Advocacy Overview

Discussion 1: Advocacy Overview. What key advocacy issue provides a focus for your energy and professional passion? Throughout this course, you have had opportunities to explore and develop as a leader. An important aspect of this journey has included exploration of advocacy issues that stir your passions.

In these remaining weeks of the course, you will refine and further develop your advocacy interest into an advocacy action plan.

To prepare:

Consider the advocacy topic you have selected and why this is such an important topic within the field of early childhood education. Think about the following questions:

· What is it about this topic that stirs your professional passion?

· Who does your topic influence?

· Why should this topic be of interest to others?

By Day 2 of Week 7

Post your responses to the following questions:

· What do children need? What do you want for the children with whom you associate? What do you want them to be like long after they leave you?

· What makes you mad when you think about children and their families in the world today? What wakes you up at night?

· What energizes you? What makes you hopeful? (Remember, if you are working with children and families, you are in a profession of hope.)

By Day 6 of Week 7

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Post a summary of how the related discussions and reactions from colleagues informed your plans and ideas related to social justice and advocacy. Cite related literature and other resources as appropriate.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

· Analyze personal reflections on social justice and advocacy for early childhood

· Analyze the influence of issues of policy, practical wisdom, and courage related to early childhood leadership

· Apply leadership and advocacy skills to implement and manage strategic change

· Evaluate current resources for recommendations that address local problems

· Evaluate local and global policy and policy development related to specific issues in early childhood

· Evaluate cultural influences on local and global policy in early childhood

· Develop an advocacy action plan

REFERENCES

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/jun16/vol73/num09/Free-Resources-to-Free-Your-Inner-Change-Agent.aspx

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013161X13514440