Growing and Guiding Early Childhood Education Leadership

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Growing and Guiding Early Childhood Education
Leadership

• Barb Merrill, Executive Director, Iowa AEYC
• bmerrill_at_iowaaeyc.org
• www.iowaaeyc.org

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• Welcome
• Why does our field need leaders?

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What are the current challenges for our field?
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Ready or NotLeadership choices in Early Care
and Education
Stacie G. Goffin and Valora Washington Teachers
College Press, 2007
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• Those of us in the field resist doing what our
  knowledge base says is necessary for achieving
  good results for children.
• We are willing to tolerate poor performance by
  our colleagues.
• We hesitate to improve ourselves and our programs
  if doing so involves too much effort or cost.
• We postpone change and thus defer its benefits to
  future generations.

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I was invited.

• What is the first leadership responsibility you
  accepted in our field?
• What role (class, job, position) were you in when
  you first took on the leadership role?
• Who first invited you to take a leadership role,
  and why did you respond?

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How have you (and those you work with) already
practiced and demonstrated leadership?

• Even before adulthood Leading a school project,
  a club, a committee, taking adult roles within
  families
• In your first job Someone identified the things
  you excelled at, and pointed you towards other
  opportunities
• Everyday leadership opportunities Learn
  something new, join a committee, write a
  newsletter article, help a parent find resources
  he might need, get active in a professional
  association or club, teach someone who you work
  with something that is new to them, do a
  presentation, write a letter to the editor or to
  an elected official, become an expert on
  something

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My EC leadership role models
My parents Role models for taking responsibility Encouragement you are capable, you can do it Expectations such as you will go to college
A college professor Passion for this field
My first center director Unflinching commitment to DAP and best practices
A supervisor (1980s) Cheerleader , offered me new and different opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities
A work colleague Modeled her vision to us Tireless advocate on behalf of young children those working in field
A supervisor (1990s) High expectations - never settled for anything less. Delegated things outside my comfort zone to me.
A national leader Models passion and priorities we need to address
A work colleague Helps me create the picture of what could be the ideal, sets high expectations for my work but appreciates my accomplishments
My spouse Sounding board, encourages and supports, but also gives me space and time to grow
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PedagogicalAdministrativeAdvocacyCommunityConc
eptual

• Five Kinds of Leadership needed in the ECE field

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Leadership in Early Care and Education

• Sharon L. Kagan and Barbara T. Bowman, Editors
• NAEYC, 1997

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• Do not follow where the path may lead. Go
  instead where there is no path, and leave a
  trail. Emerson

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What traits make a leader?
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Leaders..

• Help organizations clarify and affirm values
• Set goals and vision, and chart a course of
  action to achieve the vision
• Like an artist, a leader paints a picture of what
  the organization could be
• A leader creates a healthy tension between
  current reality and the imagined ideal.

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What traits does a leader possess?

• Personal

• Professional

• Character
• Passion
• Optimism
• Drive
• Integrity
• Courage
• Takes risks
• Motivates and inspires
• Flexibility
• Openness
• Unwavering commitment

• Can articulate vision and direction
• Professional knowledge
• Formal education
• Strong track record
• Sets organizational culture
• Shares the credit
• If running an agency, also needs skills in fiscal
  and personnel management

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• Do one thing every day that scares you.
• Eleanor Roosevelt

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Youve got to jump off cliffs all the time, and
build your wings on the way down. Ray
Bradbury
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What do we need to do to support leaders?

• Within our programs
• Within our field
• Within our Associations

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Re-think what we are looking for

• See Feel Change
• rather than
• Analyze Think Change
• Its all about relationships!

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Are you a manager or a leader?

• How do you tackle a problem?

• How do you handle a task?

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Within our programs

• Director competencies and credentials
• Specialized education
• Mentors and others who can help
• Resources for training where do you go
• Handouts - Manager vs. Leader and Traditional vs.
  Facilitative Leadership

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What must we do?How to strengthen your own
leadership skills, and those of others

• Develop a message for which you have passion and
  real knowledge
• Practice delivering it and refining it
• Add data, research, and real life stories
• Carefully consider what you do well
• Really reflect on your own personal preparation,
  share what worked for you with those who train
  others.
• Consider it your responsibility to mentor others
  and pass on your knowledge and experience

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• Advocate that education and professional
  development programs (both in higher ed and in
  training/in-service) for emerging leaders include
  administration, advocacy, and leadership courses
• Find ways to give teachers and providers
  opportunities to practice their leadership
• Recognize and reward emerging leaders
• Build mentoring skills in new leaders
• Strengthen best practices in early childhood
  education throughout our field
• Strategize how to engage diverse leadership

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Professionalism in Early Childhood Education
Doing Our Best for Young ChildrenStephanie
Feeney Pearson, 2012.
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Leaders are not born.people learn to lead.
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Learning as a way of Leading

• Stephen Preskill and Stephen D. Brookfield
• John Wiley Sons, 2009
• Learning .
• To be open to the contributions of others
• Critical reflection
• To support the growth of others
• Collective leadership
• Analyze experience
• To question
• Democracy
• To sustain hope in the face of struggle
• To create community

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• One person can make a difference, and everyone
  should try.
• John F. Kennedy

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The role of AEYC in supporting leadership for our
field

• Leadership projects of Iowa AEYC
• Leadership themed quarterly newsletter
• Leadership track at conference
• Local chapter leadership opportunities
• State governing board recruitment and board
  development/training
• Leadership Fellowship
• NAEYC Innovation Grant
• Involvement by staff and board members
• at state and national levels
• www.iowaaeyc.org

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Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always
remember, you have within you the strength, the
patience, and the passion to reach for the stars
to change the world. Harriet Tubman

• Thank you for being here today, and everything
  that you do every day, as together we lead our
  field to where it needs to be.