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 (NAEYC,2010).
Brief Description of Evidence:
As a part of my ECED 230 The Exceptional Child class in the spring semester of 2014, I completed a
service learning project with other classmates. For this project, our class decided to partner with Second
Harvest Food Bank, and collected money and food. We also went and volunteered at the Second
Harvest Food Bank by sorting food, making boxes, and creating food boxes. At the end of this project,
each group created and presented a presentation of our collection and work we did.
Analysis of What I Learned:
With completing this service learning project, I learned how important it is to make professional
partnerships with families and other professionals by gathering well needed supplies for families in
need. I also made connections with new people while completing this project by working with a group of
other ball state students who volunteered along with us. Working together with the professionals of the
Second Harvest Food bank workers, we made great resources to influence development of all children. I
believe the theorist that ties into this standard the best would be Erik Erikson because his stages focused
on overcoming conflict and obstacles which is exactly what we helped with by completing this project.
We used ethical guidelines related to early childhood practice to complete this assignment. Along with
completing this project, as a group we presented a power point to show our work.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:
This artifact shows my competence of the NAEYC standard by showing my ability to partner with my
classmates and the professionals at Second Harvest Food Bank to create resources to positively
influence children. I showed how to become a professional by working with other professionals to meet
the needs of families. Through completing this project and research, we now understand how important
the food bank is and how it can affect the development of children. We made informed decisions to
integrate the knowledge from the sourced of the Second Harvest Food Bank. From completing this
project, I feel like I have become a professional.