Abstract
This chapter illustrates how an online graduate program for early childhood education and care professionals prepares students to take on leadership and advocacy positions and initiatives in their respective communities. Before students graduate from the program, they must develop and implement an Advocacy Research Project to apply the knowledge and skills they gained throughout the program. Situated in North Carolina, the majority of students complete their ARP in rural communities. This chapter showcases four exemplar projects developed and carried out by students in rural communities. Finally, this chapter offers implications and suggestions for university faculty who aim to prepare students to take on leadership and advocacy roles in rural settings.
TopBackground
The Master’s Degree in Education in Leadership, Policy, and Advocacy in Early Childhood (LPAEC) program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is an online, graduate, program for early childhood professionals. The convenience of an online program attracts students from around the state and beyond. Not surprising, many students reside in rural counties and communities across North Carolina; given about 40% of the people in North Carolina are identified as living in rural communities (Knopf, 2018). The challenge of transportation and access to services and programs in rural communities makes this online program beneficial to allow students to further their education while remaining in their community. Furthermore, the majority of students in this program work full time in the ECEC field.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Applied Learning Experience: A learning opportunity students participate in that allows them to apply their current knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Field Experience: A learning opportunity that takes place in an early childhood education or service providing setting. Students typically complete a certain number of hours in these placements as part of their university coursework.
Internship Experience: A learning opportunity that takes place in an early childhood education or service providing setting that extends a period of time. For example, students may have to complete a set number of hours or participate in the experience for an entire semester.
Culminating Experience: A final project graduate students complete at the end of their graduate program to demonstrate their ability to apply what they have learned over the course of the program.
Teacher Education Program: Graduate or undergraduate university programs that prepare students to enter the teaching profession.
Early Childhood Education and Care Professional: A person who works in an educational setting or service providing setting for young children, birth through age eight, and their families.
Oral Defense: An oral presentation where the graduate student must present their culminating projects to a committee of university faculty as an exit requirement for the graduate program.
Early Childhood and Care Workforce: A broad term used to encompass all early childhood education and care professionals.