An important and yet often overlooked function of leadership in an early childhood program is the ability to positively influence the people in the program. For this group assignment, consider the characteristics of a leader who can support and lead teachers in reflective teaching. This type of self-reflection is the first step to understanding how a supervisor supports teachers to accomplish their goals through mentoring. For this assignment, your group will need to address the following two components:
Part 1: Consider the following question as your group completes the competency checklist below: What might be evidence that a teacher leader possesses the competence to also be a mentor? You are encouraged to evenly divide the competencies among your group, so that each member contributes to providing brief examples of interactions while highlighting the characteristic(s) that demonstrates each competency. While this portion can be completed independently, you should then collaborate to ensure that each group member provides feedback before submitting the full collaborative document.
Competency Checklist
Competency
Describe an example of a teacher-leader with children (when acting as a teacher)
Describe an example of a teacher-leader with adults (when acting as a supervisor)
Integrates emotion and intellect
Fosters reflection or wondering by others
Is aware of how others’ reactions affect a process of dialogue and reflection, including sensitivity to bias and cultural context
Part 2: Professional Development Resources Document –Early childhood programs have numerous curriculum options which may contribute to a need to support teachers and staff in a curriculum context they are not familiar with. Therefore, as we prepare to support protégés, we can refer to the National Association of the Education of Young Children core standards for professional development, to promote the use of best practices. These six core standards, briefly describe what early childhood professionals should know and be able to do. After reading each of the NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs (Links to an external site.), focus on the first four standards:
STANDARD 1. PROMOTING CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
STANDARD 2. BUILDING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS
STANDARD 3. OBSERVING, DOCUMENTING, AND ASSESSING TO SUPPORT YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
STANDARD 4. USING DEVELOPMENTALLY EFFECTIVE APPROACHES