The Effective Early Childhood Manager

Topic: Education Issues
Words: 2009 Pages: 7

From early childhood, a child needs to receive the proper education to help them succeed. The quality of knowledge depends not only on the mental component of the person but also on his psychological condition. In recent times, because of the humanization of the modern world, an increasing number of people have paid attention to the courteous and respectful treatment of each person, which is really an essential factor. This also applies to early childhood centers, where specialists cannot find an approach to each child for which you need certain qualities. In order to do so, the manager must have a plan of action for children and be prepared for the difficulties that may arise. This should be considered to assess a particular strategy’s pros and cons and understand whether certain qualities are essential. As a manager, serving the child’s interests in the game and ensuring the appropriate level of safety and accuracy in the questions asked can contribute to training education and challenge it.

Certain human qualities and skills that can improve productivity do not apply to every profession. At the center of early childhood, many of them relate to the patience of the manager. In the field of work with children, it is essential to find the right approach for each child because the communication inherent to adults for them often needs to be clarified. The person working with them must have the qualities that will allow children to feel safe and comfortable during the training, which will generate more trust. Among those qualities that will help to influence the center’s philosophy, you can highlight the attentive attitude to issues, the development of children’s playing skills during training, and the push to develop social skills (Education Review Office, 2013). All these actions are possible thanks to the patience of the specialists working with children, their kindness, and their attention to their work. Nevertheless, compassion, concentration, and patience can improve the situation and cause difficulties to be overcome by specialists.

The first factor that can help implement high-quality learning is the development of a curriculum that will interest the child. In this regard, it is important to understand child psychology and the inherent needs of children in their early life. To conduct training sessions with the child, it is necessary to make “a curriculum that is appropriately linked to their interests” (Duncan, 2006, p. 32). This is necessary to arouse the child’s interest in professional knowledge and the knowledge they want. For the manager, in turn, in this case, it is essential to approach the idea creatively and gently push the child to learn. Children are much more sensitive to the behavior of adults, and therefore to interest them and win their trust, it is necessary to make efforts and time. Such factors might not be crucial for adult learners, but it is imperative to consider them when working with children. Thanks to this approach, a specialist will be trusted and able to perform their work more quickly and efficiently. Thus, by assessing children’s interests, the specialist can achieve significant results and make the learning process more desirable and exciting for the child.

It is also essential to understand that in the implementation of the play form of education for children, there are some difficulties related to the ability of the specialist to perceive such methods. At this stage, it is crucial to note that such a form of education is compelling and exciting for the child and therefore has a full right to existence. Creating interactive learning for children is now essential for the education system worldwide, as traditional methods are increasingly irrelevant in solving contemporary problems. In the waiting contest, modern teachers need to learn “to hear other ways of children’s learning that might be more inclusive of different world views” (Gould & Matapo, 2016, p. 55). Possible problems can be the difference between generations or the teacher’s unwillingness to perceive something new and change the method, adapting it to modernity. However, it is vital for the manager always to be aware of the latest trends and consider the children’s wishes, as the training is aimed primarily at them. Thus, difficulties in changing the rules of learning can be a challenge to improving the quality of the curriculum, but they can be overcome through hard work.

The second factor leading to changes in the curriculum is ensuring a safe learning environment for the child. As is the case for every human being, the safety of children is also a necessary, if not a more critical, component. When a child feels safe, brain activity and learning productivity also improve as the brain and body are at peace. This directly affects the improvement of the quality of the educational program because the process of learning depends on its outcome. Therefore, to improve the learning environment, it is necessary to provide more security and stability for children in the center of early childhood (Children’s Action Plan, 2015). On the part of the manager, it is necessary to have an increased sense of responsibility, as security may be more complex than it may seem at first glance and significantly impact the educational process. Thus, the safety of children in learning is another factor that can improve the quality of education by ensuring appropriate comfort for teachers and students, which is possible due to good personnel conduct.

During the environmental monitoring phase of education, parents may mistrust teachers and, consequently, the educational system. This may be due to a negative experience in which parents have experienced inappropriate behavior by staff towards them or towards the child. So, the new challenge is that “parents who have experienced previous negative encounters with teachers are likely to lack the confidence to engage with them” (Chan & Ritchie, 2016, p. 297). In this situation, such distrust also affects the quality of the curriculum but has a negative impact on it, which is disadvantageous for any early childhood center. Still, extraneous factors can hinder proving the safety of education. In this case, for the manager, the qualities of restraint and tolerance are necessary because when working with people, these factors are essential. It was possible to achieve critical results through constant work on the issue, but it was indeed required to work on it. Thus, parents’ distrust of the safety of learning can become another challenge that needs to be dealt with by the staff, using their positive traits and restraint.

Finally, the final factor in this analysis is the correct presentation of questions to the child during learning, which affects both the mood of the students and the quality of their education. The importance of the ability to ask the right questions cannot be overestimated because such a skill is necessary for all spheres of human life, including both adult life and childhood. It is essential to learn to ask the right questions to get the required information, and perhaps a specialist who “will be able to ask questions you may not have thought of” (Carsen, 2014, p. 59). The achievement of this goal also directly impacts the quality of the education provided, as the answers to the questions can reveal specific abilities of students, which will help find more creative approaches for children. At this stage, the manager should achieve a greater level of trust. Thus, a competent attitude to the child’s questions can affect the teaching methods and quality, and it is necessary to be careful about such factors.

The correct formulation of questions also has unique problems, which can be associated with the unprofessional manager when choosing themes. Some topics could be more desirable when talking to people, especially children, during education. Such issues may include questions of religion, ethnicity, disability, or other protected characteristic (Carsen, 2014). Such topics are considered personal and, therefore, only sometimes suitable for discussion with outsiders. By asking such questions, the specialist shows the level of incompetence and sometimes even indiscretion, which can directly affect the quality of training. In the worst case, this negligence may make the child withdrawn and unwilling to contact during studying. A slight misstep on the part of the staff can significantly affect mental health. If the child’s psychological condition is depressed, the quality of his studies will dramatically fall, as this process will no longer be a pleasure for the person. To avoid such tests, the manager must be careful about the questions he asks and consider every step ahead. Thus, to prevent further problems, do not address personal topics that may be unpleasant to the child but focus on more critical issues for the learning process.

In assessing prospects, it was essential to consider the diversification of the world. Therefore, it was necessary not only to adapt to current realities but also to create the conditions for the self-identification of working staff. The more time passes, the more diverse the world becomes, and this is also true of the childish nature and the new developments it must face. However, the methods of working in such conditions are still under development, and over the years, more and more proven ways of working with modern diversity (Grivastava & Kleiner, 2015). Nevertheless, it is essential to start thinking about experiments in this area to be aware of progress. True specialists should better understand the importance of self-identification to carry out such brutal actions. If we talk about working staff, “personal identity is crucial to consider, as this recognizes the values and beliefs of the teachers” (Sandilands, 2016, p. 54). This is necessary for critically assessing one’s capabilities and analyzing behavior. Without this factor, creating a high-quality learning system is impossible. Thus, it is now required for specialists to learn how to work with diversity and, above all, to hear and understand themselves for complete work.

To respond confidently to all the changes and challenges of the modern education system, the specialist must be prepared to change his attitude toward children’s education in general. This process is still relatively complex and therefore requires the manager to have a variety of human and professional qualities. Sometimes modern ones are overcome through hard work, attention, and quick reaction to events. “it usually requires extended discussion and review among leaders who must be confident that their cultural blocks are solid” (Lencioni, 2012, p. 103). In this case, the solution will be more precise and concrete, which will help professionals to implement the correct behavior as soon as possible while accelerating the curriculum system’s improvement. The most important rule is not to be afraid of the upcoming changes but to react boldly to them. It is essential to find the strength to deal with the problems, knowing that this will soon lead to results. A good specialist should be prepared for any upcoming development. Thus, one of the most necessary qualities of a manager is his flexibility and readiness to make decisions that can change children’s attitudes to learning for the better.

In conclusion, to improve the quality of the curriculum, it is necessary to combine the improvement of both the personal and professional attributes of professionals and the introduction of changes in education. To adapt to the current realities of the world, it is necessary to consider trends in human values and the humanization of society. To improve the education system in early learning centers, if I were a manager, I would need to learn how to articulate questions and make learning more interactive and safer. Despite the difficulties such changes may encounter, they are essential for improvement. The problems that arise can be solved thanks to specific characteristics inherent in the manager. Such qualities include attentiveness to students, caution, and goodwill. It is not enough only to implement changes in the modern educational system because it is necessary to complement this with human factors, which show the attitude of teachers toward students. To achieve high-quality education, it is required to work on subsequent challenges that arise in the process, but it will help to create a robust system that will make both children and adults happy.

References

Carsen, J. (2014). Questions that get you great teachers. Exchange Press.

Chan, A., & Ritchie, J. (2016). Parents, participation, partnership: Problematising New Zealand early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. Web.

Children’s Action Plan. (2015). The vulnerable children’s act factsheet.

Duncan, J. (2006). Aspiring to quality – culturally constructed. Early Childhood Folio.

Education Review Office. (2013). Priorities for children’s learning in early childhood services: Good practice.

Gould, K., & Matapo, J. (2016). What’s in a philosophy statement? A critical discourse analysis of early childhood center philosophy statements in Aotearoa/New Zealand. He Kupu, 4(3), 51-60.

Grivastava, S. & Kleiner, B. (2015). Managing cultural diversity in the workplace. Journal of International Diversity, 1, 30-36.

Lencioni, P. (2012). The advantage: Why organizational health trumps everything else in business. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sandilands, K. (2016). A pedagogy of passion: working with infants in early childhood education. He Kupu, 4(4), 52-60.