My Role as an Advocate

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