A survey of nine hundred and ninety directors of ECE institutions in Illinois showed that eighty six percent of the directors were once classroom teachers before getting into the administration roles. However, thirty-eight percent of the directors had no preparations whatsoever in their administrative positions (Jorde-Bloom et. al., 1988) stated that there is no straightforward route of becoming and ECE administrator. On the other hand, the other education system like the school systems has a clear route to becoming an administrator in such institutions.
Mostly, the process entails participation in teacher preparation curriculums mostly offered as a four-year training session at a college or a university. Graduates from such training sessions become certified teachers and may teach within public school systems. Enrollment and completion of graduate programs such as educational leadership is a requirement for such individuals to get certification school administrators. However, the process of becoming an ECE director is different. It involves an indirect pathway and in most cases requires little or no formal education.
Few college- level programs which prepare individuals for responsibilities of ECE institutions administration exist (Sciaraffa, 2004). Sciaraffa (2004), in his publication attempted to define some of the reasons, supervision in the ECE sector is considered one of the most complex responsibilities. What makes ECE supervision complex can be attributed to the existence of variously qualified staff in such institutions. ECE administrators have the responsibility of managing staff that have no clearly defined roles and have diverse levels of abilities, professional development, as well as, experience in the field.
The diversity of the ECE program is one of the factors that makes ECE complex in supervision. ECE, according to Sciaraffa (2004), exists for various purposes, ranging from serving the children and their families, as well as, tackling challenges that are both internal and external. Little research work on the role and work of ECE administrators exist and, therefore, there is insufficient attention to the roles of directors. This means that, specific formal consensus concerning the roles of the ECE directors or administrators does not exist.
Sciaraffa (2004) stated that bodies like ABC initiative have done investigations in director training and credentialing, the investigations achieved accomplishments through initiatives like projects at state, local and community agency level. Children`s Defense Fund (2000), found out that; approximately thirteen million children that have an aged below six years spend some or all their daytime and care of someone else apart from their parents. According to Ryan et. al. (2011), approximately eighty percent of ECE institutions offer low-quality services.
Therefore, such institutions do not offer the children opportunity to have a healthy development. Ryan investigated the relationship between management and leadership in early childhood education and discovered that management entails the daily practice of the ECE directors while leadership is a diverse field that includes several components within it. Jorde-Bloom et. al. (1988), on the other hand, viewed management and leadership of ECE institutions as being two related terms that are important for achievement of the best out of an ECE program.
Literature on My Methodology Data collection on the research work is a fundamental proof of the viability of the project thesis. The procedures of data collection and analysis could be similar, but qualitative procedure rely on text and image data. Creswell (2003) states that qualitative procedures have diverse prospective, ranging from social justice to thinking. Further, he reveals that proposal writers discuss qualitative research in order to convince their audiences or the subject of the legitimacy.
Creswell, in his book “Research Design” listed the characteristics that capture both traditional and the new advocacy, participatory and self-reflexive perspective of qualitative inquiry.
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