Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/helping-staff-navigate-change/5026318/
*Synthesized from “Addressing Challenging Behavior in Young Children: The Leader’s Role,” by Barbara Kaiser and Judy Sklar Rasminsky, published by NAEYC in April 2021. Kaiser and Rasminsky are also the authors of “Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing, and Responding Effectively” (Pearson Education, 2017).
If you want to build a ship, do not drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
—Antoine de Saint Exupery
When a child’s behavior in an early childhood center or school makes it impossible for other children in the group or class to learn or feel safe, it sends a message in flashing red lights: it is time for a change.
As the program’s leader—the director, principal, or head teacher—you may be tempted to blame the child and jump right in. But it is better to get the facts and make a plan first—to read the tea leaves and start exploring what is going on and what to do about it. This is an opportunity to take a close look at the classroom environment and the program, and maybe even the teacher’s teaching style, and his ...