My
Role as an Advocate
Growing up, I never took the time to
appreciate my family’s presence. Now
that I’m older and have been blessed with wisdom, I look back and I can still
feel the love my family extended me.
It’s that love that inspired me to advocate for children. Children are so vulnerable and incorruptibly
honest that the urge to protect comes almost naturally. I cannot pinpoint when exactly the passion
ignited, but I know I have lived with it for a long time. As the years came and went, I discovered new
ways to be passionate about children to the point that I look forward to
growing older and wiser.
Throughout my advocacy journey, (Thank
you Walden for a solid foundation) I have discovered the more people are
involved in something the louder the message and the higher probability of
achieving results. It is important to
acknowledge and foster advocacy at the micro and macro levels because one
person will never have the necessary information to personally advocate for
specific needs for everyone who could possibly need them. Each family needs their own specific resources,
along with the providers, the centers, the communities, hence why families, teachers,
and child care providers need to be advocates among others. Then we have administrators (such as me) who
advocate for the children, the families, the providers, the centers in order to
provide specific resources for each party.
Additionally, advocates who do not focus on one issue end up with a
complex message in a language that is different from policy makers who are
governing the legislation that will directly impact those we serve. (Sharma,
n.d., p. 13)
What does it take to be a community
leader on early childhood issues?
First and foremost, a community leader
needs to know the policies that govern the lives of children and their
families. Such person must be up on the
current events surrounding, and raise awareness on the issue. Much like Judith Kieff states a community
leader is a person who “influence[s] policy making by being vocal, visible, and
informed citizen who [is] vigilant regarding the accountability of government
leaders and agencies.” (2009, p. 80) I
will add that elected officials are persons a community leader should have a
steady relationship with for the simple fact that they are the legislators for
the community. A good relationship with
them can be extremely helpful. (Zero to Three Policy Center, 2007)
What does it take to be a state leader
on early childhood issues?
I have to say being a community and
state leader do not look much different.
The differences come in when one is forging relationships; those are
with state legislators. A state leader
also advocates at the state level. They
are aware of not just legislation that affect a community but a complete state
and are adamant about supporting legislation that have positive effects on
children’s lives and fighting to repel those that do not. A state leader is a community leader, but not
vice versa.
A community or state leader mobilizes
others by building enthusiasm for an issue and cultivating relationships with
stakeholders. (Zero to Three Policy Center, 2007) The stronger and better the relationship, the
better quality of commitment you will receive; researching the issues
thoroughly in order to raise awareness of the issue. More importantly, I motivate others by
reminding them of an early childhood professional’s oath to stand for what
supports children and fight against those that do not.
The best advice I can give is this:
Start at home then work your way up if you so desires. Advocacy much like everything else, the more
you practice, the better at it you get.
Optimism is your friend and looking at the world through rose-colored
glasses will help you focus on the positive which will strengthen your
relationships. “Building relationships is key” (Zero to Three Policy Center,
2008)
References
Keiff,
J. (2009). Informed Advocacy in Early
Childhood Care and Educational. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Sharma,
R. R. (n.d.). An Introduction to
Advocacy: Training Guide. Washington, DC: The Academy for Educational
Development, SARA Project.
Zero
to Three Policy Center. (2008). Advocacy strategies to improve outcomes for
very young children: Interviews with leaders at the state and community levels.
Retrieved from
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/Docserver/Advocacyleaders_final.pdf?docID=1882
Zero
to Three Policy Center. (2007). Grassroots advocacy: Empowreing providers to
affect policy change for infants and Toddlers.
Retrieved from
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/FeatureArticle_4_30_07BM.pdf?docID=3201
