Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international organization I researched and found intriguing is the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). ACEI is "an international organization driven by the belief that education is essential to human development." I am interested in this organization because I believe that human development is dependent upon education. As a life-long learner I believe that education is important to our global health. It is through education that we understand the world and all who set foot on this earth.

A position I found within this organization is the role of Country Liaison. This is a volunteer position but one that I believe is critically important for the sake of informing the global conversation through a local lens. Liaisons represent countries from around the globe and provide information bi-annually to ACEI which is shared with the global community. These liaisons must have the following knowledge and experience: "A Country Liaison should have experience in a nation's or region's education, economic, and/or social systems, and have professional experience in global education, international development, child and human rights, or related disciplines."

The second organization that I find fascinating is the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). This international organization "builds relationships between educators who are working with special and gifted education children. The CEC is dedicated to improving education for children with disabilities  in addition to children demonstrating unique gifts and talents" (Rasmussen College, 2012). I found this to be interesting because we often hear about organizations for children with varying disabilities but infrequently do I learn of one that also focuses on gifted and talented education.

There are no currently available jobs at CEC but one that sounds interesting is the Manager of Professional Development and Standards. The person in this role manages the organizations "webinars, online learning, Professional Development Hours, and Professional Standards and Practice program reviewers and web page." I think to fulfill this role one would need knowledge and experience in exceptional education as well as distance learning and adult education.

The third organization that is interesting to me is Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). I have seen many teachers who have education from other countries who struggle to have those credits recognized by local agencies and organizations. Below you will see how ECE aims to ensure that all education is recognized whether obtained in the US or abroad.

Although this organization is not specific to early childhood I do see a need for this type of service for early education professionals. Many teachers in my community come from other countries and have trouble obtaining credit for their education which was completed in their country of origin. In my role as an early childhood coach I would love to have the ability to look at those transcripts and support the teachers in their ability to identify the amount of credit that will be given within my state on the AZ Early Childhood Workforce Registry. No career opportunities are currently available at this organization. However, I would love to know more about becoming a member of their team as an educational evaluator.

References

Association for Childhood Education International. (n.d.) Who we are. Retrieved from https://www.acei.org/about/

Council for Exceptional Children. (2018). Headquarters staff. Retrieved from https://www.cec.sped.org/About-Us/Contact-Us/Headquarters-Staff

Educational Credential Evaluators. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.ece.org/ECE

Rasmussen College. (2012, Dec. 28) 5 Professional ECE associations you can't ignore. Retrieved from https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/5-professional-ece-assocations-you-cant-ignore/