Leadership and Management in Early Childhood Setting - Essay Example

Leadership and Management in Early Childhood Setting No: Leadership and Management in Early Childhood Setting Blog Entry 1: Leadership: a Live Example My current role is of a preschool principal and my duties are related to assisting, reviewing, guiding, supporting and supervising teachers and other staff to conduct their duties with perfection. The first and foremost task is leading my subordinates in the right direction. All of these duties and tasks that are my responsibilities can be categorized under the heading of leadership. The purpose of my opting this course is to learn and understand about educational leadership and management and how I can relate and use them (theories) in a preschool setting or early childhood setting (practical situation). Leadership, no doubt, is an important element, which plays a vital role in the development of people by following some principles of governance. In early childhood setting, leadership in educational sector deals with children, families, managers and stakeholders. Dr. Goh Keng Swee was a great and successful leader of Singapore. He became Minster of education and developed new sense of education in the general public and gave an improved educational system (Lee, 2010). According to Dr. Goh Keng Swee, educational leaders should be empowered and more autonomy should be given to them so that the students can be facilitated with better educational opportunities. Dr. Goh Keng Swee is one of the great examples of successful leaders, and I agree that I have learnt a lot of traits from this great leader and tried my best for adopting these traits. The traits that I learnt from the great leader are persuasiveness, strength, keeping vision, supportiveness, goal orientation, having influence, decision-making power and much more. The first and foremost thing that a leader should have is knowledge because faith fails when the leader lacks knowledge. Therefore, faith comes after knowledge. He knows how to work in a team, how to motivate the team members, how to assist in application of different financial assistance schemes, he has to make alerts to the Director of every matter that is crucial to the well-being of the children and staff and much more. In order to become a successful leader in the field of education, I must know the way to constantly improve and add values to the curriculum so that it meets the goals and many other things, which are helpful for the students. This is in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. I have a need to develop a sense of judging the situation in right way and that is what will give me strength. I was an office manager before entering early childhood industry in Singapore. As an office manager, I was working in a male dominant environment and my leadership style was dominant too. Nevertheless, my authoritative leadership style did not work in early childhood industry, thus, I had to change to participative and delegative style. Moreover, to be a good and successful leader, I need to focus on some important points, which are, to have a bigger picture to see the future even in the present and ability to know the organization well and the tact of helping and supporting teachers. Blog Entry 2: Risk Taker Taking risk is an integral and vital element of any business and also of life. Thus, it is very important to know how to handle such situations and how to overcome any risk in the right manner. Leadership, nowadays, is a challenging task to do and the world is changing its concept towards leadership and leaders. A leader has to learn many good and effective traits and I believe that risk taking is one of the most important elements to learn. It is about taking new chances and facing new challenges and risk in order to get success in the life (Newstrom & Davis, 1993). In my life, I have seen a great leader who was a risk taker at the same time. He is none other than John L. Hennessy who is now president of Stanford University. He is the one who always tries to bring up innovations in the education sector and this time, he is involved in developing a new technique of architecture in the field of education. All the risks are not equal and are not of same nature. Each of them is different from each other and need a different tactic and planning to handle it. Risk taking is nothing less than a challenge (Perry, 2012). I still remember how I spent a couple of years in a company being an office manager and I have had a lot of problems with my career. I was confused in finding answers of the following questions when I find myself in a hectic and painful situation: • What to do and more importantly, when to do it for saving the situation? • Where to begin (starting with the thesis is always a good idea), • What to look for in order to solve the problem in a more appropriate way. • How to change something when you do set forth on the lonely, daunting journey of revisiting work (Pavlina, 2006). A principal working as a leader in early childhood education has to work in a challenging manner and has to follow certain risk taking tasks such as engaging communities and families, promoting learning environments, ensuring quality teaching and making use of multiple assessment tasks for learning (Lowa School Boards Foundation, 2008). The principal working in early childhood setup should be experimental by nature because risk taking is essential for quality education. Blog Entry 3: Guardian of the culture A good educational leader is necessary to be a “Guardian of the culture” means that he should be aware of the rules, customs and history of educational leadership and should be able to follow them. Culturally, the skills required of an early childhood leader are to “develop good working relationships with all concerned with the centre, to acknowledge staff strengths and provide constructive feedback, to assist less qualified and experienced staff, assist in resolving staff disagreements and to participate in but not dominate decision making” (Rodd, 1996, p. 122). Leaders also introduce their own cultures or they set new cultures by introducing new values and standards. Understanding the culture, developing it and being a part of it, all are important. A leader has to learn many good and effective traits in his life to boost his career up. It is about taking new chances and facing new challenges and risks in order to get success in the life and profession (Newstrom & Davis, 1993). Many businesses fail due to having less knowledge about the culture. An intelligent leader always knows what is important to him and also, on what things he has to focus more. According to Dora Ho (2012), educational models are always culture bound due to which, acquisition of cultural knowledge is very crucial for educational leader. Power is an important part of culture of leadership as without power, a leader cannot assist and inspire people. However, leadership is really not about telling people what to do, but inspiring them to see and decide themselves what they are capable of, then, helping them get there (Wolfson, 2012). Alec Grimsby is an executive coach and managing director at a well known company, Arbinger, in UK and he shares his life time experience with the people that, “at the root of the problem is a lack of trust and that within organizations this often leads to unnecessary consumption of goods and services in an attempt to keep hold of budgets” (Hall, 2012). Knowledge of culture and taking people along with them is essential for educational leaders. Trust should be created and to create trust, leaders and managers have to deeply study the culture and trends of a field to earn the trust of stakeholders (Hillis, 2010). The leaders as guardians of culture are expected to be goal oriented, planners, decision-makers, risk takers, good communicators, relationship builders, confident and persuasive beings that are always inspirational for the followers. In early childhood setting, the educational leaders should be able to build relationships between stakeholders (children, families and communities) and staff, to introduce and guide what is useful for the staff and students and support when they require it, that is what people expect out of them culturally as guardians of culture. Blog Entry 4: Decision Maker Yes? or No? It is a question, which almost all of us face in our daily life and also in business. Decision-making is an essential leadership skill. As an educational leader in an early childhood setting, the principals who are the leaders have to show their power in making right decisions at right times. Dora Ho (2012) indicates that leaders in an educational setting should be able to share their power of decision making with their stakeholders. Students, their families, staff and communities should be involved in decision-making process as they are most affected by the decisions made at early childhood academic level. After making a decision about a matter, leaders have to think and analyze that decision about how right it is made. (How to Make Better Decisions). Leaders at early childhood setting enjoy the power of decision-making but their approach should be participative and they should encourage participation of stakeholders. In my opinion, this is a good point, which really has the capability to turn a leadership in a good leadership. To be a good leader, a person has to be a smart decision-maker. According to Rodd (1996), early childhood leaders must have a professional approach to deal with people and build up their skills of communication, decision-making and problem solving. As previously informed that my leadership style corresponds of two categories of leadership that are participative and delegative in which, decision-making process is completed with the support of team members. As a preschool principal, I should be able to involve all stakeholders in making all kinds of decisions related to any change, innovation or situation related to the school. A decision usually involves three steps: An identification of the situation and recognition of need, as the first step is to know about what we have to make a decision. Leader should be focused enough to know whether he has taken right decision or not and should have the ability to change the decision just to fill the void or need; There should be a conscious dedication to implement the decision (Decision Making Process). Management Science is a wide subject and a subject who can easily help leaders and managers in reducing or eliminating the fact fear of making wrong decisions by providing help with the decision-making process. To be a good and successful leader, I need to focus on some important points, which are, to have a bigger picture to see the future even in the present and ability to know the organization well and the tact of helping and supporting teachers and facilitating students with the best kind of education. Blog Entry 5: Motivated Knowledge does not accept self-pride or egotism. It should not be only for the personal benefits, but it should also be equally beneficial for others as participation is the opposite of authoritarianism. A leader has to know how to motivate his followers and team members in order to share and to give honors to humankind (Maslow, 1970). Revolution always comes after the motivation. Motivational leadership is one of the most successful leadership. Motivation helps leaders and employees to be goal oriented and it helps them in achieving their task. A leader must have the trait to motivate his employees and team members in order to get work done in an effective way. To be self-motivated is the best trait a leader can have in him if he wants to become an efficient and successful leader (McClelland, 1985). It includes: Developing a sense of responsibility in the employees and team members. Encouraging team members by offering some rewards and bonuses and appreciating their good tasks. Keeping in view and taking care of the needs of the employees and team members. Hearing the team members carefully and helping them if they need. Being a role model for team motivation. Getting the work done in an effective way completely depends upon the leader. Leader should be committed and skilled enough to motivate his employees. He should be polite while communicating to his followers and team. Those people who have spent a lot of time to build their career in the leadership, they perfectly know that all the leaders should have the skill to motivate their team in the right direction (McClelland, 1985). Early childhood leaders use their power to motivate the stakeholders towards a goal and motivation is used as a tool to make people realize about their responsibilities. As a principal, I am fully aware that in an early childhood leadership, motivation is an essential skill that a leader should have to encourage the staff to perform their duties and keep a goal oriented approach. Annotated Bibliography 1. The article entitled as Decision Making Process talks about the whole decision making process in simple terms. It informs about what a decision is, how quality decisions are made and how a leader can make people follow the decisions made by him. This is a very fruitful resource for my selected topic as it covers as what a leader should do in the whole decision making process. 2. The article that is taken from The Guardian written by Liz Hall and talks about leaders’ being isolated because of considering that everything should come from their own self. Leaders should be creative and accommodating and should allow others to cooperate in order to plan future sustainability of any business. This article is again beneficial because it talks about leader as a risk taker. 3. The article entitled as Culture follows the leaders by Laurie Hillis informs about leaders as culture settlers. Leaders create cultures in organizations and if the set culture is motivating and inspirational, people tend to follow it. Culture makes people know that how the things should be done. This article informs about the role of leaders as not a part of culture but as creators of culture in any organization. This article is also supportive. 4. Lily Lee wrote the article named as Great Leader of Singapore – Dr Goh Keng Swee, in which she informs about the persuasive qualities of Dr Goh Keng Swee as a leader. I, myself is inspired by the positive qualities of Dr due to which, I have included this article. He is a initiator, risk taker and motivator and is quite inspirational for his followers. This article was helpful for me. 5. The book, Motivation and Personality written by Maslow informs about the motivational traits of a leader and how motivation supports people to move forward in their lives. Leader should be self-motivated and should have the capability to motivate. This book is very informative for understanding motivational leadership. 6. The book, Human Motivation is also very beneficial for my research of becoming a motivational leader. This book talks in great length about human motivation and informs about the advantages of motivation. Every person can be made to work with good motivation and it is the right of a person to e motivated for every good job that he has done. For me, this book is very supportive in understanding motivation as a necessary trait of leadership. 7. The article Intelligent Risk Taking by Pavlina is a very detailed and supportive document on the issue of risk taking as a compulsion for any business progress. The writer clearly informs that risk is not always dangerous, as people mostly perceive it as negative. There should be some thought pattern involved and risk taking should not be whimsical. 8. A Culture of Leadership written by Wolfson informs about leadership as involved in communication, culture within the organization, commitment with the job and people, management and self-development. This article is also very helpful in making to understand the real meaning of leadership. References Decision Making Process. (2008). Retrieved from http://decision-quality.com/intro.php Dora Ho (2012): The Paradox of Power in Leadership in Early Childhood Education. Peabody Journal of Education 87 (2), 253-266. Hall, Liz. (2012, May 31). Business Leaders need to Get in Touch with the Future they Want. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/sustainability-corporate-culture-values Hillis, Laurie M. (2010). Cuture Follows the Leaders. Retrieved from http://www.banffcentre.ca/departments/leadership/library/pdf/culture_28-29.pdf How to Make Better Decisions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TED.htm Lowa School Boards Foundation. (2008). Leadership in Early Childhood Education: Six Standards and Strategies for Principals. Information Briefing 2 (3): 1-4. Leadership Styles. (2010, June). Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html Lee, Lily. (2010, May). Great Leader of Singapore – Dr Goh Keng Swee. Retrieved from http://olevelsocialstudies.blogspot.com/2010/05/great-leader-of-singapore-dr-goh-keng.html. Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill. McClelland, D. C. (1985). Human Motivation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Newstrom, J. W., & Davis, K. (1993). Organizational Behaviour: Human Behaviour at work. New York: McGraw-Hill. Pavlina, S. (2006, Jan 18). Intelligent Risk Taking. Retrieved from http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/intelligent-risk-taking/ Perry, T. S. (2012, May). John L. Hennessy: Risk Taker. Retrieved from http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/profiles/john-l-hennessy-risk-taker/ Rodd, J. (1996). Towards a Typology of Leadership for the Early Childhood Professional of the 21st Century. Early Child Development and Care 120: pp. 119-126. Wolfson, B. (2012). A Culture of Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.strategyletter.com/CD0703/featured_article.php Read More