Assignment:
Communicating and Collaborating with Agencies and Government Officials
Overview
Consider the issues in your own community that present challenges for children and families. Poverty, access to health care, affordable housing, and access to multilingual resources are just a few examples of issues that affect children and families. As an early childhood professional, you have the responsibility to communicate and collaborate with agencies and government officials to advocate for change that can positively impact children and families.
For this Work Product, you will identify an advocacy issue relevant to your community and communicate and collaborate with agencies and/or organizations, along with government officials, to address the advocacy issue.
This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document that includes a two to three page paper and two letters you will write to an agency and government official.
Part I: Advocacy Begins with Communication and Collaboration
Identify an advocacy issue related to children and families in your community, and write a two- to three-page paper that does the following:
• Explains what the issue is, why it is important in your community context, and why it is important to the early childhood field.
• Selects an agency and/or organization that you will collaborate with to help you address the advocacy issue you identified.
• Describes the mission of the agency and/or organization, and explains why you want to collaborate with this specific agency.
Part II: Communicating and Collaborating with Agencies
Using the agency you identified in Part I, write a two- to three-page letter to the advocacy agency. Your letter should include:
• An explanation of the issue(s) for which you are advocating, and why the issue is important in the context of the early childhood field. Use data and/or information from the professional knowledge base to support your explanation.
• An explanation of why you want to partner with this agency on the issue(s). Your explanation should compel the agency to want to partner with you on the issue.
• An explanation of how you envision the partnership working, including a specific suggestion regarding how you want the organization to support your advocacy effort.
Part III: Communicating and Collaborating with Government Officials
Using the same advocacy issue you identified in Part I, write a two- to three-page letter to a government official in your local, state, or federal government. Your letter should include:
• An explanation of the issue for which you are advocating, and why the issue is important in the context of the early childhood field. Use data and/or information from the professional knowledge base to support your explanation.
• A description of the agency with whom you will partner, and how that partnership will assist in the work regarding the advocacy issue.
• A request of the government official, explaining exactly what he or she can do to support the advocacy effort.
References ( Learning Resources):
Keiff, J. (2009). Informed advocacy in early childhood care and education: Making a difference for young children and families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Informed Advocacy in Early Childhood Care and Education: Making a Difference for Young Children and Families,
Informed Advocacy in Early Childhood Care and Education: Making a Difference for Young Children and Families,
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (n.d.). Effective advocacy resources.
Flottman, R., McKernan, A., & Tayler, C. (2011). Department of Education and Early Childhood Development: Practice principal 2: Partnerships with professionals.
Gilliam, F. (2007). Telling the science story: An exploration of frame effects on public understanding and support for early childhood development.
FrameWorks Institute. (2009). FrameWorks message brief: Talking to business leaders about early childhood development.
Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). (2011).
Children's Defense Fund. (2012).
First Five Years Fund. (2014).
Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC). (2012).