Activity 3.1 | Communicating with Integrity

What will you stand up for today? 

Child care managers and leaders need a clear vision. As Ursula LeGuin (2018) argues, that the “Latin word [for progress] means going forward” (7:47). Leaders in early care and learning challenge the notion that children are our future, arguing that it’s an empty phrase that does not connect with the child in front of us, for who they are today (Mawson, 2015). Child care managers and leaders need to create the more-just worlds that they know are possible, beginning with themselves, and extending into their workplaces, workplace relationships, and communities.

Child care managers and leaders need to be voices at the table for policies and governance to challenge the idea that “progress means towards something better, higher, nobler, more generous, more free” (The Nation, 2018, 8:30), and call upon the research and researchers that assert our agency, and uphold our professional standards for practice. Our professional body asserts what is required for ethical practice, and child care managers and leaders need to commit to orienting their programs towards these ethics.

• How will you enact more just practices today in all that you do as a child care manager and leader? 
• How will you exercise your capacity to stay true to yourself, your values, and your professional responsibility, even when your voice shakes?

Child care centre managers and leaders need a style of leadership that aligns with our values every step of the way. One of the first steps is knowing how to listen to your own truths, needs, and boundaries.

Reference

Le Guin, U. K. (2018). The wave in the mind: Talks and essays on the writer, the reader, and the imagination. Shambhala