Thursday, October 16, 2014
Blog assignment #7
A leader is a person who blueprints and plans out his strategy and vision in order to prepare for the building of a successful program. A leader is a person who is able to mediate any situation that may arrive. A leader tends to his or her program grooming and watering it to grow to its full potential. Leaders need to be all of these things like the architect he must be able to make a plan that everyone can stick to. Like the mediator he must be prepared to handle staff or family conflict. And lastly he must be like a gardener who tends to his plants daily in order to ensure they grow and remain healthy, Who would of thought that the director had so much holes to fill?
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Great thoughts on being a leader! I love how you intertwined the many roles a leader plays and explained the importance of each of these roles. The director does indeed seem to have many holes to fill. How can we begin to think more like directors?
ReplyDeleteHi Maika,
ReplyDeleteThere are two things that struck me in your postings -
1. I kept waiting for the part were one of the teachers would do something that offended the family; and
2. Another part that I really liked was the stress and importance that was put on respecting the child and remembering that it is for this child we have gathered together.
I wonder first why you assume that teachers would offend the family -- is there a specific example in your own experience that might help us think about this possibility? Or do you think teachers have come to operate from a separated and unaware place - placing the business of early childhood before any sort of compassion, empathy, or relationship? How might a director support teachers in moving towards relationship and understanding child development as only one way to view children (and often a narrow and limiting view)? Are there ways the metaphor might help you imagine supporting this move?
In all of your posting, you recognize how the child is central to the work. Do you have specific examples from own experience that might help us to consider this powerful perspective? As a director, how might you construct policy and practice that reflects these beliefs? Are there specific practices that must be rethought in order to further the child as central to how an early childhood center is imagined and managed?
Cheers,
Jeanne
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteYes, a director does have many responsibilities. What side of this job of being a director do you feel the strongest? Weakest? How might you use this exercise to think more like a director? Also, what are some goals you have for yourself to be a more well-rounded director?
Thank you for sharing,
Kaliko
I like that you point out that planning plays a huge part in the success of a program and the child they work with. I also like that you also mention that it takes tending to, I guess we all get so wrapped up with the education part of our days that we forget that our programs also need to be groomed and cared for just as much as the children.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you described what a leader is before you explained how they relate to other occupations. What do you feel is your strongest? What do you feel is your weakest? Did looking at other occupations give you a new perspective of being a director?
ReplyDelete