THE REGISTRY LEADERSHIP CREDENTIAL
INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
COURSE ONE
THE PERSONAL DISPOSITION OF A LEADER
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Early Childhood Leadership:
The Personal Disposition of a Leader
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is the first of four courses in early childhood leadership. This course will cover definitions of
leadership and leader roles; and the role of vision, emotional intelligence, resilience, optimism
and reflective practice in successful leadership of early childhood programs. Overarching themes
include the importance of excellence and diversity in early childhood programs, and the role of
vision and reflective practice in reaching these goals.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is about leadership in child care and early childhood development and education
programs. Successful leadership requires vision, reflection, a disposition to lead, knowledge,
skills, techniques and others to follow, to be inspired and to be inspiring. This course is designed
to provide the personal building blocks for successful leadership in early childhood programs.
Upon completion of this course, it is expected that learners will be able to:
 Understand the definition and components of leadership
 Articulate the difference between management and leadership, the interrelationship
between the two, and the need for leaders in early childhood settings.
 Use personal type indicators as leadership tools.
 Identify the components of emotional intelligence, and their relationship to leadership in
early childhood programs.
 Identify compare and use various leadership styles.
 Articulate the importance of resilience in leaders.
 Understand the importance of optimism and reflective practice to successful leadership of
early childhood programs.
 Articulate the importance of diversity and cultural competence in early childhood
leadership
 Write a personal vision for their own leadership
 Critique a variety of leadership style theories and evaluate their efficacy in early childhood
settings.
TEXTBOOKS / READINGS
Blanchard, K., Zigarmi, P., & Zigarmi, D. (1986). Leadership and the one minute manager. New York:
William Morrow and Company, Inc.
Bloom, P. (1991). Leadership style assessment tool. Exchange Magazine Sept/Oct 1991 pp. 13-15.
Redmond WA. Exchange Press, Inc. Pdf
Bloom, P. (2007). Becoming a self mentor. Exchange Magazine Jan/Feb 2007 pp. 54-57. Redmond
WA. Exchange Press, Inc. Pdf
The Registry grants permission to all WI institutions of higher education to use these materials. | Last Revised January 2012
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Boulton, P. (2007). Achieving excellence in early childhood: Q&A with Pam Boulton. Waukesha
WI. Achieving Excellence. Pdf
Exchange. (1978). Are you a well rounded leader? Exchange Magazine Nov/Dec. 1978. Redmond
WA. Exchange Press, Inc. Pdf
Goleman, D, Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional
intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Jones, M. (2007). What is a leader, anyway? Exchange Magazine Nov/Dec. 2007 pp. 74-77.
Redmond WA. Exchange Press, Inc. Pdf
McCrea, N. (2002). Learn Leading for Authenticity. Exchange Magazine Sept. 2002 pp. 10-12.
Redmond WA. Exchange Press, Inc. Pdf
Morgan, G. (1997). Competencies of early care and education administrators. Boston: Taking The
Lead Initiative, Wheelock College. Pdf
Neugebauer, B. & Neugebauer, R. (Eds.). (2003). The art of leadership: Managing early childhood
organizations. Redmond, WA: Exchange Press, Inc.
Nolan, T. (2006). Resilience Inventory – Self. Waukesha, WI: The Center for Leadership
Excellence, Inc. Pdf
Sullivan, D. (2003). Learning to lead: Effective leadership skills for teachers of young children. St.
Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
(Pdf files are included)
Registry/Exchange Package
Students in the Early Childhood Leadership Credential Program have the opportunity to
purchase The Art of Leadership and two years of access to Exchange Articles on Demand at
www.childcareexchange.com through an arrangement between the Registry and Exchange
Press. Your instructor will provide you with the information.
Further Reading/Instructor Resources
Bennis, W. & Goldsmith, J. (1997). Learning to lead. Reading, MA: Perseus Books.
Carter, M. & Curtis, D. (1998). The visionary director. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
Gardner, H. (1995). Leading minds: Anatomy of leadership. New York: Basic Books.
Kagan, S. & Bowman, B. (1997). Leadership in early care and education: Issues and challenges. In
Kagan, S. & Bowman, B. (Ed.). (1997). Leadership in early care and education. (pp. 3-8).
Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Kagan, S. & Neuman, M. (1997). Conceptual leadership. In Kagan, S. & Bowman, B. (Ed.). (1997).
Leadership in early care and education. (pp. 59-64). Washington, DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
Larimer, L. (2003). The ethical type indicator. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
Livsey, R. & Palmer, P. (1999). The courage to teach: A guide to reflection and renewal. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Marotz, Lynn & Lawson, A. (2007). Motivational leadership in early childhood education. New York:
Thomson Delmar learning.
Morgan, G. (1997). Historical views of leadership. In Kagan, S. & Bowman, B. (Ed.). (1997).
Leadership in early care and education. (pp. 9-13).Washington, DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
Palmer, P. (1990). The active life. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.
Seligman, M. (1998). Learned optimism. New York: Pocket Books.
Spears, L. (Ed). (1998). Insights on leadership. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Discussion Topics
- The curriculum was designed as an 8 day (8 hours/ day) delivery mode; however can be
modified to meet instructor’s individual needs for course offerings.
Day 1
 Defining Leadership - past and present
 Theories from Neugebauer & Neugebauer (2003) Chap 1-3; Bennis & Goldsmith (1997); Jones
(2007); Kagan & Bowman, (1997); Morgan (1997); Spears (1998); and Sullivan (2003 Chap 1)
 Management and leadership – differences and interrelationships
 Leader roles
Day 2
 Overview of emotional intelligence and leadership- Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee (2002)
Chap 1-6 & Appendix B. Discuss the competencies of self-awareness, self-management,
social awareness and relationship management. Use Primal Leadership to begin a
discussion of leadership styles.
 Determine groups and topics for Group Projects
Day 3
Applying the concept of emotional intelligence to early childhood leadership
Emotionally intelligent organizations
Applying emotional intelligence in the workplace
Leadership styles and their use – Blanchard & Zigarmi (1986); Neugebauer & Neugebauer
(2003) pp 4-10; Sullivan(2003) Chap 2 & 3, Bloom (1991), Neugebauer (1978).
 Discussion and use of personal type indicators (Go to www.myersbriggs.org and select My
MBTI Personality Type and then MBTI Basics. Read the questions and answer them to get a
quick understanding of your type. Read the description of your type, and of others.)
 Group Activity # 1




Day 4
 Resilience as a component of leadership
 Resilience Inventory – Self – Nolan (2006)
 Reflective practice as an early childhood leader – implications and processes – Bloom, (2007);
Neugebauer& Neugebauer (2003), Palmer (1990)
 Group Activity # 2
Day 5
 Vision as a component of leadership – Neugebauer & Neugebauer (2003); Boulton (2007);
Bloom (2007)
 Developing a personal vision
 Group Activity # 3
Day 6
 Diversity, culture and awareness of bias – Sullivan (2003) Chap 2-3
 Self-analysis and discussion of leadership competencies - Bloom (2007), McCrea (2002),
Morgan (1997)
 Learned optimism.
o Go to www.shearonforschools,com/learned_optimism/index.htm
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o Go to www.fastcompany.com/magazine/20/seligman.html
 Group Project presentations
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Assignments
Group Activities
On the Desire 2 Learn course website you will find the following topics for discussion:
Discussion # 1
Share scenarios of situations that you previously experienced in which the use of Blanchard and
Hersey’s Situational Leadership would have been helpful.
Discussion # 2
Share your reactions to the Resiliency Inventory – Self. (Share your own answers only if
comfortable.) Talk about areas of concern, particularly for those working in the early childhood
care and education field. Determine several strategies for becoming more resilient in each area
of concern identified.
Discussion # 3
Share your understanding of the need for and use of a personal vision statement. Use this group
opportunity to deepen your own understanding of vision statements and their effect before
developing your own individual statement.
Group Project
Groups of 3-5 students will research topics related to course content. Topics will be selected in
class, based on topical issues at the time, and submitted to instructor for approval. An oral
presentation by each group will be done on the last day of class to the whole class. A one-page
abstract with 6 or more references (APA style) will be made available to all students.
Individual Assignments
1. Paper on leadership competencies (6-10 pages)
Content:
Use the competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and
relationship management from Primal Leadership. Provide a rationale for use of these
competencies. Analyze and discuss their relationship to other competencies needed for
successful leadership. Discuss the importance of this topic to early childhood care and
education.
Organization:
Develop content logically and systematically
Documentation:
Use adequate resources and cite them properly. Paper should be double-spaced, have
appropriate pagination and follow APA style guidelines.
Clarity and Quality:
Write in a style that is easy to read and communicates clearly. Paper should be free of
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gender and cultural bias, and grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
2. Develop a personal vision statement as a leader in early childhood care and
education. (1-3 pages) (You can “Google” “personal vision statement” to find a variety
of templates for developing your statement. Choose a format that works well for you.)
Provide a rationale for all elements included. Write in a style that is easy to read and
communicates clearly. Your statement should be free of gender and cultural bias, and
grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
ASSIGNMENT POINTS
(Example only – Instructors may choose to modify)
UNDERGRADUATE ASSIGNMENTS
In-class Participation
Group Discussions (3)
Group Project
Vision Statement
Paper on leadership competencies
TOTAL
POINTS
15
15
20
20
30
100
Course grades will be based on the following formula.
Total Points
Grade
100 - 96
A
95 - 91
A-
90 - 86
B+
85 - 81
B
80 - 76
B-
75 - 71
C+
70 - 66
C
65 - 61
C-
60 - 56
D+
55 - 51
D
The Registry grants permission to all WI institutions of higher education to use these materials. | Last Revised January 2012
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