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Welcome to Module 3: Holistic Practices in Leadership

In this final module, we will be considering the importance of working in the big picture and how the caring for young children encompasses every part of daily living.  The leadership role recognizes how we hold the lives of children in high regard, the meaning of the Indigenous saying that every child is a gift from the creator. Leadership in early childhood programs includes making decisions that build and maintain quality care, ensuring a healthy team environment, and providing guidance and encouragement to the children, the staff and community.

One way of presenting a comprehensive framework is to follow the Indigenous metaphor of working with the Heart, the Head and the Hands. 

In the first activity, we will begin with the work of the Heart, which encompasses the passion educators have for the good care of children; and the need to build strong relationships between adults to be able to work together as a team. The subsequent activities will explore the work of the Head and how we prepare ourselves by absorbing knowledge and practising skills. Finally, we will delve into the work of the Hands, opening our creativity to viewing the world from the eyes of the children and satisfying curiosities.

Some of this framework is influenced by Integral Theory, the work of Ken Wilbur. One piece of Integral Theory examines four perspectives of conducting worthwhile meetings. Communications, sometimes in the form of meetings, connect the work of our hearts, heads and hands. The team must communicate to share vision and goals. A quality childcare program requires a team that works well together, recognizes individual strengths, and is open to different ways of achieving goals while being grounded in knowledge of child development. Meetings happen in many places: around a table, with parents in the hallway, and during a drive home together. 

Team members need to feel their contributions are valuable. Each member is an individual who views the world with inside and outside perspectives (two of Wilbur’s perspectives).

Inside perspectives are the insights and beliefs that cause us to reflect on our own experiences and how we are influenced by cultures, worldviews, ethics, and learned values. You have been practicing this skill through self reflective journaling. Emotions and feelings affect our behaviours and relationships in different ways. A negative example is an educator suffering from burnout because she doesn’t practice adequate self care. A positive example is an educator who feels empowered to lead an enjoyable outing in a natural setting.

Outside perspectives include our observations of behaviours and organizational dynamics. A negative perspective of a situation can lead to being judgmental of other’s actions, whereas a positive perspective could be seeking out calls for proposals and successfully writing a grant for extra funding. Outside perspectives also include the environment and social systems that support programming. Sometimes resources may be more available because of the current political climate, or your program growth becomes dependent on the availability of qualified staff and resources. In this course, you have been using your outside perspective by observing, reading and thinking about qualities of leadership and how leadership is influenced by culture and environment.

People develop their perspective-taking uniquely. We learn in studying child development that infants are egocentric, seeing only what is important to them in the moment, such as hunger or wanting attention. As children develop, they begin to recognize that others see the world a bit differently, then they become aware of how their behaviours affect others. Self-awareness follows as children begin to recognize how their actions can make changes for the better. Self-awareness results in a systems view of seeing ourselves as part of, or a contributor to culture, even to history. This self-confidence guides us towards being role models and mentors, a culmination of our knowledge of the work of the heart, head and hands. In the Indigenous worldview, this is the work of the Elders.

References

Wilber, K. (2000). A theory of everything: An integral vision for business, politics, science, and spirituality. Shambhala Publications.

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