Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/a-tale-of-unraveling-ideas-for-training-staff/5016260/
During this past year, in different parts of the country, three of my favorite early childhood programs started to unravel. It has been a painful process to witness, especially since each of them has served low income children and become a beacon of hope for their communities.The specific conditions contributing to the dramatic decline in quality vary with each of these programs, but they do share some common features. Each had a long time visionary director who worked as part of a larger social service agency which, in spite of all the directors’ efforts, never really understood the profound nature of what they were building with their early childhood programs. These directors steadily provided training and a program climate inspired by the schools of Reggio Emilia; and their staff became devoted to them, perhaps to the neglect of growing their own leadership toward the vision. The directors served as a buffer between their agency’s other agendas and organizational difficulties and their child development staff, keeping the staff focused on their own work, learning, and accomplishments. Their work with children, families, and staff began to garner wider attention in our profession and visitors from everywhere except their own agency came to ...