A review of our “Learning Together in a Special Place: Perspectives on Leadership” retreat with Alison Maher and Andrea Sisbarro
Woah- where do we even begin? Another trip to Italy – amazing, to learn from The Boulder Journey School- a dream, the learning and connections that were made- absolutely priceless!
Many many years ago, Allegro began embracing the idea of Reggio Emelia principles as they completely aligned with our values and the rights of the child. This past year we have really taken a dive into Reggio practices; we have seen educators becoming more excited about their work, children engaged in their environment and explorations and more connections being made between the Allegro community and the community we live in.
Knowing that we are really only reaching surface level, we wanted to continue our learnings : * How do centres around the world have the time to produce amazing documentation? * How do we help shape the image of our ECE’s from caregivers to professionals? * How do we create a culture of growth and learning for children, educators and families? * How do we conquer the feelings of burnout and being overworked?
From day 1 – listening to the introductions of all the participants whom we’d be sharing a space with and about the organizations that they work with- we knew that we were in the right place; there are some really cool things happening out there in the world and we want to be a part of it! We are so thankful to have been invited and welcomed by this group.
The stage was set by exploring our personal, professional and political complexities.
What we learned: complexeties in child care are universal! AND we can learn from each other to move forward. We discussed limited resources, time, professional development, burn out, work life balance, teacher shortage and inconsistencies between research and practice amongst many other topics.
We explored Embracing a Strong Image of the Child: How do we give a voice to children? What are children’s rights in Early Childhood Education? How do we reflect on and keep the rights of the child at the forefront of our work?
Our learnings and reflections:
- Documention is a window to children’s thoughts and offer them a voice to share their learnings
- Following the rights of the child offers autonomy , sense of identity, confidence and inclusion.
- Nourishment is good for the body, mind and soul
- Can we identify our design principles ? How are they communicated? How are they used?
- Protection vs participation : in efforts to protect, do we deny access to be participants in their life, learning, growth etc.
- Learning happens in relation to contemporary society
Embracing a strong Image of the Educator
We explored the image of the educator and what is the difference between professionalizing early childhood educators and treating them as professionals? What power structures exist in school? What opportunities exist within our structure ? How do we view generational identities?
What we learned and are reflecting on
- Do educators have enough time for professional development, programming time and collaboration in order to provide quality, intentional curriculum that truly honors the child
- Having a trusting relationship and connection with co-workers allows for collaboration which deepens our work
- Educators need time to reflect on documentation and study from other educators as well as their own
- We need to change our lens when supporting the “new generation” of educators
- New educators help shift our program and can help us remain contemporary
- Do educators see themselves as “change agents”
- How do we share what we are learning with each other and the greater community
Embracing a strong Image of the Early Childhood Leader
On our last day we explored leadership, we considered daily challenges that we all face but to approach it with our new lens. We considered opportunities to strengthen culture.
What we learned and are reflecting on:
- Protection vs participation – same as above, how do we support ECE’s in participating in program decisions
- What practices are outtdated and can be re-imagined?
- Are we being vulnerable and transparent as leaders- how can we make our work visible?
- How do we collect data and use it to support growth, inform policy etc
- How can we create opportunities in our organization to highlight strengths, support growth and promote professionalism?
- How does our current structure support or limit our goals?
The retreat was tempered with the perfect balance between classroom learning, small group conversations and hands on experiences. It connected us to the importance of self-care, of collaboration and connecting with like minded people. We remembered how valuable hands on experiences are and learning through play is important at all ages. To be passionate we need to bring passion and find joy.
A common thread that was re-occuring is how valuable our roles are: we are building brains and supporting children in the most impressionable time period. We need to invest time to save time. We need to invest in our early childhood educators and we can’t afford not to invest in early childhood development.
One of our favourite quotes: “We are preparing children for life- not kindergarten”
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