My portfolio is important because it offers information about my career at ECE. It is a perfect tool for families and coworkers to find information about me, my work experience, and my professional development plan.  According to Wilson (2025), parents may be able to access information about an individual educator by searching for them online (p. 335). As an educator, I find that sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to talk to the families about ourselves, including  work experience or professional goals. That is why I believe a portfolio where I can share all this information and let families know more about me and my career is helpful. The portfolio is a professional tool that any educator can use to provide families with details they would like to know.

      In this portfolio, I share meaningful moments from my three leadership roles: personal, with the children, and with the families, choosing artifacts that reflect those special moments. My leadership as an early childhood educator is important, as I apply my knowledge and share it with the children, through inviting activities, based on their interests. Leading a group of children is more than doing activities; it is also caring for them and helping and supporting them in all their needs. That is why I chose two artifacts that reflect this. One is a provocation I made after observing what the children were interested in. The second one is my redesigned relax/reading corner. I put a lot of thought into creating this space, paying attention to every little detail.

      I want this place to make children feel relaxed. I have had children who had difficulty managing their emotions. I thought if I made this place calm and relaxing and put in some sensory objects, it would help them  feel better. I am glad that I achieved my goal. The children absolutely love this area, and they go there when they want to calm down or just read a book and relax. That is why I consider sharing these artifacts essential to my portfolio. Having children with challenging behaviors encouraged me to create this unique area. I am always looking for more activities and ways to help and support them.

      One of my most significant accomplishments as an ECE is achieving my certification in Level 2 and my current studies toward Level 3. All the knowledge that I gained  I apply in my dayhome, not just the different activities I do now, but things like:

• The redesign of my dayhome
• The way I do documentation
• How I became more professional when I talk to  families
• Setting up meetings after work to discuss any concerns and work together as a team to find solutions.

Seeing families happy with their child's progress after working together shows I am doing my job well. Seeing a child grow and reach new goals, even if it is a challenging process, reminds me that I should keep doing this work, and it encourages me to do more to help them.

      Maintaining ongoing positive relationships with families is critical, which is why it is essential for families to participate in the program. I love diversity, and for me, it is essential that every family and child feel they belong. I do many activities based on diversity and inclusion. The artifact that I shared in leadership with parents was a sharing board where parents could share a little bit about their culture, which also gave the child a chance to talk about it and share it with their friends.

In fact, there is no question that the playroom or classroom must reflect diversity in its materials, in the posters we see, in the books we read, in the written work sent home to families, on the website, and one Black doll in the dramatic play area is not enough! The children and their families need to see themselves! (Wilson, 2025, p. 104).

      I like to include families in our activities, such as field trips or those we do in our community. Parental collaboration makes my program more meaningful for the child, educator, and parents. According to Dietze and Kashin (2019), Families, when encouraged, can contribute great richness in experiences, resources, and perspectives to the early learning program (p. 474). Being an early childhood educator has helped me develop several strengths, including patience, understanding, creativity, strong communication skills, and flexibility. I have also developed activities to be more inclusive and support diversity. I learned how to do good observation/documentation. The values describe the type of person you are, and for me, they are essential in my life. That is why I teach the children to be respectful, caring, loving, and sharing and to accept and value diversity. In fact, in early childhood program, when the values of relationality, interdependency, and care are discussed and shared, then everyone in this social community is striving to live well with others ( Langford et al., 2024, p. 379). To conclude, this portfolio is a vital tool in my career, and I hope families and colleagues will review it and offer their comments and feedback.

References