Portfolio of Practice
Introduction
Early years teachers play a vital role in the developmental process of a child at a crucial period in their lives by offering them access to high-quality early education (Department for Education, 2018). Such an early interaction with young children is essential because it helps to develop their young minds by introducing them to new ideas and concepts, thus creating a positive impact that could last them a lifetime. Early years educators are regularly called upon to assume various roles to help meet the varied needs of children in the classroom setting. A key function of early education teachers is decision-making on for example, how best to manage learning, organise instructions, as well as plan instruction strategies in the development of curriculum (Whalley, 20110. Consequently, proper training is essential to ensure the provision of high quality childcare and early education provision. Leadership also plays an essential role in the educational practice of early years’ teachers, and especially because we look up to them to ensure cohesion among children from diverse cultural backgrounds (Mistry & Sood, 2012). Possession of effective leaderships skills and the ability to function within a multidisciplinary team is therefore a vital requirement for early education teachers. Additionally, interpersonal abilities and skills aids in moulding such teachers into effective leaders, while collaboration and communication with staff and families are also vital attributes. Other traits include the ability to effect change in teaching practice, demonstrating high level of approachability, empathy, and trustworthiness (Campbell-Evans, Stamopoulos & Maloney, 2014). This essay assumes the form of a portfolio of practice in which the author will reflect on two leadership instances in their practice that have help to transform teaching in early years. Additionally, the essay shall also demonstrate the skills and strategies required of an early education teacher in a leadership capacity, the ability to work effectively in a leadership capacity, and full understanding on the educational needs and care requirements of young children.
Leadership in Early years teachers practice
Leadership is crucial for various professional roles and the early years teachers are no exception where varies examples of leadership frequently emerges in practice. This serves as an example of the various facets of the role of a leader (Mulford, Silins & Leithwood, 2004). Nonetheless, there is need to provide a definition of leadership that is more suited to the early year’s practitioners. The Children's Workforce Strategy identifies knowledge, values and core skills necessary for strategy leadership role (DfES, 2006) with respect to the position of early years’ professionals. This description blends in well with the models provided by various professional bodies such as the NPQH (National Professionals Qualification for (school) Heads that provide effective pathways for leadership training and development. The emerging emphasis on the need to nurture leadership roles among early years’ practitioners underscores the increased realisation by the Government on the importance of improving workforce knowledge, competencies and skills with a view to improving the quality of experiences by children attending early years’ education. Within the context of early years’ education, a leader may be described as one who gives direction to children and other teachers, build teamwork, inspire others, and also act as an example to others (Rodd, 2006). On account of these enviable traits, such an individual is bound to gain acceptance and respect among peers and more importantly, from children. The complex and demanding role of early years’ practitioners calls for a leader who possess high levels of skills and knowledge. According to Jones and Pound (2008), 'inclusive leadership' is more suited to fulfil this demanding role, an indication that the demanding nature of early years provision requires working as part of a multidisciplinary team since these roles cannot be adequately met by a single individual. In other words, each member of the multidisciplinary team is expected to play a crucial role in order to ensure the success of the practice.
Instances of Leadership in early years education practice
One instance of leadership in my early years education practice involved leading a team of preschool teacher in implementing the Curiosity Corner programme as part of the curriculum for the three to five-year-old pre-schools. Pre-school teachers remain key players in the successful implementation of an early childhood curriculum while also observing cultural diversity, ensuring child discipline and guidance, embracing suitable teaching and learning methods, and promoting self-dependence among the children (Brown et al., 2009). Additionally, early education teachers are also charged with the responsibility of forging mutual relationships with teachers and parents (McDonnell, 2007). This programme encompasses social and academic components and it borrows from legacies of such educational philosophies as 'discovery learning’ popularised by Jean Piaget and 'immersive learning' by John Dewey (Chamber et al., 2010). The programme entails nine different domains namely, cognitive, science, physical, language and literacy, social studies, interpersonal, creative, personal/emotional, and mathematical (Newby, 2013). As pre-school teachers, we would be expected to integrate each of these topic units in our weekly teaching programme. As the team leader, I was tasked with the responsibility of attending different class while my peers were teaching in order to observe their interaction with the children and to assist in implementing some of the concepts.
The typical lesson would start with greetings, followed by a recap of an activity taught the previous day, as recommended by the Curiosity Corner Programme (Thümler, Bögelein, Beller & Anheier, 2014). Such an activity would also be linked to the topic of the week. Next, the teacher would endevour to use questions and cues as a means of engaging the children. This entailed the use of a puppet whereby the teacher would give cues regarding a component of the unit being taught and then ask the children to guess what the teacher has hidden in her bag. We would then use puppets to engage children in such diverse topics as animals or foods. The third phase of the programme entailed incorporating ryme time in order to assist the children in sound and word recognition (Newby, 2013). For example, if the topic of the week is on a food such as bread, the teacher would use certain key words like "knead" or "baker" in order to engage the pupils. In the initial stages of the curriculum implementation, I found it hard to accept the fact that I was in charge of this project.
According to Rodd (2006) early years leaders may be a bit reluctant to accept the label of a leader because this position is often associated with management aspects, which to them seems to suggest that they are moving away from their preferred status as child developers and educators. I was also apprehensive about my lack of competence in such an undertaking, considering that I had not received any training in this area. Consequently, I was fearful that this would be a loss of resources and time if I did not find a way to make it work. Therefore, I set daily goal achievements for each teacher and at the end of the lesson, we would explore the extent to which we had managed to achieve these goals. This helped to bring out my hitherto undiscovered skills and qualities as a team worker who is able to define roles for others set goals, and motivate them (Rodd, 2006). The daily assessment also helped us to monitor the progress made by the children. Initially, we had set aside 15 minutes for each of the three aforementioned activities of the programme being implemented. However, some of our classes also had children with SEN (Special Education Needs) and it as important to ensure that we provided them with an equal opportunity to learn. Under the 2010 Equality Act, education providers are called upon to exercise anti-discriminatory practices and equal opportunities to all. In the spirit of ensuring diversity in teaching practice, I deemed it necessary to make reasonable adjustments to the time set for each activity, so that children with SEN would also equally participate in the activities and not feel left out. I also observed that se of the teachers were reluctant to implement the new programme into the existing curriculum, with some arguing that they had not received any training on the programme, while others said that it was more demanding for both teachers and children.
Resistance to change is the norm in any organisation, and the education sector is not an exception. Whether the proposed change is voluntarist or deterministic, it is important that the leaders work within the confines of the existing legal framework to address such change but more importantly, they must assume responsibility for such change (Y?lmaz & K?l?ço?lu, 2013). In other words, leaders must address change out of a realisation that they are preparing students who they expect to turn into successful individuals in future in what is increasingly becoming a complex world (Becker & Becker, 2009). In a bid to manage the resistance shown by some of my peers, I developed a team approach towards implementing the new programme. Specifically, I arranged for a staff meeting whereby I proposed that we should implement a single activity out of the aforementioned three activities into each subject. If this proved to be a success, then we would go on to implement the other two items. I also indicated that any teacher who successfully executed the programme would be acknowledged by the head teacher. This was meant to act as an incentive to minimise resistance to the proposed change (Miller & Cable, 2011). Motivation is thus a key leadership responsibility. In addition, I also developed a PowerPoint presentation that summarised useful tips on The Curiosity Corner programme and sent these as an email attachment to all the teachers. In this way, I was providing the teachers with the resources that they needed to successfully implement the programme (Whalley, 2011). These traits point towards my role as a change agent in that I was able to share my expertise and knowledge with my colleagues, model suitable practices, and develop rapport with the other teachers by engaging them in dialogue. Consequently, we were able to persuade teachers to embrace the change and through this process, I helped to unearth vital leadership traits that I now hope to utilize in improving my teaching practice.
Another leadership instance that has helped to transform my practice as an early education teacher took place at a different institution as voluntary early childhood education leader. Here, I interacted with various stakeholders, including children, teacher, parents and the non-teaching staff such as drivers and cooks. Such individuals are linguistically and culturally diverse and their personal beliefs, norms and values will undoubtedly have an impact on the children (McCrea, 2015). Accordingly, it was important that I ensured that these individuals were both empowered and equipped to provide high-quality services in a respectful, and child-friendly manner. Since children spend most of their day in an early education center, it is incumbent upon the leadership of such an institution to assist them in their appreciation of and approach to life (Mulford, Silins & Leithwood, 2004). Considering that play forms a larger component of a child's growth and development at the early years, I deemed it necessary as the leader to create a learning environment that encouraged more play and less learning. This was important, so that children could interact freely with each other and just be children. Early years teachers are also essential in the lives of these young children as they can influence their behaviours by sharing values and opinions (McCrea, 2015). I felt duty-bound therefore to inculcate in the teachers the importance of nurturing these children. I developed an open door policy whereby teachers would come to my office and share any problems that they may have been encountering.
Through this strategy, I endevoured to send across the message that I was approachable. However, I viewed myself as more of a team stakeholder as opposed to a change agent. Although I was undeniably the leader, I was also played an active role in ensuring the success of my team by providing the organisational structures, vision and resources needed to enhanced teamwork and the sustainability of the organisation (Brundrett & Crawford, 2008). I also sought to provide positive interdependence to the staff with the goal of emphasising the importance of us all working collectively as a team to enhance the realisation of our goals. However, this could only be achieved if each team member played his/her part effectively. Therefore, I deemed it necessary to introduce the individual accountability initiative in which each member of the team viewed it as their personal responsibility to make contributions to the team activities with a view to enhancing the realisation of common goals (Rodriguez & Bellanca, 2006). In this case, my role was to see to it that each member contributed equally to the team tasks. Accordingly, each member was accorded an equal opportunity to participate in such task as curriculum improvement and planning of the school’s calendar of events.
Consequently, we were able to realise the team's goals via promotive interaction among the different team members. To encourage group processing, team members had the opportunity to reflect on what they had learnt through cooperative activities, in order to appreciate the importance of teamwork (Brundrett & Crawford, 2008). Additionally, such reflection would also enable them to assess how they attained the set objectives, and to evaluate actions deemed useful and hence required for future application. It was also an opportunity to make a decision on actions that required changing as we strategised for future successes. I encouraged collaboration in decision-making as this has been shown to encourage effective communication and participation, thereby adding to innovativeness and creativity among team members. Through this experience, I learnt that the success of any change initiative hinges on our ability to align our strategies to the desired intentions. Accordingly, a leader needs to possess 'contextual wisdom’ (Davis, 2010) to surmount some of the changes they are likely to encounter along the way.
Conclusion
Early years teachers play a vital role in the lives of children because the values and influences that they inculcate in them are likely to carry them through a lifetime. Since decision-making is important in early education teaching, there is need for such individuals to receive proper training so that they can provide high quality early education as part of multidisciplinary team. Additionally, possession of essential leaderships skills and abilities allows early education teachers to function competently in such multidisciplinary teams, demonstrate empathy and trustworthiness among colleagues and children, and to fully appreciate the educational requirement of young children. By exploring two instances of leadership early years’ education practice, the author has demonstrated how leadership helps to build team work, reduce resistance to change and improve the educational attainment of early years’ children. In particular, inclusive leadership has been shown to be most suited for this demanding role.
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