Words of Inspiration and Motivation
One of the people that inspires me as an early childhood professional is Dr. Edward Zigler. He was a founding father of Head Start and is a great leader in the Early Childhood Field. One of the things I read about Dr. Zigler was from the National Institute for Early Education Research or NIEER. In an article titled Preschool Matters, Dr. Zigler was asked about whether preschool involves parents. His response was:
"If you look at what really impacts children, what really influences their development, it's both the quality of the preschool experience and the parental impact. So you have to shoot for two things, to make sure that everything you do is quality and that everything you do is true to a model that includes parents, addresses the whole child and is of appropriate intensity" (NIEER, 2004).
Retrieved from
http://nieer.org/psm/index.php?article=90.
This is a great answer. Dr. Zigler really understands what the impact is on children in the early stages of life and is trying to show how much the whole child is needing to be represented.
Another person that inspires me in the early childhood education field is Dr. Susan Bredekamp. Dr. Bredekamp is a contributor to the NAEYC and their developmentally appropriate practices. In an interview by Early Childhood Today where Dr. Bredekamp was asked about the new definition of developmentally appropriate practices, Dr. Bredekamp said:
"Developmentally appropriate practices are ways of teaching that vary for or adapt to the age and experience of the individual learner. So fundamentally the definition has not changed. Instead, it has been expanded to include the fact that not only do you have to consider children as individuals, but you also have to consider children as members of groups with their own cultural identities" (Early Childhood Today).
Retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/ect-interview-sue-bredekamp-susan-neuman-learning-read.
I love this quote because it really hits the heart of children's needs with regard to learning.
In the video presentation about The Passion for Early Childhood, I really enjoyed the segment from Renatta M. Cooper. She is a Program Specialist in the Office of Child Care at the LA County Chief Administrative Office. I loved to hear her passion about children and her desire to help them. One of the things she said was:
"Working intently with children and families was almost like earning a doctorate, because every year there was always a specific challenge of, that I was in charge, I had to meet it. I had to meet it for me, I had to meet it in terms of what I was modeling for my staff, and what they would they would be taking away and incorporating into their own repertoire . And also I had to meet it for the families. I always felt that I owed the families my best."
I can identify with a lot of what she was talking about. Renatta seems to understand that you have to be fully engaged in not just children's lives, but also the lives of the people in their lives.
