requirements included, a HS diploma and 3-5 years with infant toddler experience (www.savethechildren.org).

Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation

The United Arab Emirates just celebrated its 47^thnational day.  41 years ago, early in the beginning of the countries establishment, this foundation was formed to support the development of Emiratis, beginning from zero to three.  Currently the foundation has three initiatives it is focusing on: parent programs to increase support and empower parents on best practice, a fellowship program in partner with Yale university, and a development center also partnered with Yale University that will house a lab for research, workshops, resources, and lectures.  Currently there are no job offerings posted (www.shf.ae).