Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact Rationale/Reflection NAEYC Standard:

STANDARD 6. Becoming A Professional Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs identify and conduct themselves as members of the early childhood profession. They know and use ethical guidelines and other professional standards related to early childhood practice. They are continuous, collaborative learners who demonstrate knowledgeable, reflective and critical perspectives on their work, making informed decisions that integrate knowledge from a variety of sources. They are informed advocates for sound educational practices and policies.

Brief Description of Evidence:

Collaboratively I worked with a small group of peers on an Advocacy Project titled Parents Night Out. The project consisted of providing a safe and engaging environment for children for one evening while their parents went to enjoy the sights and shopping in Muncie, during the hours of 5:30-8:30. The planning for the event was broken down into tasks that were distributed among the group such as: fliers, registration forms/legal waiver, passing out the fliers, advocacy letters, project statement of need and summary paper, parent brochures, planned activities, and working the event.

Analysis of What I Learned:

Through completion of this project, I learned how to effectively collaborate with a group of future professionals such as myself. Effective communication was vital across the board as one of our peers was located in Florida. It also gave me perspective about collaborating with people with different mindsets and being able to blend them together to form a final product that is professional and detail oriented.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:

This project is just one of many, in which I worked collaboratively with peers to create, implement, and reflect on while learning what it means to work in a professional and supportive environment. By learning how to pull together resources among my peers, the goal was easily attainable. The careful planning and revising of the multi-faceted project is a reflection of the sound educational practices and policies that we have learned and were able to utilize in working towards the common goal; providing a safe and engaging environment for children.