Guiding Principles for the New Early Childhood Professional

With growing evidence about the critical period of birth to age 5 for child development and learning, the imperative to professionalize the early childhood education workforce has never been greater. In this follow-up to The New Early Childhood Professional: A Step-By-Step Guide to Overcoming Goliath, the authors share lessons learned from their work with thousands of practitioners. They focus on four Guiding Principles for leading change: the need to Respect diverse opinions, to seek Equity, and to acknowledge the field’s Strengths while doing the hard work to enhance Competence. This book:

• Defines each Guiding Principle and examines how it impacts individual practitioners, early childhood programs, public policies, and professional systems.
• Identifies potential asymmetrical conflicts related to the Principles to demonstrate the imbalances that exist.
• Presents a diversity of voices from the field of early care and education.
• Provides a summary with a bottom-line analysis focused on achieving balance.
• Offers strategies for “facing Goliath” designed to accelerate a new reality for the field.
• Includes questions for reflection to help readers relate each Principle to their own circumstances.

With a strategic emphasis on building professional communities, strengthening professional capital, and working together to craft solutions, Guiding Principles for the New Early Childhood Professional presents a clearer vision of a unified future in early childhood care and education.

Valora Washington is CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition and the founder of the CAYL Institute in Massachusetts. Brenda Gadson specializes in working with community-based nonprofits and is the principal of BMG Consulting in Florida.

“By making clear the urgent issues that early childhood professionals face and suggesting effective strategies to confront them, this book can help our profession become stronger, more effective, and more authentically supported and appreciated.” ―Teachers College Record

"The authors call on all of us to commit to making social justice for early educators a cornerstone of professionalizing the early childhood field, helping us to see that therein lies the power of our profession and our ability to equitably meet the needs of children and families. Throughout their careers, and again in this new book, Washington and Gadson have demonstrated the courage, wisdom, and dedication required of 'architects of change.' ”
—Marcy Whitebook, founding director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley

“In a thoughtful, frank, and inspiring discussion, Washington and Gadson challenge the field of early childhood education to face the realities of our work and take charge of our professional destiny. This is a must-read!”
—Jacqueline Jones, president, Foundation for Child Development

"This book speaks to both the leader and the early childhood professional. It challenges our perspective and offers concrete examples of competence and strengths of early childhood professionals. It calls out inequities and calls leaders and early childhood professionals to action while labeling the consequences of inaction.”
—Sherri Killins Stewart, director of state systems alignment and integration, BUILD Initiative

Foreword by Marcy Whitebook

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Guiding Change: Let’s Talk!
   Truths, Dilemmas, and Contradictions
   Facing Goliath
   Essential Companions
   Leadership Dilemmas
   The Guiding Principles
   Our Hopes for Our Readers
   Let’s Talk!

Chapter 1. Respect!
   What Is Respect?
   A Deficit Approach?
   Ironies of Asymmetrical Power
   Respect: Elephants in the Room
   Radio Silence
   Taking a Different Perspective
   Respectful Listening
   Opportunity, Pathways, and Recognition
   Respectful Behavior
   The Time to Wait Has Passed!
   Achieving Balance: What Must We Add as We Professionalize
   Facing Goliath: Affirmations
   Reflect on the Guiding Principle of Respect

Chapter 2: Competence
   What Is Competence? What Are Competencies?
   Why Competencies Matter
   The Dilemma
   Competencies by Proxy
   Accelerating Degree Acquisition
   Degree Attainment:  An Insufficient Proxy for Competencies
   Beyond Degrees: Moving Toward Competencies
   Career Progression
   Achieving Balance: What We Must Add as We Professionalize
   Facing Goliath: Affirmations
   Reflect on the Guiding Principle of Competence

Chapter 3: Strengths
   The Adaptive Challenge: What’s Worth Keeping?
   Competence and Improvisational Performance Art
   Making Our Culture Visible
   "Intangibles" Drive Performance
   Preserving Our Strengths: Cautions
   Achieving Balance: What We Must Add as We Professionalize
   Facing Goliath: Affirmations
   Reflect on the Guiding Principle of Strengths

Chapter 4: Equity
   What Is Equity?
   Reality, Equality, and Equity
   Ironies of Equity
   Equal Pay for Equal Work?
   Why Must We Focus on Equity?
   Naming the Elephant in the Room
   Represent!
   Speak!
   Inequities Have Consequences
   Possibilities
   We Must Actively Reject Inequity
   Willing to Be Disturbed
   Achieving Balance: What We Must Add as We Professionalize
   Facing Goliath: Affirmations
   Reflect on the Guiding Principle of Equity

Chapter 5: Synthesis: Elevate, Unite, Claim Power—Let’s Go!
   Elevate Our Voices: Next Steps
   Unify with Systems Thinking: Next Step
   Claim Power Through Public Policy: Next Steps
   Leadership Without Authority
   Elevate, Unite, Claim Power!

Notes

References

Index

About the Authors