Growing and Guiding
Early Childhood
Education Leadership
Barb Merrill, Executive Director, Iowa AEYC
bmerrill@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 Not:
Leadership 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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Pedagogical
Administrative
Advocacy
Community
Conceptual
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
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Character
Passion
Optimism
Drive
Integrity
Courage
Takes risks
Motivates and inspires
Flexibility
Openness
Unwavering commitment
Professional
• 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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You’ve 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
It’s all about relationships!
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Are you a manager or a leader?
How do you handle a
task?
How do you tackle a
problem?
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Within our programs
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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 Children
Stephanie 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.
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