Staff Issues: A View from Directors

10/27/2006

Staff Issues: A View from Directors

Becoming a leader is the most crucial choice one can make – it is the decision to step out of the darkness into the light.
Deepak Chopra

Getting a handle on current staff issues is a topic I wanted to explore and who better to ask than directors! Here is a sample of some comments provided by the directors and administrators in the Master’s Degree Program in Early Childhood Administration and Leadership.

“With all of the new NAEYC and other program requirements, it is essential that our caregivers/teachers have ample time out of the classrooms to focus on professional development (i.e., reading all new NAEYC assessment material, using resources to improve selves and classrooms, and working with their team outside of naptime). Most child care programs can not afford this luxury. At times I feel we need to close our doors for a week to just read and reflect.”
— Dianna Scuncio, Director, Child Development Center, I Sub Base New London

“My Head Teachers and I are constantly challenged with managing the multitude of tasks that need to be completed on a daily basis in our child care centers and at the same time coordinating time to support, nurture, and train the staff we do employ in order to retain them and make their experience working with the children and families as well as their co-workers a rewarding one.”
— Pattie Carbone, Program Director, Child Care, Child & Family Services Newport County

“One issue that we have at our center is keeping seasoned staff challenged within their position when there is no room for advancement within the organization. We have 13 classrooms with one 'lead' teacher and two teachers per classroom. The majority of the staff has been here 10 years or longer. The teachers do not have the opportunity to move into the 'lead' position unless the 'lead' teacher leaves the program."
— Nancy A. Belliveau, Child Care Assistant Manager, Toddler-Preschool Program, Commerce Insurance Child Care Center

What do you see as the key most important staff issue facing our field today? Add them to our FEEDBACK page below!

Contributed by William H. Strader, Director, Institute for Early Childhood Leadership & Professional Development, Johnson & Wales University, School of Education

Win a year's worth of paint at www.playnwash.com! Play 'n Wash, developed by Milliken and Company, is the first line of tempera, watercolor and finger paints to completely wash out of clothing and skin! Offered in an assortment of bright, bold colors.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.