Education and Leadership

“We seek to inspire, influence, and impact our diverse communities by helping to meet the challenges of education globally.” - Kate Steffens, Ph.D.

Walden University. (2013). About the College. Retrieved from http://www.waldenu.edu/colleges-schools/riley-college-of-education/about

John Hagel’s Passion

“Passion is about risk-taking.  Passion diminishes perceptions of risk and amplifies perceptions of reward.  In a curious way, risk becomes reward for passionate people.  They see that risk is the only way to discover new things and explore new territories. For this reason, passionate people thrive in times of high uncertainty and disruption.”  - John Hagel MBA

Great words of Contributors in Early Childhood Education

“We think of our profession as based on research and the basic ideas as universal” - Janet Gonzalez-Mena, MA in Human Development

“Children’s early literacy is one of the areas to show the most promise in engaging fathers” -  Aisha Ray, Ph. D 

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Influence of family in my life

My family consisted of four members-- my dad, mom, my elder sister and me. In my family, everyone had a distinct role to play. My dad was a professor at Calcutta University and much of his work involved teaching. He was the only earner  in the family. That does not mean he was not concerns with the remaining three members of the family. He would make sure that my mother remained healthy and his daughters were being respectful to the mother. He wanted to make sure that we were being responsible and keeping up with studies.  My mother stayed home and made sure that the household were run well, disciplined and nurtured my sister and me, watched over us to see that we were doing well in school. Our dad used to take care on our studies with our mom in the evening time and good communication in the early morning before we left for school. Today when I go back to my sweet memory of early childhood, it seems to me that we were the part of family system where children got lessons in culture, caring, and  love through the responsible parental care.

Same time our mother played a key role that set up situations for her children. As for example when we two sisters were getting bored under the load of heavy homework, she used to take us in different climate like play ground by playing hide and seeks  so we could see ourselves. I believe in this scenario when the children is in fighting condition or stressed for family reason it is better to set situations for that child to see herself in different roles (Garris 2006). Today as an educator when I see the child suffers in disruptive zone, I always try to keep the child in different roles or allow the child to lead a change activity.

In my early childhood years, I never felt any stress or disruptive environment inside or outside the home, because our parents were always there to support us in our emotional and physical need: emotional quality is related to beliefs about children and families (Garris 2006). We used to feel safe, encouraged, happy, supported by the nurtured climate created by our parents.

Today, as an early childhood educator, we often see children who feel scared, insecure, and unhappy, maybe because they come from families that might not be able to maintain equilibrium or stability. Sometimes new input or changes come in family that is not easy to adapt for the children. Some families are mindful about healthy food while other families are much less concerned about healthy diet. Other examples of insecurity include illness in the family, loss of a family member, or addition of a new-born.   

Therefore, as childhood educators, we need to find ways to support families as the families support their children (Delpit 1995; Garcia 2001). The best things we can do is to create a classroom climate safe so the children can feel school is a place which is wonderful with a climate of safety and positive feedback. In that scenario, it is reasonable not to change classrooms’ decoration or fix some new staff. Following Garrison(2006), we should encourage families to plan ways to increase stability and security. I think early childhood educators need equilibrium to get the root of issues without medication that encourage families to plan ways to increase stability and security (Garris 2006).

Finally, I want to state every early childhood educator need to develop and enhance skills that will offer children the best possible learning experiences and opportunities, in school, at home, and in community settings. It is therefore essential that every effort is made to ensure that ongoing and effective communication and partnerships be established and maintained with parents.

My Naughty Nieces

These are my naughty nieces (Tuktuk and Tikli).

Tuktuk (My big niece)

Tuktuk is twenty two years old and Tikli is twenty and has always been my friend. They are in India and we spend as much time as we meet together in India. They are the students of Bio-Medical Engineering. I always see them as my friends. Debi spend her summer vacation with them in India. We always have many conversations that we really need for our present and future life.



Tikli

We always try to share our ideas through telephonic communication and email. After my mom and dad, they are my extended family members.

Ruby's Personal Childhood Web

My family consisted of four members-- my dad, mom, my elder sister and me. In my family, everyone had a distinct role to play. My dad was a professor at Calcutta University and much of his work-involved teaching. He was the only earner in the family. That does not mean he was not concerns with the remaining three members of the family. He would make sure that my mother remained healthy and his daughters were being respectful to the mother. He wanted to make sure that we were being responsible and keeping up with studies. My mother stayed home and made sure that the household were run well, disciplined and nurtured my sister and me, watched over us to see that we were doing well in school. Our dad used to take care on our studies with our mom in the evening time and good communication in the early morning before we left for school. Today when I go back to my sweet memory of early childhood, it seems to me that we were the part of family system where children got lessons in culture, caring, and love through the responsible parental care.

Same time our mother played a key role that set up situations for her children. As for example when we two sisters were getting bored under the load of heavy homework, she used to take us in different climate like play ground by playing hide and seeks so we could see ourselves. Today I am still my mom dad’s little Girl.

This is my little Debi, my daughter and my best friend and supporter in my life. Here is a great value in the mother-daughter tie because the two persons care for one another and share strong feelings, emotions in the family. When I  look at my precious little girl I feel my bond, my dream, my sweet memories of my childhood. I want her to see me being confident with her life. I want her to see me focusing on all the things that she likes most. She is a gifted student and wants to be a dermatologist in future. I want to help her have confidence in herself.

My Passion in Early Childhood Education



When I was a child, growing up in Calcutta (India) my best friend was a little girl of the same age from my neighborhood. I had no knowledge that she was from a very poor family (later on I found out that her mother supported the family for her little income as a house cleaner in four house in the neighborhood). Frankly, I did not care. We would play hide and sick, just run around trees singing songs that we did not know the words to, or throw little pebbles in the pond next to my house. I did not care that her clothes were dirty and torn up….we had so much fun! Then I lost touch with her. Several years passed by. I graduated from high schools and started attending a college. One day I was walking home from college. I saw a woman with a little girl in her arm coming towards me with a big smile. She asked me “Do you recognize me?” I said “of course”. (Actually, I had no idea--she did not look or dress likes anyone in my friends or family circle.) She kept on saying how proud she was of me. To carry on small talk, I told her “I am proud of you too”. She started laughing loudly “How can you be proud of me? I am just a maid with no education and a little girl to support on the top of that.” By the time I realized who she was, she had disappeared in the crowd. I started thinking---how can I break this cycle of poverty? How can I stop this little girl from following her mother’s footsteps?

The answer was right there: “education”. A passion was born—childhood education is where it all begins.

Many years have passed in between. Unfortunately, my passion had to a back seat while I was raising my own little girl. My passion took a back seat but never left my life. I kept on preparing myself for delving into the profession of early childhood education. My resolution is stronger than ever.

Today as an early childhood educator I am the true believe of the word passion. Today I am exploring my career as an educator of early childhood education from where I never shift my career to somewhere else. In a word, my passion is not a risk taking (Hagel 2009) or multiple (Melamed 2005). I build my career based on my passion, which is a real contribution in my life.

After taking the decision whether my passion goes towards the real world of early childhood education that is my long-term goal; I asked myself and explored in that field. Because working with the children need patience, dedication and sensivity. In addition, today I am working from last nine years, which is very enjoyable and rewarding to me.

Debi Prova Ganguly's Painting

My daughter Debi Ganguly painted this picture of trees without leaves. At the beginning of summer, she was in the summer daycare where I teach.  Debi, being much older and matured than the children in my class, was often got bored playing with blocks and preferred to play with her  I-Pad instead.  One afternoon, she was playing with little children in the playground attached to the daycare when suddenly decided to paint which is another hobby of hers.  I asked her why she drew the trees without leaves, she replied, “Because they think that nobody likes them because they are not pretty.”  

I truly believe that that art stimulates and develops the imagination and critical thinking and refines cognitive and critical skills. As an early childhood educator, I believe while drawing, children “explore feelings and ideas, and through their images they communicate thoughts to others as well as themselves” (Kolbe 2007,7). That is why I chose this painting by my daughter.



Little Ruby

This is me, Ruchira Pal, “Ruby” to many, and “Rubai” to my parents and big sister. I still remember the doll I am holding. It was much more than just a doll to me: she was my friend, my constant companion, my cheerleader in all my moments of joy and sorrow, my soul mate……..

I am all grown up now, but I have o many fond memories… Thankfully, I do not have to miss those days --as an educator of childhood education, I get to re-live my childhood through carefree, pure-hearted, innocent children who never stops asking “why”. Walden University is there to cheer me up.

My reflection on Early Childhood Education and Journey of Walden University

This course on early childhood education of Walden University gives me new and different ways of understanding that our children are subjects.This early childhood blog, Dr. Kevin Dartt and my fellow classmates not only help me to show the journey to Walden University, but reflecting the diverse cultural identities of children and their families. I work in New Orleans, the cultural heritage city of Louisiana from last 8 years as an educator of early childhood center. I always try to create such environment that will help the children to think they all are valuable where there are no place for the word color, race, country…Everyday my fellow classmates’ discussion make me feel that they are not only welcoming all children but a journey and reflect the diverse world in which we live in.

My First Blog Post

I am excited about using this new communications tool and hope it will increase our interaction and communication with the early childhood educational system. Currently a member of NAEYC. I am a single mother and I have a daughter. She is nine years old. I graduated from the University of New Orleans in the year of 2007 with a degree of Master in Curriculum and Instruction in Secondary Science. Besides this I love to do the choreography on dance, photography and visual art.