This document focuses on building and leading teams in early childhood settings, emphasizing the importance of effective leadership and communication to enhance team dynamics and individual potential. It discusses various aspects of leadership, including the role of communication, interpersonal relationships, and the significance of leaders satisfying the basic needs of their team members. Additionally, the document encourages reflection on leadership practices and the impact of interruptions in communication within teams.

1. WEEK 12
Building and leading teams (part 1)
Leadership in practice
12.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘Building and Leading Teams’ This
is outlined below:
· Develop an understanding of the practice of leadership in
early childhood settings/centres
· Consider leadership of self and others within the team
· Reflect on the specific aspects of leadership likely to be most
effective in supporting learning and personal development
within teams
· Engage with relevant theory and reflect on leadership practice
We begin the week by considering the following quote in
relation to building and leading teams:
‘Effective leadership and teamwork are considered to be factors
which contribute to increased self-esteem, high job satisfaction
and staff morale, reduced stress and a decreased likelihood of
staff burnout’ (Schiller, 1987 cited in Rodd 2006:p.147).
In order to achieve effective leadership and team work it is
important to consider how we lead, guide and support
individuals as well as teams.
.

2. 12.2 Follow my leader
.
.
A fairly standard definition of leadership is one such as
behaviour that enables and assists others to achieve personal
and organisational ambitions and goals.
.
This suggests that leadership might have as much to do with
making helpful suggestions as issuing strategic directives (to
the team), as much about listening to other people’s ideas as
expounding your own, and as much about gentleness as about
toughness.
.
Effective leadership is about helping people and teams to be as
effective as they have the potential to be. Leadership which
flows from this idea, has some important features:
.
· Leadership needs to be seen as a function of a group rather
than the role of an individual
.
· Leadership can be behaviour which gives power away
.
.
· The aims of leadership should be the increase of self-
directedness and the release of energy, imagination and
creativity in all those who form the organisation
.
· Leadership behaviour also needs to be designed by the
followers. Leaders need to seek information from their

3. colleagues about the sort of leadership that suits them best as a
team
.
· One of the key functions of leadership is to help in the
creating of conditions in which people feel motivated to work to
the optimum levels of their capacity, energy, interest and
commitment
.
In striving for more life enhancing forms of leadership, we need
to question our very assumptions about people and personal
power. This new concept of leadership adopts an approach,
which recognises that, the potential and power to work
effectively lies within the person as well as the team rather than
the leader. We still cling on to assumptions that people cannot
be trusted to direct their own work and that they must be
instructed, guided, monitored, controlled, rewarded and
punished – the theory X position discussed in week 3. Life
centred leaders believe in the basic dignity and worth of people
and in their capacity for commitment, self-direction and
achievement. The effectiveness of a leader is not always in what
they give to us but what they refuse to take away: our self-
respect, our integrity and our potential to make a significant
contribution.
12.3 Reflective task
.
.
Think about leaders you have worked with. What have been the
similarities and differences between them in terms of leading

4. the team effectively?
.
What was it they did that gained the teams respect and loyalty?
.
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
.
12.4 Communicating within the team
.
Human communication is a hazardous business and the capacity
for misunderstanding between people is enormous. It is a tribute
to our natural and intuitive capacities that we manage
communication without even more disagreements and conflicts.
.
In the process of observing others – listening to what they say
and watching what they do – we can begin to sense the nature of
their experience. But we all have the capacity to dissemble – to
say things and do things, which are not congruent with what we
are experiencing and feeling. This can lead to confusion,
ambiguity, mixed messages and misunderstanding. To be more
effective in our team relationships, we need to be aware of and
sensitive to the complex nature of the interpersonal landscape
between others and ourselves. It is important to note the range
of intra-personal factors that combine to make us what we are
and how we behave in different communications situations.
.
We have all been shaped and moulded by our experience. In any
early childhood setting each person has:
· Grown up with family members who have provided powerful
influences and presented models of behaviour
.
· Acquired a personal history of communications and developed
a unique profile of relationships

5. .
· Developed a repertoire of strategies for interacting within our
complex social world
.
· Evolved a code of conduct to guide our actions in the world
.
· Established a personal and distinctive set of habits and
patterns
.
Early childhood settings are complex organisations in which a
rich network of differentiated experience and belief is in a state
of constant interaction. As well as the purely individual and
personal elements, communication behaviour in an organisation
is affected by a variety of social and institutional structures:
.
· Status
· Authority
· Power
· Age
· Race
· Gender
· Disability

6. Each factor will further affect the ways in which individuals
within teams experience organisational life and how pecking
orders, chains of command, informal networks and strategic
alliances are established.
.
Over the past twenty years there have been concerted efforts to
change oppressive communication cultures particularly those
built on prejudices about age, race, class, gender and ability.
Many organisations are careful to develop policies, which
protect individual groups from exploitation and oppression.
Central to these policies are issues of interpersonal
communication: the assumptions we make and the language we
use.
.
In most settings communication is conducted in a climate of
increasing challenge and complexity, as old assumptions are
rejected and new ones developed. It is important not to set
standards so high that people are discouraged from
communicating through a fear of making mistakes. An effective
communication culture encourages development and expects a
certain clumsiness as people struggle to find new patterns and
processes.
.
Building and developing relationships within teams is a process
of matching the elements of our own unique world with that of
others. The greater the similarities, the greater the likelihood of
an open and satisfying relationship. Most of the time our
behaviour is purposeful, designed to meet needs and satisfy
aspirations. In comfortable relationships and teams where we
feel a positive sense of connection within the interpersonal
landscape, we tend to strive for harmony between our inner
world and our behavior. We become more open and trusting to
the other person.
.

7. In difficult and uncomfortable relationships we experience a
sense of tension and dissonance in the interpersonal landscape.
This can create feelings of anxiety which can result in
behaviour designed to protect our inner world from attack and
judgment. We become more closed and defensive.
.
Clearly the process of communicating within teams is
immensely complex and there is a great deal to try and do in
such a short time. We cannot plan every communication
incident in advance since we do not know when the majority of
them are likely to arise or exactly how individuals will react
and respond. But with those that we know we are going to
initiate, we can try and take some of these important factors
into consideration.
.
Communication is the key vehicle for management and
leadership work. Without this encounter there is no
management. Interpersonal communication is the main
curriculum for management development. Sadly it is the one
that is most neglected.
.
12.5 Reading Task
To begin, read: Basic Needs, Conflict, and Dynamics in Groups
by Karen John. This is available as a journal article from the
Library. Clickhere to access the Library now and look for: The
Journal of individual Psychology, Vol56, No.4, Winter 2000.
Please read the article then in your learning journal reflect and
evaluate your thoughts, ideas and responses.
The journal looks at the following:
.
· Conflict
· The group mind
· Fundamental Psychological Needs

8. · Group Dynamics and the Crucial C’s
· Group as Container
· Constructive Potential of Within-Group Conflict
· Sources and Modifiers of Intergroup Conflict
· Work, Work Groups, and Power Relations
· Contradictions in New Management
· Cooperation in the Workplace
.
12.6 Reflective task
.
.
What do leaders/managers need to do to create a working
environment in which communication within the team flows
freely and everyone feels informed?
.
What strategies have you found effective in your centre/setting?
.
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
.
12.7 Leadership as giving
.

9. The old maxim that it is more blessed to give than to receive is
seldom quoted in the literature of leadership and management
yet it is one of the most profound ideas behind transformative
leadership.
.
Toxic and tyrannical leadership is all about trying to force
things out of people and teams – better performances, more time
and increased effort – through behaviours that are cajoling,
demanding, critical and impatient. Since such behaviours do not
seem to produce more effectiveness and commitment in our
colleagues, we might assume that it is because we are not doing
it well enough. It may not occur to us that the idea is bad, not
the implementation of it.
.
A key question for all those involved in early years leadership
is: ‘what do I have to give?’ As well as a range of technical and
professional offerings, there are some fundamental human
attributes, which can make the world of difference to our
colleagues in building and leading teams more effectively:
.
· Presence – being there for them
· Attentiveness – listening to their experience
· Understanding – sharing their concerns
· Interest – in what they do, hope for and worry about
· Concern – showing that we care about them and the work they
do

10. · Sensitivity – recognising vulnerabilities and handling them
with respect
· Responsiveness – telling them how we think and feel
Sadly such an approach to leadership has not featured in much
of leadership and management training. There are many who do
practise their leadership in a giving way but some have been led
to see it as a soft option and feel that they should be tougher,
more demanding and requiring, and less understanding and
concerned.
As well as considering leadership from the leaders own
perspective, it is important to have regard for the needs that we
have of our leaders. Good leaders seem to have an infinite
capacity not only to satisfy vital needs but also to anticipate
them. Such capacity grows out of four key qualities:
· Genuine interpersonal behaviour
· Warmth, care and respect
· Empathy
· Belief in the potential of others to grow and develop
All of us are needy. Failure to get some very specific needs
satisfied – particularly those that contribute to our pattern of
motivation – can result in loss of confidence and enthusiasm, a
sense of not being involved, a feeling of being unappreciated
and undervalued, and a reduction of job commitment and
energy. These are expensive losses, which few organisations can
afford. Good leadership is the delicate process of anticipating

11. these needs in others and striving to satisfy them. This is as true
for learners in classrooms as it is for practitioners.
.
Effective carers and practitioners are those whose who are able
to reach out to children, to appreciate and understand their
needs and seek specific and individual ways of satisfying them.
Diana Whitmore (1886: p.78) asserts that,
‘If children were to experience adults as welcoming, guiding
and supportive, they would discover the wonder of life, the joy
of exploring, the beauty of understanding’.
So too as leaders and managers we can help to create these felt
experiences in our colleagues and teams if we seize
opportunities to respond to some basic needs:
.
· Feeling trusted: conveying to colleagues a belief in their
abilities; resisting temptation to increase control when things
are difficult; expressing delight at successes and achievements
.
· Feeling heard and listened to: constantly seeking opportunities
to listen to colleagues experiences, asking questions, seeking
information, eliciting opinions, delving into details and showing
genuine interest and concern
.
· Feeling noticed and appreciated: taking note of contributions
and providing regular positive feedback on successes and
achievements
.
· Feeling encouraged: empathising with the demands and

12. challenges of the work colleagues do, providing support for
problem solving and action planning
.
· Feeling appropriately challenged: building a climate of
systematic and continuous improvement, constantly helping
others to seek new angles, new possibilities and new ideas
.
· Feeling valued: providing detailed and specific feedback so
that all colleagues feel a deep sense that their contributions and
efforts are valued
.
· Feeling informed: keeping information flowing freely through
the centre, checking that colleagues know what is going on
.
· Feeling supported: offering practical help as well as moral
support, getting alongside colleagues as often as possible,
providing a helping hand and a listening ear
.
12.8 Reflective task
.
.
Where do you stand on this issue of leadership as giving?
.
In your experience do teams tend to work more effectively when
they are supported and trusted rather than directed and
controlled?
.
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.

13. 12.9 Eyeball to eyeball
.
It is how we behave in the many face to face situations of
setting/centre life that determines whether we influence and
support children, families and colleagues effectively. David
Howe (1993) also suggests that much depends on our capacity
to be more aware of and respond to the basic needs of
individuals and teams. He singles out three particular needs:
· Feeling accepted: Leaders can help us to feel part of the past,
present and future of the centre. They can help us to believe that
we have an important part to play in the scheme of things and
that our contribution is significant and special
· Feeling acknowledged: leaders can notice us. They can draw
attention to those parts of our work, which interest and delight
them. They can provide encouraging feedback and also draw our
achievements to the attention of others
· Feeling entitled: leaders can help us feel ok to be who we are,
to have the feelings we experience, and to hold the beliefs that
are important to us
The effect of these leadership behaviours is to affirm our self-
esteem and to help us feel worthwhile both about ourselves and
about our contribution to the development of the centre/setting.
Central to this is the capacity of leaders to understand their
teams (and individuals) to engage with them in the struggle to
achieve what is important to them in their lives. Perhaps it is
the very process of having an interest taken in what is important
to us that has such a powerful effect on our professional energy
and commitment.
.

14. Leaders can really make an impact by doing the following:
.
· Helping others to figure out what they would be proudest of
doing in their role and then helping them to do it
· Helping others to satisfy important personal goals through
their professional role
· Helping others to search for and discover, meaning in the
daily grind
· Helping others to activate and honour the small voice deep
inside them which seeks expression and understanding
· Helping others to become who they really want to be
We are discovering more and more about those behaviours
which seem to make a significant difference in enabling others
to release and express more of their potential. The more we do
this, the more we see leadership as a process of human
nourishment and less a matter of keeping people to their
contracts. Development also involves the process of unfolding:
encouraging others to allow what is deep within themselves to
come to the surface of their being rather than to lay hidden and
concealed.
The influential psychologist Abraham Maslow (1978) observed
that at every moment in our lives we have a choice between the
joys of safety and the joys of growth. Far too often in the
troubled and conflictual cultures of many settings/centres we
choose the safety option, thereby denying ourselves the
possibility of development and growth but also preventing our
skills and qualities from having a greater impact on the
centre/setting itself. Perhaps the very heart of leadership is

15. helping people do justice to their own potential.
12.10 Reflective task
.
.
Consider the three basic needs referred to above: feeling
accepted, feeling acknowledged and feeling entitled.
.
What ways have leaders/managers you have worked with helped
you and the team to satisfy these needs?
.
What happens when leaders/managers ignore them?
12.11 Interruptions
.
Most leadership and management interactions in settings/centres
are very brief, the majority lasting less than a minute. Most of
these interactions are activated by interruptions by someone
who has a need or someone who may be able to satisfy it. This
means that a great deal of our leadership work is incidental
arising out of the moment. While it is clearly not possible to
plan for what is unpredictable, it is possible to be prepared for
interruptions when they occur.
This preparedness is mostly to do with our communication
capability and the sorts of signals and messages we convey to
our children, families and colleagues when they interrupt us and
when we interrupt them.
Our impact on those we interact with is directly related to the
look on our face, the words we choose, the tone of voice we use
to utter them and the quality of attentiveness we provide when

16. the colleague replies.
.
Below are some of the crucial elements that are present in any
leadership encounter:
.
· The messages we convey before we utter the first word
· The opening gambit, and its impact on the other person
· Showing our feelings about the other person
· Disclosing our own thoughts and feelings about the business
we are discussing
· Encouraging the other to disclose their own thoughts and
feelings
· Getting to the point clearly
· Asking for what we want
· Responding to the other’s concerns, worries, enthusiasms and
needs
· Conveying understanding of their position
· Clarifying the details of agreements made
It is our capacity to keep aware of these factors that is vital in
leadership encounters where the success of the communication
is much more dependent on the leader than it is on the other.

17. Leadership by interruptions is at the heart of what we do. Every
interruption offers us a specific and unique opportunity to make
a positive difference. It is through interruptions that we are
given the chance to do some of our very best work.
12.12 Reflective task
.
How do interruptions feature in your work and that of your
leader/manager?
.
Do you experience interruptions as an irritant or use them as an
opportunity?
.
Use your journals to record your responses.
12.13 Summary of session
.
This week’s session began by looking at how leadership
behaviour can enable and assist individuals and teams to
achieve their personal and organizational ambitions and goals.
We also began to explore communication within teams. You
then engaged in reading an article by Karen John (Basic Needs,
Conflict and Dynamics in Groups). The idea of leadership as
giving was discussed and the possibility of using interruptions
as a way of making a positive difference to individuals and the
team.
.
12.14 Weekly task
.
.
Read the Journal of Workplace Learning Emerald Article: The

18. two faces of leadership: considering the dark side of
leader-follower dynamicsbyChristine Clements and John B.
Washbush. Click here to access now.
Abstract
.A number of years ago, David McClelland, in his studies of
managerial motivation, identified two types of power: egoistic
(using others for personal gain) and social (facilitating group
cooperation and effort for the achievement of the general good).
Clearly, the power motive is intimately related to the concept of
leadership. However, over the last several decades, a school of
thought has arisen which equates leadership with “doing the
right thing''. Defining leadership in such an ethical light is both
misleading and dangerous. At the same time, little has been
done to address the role of followers in the influence process,
and transformational models of leadership have exacerbated this
problem. Failure to acknowledge the role of followers and to
examine the “dark side'' of leader-follower dynamics can distort
effort to understand influence processes in an authentic way.
This paper provides balance to this discussion and identifies a
number of critical implications for leadership education.
Use your journals to reflect on the article and record your
responses.
References
Clements, C. and Washbush, J. (1999) The two faces of
leadership: considering the dark side of leader-follower
dynamics", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 11 Iss: 5 pp.
170 - 176
Howe, D. (1993) On Being a Client: Understanding the Process
of Counselling and Psychotherapy London: Sage

19. Karen, J. (2000) Basic Needs, Conflict, and Dynamics in
Groups: The Journal of Individual Psychology, Vol. 56, NO. 4,
Winter 2000
University of Texas Press
Maslow, A. (1978) The Farther Reaches of Human Nature
London: Penguin
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Whitmore, D. (1986) Psychosynthesis in Education
Wellingborough: Turnstone Press
.
This week’s session began by looking at how leadership
behaviour can enable and assist individuals and teams to
achieve their personal and organizational ambitions and goals.
We also began to explore communication within teams. You
then engaged in reading an article by Karen John (Basic Needs,
Conflict and Dynamics in Groups). The idea of leadership as
giving was discussed and the possibility of using interruptions
as a way of making a positive difference to individuals and the
team.
.
Week 13: Building and Leading teams (part 2)
13.1 Aims this week
.
Last week we began to:
.

20. · Develop an understanding of the practice of leadership in
early childhood settings/centres
· Consider leadership of self and others within the team
· Reflect on the specific aspects of leadership likely to be most
effective in supporting learning and personal within teams
.
.
The focus this week continues with: ‘Building and Leading
Teams’ This is outlined below:
.
· Further develop an understanding of effective leadership in
practice
· Be aware of nutrients and toxins and the impact they can have
on individuals as well as the team
· Explore effective leadership and team building
· Consider group dynamics and team development
· Look at building and leading multi-disciplinary teams
· Continue to reflect on practice
13.2 Valuing staff prior experiences
.
The importance of individual’s life histories and biographies
Each of us brings to our work in the early years a unique life
history. Your own life history may have some features that are
similar to those of colleagues but no one will have experienced
life events in the same way or drawn from them the same
insights and understanding that have given meaning to your life.

21. Our progress through life will have been helped or hindered by
the impact that various people have had on us.
.
In the struggle to understand the complexities of leadership
work in a multi-professional setting, we believe it is vital that
the leader allows and facilitates the to staff team to share and
explore the life events that have shaped their lives and from
which their core professional values, visions, and beliefs have
come from.
.
In her study of women leaders, Valerie Hall (1996) writes about
what she calls ‘leadership antecedents’ and how these have
combined to develop leaders with powerful visions and effective
skills.
.
Margy Whalley (1999) in her study of successful early years
leaders, demonstrated how leadership awareness is significantly
increased when, as part of a leadership learning community,
leaders are invited to depict in graphic form the life incidents
and events they believe helped them to develop their leadership
attributes.
.
In any staff team, it is important for colleagues to identify and
recognise different professional perspectives and practices and
to understand how and why these have developed. In an
integrated centre, staff will have come from different
professional traditions such as early education and children’s
social work, community services, health or adult educators. The
diverse traditions espouse different bodies of knowledge,
professional practice and sometimes significantly different
value positions. The members of a multi-professional team may
have followed circuitous career routes and all will have
influenced the role that different team members assume within
the centre.
.
Often we can know a colleague for years and not discover some

22. of the skills and expertise they have gathered in their lives.
.
13.3 Reflective task
.
.
.Rodd (2006:p.145) believes that, ‘Good leaders build teams by
making everyone feel that their contribution matters’.
.
Do you feel that your contribution matters in your
setting/centre? If yes, how? If not, why not? Journal your
response.
.
13.4 Effective leadership and team building
.
..
In the early childhood field a high importance is put on
effective leadership. Sylva and Siraj-Blatchford (2003) affirms
that high quality provision is achieved through the quality and
qualifications of the leader (Rodd, 2006), as this supports the
raising of standards and sets the standard for other staff to
follow. One of the basic principles of effective leadership is to
enable the rest of the team to be as effective as them (NPQICL
booklet 9). This can be achieved by supporting staff
encouraging positive attitudes and behaviours.
.
Rodd (2006:p.61) states that, an effective leader:
.
· Uses personality to lead by example, thereby stimulating a
particular team culture
· Is innovative and is perceived to be making things better by
improving team morale and productivity

23. · Ensures that constructive relationships are established and
maintained with the staff and peers (particularly multi-agency
teams).
· Focuses attention on behaviour or the situation, not on the
person
· Fosters the self-esteem and confidence of team members
· Coaches team members (including multi-professional staff) to
improve their performance
The following attributes can support the demands of team
leadership:
.
· Adaptable (the capacity to be responsive and innovative)
· Energetic (action-oriented and committed to work)
· People-orientated (values people and communicates openly)
· Quality-conscious (pays attention to standards of excellence
and consumer needs and expectations)
· Uniting (clarifies the common purpose and promotes the value
of cooperation)
· Entrepreneurial (autonomous and able to articulate the
uniqueness of the service)
· Focused (self-disciplined and predictable)
· Informal (a relaxed, straightforward approach to people and
situations)

24. .
When building and leading teams it is vital that the leader is
aware of the positive contribution or impact that they bring to
that team.
.
Neugebauer and Neugebauer (1998) cited in Rodd
(2006:p.163/164) highlights a five-step framework for team
building:
.
1. Set achievable goalswhich have been mutually agreed by
members of the team. Ensure that the more assertive staff
members do not dominate the process, especially during
discussion at team meetings
.
2. Clarify roles.Team members work most effectively when
their roles are clear to all and free of conflict. Each staff
member should be aware of who is responsible for what. While
it will be easier to clarify the formal roles that need to be
fulfilled, the informal roles that relate to the internal
functioning of the group should not be forgotten (Johnson and
Johnson, 2003). The leader needs to analyse the group to make
sure that someone is taking responsibility for the team task
roles (initiating, information-gathering, opinion-seeking and
giving, clarifying, elaborating, energising, summarising and
consensus-testing) and team maintenance roles (encouraging,
harmonising, compromising, gatekeeping, observing and
standard setting)
.
3. Build supportive relationships.Build in opportunities for
feedback, develop trust and provide resources to stimulate a

25. cooperative team spirit. Teams where members feel supported
are more likely to deal (rather than ignore) common team
difficulties such as role ambiguity, role conflict and group
conflict
.
4. Encourage active participation in order to capitalise on the
knowledge and skills of individual team members. In an
atmosphere of acceptance, team members will be encouraged to
contribute their ideas, opinions and energies. Being part of a
cooperative venture can be extremely motivating for team
members, and this will increase productivity.
.
5. Monitoring team effectiveness. There is little point in
putting time and energy into team leadership and the team-
building process if the team is not achieving the goals
effectively or if the team is unhappy with the process. Regular
opportunities need to be provided by the leader to assess the
extent of goal achievement and how well members are working
together as a team. This review process can help identify any
problems and establish their cause, as well as assisting with
future planning.
.
13.5 Reflective task
.
..
Reflect on your current team in relation to the five-step
framework and teambuilding.
.
In your journal make a list of the positive ways in which your
leader builds and leads the team. Them make a list of the areas

26. that you believe could be developed further and why.
.
13.6 Leadership nutrients and toxins
.
Leadership nutrients work to build and develop, a positive,
friendly, enriching and ambitious organisational culture and is
one way of creating job satisfaction this can be achieved in the
following ways, through:
.
· Commitment
· Energy
· Enthusiasm
· Enterprise
· Responsibility
· Collaboration
· Initiative
· Confidence
Not all leaders will achieve consistency of success in this, but
many will be able to create conditions for positive growth and
development and work constantly to avoid the consequences of
a downward spiral.
.
Our capacity to work effectively towards centre goals is
determined by a variety of factors:
.
· We want to feel a sense of satisfaction, both about the work

27. we do and about its contribution to the organisation itself
.
· We want to feel able to exercise preferences, both about the
conduct of our own roles and responsibilities, but also in
decisions about organisational direction and practice
.
· We want to feel interested in, and concerned about, our work
so that our efforts and contributions are in tune with our
purposes in life
.
· We want to feel challenged to use our best abilities to achieve
worthwhile goals
.
· We want to enjoy the process of work and to experience
pleasure in being part of the organisational enterprise
.
Leadership toxins can inhibit our potential and are those verbal
and non-verbal behaviours that trigger certain emotions such as
fear, anger, resentment and jealousy. These are often painful
feelings that are activated when we are on the receiving end of
particular types of communication behaviour:
.
· Having our ideas rejected or stolen
· Being over directed

28. · Facing constant, criticism
· Not being listened to
· Being ignored
· Being misunderstood
· Being judged
Effective leadership is about helping individuals and the team to
be as effective as them. This involves supporting the team to
use their talents, skills and abilities free from restriction and
encouraging them through positive attitudes and behaviours.
.
If the above behaviours (toxins) are employed consistently and
systematically they can undermine self-esteem, confidence,
commitment and professional ambition, (Whitaker, 1998). They
can also create an environment of:
.
· Compliance
· Apathy
· Lethargy
· Caution
· Cynicism
· Mistrust
· Fear

29. 13.7 Group dynamics and team development
.
Iceberg Theory
.
.This theory has been around for over 60 years. Sigumnd Freud
(original 1938; republished by Penguin in 2004) said ‘The mind
is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above
water’. In the leadership context the theory liken the staff of an
organisation to icebergs ina. Above the water line we can
observe individuals behaviour, however below the waterline
which is unobservable lay people’s hopes, interests, intentions,
feelings, fears, needs, assumptions, psychological wounds,
expectations, experiences, belief.
.
Freud (1938) believes that just as seven-tenths of an iceberg is
below the surface of the water, so it is suggested, is seven-
tenths of each person. Only the heads stick out above the water
line, however, the icebergs collide and bump into each other,
sometimes with quite damaging consequences. For many of the
staff in most organisations, the real business of relationships is
below the surface. Dislikes, fear, resentment, mistrust, envy,
jealousy and anger and frustration remain submerged. What is
needed for the water level to be lowered so that these
interpersonal issues can be exposed, explored and resolved. The
superficial veneer of niceness, which characterises the human
culture in many organisations, is counterproductive and
damaging to effective teamwork, inhibiting to the development
of staff and counter to the purposes that most organisations are
intent on pursuing.
.
The iceberg theory can be useful particularly for practitioners
who work in children centres as they often find it difficult to
challenge and they avoid conflict. There is this veneer of

30. ‘niceness’ amongst staff. However there is often an underlying
current of resentment between individuals and teams. Using the
iceberg theory in supervision for example can help to break
down barriers and encourage challenge and development in a
respectful way.
.
Understanding something about group dynamics – or collective
interactions and behaviour patterns that can be observed in
groups – as well as the individual needs of group members, can
help leaders limit their potential destructiveness in the
workplace.
.
Our fundamental social need to feel we belong or connect is
extensively studied in research underpinned by attachment
theory. When we feel disconnected from the team, we become
overly dependent on others and seek undue attention from the
leader and team members. Our need to feel capable is the
subject of research on competence motivation or its absence
among school-aged children. When we feel we do not count,
are insignificant or overlooked by others, we feel hurt and apply
ourselves to hurting back.
.
The most effective leaders are those who appreciate and devote
time to addressing group dynamics and team development and
do what they can to help each team member meet their
individual needs to belong, to feel competent and significant
and to feel able to feel able to handle difficult situations.
(NPQICL booklet 9:p.12-24)
.
13.8 Reflective task
.
..
Think of your setting, an organisation you know well or have
worked in. Use the iceberg theory to generate descriptions and

31. explanations of how the cultures of these organisations
operate/operated?
.
In your journal record your responses.
.
13.9 Building and leading a multi-disciplinary team
.
Experience tells us that one of the best ways of establishing a
strong multi-agency team is to give practitioners and
professionals time together. The Co-location of some services,
for example health visitors, midwives, family support workers,
outreach workers and volunteers sharing office space or a staff
room, fosters a better understanding of the aims and priorities
for each agency and helps to identify common ground. Leaders
have a responsibility to ensure issues of confidentiality need to
be addressed specially with information sharing protocols and
particular care must be taken if there is any possibility of
volunteer workers having access to information about local
families.
.
A strong, skilled leader with enthusiasm must articulate the
settings/centre vision that has been agreed. The vision should
then be translated into realistic goals and common targets so
that all team members are clear that they share the same goals.
These should be simply expressed, written down, understood by
all. The roles and responsibilities of each partner agency need
to be defined and incorporated into a centre agreement that sets
out ground rules.
.
Joint training by practitioners and professionals are crucial to
the success of building effective teams and multi-professional
working. It provides opportunities for staff to get to know one
another, cooperate, discuss and make joint decisions.

32. .
It is also particularly important to be clear about the line
management structure where this is shared between a line
manager in the multi-agency service and a member of the
practitioner’s own professional based elsewhere.
.
In multi-agency teams it is helpful if there is a common line
management system that applies to all members of the team,
including those who are supervised externally. It is essential
that practitioners retain a link with colleagues in their home
agency who can give professional support and oversight.
.
Regular opportunities for the whole team to meet together to
review progress, share experiences and discuss closer working
are advisable to really establish a sense of team identity. It
sounds simple but with heavy caseloads it can be difficult for
everyone to keep in touch. Leaders of settings/centres must
ensure that time is made for this important activity.
.
Appropriate referral systems and procedures should be
developed, and mutually agreed, by all agencies involved.
Agreement should be reached on the exchange between agencies
of information about individual cases. Agreement should be
reached on using the Common Assessment Framework to
undertake needs assessment.
(DfES 2006:p16 &17)
.
The features, values and approaches discussed when leading
teams are important to any early childhood manager/leader
when trying to make things happen and by ensuring that staff
are involved and participate in the numerous activities and
services at the centre/setting.
.
13.10 Key reading
.

33. This week’s reading by Valerie Wilson and Anne Pirrie
Multidisciplinary Teamworking Beyond the Barriers? A Review
of Issues
.
Click here to access it as a PDF file now. Please read in
particular chapter 3 What encourages multidisciplinary team
working? And chapter 4 What inhibits multidisciplinary team
working?
.
In light of this week’s session and the above reading how can
leaders and managers support, build and lead multidisciplinary
teams more effectively? Use your journal to reflect and record
your responses.
.
13.10 Summary of session
.
During part 2 of building and leading teams we looked at the
importance of valuing staff prior experience, their individual
life histories and biographies. You explored what it means to be
an effective leader and the importance of supporting and
building teams. You also reflected on Neugebauer and
Neugebauer (1998) five-step framework for teambuilding in
relation to your experience of teambuilding. We briefly
discussed leadership nutrients and toxins and the impact on
organisational culture. You explored the iceberg theory in terms
of group dynamics and team development. Finally we looked at
building and leading multi-disciplinary teams.
.
13.13 Weekly task
.
.
This week’s task is a reading by Bruce Tuckman –

34. Developmental Sequence In Small Groups. Click here to access
it as a PDF file now.
What does Tuckman say about the process of team/group
development?
.
How do these relate to your current team?
.
Journal your responses
.
References
.
DfES, (2006) Sure Start Children’s Centre Practice Guidance
.
Freud, S (2004) An outline of Psychoanalysis, London, Penguin
Books
.
Hall, V. (1996) Dancing on the Ceiling: A study of women
managers in education, London, Paul Chapman
.
Johnson, D. W and Johnson, F. P (2003) Joining Together:
Group Theory and Process, international edn, Allyn & Bacon,
Needham Heights
.
Neugebauer, B and Neugebauer. Eds (1998) The Art of
Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organisations, vol.
2, Child Care Information Exchange, Perth.
.
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools. National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
.
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press

35. .
Sylva, K. and Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2003) Effective Provision of
Pre-school Education, Department for Education and Skills,
London
.
Tuckman, B (1965) Developmental Sequence In Small
Groups Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
http://aneesha.ceit.uq.edu.au/drupal/sites/default/files/Tuckman
%201965.pdf Accessed 20/1/13
.
Valerie, W. and Anne, P. (2000) Multidisciplinary
Teamworking Beyond the Barriers? A Review of Issues The
Scottish Council for Research in Education
.
Whalley, M. (1999) Women Leaders in Early Childhood
Settings: A dialogue in the 1990s, PhD thesis, University of
Wolverhampton
.
Whitaker, P. (1998) Managing schools, Oxford, Butterworth
Heinemann
.
Week 14
Professionalism/professional identity and the role of the leader
in supporting continuous professional development
14.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is to consider ‘Professionalism and
professional identity’. The session is outlined below:
· To identify what professionalism means?
· To explore what professional identity is within the changing
early childhood field

36. · Consider the role of the leader in identifying developmental
needs and supporting professional development
14.2 What does professionalism mean and who is a
professional?
.
...
Professionalism can mean different things to different people
and coming to an agreed definition within the Early Childhood
community can be complicated (Stacey 2009). Friedland (2007)
describes professionalism in the Early years as a ‘ball of
knotted string’. She describes the ‘knots’, which need untying
in order to untangle the ball and reach a clear definition.
..
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines professionalism
as ‘The competence or skill expected of a professional’. Bolam
et al (2005:p.vi) cited in Stacey (2009:p.74) acknowledges the
complications in defining professionalism and suggests that all
staff members ‘with qualifications or not, are members of
professional learning communities. They distinguish between
being ‘professional’ and ‘being a professional’. They highlight
the difference between how people perform their jobs and the
qualifications they hold. In their study on effective professional
learning communities they raise the importance of all
professionals adopting professional standards, which should be
consistent, whatever the nature of their jobs.
..
Frost (2005:p.11) cites a definition of professionalism by
Simms et al. (1993) as:
..
· A systematic body of knowledge and monopoly of powers over
its applications

37. · A self-regulating code of ethics, emphasizing values such as
respect for the confidentiality of the client
· The sanction of the community at large
· Control over the profession’s own qualification and entry
procedures
· An altruistic orientation
I believe that professionalism includes and involves the way one
conducts themselves, their accountability and integrity,
someone that wishes to achieve the highest standards within
their profession e.g. as an early years practitioner, health
visitor, social worker, teacher. Moyles (2001) believes that a
passion for the work they do is a vital attribute of
professionalism and that professionals what ever their field
must be able to articulate these (what they do) clearly.
.
In her article ‘The Personal is Professional: professionalism and
the birth to three practitioner’ Manning-Morton (2006:p.42)
contends that ‘professionalism’ in the early years must also be
understood in terms of the day-to-day detail of practitioners’
relationship with children, parents and colleagues; relationships
that demand high levels of physical, emotional and personal
knowledge and skill’.
.
Osgood (2006:p.9) suggests that professionalism within the
Early Years community can sometimes become denigrated and
is not always valued in the wider society where professionalism
is still defined through masculinised attributes (such as
rationality, competiveness, individualism). It is therefore vital
that practitioners justify and promote their work with children

38. and families to increase their professional status. This can be
achieved if they reflect on their work with children and families
stating what they are doing and why?
.
14.3 Key Reading
.This week’s reading Reconstructing Professionalism in ECEC:
the case for the ‘critically reflective emotional professional’ is
by Jayne Osgood and is a challenging read. To read it now as a
pdf file, please click here
.
The paper draws on a study with a group of early childhood
practitioners and offers a critical reappraisal of the notion of
professionalism.
.
Once you have read the article use your journal to evaluate your
practice, reflect and record your responses.
.
14.4 Professionalism, multi-professional working, a case study
and reflective task..
...
The move towards multi-professional collaboration, and
approaches such as the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge
(HM Government, 2005) for all those working with children and
families, will necessitate a much more fluid and broader
definition of professionalism (Whalley 2008).
..
Case Study
Anne is deputy head of a nursery school and children’s centre.
She began as a nursery nurse and has now completed the
National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre
Leadership (NPQICL). Her passion for her work comes over
when she describes what she does and as she says, the

39. qualifications she has attained have, in some ways enhanced
this. She feels confident in her role, but perhaps most
important, happy to think outside the box. She uses her position
to fight tooth and nail for what she believes is right and with
others, can make sure things on offer benefit the children. She
is developing her own role as she works across services.
Demanding good practice, she is prepared to argue for resources
and, having always developed good relationships with others
outside, makes demands on them, placing the child at the centre
of her actions. For example, she felt perfectly justified in
insisting that a social worker, who had wanted a mother and
child to come to her office, came to meet them at the centre
because there was a possibility that the child would be taken
into care. Anne argued that the child needed to be in an
environment where she felt secure, not in an unfamiliar office.
.
What is your definition of professionalism? Do you consider
yourself as being a professional? What does it mean to be a
professional?
.
What attributes of professionalism would you look for when
colleagues are interacting with:
.
· Children;
· Parents and carers;
· Other professional colleagues?
Use your journal to reflect and record your thoughts and
responses.
.
14.5 Professional Identity – Who am I?

40. .
Anning et al (2006:p.7) suggests that professional identity can
best be described by ‘a particular knowledge base set of values,
training and standing in the community’. Bligh (in Patrioni
1994) described each profession as behaving like a tribe, with
individual members being nurtured in distinctive ways.
Professional tribes generally choose their own leaders and
establish their own pecking orders. They impose sanctions on
any member of the tribe who does not conform. They expel
members who begin to demonstrate the characteristics of
another tribe.Anning et al (2010:p.71) believes that ‘in
demanding that professionals work in multi-professional teams,
we are expecting them to confront, articulate and lay to one side
the distinctiveness of their long-established ‘tribal’ beliefs and
behaviours’.
.
Gasper (2011:p.74) refers to identity in terms of professional
heritage, which he suggests is ‘embedded practices, language
and ethos of individual professions which individuals who join
become familiar with as they gain experience and progress
within the parameters of the profession’. In partnership working
it is essential to acknowledge the way that professional heritage
affects points of view, language and perceptions of situations.
.
Hudson (2002) argues that there are three potential barriers to
multi-professional working:
. .
1. Professional identity: How professionals understand
themselves and their roles
.
2. Professional status: How professional hierarchies and
different distribution of powers are generated
3. Professional discretion and accountability: How
professionals exercise discretion on a day-to-day basis.

41. .
Below is a case study, which highlights Bertham et al
(2002:p.53) view that ‘there can be a tension when ‘child-
centred’ and ‘parent-centred’ goals are in competition’.
.
Case study
Janice, an outreach worker, had a serious fall-out with a
practitioner working in the children’s room. They were both
committed to good practice and held similar values about what
they were offering. But it was their views on working with
parents that differed. Janice saw her priority as supporting the
parent, visiting her regularly and encouraging her to come to the
groups at the children’s centre and to sign up for vocational
training. Barbara felt that Janice was spending too much time
with the mother and not enough on the child who was attending
very irregularly.
.
A number of themes about the implications of working with
other professionals particularly in multi-professional teams for
‘who I am’ may emerge and are highlighted below:
.
· Professionals need to be confident enough about the
professional identity they bring to multi-professional teams to
feel safe about transforming it
· In the period of adjusting to their new roles and assuming
different identities in multi-professional teamwork,
professionals may feel anxious, destabilized and vulnerable
· Those who are peripheral to core team membership, or feel
isolated as lone representatives of a profession in a team are
likely to feel less well supported in transitions to new identities

42. · Professionals believed that the labels assumed by or imposed
on them had an impact on how they were perceived both within
and outside the team
· The perceived status of professions in the world beyond the
team did impact on team functions, but these barriers could be
broken down over time
· Professionals who struggled through the pain of
transformation to the gains of a new professional identity
reported an enhanced sense of ‘who I am’.
(Anning et al 2010:p75)
.
14.6 Reflective task
.
...
.How would you describe your professional identity?
.
Has it changed in recent years?
.
If you work in a multi-disciplinary setting/centre, is there a
shared identity? Or do people hold on to their original
professional identity? What impact does this have on the way
you work?
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your thoughts and
responses.
.
....
Now go to the Discussion Board (left hand menu) and record
your ideas and debate your ideas about professionalism with
other students.

43. .
14.7 Supporting professional development
..
Aubrey (2011:p.139) highlights that ‘the continuing need to
update and reinforce specific professional knowledge and skills
in a fast-changing world remains clear’.Bertram and Pascal
(2002:p.ii) suggest that research carried out internationally
supports the idea of investment in professional staff as a
preferable strategy for raising quality.
.
Apart from going on individual external training to develop new
skills, knowledge and understanding Siraj-Blatchford and Manni
(2006:p.9) found that effective settings used both ‘informal-
formal’ approaches to staff development. These include
observations, formal meetings, reflection of ones work and
individual feedback from managers/leaders and colleagues.
.
The political context in supporting professional development
.
The government’s vision set out in the 2020 Children and
Young Peoples Workforce Strategy (DCSF, 2008a:p.6) is that
everyone (particular professionals) working with children and
young people will be:
.
· Ambitious for every child and young person
· Excellent in their practice
· Committed to partnership and integrated working
· Respected and valued as professionals
The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) report
(Sylva et al, 2004) concluded that qualifies teachers,

44. specifically pedagogical leaders, had the most impact on the
quality of children’s experiences, particularly in relation to
outcomes in pre-reading and social development. The EYFS
practice guidance, taking note of this, stresses the need for
well-qualified and experienced staff who understand and engage
in informed reflective practice-both individually and in groups
and work collaboratively within the setting to share knowledge,
question practice and test new ideas – with high aspirations for
every child (DCSF, 2008c:p.9).
.
Training for practitioners and leaders to meet the changing
demands of recent childcare and education agendas, linked with
social change, has been a significant focus in government
policy, under the remit of the Children’s Workforce
Development Council (CWDC). The National College for
School Leadership are responsible for the form, content and
delivery of the training programme for leaders and managers in
Early Years Childcare and Education. The National Professional
Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is a
qualification that provides an experimental, developmental
programme centred on reflective practice, which aims to
encourage leaders/managers to explore value, based practice and
extends their knowledge and understanding of leadership and
multi-agency working. This qualification aims to raise quality
and standards.
.
...
The role of the leader in identifying need and supporting
professional development
.
Commitment to support of staff and continuous professional
development (CPD) is considered a key factor to effective
leadership (Aubrey, 2011).
.
It is the responsibility of the leader particularly in Children’s

45. Centres to encourage and support staff development and multi-
professional working.
.
Studies on multi-professional working have found that some
professionals feel that they lack the knowledge and skills
needed for integrated working. Davis and Smith (2012:p.9)
believe that there are ‘benefits to be gained from working with a
range of people with different types of experience …it suggests
professionals that hide their feelings, errors or uncertainties (in
an effort to keep up an apparently professional appearance) are
actually unprofessional’.
.
They suggest it is important for professional to examine their
preconceptions and those of their colleagues in order to create
collaborative and interrelational approached to learning and
professional development.
.
Regular supervision is primarily the responsibility of the centre
leader/manager. During supervision the leader/manager helps
staff to use their knowledge and skills effectively in carrying
out their daily duties and to enhance and deepen their
understanding of professional values. Whalley (2001) believes
that the ranges of supervisory responsibilities are complex for
managers/leaders to address. It is therefore important to
consider, personal and self-development as well as team-
building issues.
.
Rodd (2006:166) suggests that the ‘professional support
provided through effective supervision helps staff to listen to
and accept constructive feedback and learn to reflect upon and
critically evaluate their own performance’. Whalley
(2001:p.139) observes that supervision ‘becomes a mechanism
of quality control because it involves target-setting, goals and
reviews’. When carried out effectively supervision allows for a
forum where difficult issues can be discussed openly and in
confidence – for example underperformance, sickness level.

46. These days supervision is viewed as a form of continuous staff
development where staff competence is the main objective. It is
also seen as a way of communicating to staff that they are
important to the organisation and that their contribution is
valued (Rodd 2006).
.
Capability learning cycle – A tool for supporting development
(Michael Schartz and Rob Walker (1995:p.106)
The value of using the Capability learning cycle lies in the
distinction that it makes between our conscious operations and
our unconscious ones – in other words, between the actions we
take with full self-awareness and those we take without
consciously having to think about them. This model refers to
ideas of continuous growth ad development and all round
achievement.
.
The theory suggests that in learning, particularly in relation to
the application of skills and knowledge, we move through a
series of stages as discussed below:
.
Unconscious incapability
I am not aware of what I do not know or cannot do until I
become aware of a need or a deficiency; then I move to:
Conscious incapability
I am now aware of something I do not know or cannot do. I can
now choose whether I want to gain new knowledge or develop a
new skill, or not.
If I do, then as I undertake new learning I am aware of being in
a state of:
Conscious capability
I need to concentrate and think in order to understand new
knowledge or to perform the new skill. As I absorb new
knowledge and I become skilful I move into a state of:

47. Unconscious capability
New knowledge takes place alongside other acquired knowledge
and I am able to apply the new skill without deliberate attention
to the techniques involved. Some capabilities I can undertake on
automatic pilot.
(NPQICL Booklet 9, 2011:p.6)
.
The above model is particularly useful to leaders/managers in
relation to professional development work. Development and
growth requires individuals to move through the stages. This
can be achieved more successfully when learning is supported
and encouraged. The key for leaders is being able to intervene
to activate capability awakening, rather than incompetence
panic, with the damage associated with feelings of anger, guilt,
shame and a sense of not being good enough.
..
It is the conscious capability stage that sensitive encouragement
and support are most crucial. Developing new professional
capability involves taking risks, and when those tentative first
steps are judged negatively, then development is jeopardised
and growth inhibited.
..
14.8 Reflective task
.
..
Think of a recent time when you decided to learn something
new – skill, or taking up a new interest. Use the learning
capability model to identify your experiences at each of the
stages.
.
14.9 Summary of session
..

48. During this session you looked at the definition of
professionalism and professional identity. You explored the role
of the leader in identifying and supporting professional
development. You briefly considered the political context
around supporting professional development, particularly for
the leader/manager. Finally you looked at the Capability
Learning Cycle which is a tool leaders can use to support
development and learning.
..
14.10 Weekly task
..
The second key reading is by Malcolm Knowles – The Modern
Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy
Revised and updated. Click here to access it as a pdf file now.
...
Malcolm Knowles' attempts to develop a distinctive conceptual
basis for adult education and learning via the notion of
andragogy became very widely discussed and used. He also
wrote popular works on self-direction and on group work (with
his wife Hulda). His work was a significant factor in reorienting
adult educators from 'educating people' to 'helping them learn'
(Knowles 1950: 6).
...
Use your journal to reflect on your own learning and
development and record your thoughts and responses.
...
References and further reading
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M. (2006)
Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services: research policy and practice Maidenhead.
Open University Press.
...
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M. (2010)
Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services,Open University Press McGraw Hill

49. Education
...
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in Early Years
(Second Addition)
SAGE Publications Ltd
...
Bertram, T. Pascal, C. Bokhari, S. Gasper, M. Holtermann, S
(2002) Early excellence centre pilot programme. Second
evaluation report 2000-2001. Research report 361. Nottingham:
DfES.
...
Bertram, T. Pascal, C. (2002) Early Years Education: an
international perspective. London: Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority.
www.inca.org.uk(Accessed 1/2/13)
...
Bolam, R., McMahon, A. Stoll, L et al (2005) Creating and
sustaining effective professional learning communities.
Research report 637 Bristol: University of Bristol
...
Davis, M. and Smith, M. (2012) Working in Multi-professional
Contexts
A Practical Guide for Professionals in Children’s Services
...
DCSF (2008a) 2020 Children and Young People’s workforce
strategy. Nottingham: DCSF.
...
Friedland, R. (2007) Professionalism in the early years. In Wild,
M. and Mitchell, H. (eds) Early Childhood Studies: Reflective
Reader, Exeter: Learning Matters
...
Frost, N. (2005) Professionalism, Partnership and joined Up
Thinking. Dartington: Research in Practice
...
Gasper, M. (2011) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities Sage Publications

50. ...
HM Government (2005) Common Core of Skills and Knowledge
for the Children’s Workforce. Nottingham:DfES
...
Hudson, B. (2002) Interprofessionality in health and social care:
the Achilles’ heel of partnership, Journal of Interprofessional
Care, 16(1).
...
Knowles, S. (1970) The Modern Practice of Adult Education:
From Pedagogy to Andragogy Revised and
Updatedhttp://www.hospitalist.cumc.columbia.edu/downloads/c
c4_articles/Education%20Theory/Andragogy.pdf Accessed
2/2/13
...
Manning-Morton, J. (2006) The Personal is Professional:
professionalism and the birth to threes practitioner London
Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
...
Moyles, J. (2001) Passion, paradox and professionalism in Early
Years education. Early Years, 21 (2): 81-95.
...
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools. National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
...
Osgood, J. (2006) Deconstructing professionalism in early
childhood education: resisting the regulatory gaze.
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7 (1): 5-14.
...
Petrioni, P. (1994) Inter-professional teamwork: its history and
development in hospitals, general practice and community care
(UK), in A. Leathard (ed.)
...
Going Inter-professional: Working together for Health and

51. Welfare. London: Routledge.
...
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
...
Schratz, M. and Walker, R. (1995) Research as Social Change,
London, Routledge
...
Sylva, K. Melhuish, EC, Sammons, P. Siraj-Blatchford, I.
Taggart, B. (2004)The effective provision of pre-school
education (EPPE) project: London: DfEE/Institute od
Education, University of London.
...
Siraj-Blatchford, I. Manni, L. (2006) Effective leadership in the
early years sector: the ELEYS study. London Institute of
Education, University of London
www.gtce.org.uk/shared/contentlibs/126795/93128/120213/eley
s_study.pdf
...
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and collaboration in Early Years
Settings, Learning Matters Ltd
...
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice
...
Whalley, M. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years
Settings, Learning Matters Ltd
...
Whalley, M. (2001) ‘Working as a team’, in Contemporary
Issues in the Early Years. Working collaboratively for Children,
3rdedn, ed. G. Pugh, Paul Chapman, London

52. support you at this time?
.
If you were planning the agenda for your first mentoring
session, what three key items would be on the agenda and why?
.
How do you believe mentoring sessions could support you in
leading a multi-professional team?
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses..
.
WEEK 15
15.8 Journaling as a way of supporting CPD
.
During week one I introduced journaling to you as a way of
reflecting on your practice, their thoughts and responses for the
module. Today we look at journaling in terms of supporting
CPD.
.
Journaling brings together both personal and professional
development. The aim is to use your journal to express your
thoughts and feelings, to review and learn from them and to
record what you think should do next. One way to think about
journaling is teaching yourself through your professional
practice. You think about your initial learning in order to make
improvements for yourself and your setting/centre. Anything
that could improve your job for you could also improve your
settings/centres outcomes for the children and families using
services or activities.
.
Journaling is a conscious way of making sure that you help
yourself. You have many ways of helping others to solve
problems. Being a participant in your own problem-solving
strategies and making sure that you move yourself on can be
strengthened by journaling.

53. .
.
15.9 Summary of session
.
This week’s session continued the theme of professional
development and you began by exploring reflective supervision
through two journal articles, examining its role in CPD. You
also looked at appraisals the appraisal process and its links to
identifying and supporting development. We then considered
mentoring and the mentoring experience and finally you
reflected on the role of journaling as a way of supporting CPD.
.
.
15.10 Weekly task
.
.
This week’s task involves reading the following article:
.
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal
Leading a learning organisation: Australian early years centres
as learning networks. Kaye Colmer.
Vol.16, No. 1, March 2008, 107-115
.
The article discusses the following:
.
· Leading a dynamic learning organisation
· Managing as well as leading change
· Motivating and inspiring staff through shared leadership and
reflectivity
· Creating devolved leadership structures and engaging with
complexity

54. · Developing an early years centre as an effective learning
networks
· Key strategies in developing early years centres as learning
networks
Use your journal to reflect on the article your own
setting/centre. Record your thoughts and responses.
References and further reading
Barden, N, 2002, Supervision and the new ethical framework,
Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal, 13, 6, 28-29
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy,
(2002), Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling
and Psychotherapy, Rugby, BACP
Colmer, K. (2008) Leading a learning organisation: Australian
early years centres as learning networks Lady Gowrie Child
Centre, Adelaide, Australia
Cullan, S. (2006) What is mentoring? In Robbins, A. (ed)
Mentoring in the Early Years. London: Paul Chapman.
NPQICL booklet 2 (2011) Journaling for integrated centre
leadership National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.

55. NPQICL booklet 3 (2011) Leadership mentoring
support National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
Parsloe, E. (1992) Coaching, Mentoring and Assessing: A
Practical Guide to Developing Competence. London Kogan
Page.
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice
Learning and working together for children and families
Weigand, R. and Weatherston (2007) The issue and why it
matters
Journal of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants,
Toddlers, and Families
ZERO TO THREE, November 2007 Volume 28 No.2,
Week 16: Managing Change with multi-
professional/disciplinary teams
16.1 Aims this week
This week we look at ‘Managing Change with multi-
professional/disciplinary teams)’. The session is outlined below:
· To gain an enhanced understanding of the implications of
change for staff, management and leadership
· To consider the importance of change in relation to providing

56. quality services and provision
· To look at Kotter’s (1995) change model as an analytical tool
in supporting change management in multi-agency environments
· To explore the role of the leader in managing change
· To consider what is involved in the change process
· To examine ways of managing conflict and stress (weekly
task)
16.2 Change is everybody’s concern
.
..
‘Change is one of the few certainties in life. It is a phenomenon
in all aspects of our lives. Given that human beings experience
so much change in their day-to-day lives, it can be difficult to
understand why the process of change presents such threat to
some people’ (Rodd 2006:p.181). We will explore this further
during this week’s session.
.
Change is one of the fundamental features of life and work in
early years services. Those who work with children and
families are concerned with growth and development and get
worried when services, processes, or standards stay the same.
One of the main principles of early years work is consistent and
continuous change. Duffy (2010:p.1) makes it clear, ‘high
quality early education leads to improve outcomes for children,
especially those who are disadvantaged’. There is therefore a
duty to ensure that standards do not stay the same but develops
and improves in order to meet the needs of children and
families.
..

57. The Irony is often that those whose role focuses on change and
managing the change process in others or teams are not always
as keen to bring about change in their own professional
behaviours and working practices.
..
Since the working practices of early years practitioners and
other professionals are themselves varied, complex and only
arrived at through training and experience, it can be a cause of
some concern and insecurity to change working practices that
have become familiar through experience. Gasper (2011:p.35)
highlights that ‘fear of change and resistance to change’ is one
of the challenges and barriers to working with multi-
professional teams.
Leaders and managers of multi-professional teams, are
responsible for providing the best quality service that they can.
This often requires change and development.
..
Alvarado et al., (1999) cited in Rodd (2006) states that,
‘leadership has been, and will continue to be, defined in terms
of improving program quality’.
..
In this fast changing world this can involve staff being
introduced to new methodologies, extend existing skills and
develop new ones.
..
..
One of the responses or impact to an environment characterized
by fast and accelerating change is to put settings/centres and
their team under more pressure. One way to exert this pressure
is to place increased emphasis on the way we plan and evaluate
services. By tightening up on the way we plan and evaluate can
help us become more efficient.
..
It is not plans, which change and improve outcomes, nor
evaluation, which raises standards it is the people who do the

58. work – the team. In the end it is the capacity of leaders to bring
about change in how professional practice is conducted that will
enable an early years setting/centre to develop and improve.
This involves working with individuals as well as teams who
will have ideas and suggestions about how things should be
managed. It is never going to be easy persuading staff to stop
using skills s/he has taken all his/her life to develop and hone
nor to ask someone to leave a role they have striven to learn
about and become familiar with.
..
It is in the management of change and development that
leadership capability is most challenged. Rodd (2006:p.182)
believes that, ‘The role of the leader has become instrumental in
managing change’ as well as orchestrating change.
..
..
16.3 Reflective task
..
..
.What changes to your professional practice have you
experienced in the past few years?..
..
How were these changes managed? How did the changes affect
you?
..
Use your journal to record your responses.
..
..
16.4 Resistance to change
..
..
Aubrey (2011:p.140) highlights that ‘Anything that threatens a

59. core value is likely to be met with a whole gamut of responses
that range from active and passive opposition through to
apparent acceptance and support’
..
In her work on how organisations will need to develop in the
future, Caroline Palmer (1994) suggested that two assumptions
are so deep-rooted in the organisations that they have taken on
the strength of incontrovertible truths. The first is the belief
that you cannot change human nature; the second that you
cannot run organisations by trying to do that. Her emphatic
response is ‘Oh yes you can’. If these assumptions were actually
true, she argues we would still have slavery in this country.
..
Leaders in the early years settings/centres may not be
unfamiliar with the cries: ‘if it isn’t broke don’t fix it’ and ‘that
wouldn’t work here. Perhaps what such attitudes reveal is a fear
of change, of moving out of our comfort zones into the
unknown. Goleman (1999:p.98) believes that ‘People who lack
adaptability are ruled by fear, anxiety and deep personal
discomfort with change’. Until we learn to see change as a
journey of discovery rather than as a threat to our wellbeing,
these fears will continue.
..
Given the inhibiting influences of our upbringing, education and
experiences, we should not be surprised that we have developed
considerable aptitude in resisting change in various forms and
guises. As leaders/managers we should realize that resisting
change is very purposeful behavior: it is a strategy to protect
ourselves in face of threats to self-esteem and psychological
survival.
..
In our roles and work we invest a great deal of physical,
intellectual, emotional and psychological energy in constructing
our role images and comfortably occupying the organizational
niches we have created for ourselves. When change is proposed
or enforced, the role image upon which we have based our

60. behavior is declared null and void and we have as yet no
alternative with which to replace it. We may feel deprived of
the psychological props upon which much of our personal and
professional credibility is built. So we fight to remain intact by
seeking to preserve the status quo. One of the ways of doing
this is to attack the proposition and find as much fault as
possible.
..
The following phrases will have a familiar ring to them and
some we will identify as part of our own resistance strategy
during some events in our lives:
..
· ‘We tried that once before and it didn’t work’
· ‘We don’t have the time’
· ‘Let’s get back to reality’
· ‘We don’t have the resources’
· ‘You can’t teach an old dog new trick’s’
· ‘Not that again’
· ‘We’ve managed so far without it’
· ‘Lets form a working party’
· ‘Let’s wait until things settle down’
· ‘We’ve always done it this way; no one has complained’
Away from the personal level, there is a range of reasons for
resistance to change (Plant 1987):

61. ..
· Fear of the unknown
· Lack of information
· Unwilling to share information
· Misinformation
· Historical factors
· Threat to core skills and competence
· Threat to status
· Threat to power base
· No perceived benefits
· Low trust organisational culture
· Poor relationships
· Fear of failure
· Fear of looking stupid
· Reluctance to experiment
· Custom bound
· Reluctance to let go
· Strong peer group norms

62. Plant (1987) believes that resistance to change comes in two
forms: systemic and behavioural. Systematic resistance tends to
occur when there is a lack of knowledge, information, skill and
managerial capacity. It is almost as if the organisation is crying
out: We can’t do this’! Behavioural resistance is more
emotionally centred and derives from the reactions, perceptions
and assumptions of individuals and groups in the organisation.
Lack of trust, for example, is much more difficult to manage
than lack of information or the absence of resources.
..
The challenge for leaders/managers are often compounded by
paranoia – the feeling that the resistance is directed at them
personally. Coulson (1985) has provided a valuable insight into
the psychology of change, which offers guidance to
leaders/managers as they contemplate the way forward. This can
be summarised as four key points:
..
1. Initiators of the management of change need to be aware
that, when change is suggested, those involved in it want to
protect what they see themselves to be
..
2. The way that individuals and teams operate in their
particular work situations has come about through a long
process of establishing an identity in relation to the demands
and expectations raised. They strive to satisfy their own work
needs and the expectations of others with the minimum of
uncertainty and anxiety. Pressure to alter this way of being
tends to be received as threats to the comfortable continuity of
living and working
..
3. Suggestions that individuals change their way of doing

63. things and their approaches to the professional tasks for which
they have responsibility imply a level of inadequacy in their
performance. This threatens the identity they have striven to
develop. The natural inclination is to become aroused in the
defense of the familiar and established
..
4. Far too often leaders/managers and senior staff experience
this defensive tendency as opposition to new ideas and see their
task as one of overcoming the perceived resistance. A battle of
wills can ensure which is counter productive to the
developments themselves and to the professional relationships
which are vital to their success
..
Much of this polarisation can be avoided if the following six
factors are remembered:
..
1. When people resist change they are not usually working in
active opposition to it as such but demonstrating that a threat to
their personal and professional security has been experienced
..
2. Leaders/managers need to accept this response as natural
and inevitable
..
3. A key task for leaders/managers is to listen to the
experience of those involved in change and seek to understand
what is felt to be threatened
..

64. 4. Leaders/managers need to be deeply caring and concerned
about what it is that staff feel they are having to give up and be
seen as ally in this process, not as an opponent
..
5. Leaders/managers also need to help staff protect what they
perceive to be under threat while moving them towards new
methods and strategies
..
6. In the process of change it is vital to try and avoid
undermining individuals’ sense of competence and professional
wellbeing by appearing to reject or devalue their established
practices.
..
Much pain and discomfort can be avoided if some of these key
ideas are incorporated in the values and assumptions, which
underpin approaches to management and leadership. A great
deal of stress within settings/centres with staff can often be
linked back to insensitive and clumsy handling of innovation
and change.
..
..
16.5 Reflective task
..
..
..Recall a time when you were required to make a significant
change to the way you did things.

65. ..
How did you feel when the changes were proposed? How did
you respond? How do you now view the changes that you then
had to make?..
..
Use your journal to record your responses.
..
..
16.6 Dynamics of change
..
What the resistance statements quoted above conceal is the
considerable confusion, anger and uncertainty that change often
stirs up inside organisations. A further insight into the process
of change and the individual is supplied by the concept of
‘zones of uncertainty’ (Schon 1971). This suggests that change
involves risks in moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar
(Whitaker 1998).
Zones of discomfort
Safe haven
Danger zones
Unknown
Where we are now
Uncertainty
Difficult
Discomfort
Fear
Awkwardness
Confusion
Incompetence
Where we want/have to be
..
The table above shows the first step out of the comfort of the

66. familiar can be most hazardous involving a range of risks and
difficulties. It is important to be sensitive to three particular
clusters of feelings:
..
1. Loss
2. Anxiety
3. Struggle
Of firmly held beliefs and ideas
About required levels of understanding
To survive intact
Of established patterns of behaviours
About new skills
To acquire new competence
Of comfortable habits
About what the future will be like
To gain respect and recognition
Of confidence and self-esteem
About being able to cope
About being seen as different

67. ..
Among the most valuable of managerial qualities are those that
convey an informed and sensitive understanding of the impact
of change and of the difficulties that have to be faced to
accomplish it. But change must never be regarded as something
that has to be feared, resisted and avoided. Change can present
us with new opportunities and exciting prospects. It can focus
our thinking and concentrate our ambitions. It is through change
that we can realise our wilder dreams.
..
While it is vital to be sensitive to apparent difficulties, it is also
important to recognize the powerful range of human resources
that can be activated within each person. People will tend to
underperform if expectations of them are too low. Within
settings/centres staff will inhibit the full expression of their
skills and abilities if they feel oppressed and underestimated.
Over recent years organisational development theory has placed
increasing emphasis on the importance of assumptions about
staff and their work. Successful leaders/managers have been
found to be those who are able to activate the inner resources of
their team by building a positive and enhanced climate of
assumptions.
..
..
16.7 Reflective task
..
..
Reflect on your own zones off uncertainty.
..
What things have you had to give up in the course of your life
in order to move on?
..
How did you feel about these losses?
..
What sorts of anxiety do you experience when you have to do

68. something you haven’t done before?
..
What sorts of struggles have you engaged in as you have
developed and changed?
..
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses
..
..
16.8 Kotter’s (1995) Change Model
..
..
Developing a model of leadership in multi-agency environments
A key focus of multi-agency leadership is upon the process of
change management. Although there are a number of different
change management models Kotter’s is one of the most popular
(DfES 2005d:p.9).
..
In his work Kotter highlights eight steps to organisation
transformation
..
Kotter’s change model (Kotter, 1995:p.9)
1. Establishing a sense of urgency
2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition
3. Creating a vision
Creating a climate of change
4. Communicating the vision

69. 5. Empowering others to act on the vision
6. Planning and creating short-term wins
Engaging and enabling the whole organisation
7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more
change
8. Institutionalising new approaches
Implementing and sustaining change
..
The first three steps are concerned with creating the
environment for change to happen, and include increasing the
urgency for change, building the right team and establishing the
vision. Steps four to six look at increasing buy-in to the change
model process and creating the drive for change. This involves
achieving commitment to the vision, the belief that people are
empowered to act, and securing short-term wins. The final step
looks at the importance of ensuring that change becomes
institutionalised. The different demands of multi-agency
working means that often building leadership capacity and
extensive distribution of leadership particularly within
children’s centres are important strategies for the long-term
viability of collaborative working.
(NPQICL Booklet 9:p.33)
..
..
16.9 The change process
..
.Most of the changes that we are concerned with when leading
and managing teams involve us moving away from known
positions out to the unknown (such as integrated or multi-
agency ways of working). This often means that we have to give

70. up things we are familiar with and adopt practices or ways of
working that we have never tried before often with a short lead
in time and with insufficient opportunity for reflection and
preparation. Mostly we can take the changes in our stride and
modify our professional practice to new needs and
requirements. Sometimes we do not like what we are expected
to do but realise that adjustments have to be made.
..
.Traditional approaches to change management fail to take
sufficient account of the impact that change makes on our lives
and how it affects our capacity to function effectively.
..
If we are to manage change well, we need to be sensitive to the
change process and how it operates in each team member.
Below are four particular dimensions of this process, which are
significant:
..
1. Conceptual change:changes to the way we think about our
work, conceive our roles and responsibilities, how we assess our
effectiveness, how we see the nature of change in our lives and
our attitudes to the specific issue of the change under
consideration.
2. Emotional change:how we feel about the changes proposed,
the sorts of challenges and demands it will make on us, the
emotions that will be aroused as we begin to struggle with new
ideas and fresh expectations, our hopes of success and our fears
of failure.
3. Aspirational change:our hopes and ambitions for our work,
our professional journey, our commitment to the early years and
its vision for the future, our career aspirations and our hopes for
the sort of contribution we want to make.

71. 4. Practical change:how we stop doing things we have always
done and start doing things in a different way or doing other
things we have never done before, how we adapt to new
practices and approaches, how we acquire new skills and how
we adopt new behaviours.
When we consider going on a journey, it is useful to have a map
of the route. It is not enough to be told where we should go and
that we have a certain amount of time to get there. We need
help with three vital questions:
..
1. What is the purpose of the journey?
2. What will the journey be like?
3. What will we do when we get there?
Below we will look at another use for the four-link development
chain. This can help us to focus on different aspects of a
proposed change and help those who will be involved to make
the journey in ways which reduce confusion and distress and
which provide stepping stones into the future:
..
1. Why is change necessary?
..
2. What will it involve?
..
3. The challenges to face?
..
4. What will it be or look like?
..
In considering these key issues we need to appreciate that
change is as much an inner process of adjustment as a practical
task. How we feel about what we are expected to do
significantly affects how we do it. Leaders/managers need to

72. realise that resistance to do something significantly affects how
we do it. They need to realise that resistance to change is one
way that individuals and teams register – without actually
saying so directly – that they are uncomfortable and perhaps
even afraid of what is proposed. Effective leaders/managers
never assume that anyone finds change easy or even acceptable.
Expressing our concerns about changes, which profoundly affect
us, is natural and should be expected. Time needs to be
allocated for these concerns so that they can be dealt with
sensitively and openly.
..
Traditionally we have approached change in a somewhat
awkward manner defining the tasks that need to be achieved and
driving people on. There are more effective ways, ones that
respect natural human concerns and misgivings.
..
The behaviour of leaders/managers in the change process is
crucial. Impatience to get things moving tends to indicate an
undue preoccupation with the task and a lack of concern with
those who will be responsible for implementing it. Proper
attention to the process itself will tend to take their worries and
concerns seriously as well as to provide the proper and
appropriate levels of support.
..
It is the role of leaders/mangers to create the nourishing and
conducive conditions for change so that the choices that
individuals and the team as a whole makes will be for better
outcomes for children and families, growth, challenge,
achievement and not a retreat into the familiar and comfortable.
..
We can no longer afford the desperate and somewhat blind drive
through the danger zones that we have traditionally taken; we
need a diversion, which spends appropriate time in preparation
zones where appropriate attention can be given to the
conceptual, emotional, aspirational and practical changes
involved. We like to have control over our journeys in life and

73. we also like to choose our own method of transport but
generally we all get there in the end.
..
Effective leadership is the process of helping the team to
manage change in in ways that acknowledge the challenges and
complexities involved, whilst providing the support required
and which do justice to their own potential.
..
..
16.10 Reflective task
..
...
When you have to change your professional practice, what sort
of support do you need?
..
How do you get this support: do you have to ask for it or is it
offered?
..
In what specific ways can leaders/managers support staff
effectively through times of change?
..
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
..
..
16.11 Summary of session
..
During this week’s session you looked at the implications of
change for staff, management and leadership. You considered
the importance of change in relation to providing quality
services and provision. You examinedKotter’s (1995) change
model as an analytical tool in supporting change management in
multi-agency environments. You alsoexplored the role of the
leader in managing change and consideredwhat is involved in
the change process.

74. ..
The weekly task will allow you to examine ways of managing
conflict and stress.
..
16.12 Weekly task
..
..
– Reading Managing Staff in Early Years Settings by Adrian
Smith and Ann Langston an E-book - Chapter 11
..
Click here to access in the Library now.
.
Often with change comes resistance to change conflict and
stress. Read Chapter 11, then write a couple of paragraphs on
the following:
..
1. Causes of conflict
..
2. Approaches to conflict management
..
3. Understanding and management of stress in the workplace
..
References and further reading
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in the Early Years
(2ndEd)
London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Coulson, A. (1985) The Fear of change Unpublished paper
Gasper, M. (2011) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities London: SAGE Publications Ltd

75. Goleman, D. (1999) Working with Emotional
Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury
Kotter, J. P. (1995) Leading Change: Why Transformation
Efforts Fail Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review. March–
April, 1995.
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Services.
Plant, R. (1987) Managing Change and Making it Stick London:
Fontana
Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010) Contemporary Issues In The
Early Years (5thEd)SAGE Publishers Ltd
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Schon, D. (1971) The Reflective Practitioner: How
Professionals Think in Action London: Temple Smith.
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Routledge.
Whitaker, P. (1997) Primary Schools and the
Future Buckingham Open University Press
Week 17: Communication and leadership
17.1 Aims this week
This week we look at ‘Communication and leadership.
· Identifying what communication is

76. · Examine the importance of effective communication
· Look at the political context surrounding effective
communication and multi-professional working
· Consider communication and the interpersonal world
· Through reflection explore the role of the leader in supporting
a culture of effective communication within teams, particularly
multi-professional teams
· Explore some of the challenges and barriers to effective
communication and group dynamics
17.2 What is communication?
...
Jorde-Bloom (1997:p.13) defines communication as the ability
to ‘synthesise complex information and communicate that
information cogently and succinctly to a variety of different
audiences’. Steiner (1999) suggests that communication is our
‘link to others’.
.
Rodd (2006:p.65) believes that management is distinguished by
effective communication and states that ‘successful leadership
in the early childhood field is a matter of communication more
than anything’. Our work with children, parents and
professionals revolve around the need to and the ability to
communicate effectively.
.
.
17.3 Reflective task
.
.What is your definition of communication?

77. .
What does effective communication look like in practice?
.
When have you experienced effective communication within
your setting/centre?
.
What role does your leader/manager play in communicating
effectively?
.
Journal your reflection and responses
.
.
17.4 The Political Context
.
Anning et al (2010:p.107) sums up the history and political
context around effective communication well by highlighting
how, ‘Information-sharing lies at the heart of the government
view of multi-professional teams. The government is clearly
responding to the Laming Report (2003), finding that failure to
share information contributed to the death of Victoria Climbie’.
The Children Act 2004 and the Childcare Act 2006 are clear
about the importance of working closely with multi-
professionals to share information and communicate effectively
to improve outcomes for children and families
.
.
17.5 Communication and the Interpersonal world
.
.
‘Effective communication skills are the tools that underpin the
ability to act in an emotionally intelligent and competent
manner’ (Rodd 2006:p.70). Wong and Law (2002) believe that
emotional intelligence enhances our job performance and
general satisfaction.

78. .
Early years work is intensely interactive. Despite grand visions,
clear policies and specific plans, the essential business of an
early years centre/setting is conducted through an endless
sequence of interactions and encounters. Some of these are
planned and intentional but perhaps most are incidental. They
are created in the spontaneity of the moment out of need,
circumstances or location.
.
Frequently these incidental encounters are interruptions to other
interactions or activities and we temporarily disengage to give
them attention. It is often in these unexpected encounters that
we do our best work – dealing with difficulties, supporting
people, making agreements, resolving problems, clarifying
action and keeping things moving. We are operating in a
process world which straddles on moving through an intricate
web of highly charged and dynamic signs, signals, messages,
comments, questions, initiatives, demands, requests and
responses.
.
Interpersonal skill is therefore crucial to effective leadership
and communication (Rodd 2006, Whalley 2008). Effective
communication and interpersonal relationships are key elements
to providing successful provision and improving practice.
.
There is enormous potential in our encounters for
disagreements, misunderstandings, disputes, tensions, hurt
feelings, misplaced trust, betrayal and conflict. Much will
depend upon our skills as communicators and how we behave in
these snatched moments that so characterize a typical day at
work. With increased turbulence, pressure and stress, the
quality of these interactions will become ever more important.
Success will very much depend upon how we manage ourselves
in the interpersonal world. Some of the key factors, which will
determine our capability, are:
.

79. · Self-awareness:a striving to keep in accurate touch with our
own patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and the
effects these have on others
.
· Authenticity:a deep concern to communicate what we are
thinking and feeling without deceit, dissembling and
concealment
.
· Care:a genuine desire to reach out to others and to be of help
sharing ourselves in a gentle ‘non do-gooding’ way
.
· Receptivity:being open to approaches from others, however
trivial and insignificant they may seem from an objective point
of view
.
· Understanding:seeking first to understand others before we
ourselves seek to be understood by them
.
· Empathy:listening with deep interest and sensitivity to the
experiences of others and conveying our acceptance and sensing
of that experience back to them
.
· Trust: striving to build relationships of openness, warmth and
mutual trust in which there are no lies and hidden agendas

80. .
How can the leader communicate effectively to put their point
across?
.
The leader needs to send clear, accurate and unambiguous
messages to the whole team (including multi-professionals who
are not based or co-located at the centre/setting). Asking
yourself the following questions beforehand can be useful:
.
· Why am I communicating? What is the purpose or objective?
.
· Who do I need to tell? It is easy to avoid talking to the right
people or person if we are fearful of the outcomes
.
· What do I hope to achieve by this communication?What does
the receiver already know? What do they, he or she need to
know from me?
.
· Where is the best place to communicate? The context will
make a big difference to how the message is received. Telling
someone what you think after a meeting, where it should have
been discussed is too late. Talking to someone in front of others
so that they are embarrassed is unprofessional, damaging for
your ongoing relationships and will not get results
.

81. · When is the best time to communicate?It is unlikely that the
person/persons that you are communicating with will hear you if
they are concentrating on something else. Giving bad news on a
Friday evening could be disastrous
.
· How is the best way of communicating this?Being prepared
and knowing what you want to say helps you to be assertive in
communication. Even in a meeting, when you may have had
limited time to prepare what it is you want to say, thinking
about your main points before the words come out of your
mouth will be much more effective than talking off the top of
your head
.
(Stacey 2009:p.48)
.
.
17.6 Reflective task
.
.
Choose a situation where you have to make a request at work or
put your point across either to an individual or a group. Think
about the ways you would communicate assertively and how you
would prepare yourself for this.
.
Use your journal to record your responses
.
.
17.7 Overcoming existing and potential barriers to effective
communication
.
When many centres/settings are now open sometimes 52 weeks
a year and often from 8 – 6, where staff work 3 or 4 different

82. shifts, both full time and part time and where a range of
different professionals come in and out of the setting for what
ever reasons, the underuse of IT, availability of part-time
professionals and different ways of working are often seen as a
challenge to effective communication. It is therefore essential
that there are strategies in place to overcome any barriers to
effective communication.
.
Communication, multi-professional working and group
dynamicsDiscussion and dialogue are essential in multi-
professional working and effective communication.Where there
is a culture of reflexivity professionals/practitioners are able to
provide activities and services that meet the needs of children
and families and provide better outcomes (Davis and Smith
2012).
.
From her studies, Aubrey (2011:p.116) suggests that, ‘poor
communication within and between agencies created problems
between those working at different levels within agencies’. But
why should this be? Pietroni (1992) believes that some of the
challenges between professionals is as a result of the
professional language and discourses they use and that jargon is
often acknowledged as a barrier to effective communication.
.
Aubrey’s research reveals how ‘team members felt that formal
methods of communications through, meetings, telephone
contacts, daily transfer of internal post, information chats and
social events’ (Aubrey 2011:p.123) aided good communication.
.
It is important for professionals to contribute their expertise and
feel that their contributions are being acknowledged. However
this can be a challenge to inter-professional communication and
collaboration. Some of these challenges are outlined below:
.
· Confusion about parameters of roles and responsibilities –
especially in working together whilst acknowledging the

83. importance of specialist expertise
.
· Disappointment and frustration about slowness or lack of
change
.
· Conflicting priorities and work practices
.
· Little systematic or effective sharing
.
· Exclusion of others by the use of jargon
.
.
Case Study and Reflective Task
.
Below are two case studies where Yasmin and Sidney share
their very different experiences.
.
Case Study 1
Yasmin is a family support worker in an urban Sure Start Local
Programme
‘ I help run twice weekly parent and children lunchtime groups
where a specialist playworker organises a play-based
programme for the children, a local catering firm provides a

84. healthy vegetarian snack for all users and one or other of the
local team of health visitors tries to pop in. My role is one of
outreach into the community to try and encourage those who are
otherwise resistant to such groups to make use of the service
they offer and then befriend and “actively listen” to parents
while their children play. Often I encourage the parents to play
with the children or even explore the play resources for
themselves. Seema, one of the mums, usually loves the
playdough but I am concerned about her at the moment as she is
increasingly subdued and one of her children, Mohamed, is
much more clingy to her and will not go and play independently
as he is used to. Seema won’t talk about anything. I have
mentioned it once or twice to the health visitor but got a non-
committal response and we don’t have the time to get together
more formally to share concerns’.
.
.
Case Study 2
Sidney, is a deputy manager of full-day care provision within a
children’s centre and room leader of two – three year olds
‘I am three-year old Peter’s key person; he is an only child and
lives with dad who is a lone parent. Peter has complex needs,
has limited mobility and is not yet using much recognizable
language. Since he started at the centre a year ago, I have
liaised closely with dad, his (Mencap) family support worker,
health visitor and speech and language therapist (SALT). We all
meet bi-monthly to review provision for Peter and this has been
working well. At the last meeting, the family support worker
raised her concerns that dad is increasingly distracted with work
demands and is not spending as much time playing with Peter
and nurturing his emotional needs as he used to. Dad felt
confident enough to share his own concerns here and the health
visitor is now in the process of arranging six weekly weekend
respite for Peter to give dad a break’.

85. (Whalley 2008:p 136/137)
.
.
Reflective task
.
Both Yasmin and Sidney are working inter-professionally and in
a collaborative manner.
.
What are the factors that are hindering effective communication
and multi-agency working in Yasmin’s situation?
.
What are the factors that are promoting successful
communication and multi-agency working in Sidney’s setting?
.
Note down your experience of communicating with other
professionals, beyond your setting/centre.
.
How can leaders/managers enable others to contribute to the
work of multi-professional working and effective
communication?
.
Overcoming the psychological barriers and group dynamics
Rodd (2006:p.74) highlights the ‘psychological barriers’ that
may exist to challenge effective communication. Particularly
when information becomes distorted due to professionals having
different value stances, beliefs, or principles. She believes that
an effective leader should ‘not underestimate the power of
psychological barriers to interpersonal interactions’.
It is important to remember that personality play a crucial role
individuals are different in personality, previous experiences,
background, age, cultures and in terms of tolerance levels.
Below is case study highlighting such difficulties:

86. Case Study – Gemma
‘I have been in the setting for a number of months and thought I
was building up strong rapport with most of the team. One of
the aspects I was particularly concerned about was the way that
creative activities were planned and organised for the children –
especially the over two’s. Historically, staff would set out a
limited amount of resources and have a sample of the “finished
product” to show to children. Some of the staff had likewise
shared their concerns about this so we worked together to
implement a much more child-initiated approach where the
children were free to choose their own resources, work at their
own pace and produce – or not! – their own “end products”. We
shared this at our team meeting. Rita was one of the
practitioners in the setting who was still rather wary of me and
my role but I was not prepared for her reaction to these changes.
She did not come to me directly but spoke to the room leader
saying that she would have nothing to do with this approach, the
parents wanted to see “proper art work” and this approach was
going to create a lot of “unnecessary mess” in the base room’.
Whalley (2008:p 101)
17.8 Reflective task
.
.
Think about the scenario from the perspectives of both Gemma
and Rita.
.
Can you suggest ways that Gemma might work with Rita from
this point to address the psychological barrier that exists here?
.
What opportunities for effective communication and leadership
does this situation offer?.

87. Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
.
.
17.9 Key Reading
.
Managing Staff in Early Years Settings by Adrian Smith and
Ann Langston (1999: p.84 -96), which is available as an E-
book. Click here to access in the Library now.
.
Chapter 6 explores the way in which communication is often
taken for granted or left to chance and highlight the importance
to settings/centres of effective communication.
.
Read the chapter then journal your reflections and responses to
the following:
.
· The different approaches to communication in settings/centres
· The barriers to effective communication
· Possible strategies to achieve improved communication
Finally, consider how the information noted could support
discussion within your reflective essay.
.
.
17.10 Summary of session
.
During this session we identified what communication is and
looks like in practice. We considered the political context
around the importance of communicating effectively between
multi-professional teams. We explored communication and the
interpersonal world (touching briefly on emotional
intelligence).

88. .
We examined the different ways leaders/managers can put their
points across and communicate more effectively. We also
looked at overcoming barriers to effective communication,
particularly in multi-professional teams. You reflected on case
studies in order to enhance effective communication and multi-
professional working.
.
17.11 Weekly task
.
.
Your task this week is a reading by the Young Children’s
Voices Network Listening as a way of life (Leadership for
Listening).
.
Click here to access now.
.
Active listening is essential to effective communication. This
reading aims to inspire and support early years practitioners in
developing a culture of listening in their setting/centre through
effective leadership.
.
During the week observe when and where you see effective
communication happening. Also consider opportunities where
this could be developed further. Use your journal to record your
responses.
.
References and further reading

89. .
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M.
(2010) Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services
Open University Press McGraw Hill Education
.
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in the Early Years
(2ndEd) London: SAGE Publications Ltd
.
Davis, J. and Smith, M. (2012) Working in Multi-professional
Contexts London: SAGE Publications Ltd
.
Jorde-Bloom, P. (1982) Avoiding Burnout: Strategies for
managing time, space and people in early childhood
education, Gryphon House, Mt Rainier
.
Laming, H. (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry. London:
HMSO
.
Pietroni, P. C. (1992) ‘Towards reflective practice – languages
of health and social care’ Journal of Inter-professional Care,
6(1): 7-16.
.
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
.
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Routledge.
.
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and Collaboration in Early Years
Settings: Learning Matters Exeter
.

90. Steiner, C. (1999) Achieving Emotional Literacy, Bloomsbury,
London
.
Whalley, M. E. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years
Settings Learning Matters Ltd
.
Wong, C. S. and Law, K. S. (2002) ‘The effects of leader and
follower emotional intelligence on performance and
aptitude’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 134, pp. 243 -74.
.
Young Children’s Voices Network Listening as a way of
Life Leadership for Listening: National Children’s Bureau
London
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-
ab&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.ncb.org.uk%2Fmedia%2F74060%2Fle
adership_for_listening.pdf&oq=http:%2F%2Fwww.ncb.org.uk%
2Fmedia%2F74060%2Fleadership_for_listening.pdf&gs_l=hp.3.
..4128.4128.0.5348.1.1.0.0.0.0.115.115.0j1.1.0.les%3B..0.0...1c
.2.5.psy-ab.-
URUapcZjeI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.d
2k&fp=651ff7a61caa450c&biw=1277&bih=641
Accessed 8/3/13
Week 18: Leading and managing a quality provision
18.1 Aims this week
.
This week we look at ‘Leading and managing a quality
provision’. The session is outlined below:
.
· Identifying what quality is
· Looking at the political context and vision for providing a

91. quality provision
· Considering who is responsible for quality in centres/settings
(e.g. the leader/manager, local authority, governors, OFSTED)
· Exploring the support leaders/managers and other
professionals need to develop and deliver quality provision
· Looking at distributed leadership as a tool in supporting
leaders/managers to deliver quality provision
· To examine ‘A Discussion Paper’ by Dr Jillian Rodd
Leadership an essential ingredient or an optional extra for
quality early childhood provision.
· Continue to reflect on practice in your leadership journal
.
.
18.2 What is quality?
.
.Defining ‘quality’ in relation to provision is often complex.
After all, how do you define quality? What does it mean to you
in your daily practice?
Quality is a subjective concept. Moss (1994:p.1) points out that’
.
‘Definitions of quality reflect the values and beliefs, needs and
agendas, influence and empowerment on various ‘stakeholder’
groups having an interest in these services’. He also believes
states that, ‘the goals set by stakeholders will reflect their
needs, interests, concerns and priorities. These in turn will be
influenced by values and beliefs’ (p.4).
.
Deming’s philosophy cited in Neave (1990:p.32) asserts that,
‘Quality Begins with Delighting the Customer Customers must
get what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. An
organization must strive not only to satisfy the customers’
expectations. This is the least one should do. A company should
also strive to delight their customers, giving them even more
than they imagined possible’.
.

92. The word ‘quality’ has become a mantra, especially when put
with ‘good quality’. It is widely used and desired, but
problematic to pin down and define. There can be two different
interpretations of the word ‘quality’. One is descriptive and
used as a tool to analyse the substance and sum of something,
whilst the other is evaluative. The latter is the approach used by
government when it talks of quality. It uses the term in an
evaluative way when it wants to assess whether a service meets
its aims and objectives (Moss, 1994).
.
Deming’s 14 points (his writings now form much of the basis of
the Total Quality Management movement) adapted for
centres/settings is a useful tool in pursuing quality. It requires
centres/settings to:
.
1. Pursue continuous improvement of curriculum and learning
diligently and constantly
.
2. Adopt the system of profound knowledge in the
centre/setting as prime management tool
.
3. Build quality into teaching and learning and reduce the
inspection of quality into work after the event
.
4. Build a partnership relationship with staff, parents, and
other professionals
.
5. Constantly improve the system within which the team and
children’s learning takes place
.
6. Take every opportunity to train in new skills and to learn
from others (children, parents, colleagues)
.
7. Lead, do not drive or manipulate
.
8. Drive out fear of punishment, create joy in learning

93. .
9. Collaborate with colleagues from other agencies
.
10. Communicate honestly, not through jargon and slogans
.
11. As far as possible create a climate without grades and rank
orders
.
12. Encourage and celebrate to develop your teams pride in
their work
.
13. Promote the development of the whole person in children
and staff
.
14. Wed your team to learning by negotiation with them of a
quality experience
.
(Greenwood and Gaunt 1994)
.
.
The Political Context
.
The government has defined what it considers to be ‘quality
outcomes’ for all children. It has set goals for every early years
providers in an effort to achieve its objectives. ‘Quality is a
crucial aspiration of policy development aspiration of policy
development for early childhood. Effective regulation and
inspection are seen as a vital aspect of ensuring that
leaders/managers meet required standard in delivering services
for children and families’ (Pugh and Duffy 2010). The
government believes that in order to ensure quality,
centres/settings need ‘committed, enthusiastic and reflective
practitioners with a breadth and depth of knowledge, skills and
understanding’ (DfES, 2005C:P.3).
.
The government strategy laid out in the Every Child Matters

94. (ECM) agenda is that provision works in a way that develops
and furthers the five ECM outcomes. A vision for the care and
education of children was expressed in the Green Paper, ECM
(DfES, 2003) that led to the Children Act 2004. The Childcare
Act 2006 is a piece of legislation that ‘attempts to bring
cohesion to the quality assurance and inspection of early years
provision’ (Pugh and Duffy 2010:p.64).
.
The government (DfES 2005:p 6-9) wants to see ‘good practice
become common practice’ for all settings/centres (particularly
children’s centres) by:
..
· Reaching the most disadvantaged families and children
Especially those commonly excluded from main stream services
.
· Increasing consistency in the level of support services offered
In order to improve children’s life chances
.
· Improving multi-agency working
‘The Childcare Act 2006 places a duty on local authorities
working with their partners…to improve outcomes for all
children and in particular to reduce inequalities’
.
· Grounding (specific to children’s centre) practice in evidence
There is now a significant amount of information on specific
interventions that help parents support their children’s
development (e.g. structured parenting programmes)
.

95. · Raising the quality of early years provision
Centres/settings should provide early years provision that is
tailored to the needs and interests of each individual child and
family
.
· Employing more highly trained and qualified staff
Evidence shows that well qualified staff make the biggest
difference to the effectiveness of services for both parents and
children.
.
18.3 Reflective task
.
.What is your definition of a quality provision?
.
What does quality mean to you in your daily practice?
.
Journal your reflection and responses
.18.4 Who is responsible for ensuring quality in
settings/centres and what does good practice look like?
..
Jorde-Bloom and Sheerer (1992:p.138) points out that, the
leader/manager of a setting/centre is ‘the gatekeeper to quality’.
Robins and Callan (2009:p.2) also highlights this stating that,
‘there is a significant relationship between the quality of a
setting and its leadership’. Hence the increasing drive for
leaders and managers to attend leadership training and
development such as the National Professional Qualification in
Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL).
.
Working in partnership with parents and other professionals is

96. key to providing quality provision. See below an example of
developing good practice with parents.
.
.
A Picture of Good Practice
The following comments were made by a Children’s Centre
leader (Robins and Callen 2009:p.106)
The centre has created a learning environment where everyone,
including parents, mentor each other by learning together,
learning from each other and learning through trial and error.
This is something that can be achieved when relationships are
trusting and strong. As a centre leader, I am not the expert in
everything and it is the team that provides expertise in all areas
collectively. The team is strong because of:
· Quality relationships
· Effective communication
· Drawing on each other’s strengths.
As a result, the centre has developed an ‘ethos’ that everyone is
equal and able to make a valuable contribution.
.
‘Research indicates that a number of factors influence parental
choice of service, and that quality service is a high priority only
for those parents who are aware of quality matters’ (Rodd
2006:p.248).
.
The core purpose of leaders (particularly children’s centre
leaders) is to ‘ensure that their centre really makes a difference
to the children and families it serves. How well are those
services managed, how well integrated and how effective are
they in reducing the gap between the most disadvantaged
children and their peers? Is every child and family better off?

97. Are they safer, healthier, more resilient and better able to enjoy
new learning opportunities? (DfES 2007:P.3).
.
It is clear that leaders/managers (service providers) will be held
responsible for the quality of their services/provision,
particularly through OFSTED inspections, governors, parents
and local authorities (Pugh and Duffy 2010).
.
Below we will explore how.
.
Governance and leading a quality centre/setting
For clarity I refer to governors or governance but recognise that
many different terms are used for these roles, for example,
management committees, boards, management groups and
trustees.
.
‘Governance is the leadership, direction and control of an
organization. The function of governance is to ensure that an
organization or partnership fulfills its overall purpose, achieves
its intended outcomes for citizens and services users and
operates in an effective and ethical manner’ (Independent
Commission on Good Governance in Public Services, 2005:p.7)
.
Good governance underpins effective services, and effective
leadership cannot be divorced from good governance (DfES,
2007)
.
The purpose of governance arrangements (particularly in
children’s centres) is to support strategic development so that
partners can meet local needs, identify priorities, agree
objectives and draw up and execute development plans, and
monitor progress, quality and standards. Governance
arrangements do not replace or take day-to-day responsibility
for operational management of the centre as this responsibility
has been delegated to the leader/manager. (DfES, 2007).
.

98. Local authorities and the impact on leading quality provision
The Childcare Act 2006 places duties on local authorities (an
therefore leaders/managers of settings) under the early years
outcomes duty. It requires them to undertake activities to
improve well-being for children aged 0-5 years through the
delivery of services in a way that is integrated and which
recognises the contribution that a wide range of partners play in
improving child outcomes. These duties include the following:
.
1. An English local authority must
a) Improve the well-being of young children in their area
b) Reduce inequalities between young children in their area
in relation to the matters discussed above
.
2. In the Act ‘well-being’, in relation to children, means their
well-being so far as relating to:
a) Physical and mental health and emotional well-being
b) Protection from harm and neglect
c) Education, training and recreation
d) The contribution made by them to society
e) Social and economic well-being
.
(H M Government, 2006, chapter 21 in NPQICL Booklet 10:p.6)
.
The government gives funding to local authorities who intern
allocates funding to centers/settings to support outcomes,
quality and inclusion and childcare.
.
Children centre leaders/managers generally have an ‘annual
conversation’ with the local authority. These conversations are
an ‘opportunity for centre leaders to add to the authority’s
knowledge of what is working well … Some authorities have
included others in the annual conversation, asking for parent
witnesses to convey their views and feelings about the centre’s
performance’ (NPQICL Booklet 10:p.9).

99. .
OFSTED
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s
Services and Skills. They report directly to Parliament and are
an independent and an impartial body. They inspect and regulate
services, which care for children and young people, and those
providing education and skills for learners of all ages.
.
They work with centres/settings, which are not yet good to
promote their improvement, monitoring their progress and
sharing with them the best practice they find.
..
18.5 Reflective task
.
.
.Reflect on your current centre/setting. Whom do you see as
responsible for providing quality and why?
.
What impact do parents have in developing quality?
.
What are the governance arrangements in your centre? If you
are unsure find out.
.
How do or can you contribute to developing quality in your
centre/setting?
.
Get a copy of your last OFSTED inspection. Highlight the really
good things that contribute to developing a quality provision.
Then highlight the areas for further development.
.
If you were the leader/manager of the centre/setting what areas
would you see as a priority to improve first and why?
.
Journal your reflections and responses.
.

100. .
18.6 Support leaders/managers and other professionals need to
develop and deliver quality provision.
.
Robins and Callan (2009:p.92) suggests that, ‘it is easier to
motivate a team that is functioning well and achieving because
success breeds motivation and motivation secures
success’.However Elfer and Wedge (1996:p.53) highlight some
of the difficulties of working with others. They are of the view
that ‘Agreeing standards at a local level is hard work. If
different groups are involved, the process can be painful’, as
agreement is needed from all when trying to develop quality and
set standards.
.
Ensuring that all professionals involved in the delivering of
quality provision get the support they need, is not easy and can
be a difficult process.
.
Pugh and Duffy (2006) point out that improving the quality and
level of training and qualifications of practitioners and leaders
is identified as the primary way in which higher quality of
services will be developed. Hence the reason why training for
leaders/managers and practitioners to meet the changing
demands of childcare and education agendas, linked with social
change, has been a significant focus in government policy,
under the remit of the Children’s Workforce Development
Council (CWDC).
(Gasper 2011).
.
Quality improvement is a ‘journey towards ever higher quality,
involving teamwork, commitment and some thorough self-
examination of practice’ (NQIN, 2007:P.7). Hence the
development of programmes such as the NPQICL programme
designed to support leaders/managers of children’s centres, The
NPQH for Head Teachers and the EYPS for those leading the
professional practice of their colleagues or curriculum across

101. the 0-5 age range.
.
The NPQICL programme in particular was designed to address
the complexity and turbulence that leaders and staff of
integrated centres face. Leaders/managers are expected to
challenge themselves and each other, to reflect on and question
their own and other’s practice and motivation and to support
others to do the same. Rather than ask leaders/managers to
compromise their values and principles, they are encouraged to
ask questions that begin: ‘How can we…?’ (Trodd and Chivers
2010). The weekly task reading will give you more information
about the impact of NPQICL programme on Centres..
.
18.7 Distributed leadership as a tool/model for supporting
development and increased responsibility in other when trying
to deliver a quality provision.
.Distributed leadership considers leadership as a pluralist rather
than individual activity (Southworth, 2004:p.3). Within this,
authority to lead comes not from the occupancy of a designated
organizational role, but is rather based on one’s knowledge,
understanding and ability to lead within a specific context.
.
Leadership is therefore a form of behaviour and not a position.
As a result, all members of the organisation are likely to
perform as leaders and followers at different times (Gastil,
1997:p.158).
.
The main advantage of distributed leadership is that it increases
the level of skills and expertise available (Harris, 2002). It is
particularly desirable in large organisations where scale of
activity is so broad it is difficult for any single individual to
retain an overarching view of the big picture, and is seen as
particularly effective in promoting organisational change (Hay
Group, 2004:p.5). Positive effects have also been identified in
terms of employee motivation and job satisfaction (Daft,
2002:p.44).

102. .
Despite this emphasis on openness and the ability of all being
able to lead, the formally designated leader remains key to the
development of this culture of shared authority and
responsibility. The formal leader also plays a critical role in
ensuring that, as leadership becomes ever more shared, the
group stays on-task, all members of the group are able to
contribute to its progress, and that the agreed cultural norms are
respected (Gastil, 1997:p.162).
.
Terms closely related with distributed leadership include:
delegated leadership, democratic leadership and dispersed
leadership (Bennett et al, 2002:p.4). These alternative models
can be differentiated in the extent to which they place different
degrees of emphasis on consultation, delegation and
empowerment.
.
.
Why is this model so useful?
Where there is such a broad remit (particularly in Children’s
Centres) and spectrum of professionals working with children
and families across a wide area, it is impossible for
leaders/managers alone to have knowledge and expertise in
every field. Nor is it possible for one person to have oversight
of the many and various activities associated with the centre.
This demands that the leader gives considerable attention to
creating a culture in which individuals embrace opportunities to
lead. Many leaders/managers are reluctant to ask other to take
on what they may see as ‘extra work’. However if this is seen in
the spirit of developing others as leaders this barrier is soon
overcome.
(Cited in NPQICL Booklet 9:p.27)
.
How does the leadership structure in your centre encourage
distributed leadership?

103. .
.
18.8 Key reading and reflective task
.
.
This key reading is ‘A Discussion Paper’ by Dr Jillian Rodd.
Click here to read as a pdf file now.
.
Leadership an essential ingredient or an optional extra for
quality early childhood provision?
.
Once you have read the paper reflect on discussions so far and
answer the following questions:
.
1. What is the relationship between leadership and quality?
.
2. Why do you believe that it is important for leaders to have
appropriate leadership/management training?
.
3. Why is effective communication and interpersonal skills
fundamental to leaders/managers
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
.
.
18.9 Summary of session
.
During this session we identified what quality was and looked
like. Considered the political context surrounding quality in
centres/settings. Identified who is responsible for quality issues
within centres/settings and explored the support leaders and
managers and other professionals need to develop and deliver
quality provision. Finally we explored distributed leadership in
supporting quality provision.

104. .
.
18.10 Weekly task
.
1. Click here for a report for you to look at highlighting The
Impact of the NPQICL on Children’s Centre Leaders and their
Centre.
.
2. Find out what the difference is between quality
improvement and quality assurance. Consider the concept of
quality improvement in enabling practitioners to ‘make changes
to the way they think and feel about their work’ (NQIN, 2007).
.
.
References and further reading
.
DfES (2003) The Children’s Workforce Strategy, Consultation
Paper. DfES.
DfES (2005C) Key Elements of Effective Practice, London:
HMSO
DfES (2007) Governance of Sure Start Children’s Centres:
Planning and performance management, Nottingham, DfES
Gasper, M. (2010) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Greenwood, M. and Gaunt, H. (1994) Total Quality
Management for Schools, Cassell
Independent Commission on Good Governance on Good
Governance in Public Services (the Langlands Commission),
(2005) Good Governance Standards for Public Services, London
CIPFA, OPM & Joseph Rowntree Foundation

105. Jorde-Bloom, P. and Sheerer, M. (1992) The effects of
leadership training on child care program quality, Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, vol.7.
Laming, H. (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry. London:
HMSO
Moss, P. (1994) Defining/Quality: Values, Stakeholders and
Processes’ in Moss, P. Pence, A. (Eds) Valuing Quality in Early
Childhood Services. London: Paul Chapman Publishing
Neave, H. (1990) The Deming Dimension, SPC Press
NQIN (2007) Quality Improvement Principles London: National
Children’s Bureau
NPQICL Booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools
National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Services.
NPQICL Booklet 10 (2011) Outcomes Matter Most
National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Service
Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010) Contemporary Issues In The
Early Years, London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Robins, R. and Callan, S. (2009) Managing Early Years Settings
London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Rutledge.
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice

106. Learning and working together for children and families
WEEK 12
Building and leading teams (part 1)
Leadership in practice
12.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘Building and Leading Teams’ This
is outlined below:
· Develop an understanding of the practice of leadership in
early childhood settings/centres
· Consider leadership of self and others within the team
· Reflect on the specific aspects of leadership likely to be most
effective in supporting learning and personal development
within teams
· Engage with relevant theory and reflect on leadership practice
We begin the week by considering the following quote in
relation to building and leading teams:
‘Effective leadership and teamwork are considered to be factors
which contribute to increased self-esteem, high job satisfaction
and staff morale, reduced stress and a decreased likelihood of
staff burnout’ (Schiller, 1987 cited in Rodd 2006:p.147).
In order to achieve effective leadership and team work it is
important to consider how we lead, guide and support

107. individuals as well as teams.
.
12.2 Follow my leader
.
.
A fairly standard definition of leadership is one such as
behaviour that enables and assists others to achieve personal
and organisational ambitions and goals.
.
This suggests that leadership might have as much to do with
making helpful suggestions as issuing strategic directives (to
the team), as much about listening to other people’s ideas as
expounding your own, and as much about gentleness as about
toughness.
.
Effective leadership is about helping people and teams to be as
effective as they have the potential to be. Leadership which
flows from this idea, has some important features:
.
· Leadership needs to be seen as a function of a group rather
than the role of an individual
.
· Leadership can be behaviour which gives power away
.
.
· The aims of leadership should be the increase of self-
directedness and the release of energy, imagination and
creativity in all those who form the organisation
.

108. · Leadership behaviour also needs to be designed by the
followers. Leaders need to seek information from their
colleagues about the sort of leadership that suits them best as a
team
.
· One of the key functions of leadership is to help in the
creating of conditions in which people feel motivated to work to
the optimum levels of their capacity, energy, interest and
commitment
.
In striving for more life enhancing forms of leadership, we need
to question our very assumptions about people and personal
power. This new concept of leadership adopts an approach,
which recognises that, the potential and power to work
effectively lies within the person as well as the team rather than
the leader. We still cling on to assumptions that people cannot
be trusted to direct their own work and that they must be
instructed, guided, monitored, controlled, rewarded and
punished – the theory X position discussed in week 3. Life
centred leaders believe in the basic dignity and worth of people
and in their capacity for commitment, self-direction and
achievement. The effectiveness of a leader is not always in what
they give to us but what they refuse to take away: our self-
respect, our integrity and our potential to make a significant
contribution.
12.3 Reflective task
.
.

109. Think about leaders you have worked with. What have been the
similarities and differences between them in terms of leading
the team effectively?
.
What was it they did that gained the teams respect and loyalty?
.
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
.
12.4 Communicating within the team
.
Human communication is a hazardous business and the capacity
for misunderstanding between people is enormous. It is a tribute
to our natural and intuitive capacities that we manage
communication without even more disagreements and conflicts.
.
In the process of observing others – listening to what they say
and watching what they do – we can begin to sense the nature of
their experience. But we all have the capacity to dissemble – to
say things and do things, which are not congruent with what we
are experiencing and feeling. This can lead to confusion,
ambiguity, mixed messages and misunderstanding. To be more
effective in our team relationships, we need to be aware of and
sensitive to the complex nature of the interpersonal landscape
between others and ourselves. It is important to note the range
of intra-personal factors that combine to make us what we are
and how we behave in different communications situations.
.
We have all been shaped and moulded by our experience. In any
early childhood setting each person has:
· Grown up with family members who have provided powerful
influences and presented models of behaviour
.

110. · Acquired a personal history of communications and developed
a unique profile of relationships
.
· Developed a repertoire of strategies for interacting within our
complex social world
.
· Evolved a code of conduct to guide our actions in the world
.
· Established a personal and distinctive set of habits and
patterns
.
Early childhood settings are complex organisations in which a
rich network of differentiated experience and belief is in a state
of constant interaction. As well as the purely individual and
personal elements, communication behaviour in an organisation
is affected by a variety of social and institutional structures:
.
· Status
· Authority
· Power
· Age
· Race
· Gender

111. · Disability
Each factor will further affect the ways in which individuals
within teams experience organisational life and how pecking
orders, chains of command, informal networks and strategic
alliances are established.
.
Over the past twenty years there have been concerted efforts to
change oppressive communication cultures particularly those
built on prejudices about age, race, class, gender and ability.
Many organisations are careful to develop policies, which
protect individual groups from exploitation and oppression.
Central to these policies are issues of interpersonal
communication: the assumptions we make and the language we
use.
.
In most settings communication is conducted in a climate of
increasing challenge and complexity, as old assumptions are
rejected and new ones developed. It is important not to set
standards so high that people are discouraged from
communicating through a fear of making mistakes. An effective
communication culture encourages development and expects a
certain clumsiness as people struggle to find new patterns and
processes.
.
Building and developing relationships within teams is a process
of matching the elements of our own unique world with that of
others. The greater the similarities, the greater the likelihood of
an open and satisfying relationship. Most of the time our
behaviour is purposeful, designed to meet needs and satisfy
aspirations. In comfortable relationships and teams where we
feel a positive sense of connection within the interpersonal
landscape, we tend to strive for harmony between our inner
world and our behavior. We become more open and trusting to

112. the other person.
.
In difficult and uncomfortable relationships we experience a
sense of tension and dissonance in the interpersonal landscape.
This can create feelings of anxiety which can result in
behaviour designed to protect our inner world from attack and
judgment. We become more closed and defensive.
.
Clearly the process of communicating within teams is
immensely complex and there is a great deal to try and do in
such a short time. We cannot plan every communication
incident in advance since we do not know when the majority of
them are likely to arise or exactly how individuals will react
and respond. But with those that we know we are going to
initiate, we can try and take some of these important factors
into consideration.
.
Communication is the key vehicle for management and
leadership work. Without this encounter there is no
management. Interpersonal communication is the main
curriculum for management development. Sadly it is the one
that is most neglected.
.
12.5 Reading Task
To begin, read: Basic Needs, Conflict, and Dynamics in Groups
by Karen John. This is available as a journal article from the
Library. Clickhere to access the Library now and look for: The
Journal of individual Psychology, Vol56, No.4, Winter 2000.
Please read the article then in your learning journal reflect and
evaluate your thoughts, ideas and responses.
The journal looks at the following:
.
· Conflict
· The group mind

113. · Fundamental Psychological Needs
· Group Dynamics and the Crucial C’s
· Group as Container
· Constructive Potential of Within-Group Conflict
· Sources and Modifiers of Intergroup Conflict
· Work, Work Groups, and Power Relations
· Contradictions in New Management
· Cooperation in the Workplace
.
12.6 Reflective task
.
.
What do leaders/managers need to do to create a working
environment in which communication within the team flows
freely and everyone feels informed?
.
What strategies have you found effective in your centre/setting?
.
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
.

114. 12.7 Leadership as giving
.
The old maxim that it is more blessed to give than to receive is
seldom quoted in the literature of leadership and management
yet it is one of the most profound ideas behind transformative
leadership.
.
Toxic and tyrannical leadership is all about trying to force
things out of people and teams – better performances, more time
and increased effort – through behaviours that are cajoling,
demanding, critical and impatient. Since such behaviours do not
seem to produce more effectiveness and commitment in our
colleagues, we might assume that it is because we are not doing
it well enough. It may not occur to us that the idea is bad, not
the implementation of it.
.
A key question for all those involved in early years leadership
is: ‘what do I have to give?’ As well as a range of technical and
professional offerings, there are some fundamental human
attributes, which can make the world of difference to our
colleagues in building and leading teams more effectively:
.
· Presence – being there for them
· Attentiveness – listening to their experience
· Understanding – sharing their concerns
· Interest – in what they do, hope for and worry about

115. · Concern – showing that we care about them and the work they
do
· Sensitivity – recognising vulnerabilities and handling them
with respect
· Responsiveness – telling them how we think and feel
Sadly such an approach to leadership has not featured in much
of leadership and management training. There are many who do
practise their leadership in a giving way but some have been led
to see it as a soft option and feel that they should be tougher,
more demanding and requiring, and less understanding and
concerned.
As well as considering leadership from the leaders own
perspective, it is important to have regard for the needs that we
have of our leaders. Good leaders seem to have an infinite
capacity not only to satisfy vital needs but also to anticipate
them. Such capacity grows out of four key qualities:
· Genuine interpersonal behaviour
· Warmth, care and respect
· Empathy
· Belief in the potential of others to grow and develop
All of us are needy. Failure to get some very specific needs
satisfied – particularly those that contribute to our pattern of
motivation – can result in loss of confidence and enthusiasm, a
sense of not being involved, a feeling of being unappreciated
and undervalued, and a reduction of job commitment and

116. energy. These are expensive losses, which few organisations can
afford. Good leadership is the delicate process of anticipating
these needs in others and striving to satisfy them. This is as true
for learners in classrooms as it is for practitioners.
.
Effective carers and practitioners are those whose who are able
to reach out to children, to appreciate and understand their
needs and seek specific and individual ways of satisfying them.
Diana Whitmore (1886: p.78) asserts that,
‘If children were to experience adults as welcoming, guiding
and supportive, they would discover the wonder of life, the joy
of exploring, the beauty of understanding’.
So too as leaders and managers we can help to create these felt
experiences in our colleagues and teams if we seize
opportunities to respond to some basic needs:
.
· Feeling trusted: conveying to colleagues a belief in their
abilities; resisting temptation to increase control when things
are difficult; expressing delight at successes and achievements
.
· Feeling heard and listened to: constantly seeking opportunities
to listen to colleagues experiences, asking questions, seeking
information, eliciting opinions, delving into details and showing
genuine interest and concern
.
· Feeling noticed and appreciated: taking note of contributions
and providing regular positive feedback on successes and
achievements
.

117. · Feeling encouraged: empathising with the demands and
challenges of the work colleagues do, providing support for
problem solving and action planning
.
· Feeling appropriately challenged: building a climate of
systematic and continuous improvement, constantly helping
others to seek new angles, new possibilities and new ideas
.
· Feeling valued: providing detailed and specific feedback so
that all colleagues feel a deep sense that their contributions and
efforts are valued
.
· Feeling informed: keeping information flowing freely through
the centre, checking that colleagues know what is going on
.
· Feeling supported: offering practical help as well as moral
support, getting alongside colleagues as often as possible,
providing a helping hand and a listening ear
.
12.8 Reflective task
.
.
Where do you stand on this issue of leadership as giving?
.
In your experience do teams tend to work more effectively when
they are supported and trusted rather than directed and
controlled?
.

118. Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
12.9 Eyeball to eyeball
.
It is how we behave in the many face to face situations of
setting/centre life that determines whether we influence and
support children, families and colleagues effectively. David
Howe (1993) also suggests that much depends on our capacity
to be more aware of and respond to the basic needs of
individuals and teams. He singles out three particular needs:
· Feeling accepted: Leaders can help us to feel part of the past,
present and future of the centre. They can help us to believe that
we have an important part to play in the scheme of things and
that our contribution is significant and special
· Feeling acknowledged: leaders can notice us. They can draw
attention to those parts of our work, which interest and delight
them. They can provide encouraging feedback and also draw our
achievements to the attention of others
· Feeling entitled: leaders can help us feel ok to be who we are,
to have the feelings we experience, and to hold the beliefs that
are important to us
The effect of these leadership behaviours is to affirm our self-
esteem and to help us feel worthwhile both about ourselves and
about our contribution to the development of the centre/setting.
Central to this is the capacity of leaders to understand their
teams (and individuals) to engage with them in the struggle to
achieve what is important to them in their lives. Perhaps it is
the very process of having an interest taken in what is important
to us that has such a powerful effect on our professional energy
and commitment.
.

119. Leaders can really make an impact by doing the following:
.
· Helping others to figure out what they would be proudest of
doing in their role and then helping them to do it
· Helping others to satisfy important personal goals through
their professional role
· Helping others to search for and discover, meaning in the
daily grind
· Helping others to activate and honour the small voice deep
inside them which seeks expression and understanding
· Helping others to become who they really want to be
We are discovering more and more about those behaviours
which seem to make a significant difference in enabling others
to release and express more of their potential. The more we do
this, the more we see leadership as a process of human
nourishment and less a matter of keeping people to their
contracts. Development also involves the process of unfolding:
encouraging others to allow what is deep within themselves to
come to the surface of their being rather than to lay hidden and
concealed.
The influential psychologist Abraham Maslow (1978) observed
that at every moment in our lives we have a choice between the
joys of safety and the joys of growth. Far too often in the
troubled and conflictual cultures of many settings/centres we
choose the safety option, thereby denying ourselves the
possibility of development and growth but also preventing our

120. skills and qualities from having a greater impact on the
centre/setting itself. Perhaps the very heart of leadership is
helping people do justice to their own potential.
12.10 Reflective task
.
.
Consider the three basic needs referred to above: feeling
accepted, feeling acknowledged and feeling entitled.
.
What ways have leaders/managers you have worked with helped
you and the team to satisfy these needs?
.
What happens when leaders/managers ignore them?
12.11 Interruptions
.
Most leadership and management interactions in settings/centres
are very brief, the majority lasting less than a minute. Most of
these interactions are activated by interruptions by someone
who has a need or someone who may be able to satisfy it. This
means that a great deal of our leadership work is incidental
arising out of the moment. While it is clearly not possible to
plan for what is unpredictable, it is possible to be prepared for
interruptions when they occur.
This preparedness is mostly to do with our communication
capability and the sorts of signals and messages we convey to
our children, families and colleagues when they interrupt us and
when we interrupt them.
Our impact on those we interact with is directly related to the

121. look on our face, the words we choose, the tone of voice we use
to utter them and the quality of attentiveness we provide when
the colleague replies.
.
Below are some of the crucial elements that are present in any
leadership encounter:
.
· The messages we convey before we utter the first word
· The opening gambit, and its impact on the other person
· Showing our feelings about the other person
· Disclosing our own thoughts and feelings about the business
we are discussing
· Encouraging the other to disclose their own thoughts and
feelings
· Getting to the point clearly
· Asking for what we want
· Responding to the other’s concerns, worries, enthusiasms and
needs
· Conveying understanding of their position
· Clarifying the details of agreements made
It is our capacity to keep aware of these factors that is vital in
leadership encounters where the success of the communication

122. is much more dependent on the leader than it is on the other.
Leadership by interruptions is at the heart of what we do. Every
interruption offers us a specific and unique opportunity to make
a positive difference. It is through interruptions that we are
given the chance to do some of our very best work.
12.12 Reflective task
.
How do interruptions feature in your work and that of your
leader/manager?
.
Do you experience interruptions as an irritant or use them as an
opportunity?
.
Use your journals to record your responses.
12.13 Summary of session
.
This week’s session began by looking at how leadership
behaviour can enable and assist individuals and teams to
achieve their personal and organizational ambitions and goals.
We also began to explore communication within teams. You
then engaged in reading an article by Karen John (Basic Needs,
Conflict and Dynamics in Groups). The idea of leadership as
giving was discussed and the possibility of using interruptions
as a way of making a positive difference to individuals and the
team.
.
12.14 Weekly task
.

123. .
Read the Journal of Workplace Learning Emerald Article: The
two faces of leadership: considering the dark side of
leader-follower dynamicsbyChristine Clements and John B.
Washbush. Click here to access now.
Abstract
.A number of years ago, David McClelland, in his studies of
managerial motivation, identified two types of power: egoistic
(using others for personal gain) and social (facilitating group
cooperation and effort for the achievement of the general good).
Clearly, the power motive is intimately related to the concept of
leadership. However, over the last several decades, a school of
thought has arisen which equates leadership with “doing the
right thing''. Defining leadership in such an ethical light is both
misleading and dangerous. At the same time, little has been
done to address the role of followers in the influence process,
and transformational models of leadership have exacerbated this
problem. Failure to acknowledge the role of followers and to
examine the “dark side'' of leader-follower dynamics can distort
effort to understand influence processes in an authentic way.
This paper provides balance to this discussion and identifies a
number of critical implications for leadership education.
Use your journals to reflect on the article and record your
responses.
References
Clements, C. and Washbush, J. (1999) The two faces of
leadership: considering the dark side of leader-follower
dynamics", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 11 Iss: 5 pp.
170 - 176
Howe, D. (1993) On Being a Client: Understanding the Process

124. of Counselling and Psychotherapy London: Sage
Karen, J. (2000) Basic Needs, Conflict, and Dynamics in
Groups: The Journal of Individual Psychology, Vol. 56, NO. 4,
Winter 2000
University of Texas Press
Maslow, A. (1978) The Farther Reaches of Human Nature
London: Penguin
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Whitmore, D. (1986) Psychosynthesis in Education
Wellingborough: Turnstone Press
.
This week’s session began by looking at how leadership
behaviour can enable and assist individuals and teams to
achieve their personal and organizational ambitions and goals.
We also began to explore communication within teams. You
then engaged in reading an article by Karen John (Basic Needs,
Conflict and Dynamics in Groups). The idea of leadership as
giving was discussed and the possibility of using interruptions
as a way of making a positive difference to individuals and the
team.
.
Week 13: Building and Leading teams (part 2)
13.1 Aims this week
.

125. Last week we began to:
.
· Develop an understanding of the practice of leadership in
early childhood settings/centres
· Consider leadership of self and others within the team
· Reflect on the specific aspects of leadership likely to be most
effective in supporting learning and personal within teams
.
.
The focus this week continues with: ‘Building and Leading
Teams’ This is outlined below:
.
· Further develop an understanding of effective leadership in
practice
· Be aware of nutrients and toxins and the impact they can have
on individuals as well as the team
· Explore effective leadership and team building
· Consider group dynamics and team development
· Look at building and leading multi-disciplinary teams
· Continue to reflect on practice
13.2 Valuing staff prior experiences
.
The importance of individual’s life histories and biographies
Each of us brings to our work in the early years a unique life
history. Your own life history may have some features that are
similar to those of colleagues but no one will have experienced

126. life events in the same way or drawn from them the same
insights and understanding that have given meaning to your life.
Our progress through life will have been helped or hindered by
the impact that various people have had on us.
.
In the struggle to understand the complexities of leadership
work in a multi-professional setting, we believe it is vital that
the leader allows and facilitates the to staff team to share and
explore the life events that have shaped their lives and from
which their core professional values, visions, and beliefs have
come from.
.
In her study of women leaders, Valerie Hall (1996) writes about
what she calls ‘leadership antecedents’ and how these have
combined to develop leaders with powerful visions and effective
skills.
.
Margy Whalley (1999) in her study of successful early years
leaders, demonstrated how leadership awareness is significantly
increased when, as part of a leadership learning community,
leaders are invited to depict in graphic form the life incidents
and events they believe helped them to develop their leadership
attributes.
.
In any staff team, it is important for colleagues to identify and
recognise different professional perspectives and practices and
to understand how and why these have developed. In an
integrated centre, staff will have come from different
professional traditions such as early education and children’s
social work, community services, health or adult educators. The
diverse traditions espouse different bodies of knowledge,
professional practice and sometimes significantly different
value positions. The members of a multi-professional team may
have followed circuitous career routes and all will have
influenced the role that different team members assume within
the centre.

127. .
Often we can know a colleague for years and not discover some
of the skills and expertise they have gathered in their lives.
.
13.3 Reflective task
.
.
.Rodd (2006:p.145) believes that, ‘Good leaders build teams by
making everyone feel that their contribution matters’.
.
Do you feel that your contribution matters in your
setting/centre? If yes, how? If not, why not? Journal your
response.
.
13.4 Effective leadership and team building
.
..
In the early childhood field a high importance is put on
effective leadership. Sylva and Siraj-Blatchford (2003) affirms
that high quality provision is achieved through the quality and
qualifications of the leader (Rodd, 2006), as this supports the
raising of standards and sets the standard for other staff to
follow. One of the basic principles of effective leadership is to
enable the rest of the team to be as effective as them (NPQICL
booklet 9). This can be achieved by supporting staff
encouraging positive attitudes and behaviours.
.
Rodd (2006:p.61) states that, an effective leader:
.
· Uses personality to lead by example, thereby stimulating a
particular team culture
· Is innovative and is perceived to be making things better by

128. improving team morale and productivity
· Ensures that constructive relationships are established and
maintained with the staff and peers (particularly multi-agency
teams).
· Focuses attention on behaviour or the situation, not on the
person
· Fosters the self-esteem and confidence of team members
· Coaches team members (including multi-professional staff) to
improve their performance
The following attributes can support the demands of team
leadership:
.
· Adaptable (the capacity to be responsive and innovative)
· Energetic (action-oriented and committed to work)
· People-orientated (values people and communicates openly)
· Quality-conscious (pays attention to standards of excellence
and consumer needs and expectations)
· Uniting (clarifies the common purpose and promotes the value
of cooperation)
· Entrepreneurial (autonomous and able to articulate the
uniqueness of the service)
· Focused (self-disciplined and predictable)
· Informal (a relaxed, straightforward approach to people and

129. situations)
.
When building and leading teams it is vital that the leader is
aware of the positive contribution or impact that they bring to
that team.
.
Neugebauer and Neugebauer (1998) cited in Rodd
(2006:p.163/164) highlights a five-step framework for team
building:
.
1. Set achievable goalswhich have been mutually agreed by
members of the team. Ensure that the more assertive staff
members do not dominate the process, especially during
discussion at team meetings
.
2. Clarify roles.Team members work most effectively when
their roles are clear to all and free of conflict. Each staff
member should be aware of who is responsible for what. While
it will be easier to clarify the formal roles that need to be
fulfilled, the informal roles that relate to the internal
functioning of the group should not be forgotten (Johnson and
Johnson, 2003). The leader needs to analyse the group to make
sure that someone is taking responsibility for the team task
roles (initiating, information-gathering, opinion-seeking and
giving, clarifying, elaborating, energising, summarising and
consensus-testing) and team maintenance roles (encouraging,
harmonising, compromising, gatekeeping, observing and
standard setting)
.

130. 3. Build supportive relationships.Build in opportunities for
feedback, develop trust and provide resources to stimulate a
cooperative team spirit. Teams where members feel supported
are more likely to deal (rather than ignore) common team
difficulties such as role ambiguity, role conflict and group
conflict
.
4. Encourage active participation in order to capitalise on the
knowledge and skills of individual team members. In an
atmosphere of acceptance, team members will be encouraged to
contribute their ideas, opinions and energies. Being part of a
cooperative venture can be extremely motivating for team
members, and this will increase productivity.
.
5. Monitoring team effectiveness. There is little point in
putting time and energy into team leadership and the team-
building process if the team is not achieving the goals
effectively or if the team is unhappy with the process. Regular
opportunities need to be provided by the leader to assess the
extent of goal achievement and how well members are working
together as a team. This review process can help identify any
problems and establish their cause, as well as assisting with
future planning.
.
13.5 Reflective task
.
..
Reflect on your current team in relation to the five-step
framework and teambuilding.
.

131. In your journal make a list of the positive ways in which your
leader builds and leads the team. Them make a list of the areas
that you believe could be developed further and why.
.
13.6 Leadership nutrients and toxins
.
Leadership nutrients work to build and develop, a positive,
friendly, enriching and ambitious organisational culture and is
one way of creating job satisfaction this can be achieved in the
following ways, through:
.
· Commitment
· Energy
· Enthusiasm
· Enterprise
· Responsibility
· Collaboration
· Initiative
· Confidence
Not all leaders will achieve consistency of success in this, but
many will be able to create conditions for positive growth and
development and work constantly to avoid the consequences of
a downward spiral.
.
Our capacity to work effectively towards centre goals is
determined by a variety of factors:

132. .
· We want to feel a sense of satisfaction, both about the work
we do and about its contribution to the organisation itself
.
· We want to feel able to exercise preferences, both about the
conduct of our own roles and responsibilities, but also in
decisions about organisational direction and practice
.
· We want to feel interested in, and concerned about, our work
so that our efforts and contributions are in tune with our
purposes in life
.
· We want to feel challenged to use our best abilities to achieve
worthwhile goals
.
· We want to enjoy the process of work and to experience
pleasure in being part of the organisational enterprise
.
Leadership toxins can inhibit our potential and are those verbal
and non-verbal behaviours that trigger certain emotions such as
fear, anger, resentment and jealousy. These are often painful
feelings that are activated when we are on the receiving end of
particular types of communication behaviour:
.
· Having our ideas rejected or stolen

133. · Being over directed
· Facing constant, criticism
· Not being listened to
· Being ignored
· Being misunderstood
· Being judged
Effective leadership is about helping individuals and the team to
be as effective as them. This involves supporting the team to
use their talents, skills and abilities free from restriction and
encouraging them through positive attitudes and behaviours.
.
If the above behaviours (toxins) are employed consistently and
systematically they can undermine self-esteem, confidence,
commitment and professional ambition, (Whitaker, 1998). They
can also create an environment of:
.
· Compliance
· Apathy
· Lethargy
· Caution
· Cynicism
· Mistrust

134. · Fear
13.7 Group dynamics and team development
.
Iceberg Theory
.
.This theory has been around for over 60 years. Sigumnd Freud
(original 1938; republished by Penguin in 2004) said ‘The mind
is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above
water’. In the leadership context the theory liken the staff of an
organisation to icebergs ina. Above the water line we can
observe individuals behaviour, however below the waterline
which is unobservable lay people’s hopes, interests, intentions,
feelings, fears, needs, assumptions, psychological wounds,
expectations, experiences, belief.
.
Freud (1938) believes that just as seven-tenths of an iceberg is
below the surface of the water, so it is suggested, is seven-
tenths of each person. Only the heads stick out above the water
line, however, the icebergs collide and bump into each other,
sometimes with quite damaging consequences. For many of the
staff in most organisations, the real business of relationships is
below the surface. Dislikes, fear, resentment, mistrust, envy,
jealousy and anger and frustration remain submerged. What is
needed for the water level to be lowered so that these
interpersonal issues can be exposed, explored and resolved. The
superficial veneer of niceness, which characterises the human
culture in many organisations, is counterproductive and
damaging to effective teamwork, inhibiting to the development
of staff and counter to the purposes that most organisations are
intent on pursuing.
.
The iceberg theory can be useful particularly for practitioners

135. who work in children centres as they often find it difficult to
challenge and they avoid conflict. There is this veneer of
‘niceness’ amongst staff. However there is often an underlying
current of resentment between individuals and teams. Using the
iceberg theory in supervision for example can help to break
down barriers and encourage challenge and development in a
respectful way.
.
Understanding something about group dynamics – or collective
interactions and behaviour patterns that can be observed in
groups – as well as the individual needs of group members, can
help leaders limit their potential destructiveness in the
workplace.
.
Our fundamental social need to feel we belong or connect is
extensively studied in research underpinned by attachment
theory. When we feel disconnected from the team, we become
overly dependent on others and seek undue attention from the
leader and team members. Our need to feel capable is the
subject of research on competence motivation or its absence
among school-aged children. When we feel we do not count,
are insignificant or overlooked by others, we feel hurt and apply
ourselves to hurting back.
.
The most effective leaders are those who appreciate and devote
time to addressing group dynamics and team development and
do what they can to help each team member meet their
individual needs to belong, to feel competent and significant
and to feel able to feel able to handle difficult situations.
(NPQICL booklet 9:p.12-24)
.
13.8 Reflective task
.
..

136. Think of your setting, an organisation you know well or have
worked in. Use the iceberg theory to generate descriptions and
explanations of how the cultures of these organisations
operate/operated?
.
In your journal record your responses.
.
13.9 Building and leading a multi-disciplinary team
.
Experience tells us that one of the best ways of establishing a
strong multi-agency team is to give practitioners and
professionals time together. The Co-location of some services,
for example health visitors, midwives, family support workers,
outreach workers and volunteers sharing office space or a staff
room, fosters a better understanding of the aims and priorities
for each agency and helps to identify common ground. Leaders
have a responsibility to ensure issues of confidentiality need to
be addressed specially with information sharing protocols and
particular care must be taken if there is any possibility of
volunteer workers having access to information about local
families.
.
A strong, skilled leader with enthusiasm must articulate the
settings/centre vision that has been agreed. The vision should
then be translated into realistic goals and common targets so
that all team members are clear that they share the same goals.
These should be simply expressed, written down, understood by
all. The roles and responsibilities of each partner agency need
to be defined and incorporated into a centre agreement that sets
out ground rules.
.
Joint training by practitioners and professionals are crucial to
the success of building effective teams and multi-professional

137. working. It provides opportunities for staff to get to know one
another, cooperate, discuss and make joint decisions.
.
It is also particularly important to be clear about the line
management structure where this is shared between a line
manager in the multi-agency service and a member of the
practitioner’s own professional based elsewhere.
.
In multi-agency teams it is helpful if there is a common line
management system that applies to all members of the team,
including those who are supervised externally. It is essential
that practitioners retain a link with colleagues in their home
agency who can give professional support and oversight.
.
Regular opportunities for the whole team to meet together to
review progress, share experiences and discuss closer working
are advisable to really establish a sense of team identity. It
sounds simple but with heavy caseloads it can be difficult for
everyone to keep in touch. Leaders of settings/centres must
ensure that time is made for this important activity.
.
Appropriate referral systems and procedures should be
developed, and mutually agreed, by all agencies involved.
Agreement should be reached on the exchange between agencies
of information about individual cases. Agreement should be
reached on using the Common Assessment Framework to
undertake needs assessment.
(DfES 2006:p16 &17)
.
The features, values and approaches discussed when leading
teams are important to any early childhood manager/leader
when trying to make things happen and by ensuring that staff
are involved and participate in the numerous activities and
services at the centre/setting.
.

138. 13.10 Key reading
.
This week’s reading by Valerie Wilson and Anne Pirrie
Multidisciplinary Teamworking Beyond the Barriers? A Review
of Issues
.
Click here to access it as a PDF file now. Please read in
particular chapter 3 What encourages multidisciplinary team
working? And chapter 4 What inhibits multidisciplinary team
working?
.
In light of this week’s session and the above reading how can
leaders and managers support, build and lead multidisciplinary
teams more effectively? Use your journal to reflect and record
your responses.
.
13.10 Summary of session
.
During part 2 of building and leading teams we looked at the
importance of valuing staff prior experience, their individual
life histories and biographies. You explored what it means to be
an effective leader and the importance of supporting and
building teams. You also reflected on Neugebauer and
Neugebauer (1998) five-step framework for teambuilding in
relation to your experience of teambuilding. We briefly
discussed leadership nutrients and toxins and the impact on
organisational culture. You explored the iceberg theory in terms
of group dynamics and team development. Finally we looked at
building and leading multi-disciplinary teams.
.
13.13 Weekly task
.

139. .
This week’s task is a reading by Bruce Tuckman –
Developmental Sequence In Small Groups. Click here to access
it as a PDF file now.
What does Tuckman say about the process of team/group
development?
.
How do these relate to your current team?
.
Journal your responses
.
References
.
DfES, (2006) Sure Start Children’s Centre Practice Guidance
.
Freud, S (2004) An outline of Psychoanalysis, London, Penguin
Books
.
Hall, V. (1996) Dancing on the Ceiling: A study of women
managers in education, London, Paul Chapman
.
Johnson, D. W and Johnson, F. P (2003) Joining Together:
Group Theory and Process, international edn, Allyn & Bacon,
Needham Heights
.
Neugebauer, B and Neugebauer. Eds (1998) The Art of
Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organisations, vol.
2, Child Care Information Exchange, Perth.
.
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools. National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
.

140. Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
.
Sylva, K. and Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2003) Effective Provision of
Pre-school Education, Department for Education and Skills,
London
.
Tuckman, B (1965) Developmental Sequence In Small
Groups Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
http://aneesha.ceit.uq.edu.au/drupal/sites/default/files/Tuckman
%201965.pdf Accessed 20/1/13
.
Valerie, W. and Anne, P. (2000) Multidisciplinary
Teamworking Beyond the Barriers? A Review of Issues The
Scottish Council for Research in Education
.
Whalley, M. (1999) Women Leaders in Early Childhood
Settings: A dialogue in the 1990s, PhD thesis, University of
Wolverhampton
.
Whitaker, P. (1998) Managing schools, Oxford, Butterworth
Heinemann
.
Week 14
Professionalism/professional identity and the role of the leader
in supporting continuous professional development
14.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is to consider ‘Professionalism and
professional identity’. The session is outlined below:
· To identify what professionalism means?

141. · To explore what professional identity is within the changing
early childhood field
· Consider the role of the leader in identifying developmental
needs and supporting professional development
14.2 What does professionalism mean and who is a
professional?
.
...
Professionalism can mean different things to different people
and coming to an agreed definition within the Early Childhood
community can be complicated (Stacey 2009). Friedland (2007)
describes professionalism in the Early years as a ‘ball of
knotted string’. She describes the ‘knots’, which need untying
in order to untangle the ball and reach a clear definition.
..
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines professionalism
as ‘The competence or skill expected of a professional’. Bolam
et al (2005:p.vi) cited in Stacey (2009:p.74) acknowledges the
complications in defining professionalism and suggests that all
staff members ‘with qualifications or not, are members of
professional learning communities. They distinguish between
being ‘professional’ and ‘being a professional’. They highlight
the difference between how people perform their jobs and the
qualifications they hold. In their study on effective professional
learning communities they raise the importance of all
professionals adopting professional standards, which should be
consistent, whatever the nature of their jobs.
..
Frost (2005:p.11) cites a definition of professionalism by
Simms et al. (1993) as:
..

142. · A systematic body of knowledge and monopoly of powers over
its applications
· A self-regulating code of ethics, emphasizing values such as
respect for the confidentiality of the client
· The sanction of the community at large
· Control over the profession’s own qualification and entry
procedures
· An altruistic orientation
I believe that professionalism includes and involves the way one
conducts themselves, their accountability and integrity,
someone that wishes to achieve the highest standards within
their profession e.g. as an early years practitioner, health
visitor, social worker, teacher. Moyles (2001) believes that a
passion for the work they do is a vital attribute of
professionalism and that professionals what ever their field
must be able to articulate these (what they do) clearly.
.
In her article ‘The Personal is Professional: professionalism and
the birth to three practitioner’ Manning-Morton (2006:p.42)
contends that ‘professionalism’ in the early years must also be
understood in terms of the day-to-day detail of practitioners’
relationship with children, parents and colleagues; relationships
that demand high levels of physical, emotional and personal
knowledge and skill’.
.
Osgood (2006:p.9) suggests that professionalism within the
Early Years community can sometimes become denigrated and
is not always valued in the wider society where professionalism
is still defined through masculinised attributes (such as

143. rationality, competiveness, individualism). It is therefore vital
that practitioners justify and promote their work with children
and families to increase their professional status. This can be
achieved if they reflect on their work with children and families
stating what they are doing and why?
.
14.3 Key Reading
.This week’s reading Reconstructing Professionalism in ECEC:
the case for the ‘critically reflective emotional professional’ is
by Jayne Osgood and is a challenging read. To read it now as a
pdf file, please click here
.
The paper draws on a study with a group of early childhood
practitioners and offers a critical reappraisal of the notion of
professionalism.
.
Once you have read the article use your journal to evaluate your
practice, reflect and record your responses.
.
14.4 Professionalism, multi-professional working, a case study
and reflective task..
...
The move towards multi-professional collaboration, and
approaches such as the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge
(HM Government, 2005) for all those working with children and
families, will necessitate a much more fluid and broader
definition of professionalism (Whalley 2008).
..
Case Study
Anne is deputy head of a nursery school and children’s centre.
She began as a nursery nurse and has now completed the
National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre

144. Leadership (NPQICL). Her passion for her work comes over
when she describes what she does and as she says, the
qualifications she has attained have, in some ways enhanced
this. She feels confident in her role, but perhaps most
important, happy to think outside the box. She uses her position
to fight tooth and nail for what she believes is right and with
others, can make sure things on offer benefit the children. She
is developing her own role as she works across services.
Demanding good practice, she is prepared to argue for resources
and, having always developed good relationships with others
outside, makes demands on them, placing the child at the centre
of her actions. For example, she felt perfectly justified in
insisting that a social worker, who had wanted a mother and
child to come to her office, came to meet them at the centre
because there was a possibility that the child would be taken
into care. Anne argued that the child needed to be in an
environment where she felt secure, not in an unfamiliar office.
.
What is your definition of professionalism? Do you consider
yourself as being a professional? What does it mean to be a
professional?
.
What attributes of professionalism would you look for when
colleagues are interacting with:
.
· Children;
· Parents and carers;
· Other professional colleagues?
Use your journal to reflect and record your thoughts and
responses.

145. .
14.5 Professional Identity – Who am I?
.
Anning et al (2006:p.7) suggests that professional identity can
best be described by ‘a particular knowledge base set of values,
training and standing in the community’. Bligh (in Patrioni
1994) described each profession as behaving like a tribe, with
individual members being nurtured in distinctive ways.
Professional tribes generally choose their own leaders and
establish their own pecking orders. They impose sanctions on
any member of the tribe who does not conform. They expel
members who begin to demonstrate the characteristics of
another tribe.Anning et al (2010:p.71) believes that ‘in
demanding that professionals work in multi-professional teams,
we are expecting them to confront, articulate and lay to one side
the distinctiveness of their long-established ‘tribal’ beliefs and
behaviours’.
.
Gasper (2011:p.74) refers to identity in terms of professional
heritage, which he suggests is ‘embedded practices, language
and ethos of individual professions which individuals who join
become familiar with as they gain experience and progress
within the parameters of the profession’. In partnership working
it is essential to acknowledge the way that professional heritage
affects points of view, language and perceptions of situations.
.
Hudson (2002) argues that there are three potential barriers to
multi-professional working:
. .
1. Professional identity: How professionals understand
themselves and their roles
.
2. Professional status: How professional hierarchies and
different distribution of powers are generated

146. 3. Professional discretion and accountability: How
professionals exercise discretion on a day-to-day basis.
.
Below is a case study, which highlights Bertham et al
(2002:p.53) view that ‘there can be a tension when ‘child-
centred’ and ‘parent-centred’ goals are in competition’.
.
Case study
Janice, an outreach worker, had a serious fall-out with a
practitioner working in the children’s room. They were both
committed to good practice and held similar values about what
they were offering. But it was their views on working with
parents that differed. Janice saw her priority as supporting the
parent, visiting her regularly and encouraging her to come to the
groups at the children’s centre and to sign up for vocational
training. Barbara felt that Janice was spending too much time
with the mother and not enough on the child who was attending
very irregularly.
.
A number of themes about the implications of working with
other professionals particularly in multi-professional teams for
‘who I am’ may emerge and are highlighted below:
.
· Professionals need to be confident enough about the
professional identity they bring to multi-professional teams to
feel safe about transforming it
· In the period of adjusting to their new roles and assuming
different identities in multi-professional teamwork,
professionals may feel anxious, destabilized and vulnerable
· Those who are peripheral to core team membership, or feel
isolated as lone representatives of a profession in a team are

147. likely to feel less well supported in transitions to new identities
· Professionals believed that the labels assumed by or imposed
on them had an impact on how they were perceived both within
and outside the team
· The perceived status of professions in the world beyond the
team did impact on team functions, but these barriers could be
broken down over time
· Professionals who struggled through the pain of
transformation to the gains of a new professional identity
reported an enhanced sense of ‘who I am’.
(Anning et al 2010:p75)
.
14.6 Reflective task
.
...
.How would you describe your professional identity?
.
Has it changed in recent years?
.
If you work in a multi-disciplinary setting/centre, is there a
shared identity? Or do people hold on to their original
professional identity? What impact does this have on the way
you work?
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your thoughts and
responses.
.
....
Now go to the Discussion Board (left hand menu) and record

148. your ideas and debate your ideas about professionalism with
other students.
.
14.7 Supporting professional development
..
Aubrey (2011:p.139) highlights that ‘the continuing need to
update and reinforce specific professional knowledge and skills
in a fast-changing world remains clear’.Bertram and Pascal
(2002:p.ii) suggest that research carried out internationally
supports the idea of investment in professional staff as a
preferable strategy for raising quality.
.
Apart from going on individual external training to develop new
skills, knowledge and understanding Siraj-Blatchford and Manni
(2006:p.9) found that effective settings used both ‘informal-
formal’ approaches to staff development. These include
observations, formal meetings, reflection of ones work and
individual feedback from managers/leaders and colleagues.
.
The political context in supporting professional development
.
The government’s vision set out in the 2020 Children and
Young Peoples Workforce Strategy (DCSF, 2008a:p.6) is that
everyone (particular professionals) working with children and
young people will be:
.
· Ambitious for every child and young person
· Excellent in their practice
· Committed to partnership and integrated working
· Respected and valued as professionals

149. The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) report
(Sylva et al, 2004) concluded that qualifies teachers,
specifically pedagogical leaders, had the most impact on the
quality of children’s experiences, particularly in relation to
outcomes in pre-reading and social development. The EYFS
practice guidance, taking note of this, stresses the need for
well-qualified and experienced staff who understand and engage
in informed reflective practice-both individually and in groups
and work collaboratively within the setting to share knowledge,
question practice and test new ideas – with high aspirations for
every child (DCSF, 2008c:p.9).
.
Training for practitioners and leaders to meet the changing
demands of recent childcare and education agendas, linked with
social change, has been a significant focus in government
policy, under the remit of the Children’s Workforce
Development Council (CWDC). The National College for
School Leadership are responsible for the form, content and
delivery of the training programme for leaders and managers in
Early Years Childcare and Education. The National Professional
Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is a
qualification that provides an experimental, developmental
programme centred on reflective practice, which aims to
encourage leaders/managers to explore value, based practice and
extends their knowledge and understanding of leadership and
multi-agency working. This qualification aims to raise quality
and standards.
.
...
The role of the leader in identifying need and supporting
professional development
.
Commitment to support of staff and continuous professional
development (CPD) is considered a key factor to effective
leadership (Aubrey, 2011).

150. .
It is the responsibility of the leader particularly in Children’s
Centres to encourage and support staff development and multi-
professional working.
.
Studies on multi-professional working have found that some
professionals feel that they lack the knowledge and skills
needed for integrated working. Davis and Smith (2012:p.9)
believe that there are ‘benefits to be gained from working with a
range of people with different types of experience …it suggests
professionals that hide their feelings, errors or uncertainties (in
an effort to keep up an apparently professional appearance) are
actually unprofessional’.
.
They suggest it is important for professional to examine their
preconceptions and those of their colleagues in order to create
collaborative and interrelational approached to learning and
professional development.
.
Regular supervision is primarily the responsibility of the centre
leader/manager. During supervision the leader/manager helps
staff to use their knowledge and skills effectively in carrying
out their daily duties and to enhance and deepen their
understanding of professional values. Whalley (2001) believes
that the ranges of supervisory responsibilities are complex for
managers/leaders to address. It is therefore important to
consider, personal and self-development as well as team-
building issues.
.
Rodd (2006:166) suggests that the ‘professional support
provided through effective supervision helps staff to listen to
and accept constructive feedback and learn to reflect upon and
critically evaluate their own performance’. Whalley
(2001:p.139) observes that supervision ‘becomes a mechanism
of quality control because it involves target-setting, goals and
reviews’. When carried out effectively supervision allows for a

151. forum where difficult issues can be discussed openly and in
confidence – for example underperformance, sickness level.
These days supervision is viewed as a form of continuous staff
development where staff competence is the main objective. It is
also seen as a way of communicating to staff that they are
important to the organisation and that their contribution is
valued (Rodd 2006).
.
Capability learning cycle – A tool for supporting development
(Michael Schartz and Rob Walker (1995:p.106)
The value of using the Capability learning cycle lies in the
distinction that it makes between our conscious operations and
our unconscious ones – in other words, between the actions we
take with full self-awareness and those we take without
consciously having to think about them. This model refers to
ideas of continuous growth ad development and all round
achievement.
.
The theory suggests that in learning, particularly in relation to
the application of skills and knowledge, we move through a
series of stages as discussed below:
.
Unconscious incapability
I am not aware of what I do not know or cannot do until I
become aware of a need or a deficiency; then I move to:
Conscious incapability
I am now aware of something I do not know or cannot do. I can
now choose whether I want to gain new knowledge or develop a
new skill, or not.
If I do, then as I undertake new learning I am aware of being in
a state of:
Conscious capability
I need to concentrate and think in order to understand new

152. knowledge or to perform the new skill. As I absorb new
knowledge and I become skilful I move into a state of:
Unconscious capability
New knowledge takes place alongside other acquired knowledge
and I am able to apply the new skill without deliberate attention
to the techniques involved. Some capabilities I can undertake on
automatic pilot.
(NPQICL Booklet 9, 2011:p.6)
.
The above model is particularly useful to leaders/managers in
relation to professional development work. Development and
growth requires individuals to move through the stages. This
can be achieved more successfully when learning is supported
and encouraged. The key for leaders is being able to intervene
to activate capability awakening, rather than incompetence
panic, with the damage associated with feelings of anger, guilt,
shame and a sense of not being good enough.
..
It is the conscious capability stage that sensitive encouragement
and support are most crucial. Developing new professional
capability involves taking risks, and when those tentative first
steps are judged negatively, then development is jeopardised
and growth inhibited.
..
14.8 Reflective task
.
..
Think of a recent time when you decided to learn something
new – skill, or taking up a new interest. Use the learning
capability model to identify your experiences at each of the
stages.
.

153. 14.9 Summary of session
..
During this session you looked at the definition of
professionalism and professional identity. You explored the role
of the leader in identifying and supporting professional
development. You briefly considered the political context
around supporting professional development, particularly for
the leader/manager. Finally you looked at the Capability
Learning Cycle which is a tool leaders can use to support
development and learning.
..
14.10 Weekly task
..
The second key reading is by Malcolm Knowles – The Modern
Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy
Revised and updated. Click here to access it as a pdf file now.
...
Malcolm Knowles' attempts to develop a distinctive conceptual
basis for adult education and learning via the notion of
andragogy became very widely discussed and used. He also
wrote popular works on self-direction and on group work (with
his wife Hulda). His work was a significant factor in reorienting
adult educators from 'educating people' to 'helping them learn'
(Knowles 1950: 6).
...
Use your journal to reflect on your own learning and
development and record your thoughts and responses.
...
References and further reading
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M. (2006)
Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services: research policy and practice Maidenhead.
Open University Press.
...
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M. (2010)

154. Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services,Open University Press McGraw Hill
Education
...
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in Early Years
(Second Addition)
SAGE Publications Ltd
...
Bertram, T. Pascal, C. Bokhari, S. Gasper, M. Holtermann, S
(2002) Early excellence centre pilot programme. Second
evaluation report 2000-2001. Research report 361. Nottingham:
DfES.
...
Bertram, T. Pascal, C. (2002) Early Years Education: an
international perspective. London: Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority.
www.inca.org.uk(Accessed 1/2/13)
...
Bolam, R., McMahon, A. Stoll, L et al (2005) Creating and
sustaining effective professional learning communities.
Research report 637 Bristol: University of Bristol
...
Davis, M. and Smith, M. (2012) Working in Multi-professional
Contexts
A Practical Guide for Professionals in Children’s Services
...
DCSF (2008a) 2020 Children and Young People’s workforce
strategy. Nottingham: DCSF.
...
Friedland, R. (2007) Professionalism in the early years. In Wild,
M. and Mitchell, H. (eds) Early Childhood Studies: Reflective
Reader, Exeter: Learning Matters
...
Frost, N. (2005) Professionalism, Partnership and joined Up
Thinking. Dartington: Research in Practice
...

155. Gasper, M. (2011) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities Sage Publications
...
HM Government (2005) Common Core of Skills and Knowledge
for the Children’s Workforce. Nottingham:DfES
...
Hudson, B. (2002) Interprofessionality in health and social care:
the Achilles’ heel of partnership, Journal of Interprofessional
Care, 16(1).
...
Knowles, S. (1970) The Modern Practice of Adult Education:
From Pedagogy to Andragogy Revised and
Updatedhttp://www.hospitalist.cumc.columbia.edu/downloads/c
c4_articles/Education%20Theory/Andragogy.pdf Accessed
2/2/13
...
Manning-Morton, J. (2006) The Personal is Professional:
professionalism and the birth to threes practitioner London
Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
...
Moyles, J. (2001) Passion, paradox and professionalism in Early
Years education. Early Years, 21 (2): 81-95.
...
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools. National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
...
Osgood, J. (2006) Deconstructing professionalism in early
childhood education: resisting the regulatory gaze.
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7 (1): 5-14.
...
Petrioni, P. (1994) Inter-professional teamwork: its history and
development in hospitals, general practice and community care
(UK), in A. Leathard (ed.)

156. ...
Going Inter-professional: Working together for Health and
Welfare. London: Routledge.
...
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
...
Schratz, M. and Walker, R. (1995) Research as Social Change,
London, Routledge
...
Sylva, K. Melhuish, EC, Sammons, P. Siraj-Blatchford, I.
Taggart, B. (2004)The effective provision of pre-school
education (EPPE) project: London: DfEE/Institute od
Education, University of London.
...
Siraj-Blatchford, I. Manni, L. (2006) Effective leadership in the
early years sector: the ELEYS study. London Institute of
Education, University of London
www.gtce.org.uk/shared/contentlibs/126795/93128/120213/eley
s_study.pdf
...
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and collaboration in Early Years
Settings, Learning Matters Ltd
...
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice
...
Whalley, M. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years
Settings, Learning Matters Ltd
...
Whalley, M. (2001) ‘Working as a team’, in Contemporary
Issues in the Early Years. Working collaboratively for Children,
3rdedn, ed. G. Pugh, Paul Chapman, London

157. support you at this time?
.
If you were planning the agenda for your first mentoring
session, what three key items would be on the agenda and why?
.
How do you believe mentoring sessions could support you in
leading a multi-professional team?
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses..
.
WEEK 15
15.8 Journaling as a way of supporting CPD
.
During week one I introduced journaling to you as a way of
reflecting on your practice, their thoughts and responses for the
module. Today we look at journaling in terms of supporting
CPD.
.
Journaling brings together both personal and professional
development. The aim is to use your journal to express your
thoughts and feelings, to review and learn from them and to
record what you think should do next. One way to think about
journaling is teaching yourself through your professional
practice. You think about your initial learning in order to make
improvements for yourself and your setting/centre. Anything
that could improve your job for you could also improve your
settings/centres outcomes for the children and families using
services or activities.
.
Journaling is a conscious way of making sure that you help
yourself. You have many ways of helping others to solve
problems. Being a participant in your own problem-solving

158. strategies and making sure that you move yourself on can be
strengthened by journaling.
.
.
15.9 Summary of session
.
This week’s session continued the theme of professional
development and you began by exploring reflective supervision
through two journal articles, examining its role in CPD. You
also looked at appraisals the appraisal process and its links to
identifying and supporting development. We then considered
mentoring and the mentoring experience and finally you
reflected on the role of journaling as a way of supporting CPD.
.
.
15.10 Weekly task
.
.
This week’s task involves reading the following article:
.
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal
Leading a learning organisation: Australian early years centres
as learning networks. Kaye Colmer.
Vol.16, No. 1, March 2008, 107-115
.
The article discusses the following:
.
· Leading a dynamic learning organisation
· Managing as well as leading change
· Motivating and inspiring staff through shared leadership and
reflectivity

159. · Creating devolved leadership structures and engaging with
complexity
· Developing an early years centre as an effective learning
networks
· Key strategies in developing early years centres as learning
networks
Use your journal to reflect on the article your own
setting/centre. Record your thoughts and responses.
References and further reading
Barden, N, 2002, Supervision and the new ethical framework,
Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal, 13, 6, 28-29
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy,
(2002), Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling
and Psychotherapy, Rugby, BACP
Colmer, K. (2008) Leading a learning organisation: Australian
early years centres as learning networks Lady Gowrie Child
Centre, Adelaide, Australia
Cullan, S. (2006) What is mentoring? In Robbins, A. (ed)
Mentoring in the Early Years. London: Paul Chapman.
NPQICL booklet 2 (2011) Journaling for integrated centre

160. leadership National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
NPQICL booklet 3 (2011) Leadership mentoring
support National College for Leadership of Schools and
Children’s Services.
Parsloe, E. (1992) Coaching, Mentoring and Assessing: A
Practical Guide to Developing Competence. London Kogan
Page.
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice
Learning and working together for children and families
Weigand, R. and Weatherston (2007) The issue and why it
matters
Journal of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants,
Toddlers, and Families
ZERO TO THREE, November 2007 Volume 28 No.2,
Week 16: Managing Change with multi-
professional/disciplinary teams
16.1 Aims this week
This week we look at ‘Managing Change with multi-
professional/disciplinary teams)’. The session is outlined below:
· To gain an enhanced understanding of the implications of
change for staff, management and leadership

161. · To consider the importance of change in relation to providing
quality services and provision
· To look at Kotter’s (1995) change model as an analytical tool
in supporting change management in multi-agency environments
· To explore the role of the leader in managing change
· To consider what is involved in the change process
· To examine ways of managing conflict and stress (weekly
task)
16.2 Change is everybody’s concern
.
..
‘Change is one of the few certainties in life. It is a phenomenon
in all aspects of our lives. Given that human beings experience
so much change in their day-to-day lives, it can be difficult to
understand why the process of change presents such threat to
some people’ (Rodd 2006:p.181). We will explore this further
during this week’s session.
.
Change is one of the fundamental features of life and work in
early years services. Those who work with children and
families are concerned with growth and development and get
worried when services, processes, or standards stay the same.
One of the main principles of early years work is consistent and
continuous change. Duffy (2010:p.1) makes it clear, ‘high
quality early education leads to improve outcomes for children,
especially those who are disadvantaged’. There is therefore a
duty to ensure that standards do not stay the same but develops
and improves in order to meet the needs of children and

162. families.
..
The Irony is often that those whose role focuses on change and
managing the change process in others or teams are not always
as keen to bring about change in their own professional
behaviours and working practices.
..
Since the working practices of early years practitioners and
other professionals are themselves varied, complex and only
arrived at through training and experience, it can be a cause of
some concern and insecurity to change working practices that
have become familiar through experience. Gasper (2011:p.35)
highlights that ‘fear of change and resistance to change’ is one
of the challenges and barriers to working with multi-
professional teams.
Leaders and managers of multi-professional teams, are
responsible for providing the best quality service that they can.
This often requires change and development.
..
Alvarado et al., (1999) cited in Rodd (2006) states that,
‘leadership has been, and will continue to be, defined in terms
of improving program quality’.
..
In this fast changing world this can involve staff being
introduced to new methodologies, extend existing skills and
develop new ones.
..
..
One of the responses or impact to an environment characterized
by fast and accelerating change is to put settings/centres and
their team under more pressure. One way to exert this pressure
is to place increased emphasis on the way we plan and evaluate
services. By tightening up on the way we plan and evaluate can
help us become more efficient.
..

163. It is not plans, which change and improve outcomes, nor
evaluation, which raises standards it is the people who do the
work – the team. In the end it is the capacity of leaders to bring
about change in how professional practice is conducted that will
enable an early years setting/centre to develop and improve.
This involves working with individuals as well as teams who
will have ideas and suggestions about how things should be
managed. It is never going to be easy persuading staff to stop
using skills s/he has taken all his/her life to develop and hone
nor to ask someone to leave a role they have striven to learn
about and become familiar with.
..
It is in the management of change and development that
leadership capability is most challenged. Rodd (2006:p.182)
believes that, ‘The role of the leader has become instrumental in
managing change’ as well as orchestrating change.
..
..
16.3 Reflective task
..
..
.What changes to your professional practice have you
experienced in the past few years?..
..
How were these changes managed? How did the changes affect
you?
..
Use your journal to record your responses.
..
..
16.4 Resistance to change
..

164. ..
Aubrey (2011:p.140) highlights that ‘Anything that threatens a
core value is likely to be met with a whole gamut of responses
that range from active and passive opposition through to
apparent acceptance and support’
..
In her work on how organisations will need to develop in the
future, Caroline Palmer (1994) suggested that two assumptions
are so deep-rooted in the organisations that they have taken on
the strength of incontrovertible truths. The first is the belief
that you cannot change human nature; the second that you
cannot run organisations by trying to do that. Her emphatic
response is ‘Oh yes you can’. If these assumptions were actually
true, she argues we would still have slavery in this country.
..
Leaders in the early years settings/centres may not be
unfamiliar with the cries: ‘if it isn’t broke don’t fix it’ and ‘that
wouldn’t work here. Perhaps what such attitudes reveal is a fear
of change, of moving out of our comfort zones into the
unknown. Goleman (1999:p.98) believes that ‘People who lack
adaptability are ruled by fear, anxiety and deep personal
discomfort with change’. Until we learn to see change as a
journey of discovery rather than as a threat to our wellbeing,
these fears will continue.
..
Given the inhibiting influences of our upbringing, education and
experiences, we should not be surprised that we have developed
considerable aptitude in resisting change in various forms and
guises. As leaders/managers we should realize that resisting
change is very purposeful behavior: it is a strategy to protect
ourselves in face of threats to self-esteem and psychological
survival.
..
In our roles and work we invest a great deal of physical,
intellectual, emotional and psychological energy in constructing
our role images and comfortably occupying the organizational

165. niches we have created for ourselves. When change is proposed
or enforced, the role image upon which we have based our
behavior is declared null and void and we have as yet no
alternative with which to replace it. We may feel deprived of
the psychological props upon which much of our personal and
professional credibility is built. So we fight to remain intact by
seeking to preserve the status quo. One of the ways of doing
this is to attack the proposition and find as much fault as
possible.
..
The following phrases will have a familiar ring to them and
some we will identify as part of our own resistance strategy
during some events in our lives:
..
· ‘We tried that once before and it didn’t work’
· ‘We don’t have the time’
· ‘Let’s get back to reality’
· ‘We don’t have the resources’
· ‘You can’t teach an old dog new trick’s’
· ‘Not that again’
· ‘We’ve managed so far without it’
· ‘Lets form a working party’
· ‘Let’s wait until things settle down’
· ‘We’ve always done it this way; no one has complained’

166. Away from the personal level, there is a range of reasons for
resistance to change (Plant 1987):
..
· Fear of the unknown
· Lack of information
· Unwilling to share information
· Misinformation
· Historical factors
· Threat to core skills and competence
· Threat to status
· Threat to power base
· No perceived benefits
· Low trust organisational culture
· Poor relationships
· Fear of failure
· Fear of looking stupid
· Reluctance to experiment
· Custom bound
· Reluctance to let go
· Strong peer group norms

167. Plant (1987) believes that resistance to change comes in two
forms: systemic and behavioural. Systematic resistance tends to
occur when there is a lack of knowledge, information, skill and
managerial capacity. It is almost as if the organisation is crying
out: We can’t do this’! Behavioural resistance is more
emotionally centred and derives from the reactions, perceptions
and assumptions of individuals and groups in the organisation.
Lack of trust, for example, is much more difficult to manage
than lack of information or the absence of resources.
..
The challenge for leaders/managers are often compounded by
paranoia – the feeling that the resistance is directed at them
personally. Coulson (1985) has provided a valuable insight into
the psychology of change, which offers guidance to
leaders/managers as they contemplate the way forward. This can
be summarised as four key points:
..
1. Initiators of the management of change need to be aware
that, when change is suggested, those involved in it want to
protect what they see themselves to be
..
2. The way that individuals and teams operate in their
particular work situations has come about through a long
process of establishing an identity in relation to the demands
and expectations raised. They strive to satisfy their own work
needs and the expectations of others with the minimum of
uncertainty and anxiety. Pressure to alter this way of being
tends to be received as threats to the comfortable continuity of
living and working
..

168. 3. Suggestions that individuals change their way of doing
things and their approaches to the professional tasks for which
they have responsibility imply a level of inadequacy in their
performance. This threatens the identity they have striven to
develop. The natural inclination is to become aroused in the
defense of the familiar and established
..
4. Far too often leaders/managers and senior staff experience
this defensive tendency as opposition to new ideas and see their
task as one of overcoming the perceived resistance. A battle of
wills can ensure which is counter productive to the
developments themselves and to the professional relationships
which are vital to their success
..
Much of this polarisation can be avoided if the following six
factors are remembered:
..
1. When people resist change they are not usually working in
active opposition to it as such but demonstrating that a threat to
their personal and professional security has been experienced
..
2. Leaders/managers need to accept this response as natural
and inevitable
..
3. A key task for leaders/managers is to listen to the
experience of those involved in change and seek to understand

169. what is felt to be threatened
..
4. Leaders/managers need to be deeply caring and concerned
about what it is that staff feel they are having to give up and be
seen as ally in this process, not as an opponent
..
5. Leaders/managers also need to help staff protect what they
perceive to be under threat while moving them towards new
methods and strategies
..
6. In the process of change it is vital to try and avoid
undermining individuals’ sense of competence and professional
wellbeing by appearing to reject or devalue their established
practices.
..
Much pain and discomfort can be avoided if some of these key
ideas are incorporated in the values and assumptions, which
underpin approaches to management and leadership. A great
deal of stress within settings/centres with staff can often be
linked back to insensitive and clumsy handling of innovation
and change.
..
..
16.5 Reflective task
..
..

170. ..Recall a time when you were required to make a significant
change to the way you did things.
..
How did you feel when the changes were proposed? How did
you respond? How do you now view the changes that you then
had to make?..
..
Use your journal to record your responses.
..
..
16.6 Dynamics of change
..
What the resistance statements quoted above conceal is the
considerable confusion, anger and uncertainty that change often
stirs up inside organisations. A further insight into the process
of change and the individual is supplied by the concept of
‘zones of uncertainty’ (Schon 1971). This suggests that change
involves risks in moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar
(Whitaker 1998).
Zones of discomfort
Safe haven
Danger zones
Unknown
Where we are now
Uncertainty
Difficult
Discomfort
Fear
Awkwardness
Confusion
Incompetence
Where we want/have to be

171. ..
The table above shows the first step out of the comfort of the
familiar can be most hazardous involving a range of risks and
difficulties. It is important to be sensitive to three particular
clusters of feelings:
..
1. Loss
2. Anxiety
3. Struggle
Of firmly held beliefs and ideas
About required levels of understanding
To survive intact
Of established patterns of behaviours
About new skills
To acquire new competence
Of comfortable habits
About what the future will be like
To gain respect and recognition
Of confidence and self-esteem
About being able to cope
About being seen as different

172. ..
Among the most valuable of managerial qualities are those that
convey an informed and sensitive understanding of the impact
of change and of the difficulties that have to be faced to
accomplish it. But change must never be regarded as something
that has to be feared, resisted and avoided. Change can present
us with new opportunities and exciting prospects. It can focus
our thinking and concentrate our ambitions. It is through change
that we can realise our wilder dreams.
..
While it is vital to be sensitive to apparent difficulties, it is also
important to recognize the powerful range of human resources
that can be activated within each person. People will tend to
underperform if expectations of them are too low. Within
settings/centres staff will inhibit the full expression of their
skills and abilities if they feel oppressed and underestimated.
Over recent years organisational development theory has placed
increasing emphasis on the importance of assumptions about
staff and their work. Successful leaders/managers have been
found to be those who are able to activate the inner resources of
their team by building a positive and enhanced climate of
assumptions.
..
..
16.7 Reflective task
..
..
Reflect on your own zones off uncertainty.
..
What things have you had to give up in the course of your life
in order to move on?
..
How did you feel about these losses?

173. ..
What sorts of anxiety do you experience when you have to do
something you haven’t done before?
..
What sorts of struggles have you engaged in as you have
developed and changed?
..
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses
..
..
16.8 Kotter’s (1995) Change Model
..
..
Developing a model of leadership in multi-agency environments
A key focus of multi-agency leadership is upon the process of
change management. Although there are a number of different
change management models Kotter’s is one of the most popular
(DfES 2005d:p.9).
..
In his work Kotter highlights eight steps to organisation
transformation
..
Kotter’s change model (Kotter, 1995:p.9)
1. Establishing a sense of urgency
2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition
3. Creating a vision
Creating a climate of change
4. Communicating the vision

174. 5. Empowering others to act on the vision
6. Planning and creating short-term wins
Engaging and enabling the whole organisation
7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more
change
8. Institutionalising new approaches
Implementing and sustaining change
..
The first three steps are concerned with creating the
environment for change to happen, and include increasing the
urgency for change, building the right team and establishing the
vision. Steps four to six look at increasing buy-in to the change
model process and creating the drive for change. This involves
achieving commitment to the vision, the belief that people are
empowered to act, and securing short-term wins. The final step
looks at the importance of ensuring that change becomes
institutionalised. The different demands of multi-agency
working means that often building leadership capacity and
extensive distribution of leadership particularly within
children’s centres are important strategies for the long-term
viability of collaborative working.
(NPQICL Booklet 9:p.33)
..
..
16.9 The change process
..
.Most of the changes that we are concerned with when leading
and managing teams involve us moving away from known

175. positions out to the unknown (such as integrated or multi-
agency ways of working). This often means that we have to give
up things we are familiar with and adopt practices or ways of
working that we have never tried before often with a short lead
in time and with insufficient opportunity for reflection and
preparation. Mostly we can take the changes in our stride and
modify our professional practice to new needs and
requirements. Sometimes we do not like what we are expected
to do but realise that adjustments have to be made.
..
.Traditional approaches to change management fail to take
sufficient account of the impact that change makes on our lives
and how it affects our capacity to function effectively.
..
If we are to manage change well, we need to be sensitive to the
change process and how it operates in each team member.
Below are four particular dimensions of this process, which are
significant:
..
1. Conceptual change:changes to the way we think about our
work, conceive our roles and responsibilities, how we assess our
effectiveness, how we see the nature of change in our lives and
our attitudes to the specific issue of the change under
consideration.
2. Emotional change:how we feel about the changes proposed,
the sorts of challenges and demands it will make on us, the
emotions that will be aroused as we begin to struggle with new
ideas and fresh expectations, our hopes of success and our fears
of failure.
3. Aspirational change:our hopes and ambitions for our work,
our professional journey, our commitment to the early years and

176. its vision for the future, our career aspirations and our hopes for
the sort of contribution we want to make.
4. Practical change:how we stop doing things we have always
done and start doing things in a different way or doing other
things we have never done before, how we adapt to new
practices and approaches, how we acquire new skills and how
we adopt new behaviours.
When we consider going on a journey, it is useful to have a map
of the route. It is not enough to be told where we should go and
that we have a certain amount of time to get there. We need
help with three vital questions:
..
1. What is the purpose of the journey?
2. What will the journey be like?
3. What will we do when we get there?
Below we will look at another use for the four-link development
chain. This can help us to focus on different aspects of a
proposed change and help those who will be involved to make
the journey in ways which reduce confusion and distress and
which provide stepping stones into the future:
..
1. Why is change necessary?
..
2. What will it involve?
..
3. The challenges to face?
..
4. What will it be or look like?
..
In considering these key issues we need to appreciate that
change is as much an inner process of adjustment as a practical

177. task. How we feel about what we are expected to do
significantly affects how we do it. Leaders/managers need to
realise that resistance to do something significantly affects how
we do it. They need to realise that resistance to change is one
way that individuals and teams register – without actually
saying so directly – that they are uncomfortable and perhaps
even afraid of what is proposed. Effective leaders/managers
never assume that anyone finds change easy or even acceptable.
Expressing our concerns about changes, which profoundly affect
us, is natural and should be expected. Time needs to be
allocated for these concerns so that they can be dealt with
sensitively and openly.
..
Traditionally we have approached change in a somewhat
awkward manner defining the tasks that need to be achieved and
driving people on. There are more effective ways, ones that
respect natural human concerns and misgivings.
..
The behaviour of leaders/managers in the change process is
crucial. Impatience to get things moving tends to indicate an
undue preoccupation with the task and a lack of concern with
those who will be responsible for implementing it. Proper
attention to the process itself will tend to take their worries and
concerns seriously as well as to provide the proper and
appropriate levels of support.
..
It is the role of leaders/mangers to create the nourishing and
conducive conditions for change so that the choices that
individuals and the team as a whole makes will be for better
outcomes for children and families, growth, challenge,
achievement and not a retreat into the familiar and comfortable.
..
We can no longer afford the desperate and somewhat blind drive
through the danger zones that we have traditionally taken; we
need a diversion, which spends appropriate time in preparation
zones where appropriate attention can be given to the

178. conceptual, emotional, aspirational and practical changes
involved. We like to have control over our journeys in life and
we also like to choose our own method of transport but
generally we all get there in the end.
..
Effective leadership is the process of helping the team to
manage change in in ways that acknowledge the challenges and
complexities involved, whilst providing the support required
and which do justice to their own potential.
..
..
16.10 Reflective task
..
...
When you have to change your professional practice, what sort
of support do you need?
..
How do you get this support: do you have to ask for it or is it
offered?
..
In what specific ways can leaders/managers support staff
effectively through times of change?
..
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
..
..
16.11 Summary of session
..
During this week’s session you looked at the implications of
change for staff, management and leadership. You considered
the importance of change in relation to providing quality
services and provision. You examinedKotter’s (1995) change
model as an analytical tool in supporting change management in
multi-agency environments. You alsoexplored the role of the

179. leader in managing change and consideredwhat is involved in
the change process.
..
The weekly task will allow you to examine ways of managing
conflict and stress.
..
16.12 Weekly task
..
..
– Reading Managing Staff in Early Years Settings by Adrian
Smith and Ann Langston an E-book - Chapter 11
..
Click here to access in the Library now.
.
Often with change comes resistance to change conflict and
stress. Read Chapter 11, then write a couple of paragraphs on
the following:
..
1. Causes of conflict
..
2. Approaches to conflict management
..
3. Understanding and management of stress in the workplace
..
References and further reading
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in the Early Years
(2ndEd)
London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Coulson, A. (1985) The Fear of change Unpublished paper
Gasper, M. (2011) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years

180. Challenges and Opportunities London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Goleman, D. (1999) Working with Emotional
Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury
Kotter, J. P. (1995) Leading Change: Why Transformation
Efforts Fail Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review. March–
April, 1995.
NPQICL booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Services.
Plant, R. (1987) Managing Change and Making it Stick London:
Fontana
Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010) Contemporary Issues In The
Early Years (5thEd)SAGE Publishers Ltd
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Schon, D. (1971) The Reflective Practitioner: How
Professionals Think in Action London: Temple Smith.
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Routledge.
Whitaker, P. (1997) Primary Schools and the
Future Buckingham Open University Press
Week 17: Communication and leadership
17.1 Aims this week

181. This week we look at ‘Communication and leadership.
· Identifying what communication is
· Examine the importance of effective communication
· Look at the political context surrounding effective
communication and multi-professional working
· Consider communication and the interpersonal world
· Through reflection explore the role of the leader in supporting
a culture of effective communication within teams, particularly
multi-professional teams
· Explore some of the challenges and barriers to effective
communication and group dynamics
17.2 What is communication?
...
Jorde-Bloom (1997:p.13) defines communication as the ability
to ‘synthesise complex information and communicate that
information cogently and succinctly to a variety of different
audiences’. Steiner (1999) suggests that communication is our
‘link to others’.
.
Rodd (2006:p.65) believes that management is distinguished by
effective communication and states that ‘successful leadership
in the early childhood field is a matter of communication more
than anything’. Our work with children, parents and
professionals revolve around the need to and the ability to
communicate effectively.
.
.
17.3 Reflective task
.

182. .What is your definition of communication?
.
What does effective communication look like in practice?
.
When have you experienced effective communication within
your setting/centre?
.
What role does your leader/manager play in communicating
effectively?
.
Journal your reflection and responses
.
.
17.4 The Political Context
.
Anning et al (2010:p.107) sums up the history and political
context around effective communication well by highlighting
how, ‘Information-sharing lies at the heart of the government
view of multi-professional teams. The government is clearly
responding to the Laming Report (2003), finding that failure to
share information contributed to the death of Victoria Climbie’.
The Children Act 2004 and the Childcare Act 2006 are clear
about the importance of working closely with multi-
professionals to share information and communicate effectively
to improve outcomes for children and families
.
.
17.5 Communication and the Interpersonal world
.
.
‘Effective communication skills are the tools that underpin the
ability to act in an emotionally intelligent and competent
manner’ (Rodd 2006:p.70). Wong and Law (2002) believe that

183. emotional intelligence enhances our job performance and
general satisfaction.
.
Early years work is intensely interactive. Despite grand visions,
clear policies and specific plans, the essential business of an
early years centre/setting is conducted through an endless
sequence of interactions and encounters. Some of these are
planned and intentional but perhaps most are incidental. They
are created in the spontaneity of the moment out of need,
circumstances or location.
.
Frequently these incidental encounters are interruptions to other
interactions or activities and we temporarily disengage to give
them attention. It is often in these unexpected encounters that
we do our best work – dealing with difficulties, supporting
people, making agreements, resolving problems, clarifying
action and keeping things moving. We are operating in a
process world which straddles on moving through an intricate
web of highly charged and dynamic signs, signals, messages,
comments, questions, initiatives, demands, requests and
responses.
.
Interpersonal skill is therefore crucial to effective leadership
and communication (Rodd 2006, Whalley 2008). Effective
communication and interpersonal relationships are key elements
to providing successful provision and improving practice.
.
There is enormous potential in our encounters for
disagreements, misunderstandings, disputes, tensions, hurt
feelings, misplaced trust, betrayal and conflict. Much will
depend upon our skills as communicators and how we behave in
these snatched moments that so characterize a typical day at
work. With increased turbulence, pressure and stress, the
quality of these interactions will become ever more important.
Success will very much depend upon how we manage ourselves
in the interpersonal world. Some of the key factors, which will

184. determine our capability, are:
.
· Self-awareness:a striving to keep in accurate touch with our
own patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and the
effects these have on others
.
· Authenticity:a deep concern to communicate what we are
thinking and feeling without deceit, dissembling and
concealment
.
· Care:a genuine desire to reach out to others and to be of help
sharing ourselves in a gentle ‘non do-gooding’ way
.
· Receptivity:being open to approaches from others, however
trivial and insignificant they may seem from an objective point
of view
.
· Understanding:seeking first to understand others before we
ourselves seek to be understood by them
.
· Empathy:listening with deep interest and sensitivity to the
experiences of others and conveying our acceptance and sensing
of that experience back to them
.

185. · Trust: striving to build relationships of openness, warmth and
mutual trust in which there are no lies and hidden agendas
.
How can the leader communicate effectively to put their point
across?
.
The leader needs to send clear, accurate and unambiguous
messages to the whole team (including multi-professionals who
are not based or co-located at the centre/setting). Asking
yourself the following questions beforehand can be useful:
.
· Why am I communicating? What is the purpose or objective?
.
· Who do I need to tell? It is easy to avoid talking to the right
people or person if we are fearful of the outcomes
.
· What do I hope to achieve by this communication?What does
the receiver already know? What do they, he or she need to
know from me?
.
· Where is the best place to communicate? The context will
make a big difference to how the message is received. Telling
someone what you think after a meeting, where it should have
been discussed is too late. Talking to someone in front of others
so that they are embarrassed is unprofessional, damaging for
your ongoing relationships and will not get results
.

186. · When is the best time to communicate?It is unlikely that the
person/persons that you are communicating with will hear you if
they are concentrating on something else. Giving bad news on a
Friday evening could be disastrous
.
· How is the best way of communicating this?Being prepared
and knowing what you want to say helps you to be assertive in
communication. Even in a meeting, when you may have had
limited time to prepare what it is you want to say, thinking
about your main points before the words come out of your
mouth will be much more effective than talking off the top of
your head
.
(Stacey 2009:p.48)
.
.
17.6 Reflective task
.
.
Choose a situation where you have to make a request at work or
put your point across either to an individual or a group. Think
about the ways you would communicate assertively and how you
would prepare yourself for this.
.
Use your journal to record your responses
.
.
17.7 Overcoming existing and potential barriers to effective
communication
.

187. When many centres/settings are now open sometimes 52 weeks
a year and often from 8 – 6, where staff work 3 or 4 different
shifts, both full time and part time and where a range of
different professionals come in and out of the setting for what
ever reasons, the underuse of IT, availability of part-time
professionals and different ways of working are often seen as a
challenge to effective communication. It is therefore essential
that there are strategies in place to overcome any barriers to
effective communication.
.
Communication, multi-professional working and group
dynamicsDiscussion and dialogue are essential in multi-
professional working and effective communication.Where there
is a culture of reflexivity professionals/practitioners are able to
provide activities and services that meet the needs of children
and families and provide better outcomes (Davis and Smith
2012).
.
From her studies, Aubrey (2011:p.116) suggests that, ‘poor
communication within and between agencies created problems
between those working at different levels within agencies’. But
why should this be? Pietroni (1992) believes that some of the
challenges between professionals is as a result of the
professional language and discourses they use and that jargon is
often acknowledged as a barrier to effective communication.
.
Aubrey’s research reveals how ‘team members felt that formal
methods of communications through, meetings, telephone
contacts, daily transfer of internal post, information chats and
social events’ (Aubrey 2011:p.123) aided good communication.
.
It is important for professionals to contribute their expertise and
feel that their contributions are being acknowledged. However
this can be a challenge to inter-professional communication and
collaboration. Some of these challenges are outlined below:
.

188. · Confusion about parameters of roles and responsibilities –
especially in working together whilst acknowledging the
importance of specialist expertise
.
· Disappointment and frustration about slowness or lack of
change
.
· Conflicting priorities and work practices
.
· Little systematic or effective sharing
.
· Exclusion of others by the use of jargon
.
.
Case Study and Reflective Task
.
Below are two case studies where Yasmin and Sidney share
their very different experiences.
.
Case Study 1
Yasmin is a family support worker in an urban Sure Start Local
Programme
‘ I help run twice weekly parent and children lunchtime groups

189. where a specialist playworker organises a play-based
programme for the children, a local catering firm provides a
healthy vegetarian snack for all users and one or other of the
local team of health visitors tries to pop in. My role is one of
outreach into the community to try and encourage those who are
otherwise resistant to such groups to make use of the service
they offer and then befriend and “actively listen” to parents
while their children play. Often I encourage the parents to play
with the children or even explore the play resources for
themselves. Seema, one of the mums, usually loves the
playdough but I am concerned about her at the moment as she is
increasingly subdued and one of her children, Mohamed, is
much more clingy to her and will not go and play independently
as he is used to. Seema won’t talk about anything. I have
mentioned it once or twice to the health visitor but got a non-
committal response and we don’t have the time to get together
more formally to share concerns’.
.
.
Case Study 2
Sidney, is a deputy manager of full-day care provision within a
children’s centre and room leader of two – three year olds
‘I am three-year old Peter’s key person; he is an only child and
lives with dad who is a lone parent. Peter has complex needs,
has limited mobility and is not yet using much recognizable
language. Since he started at the centre a year ago, I have
liaised closely with dad, his (Mencap) family support worker,
health visitor and speech and language therapist (SALT). We all
meet bi-monthly to review provision for Peter and this has been
working well. At the last meeting, the family support worker
raised her concerns that dad is increasingly distracted with work
demands and is not spending as much time playing with Peter
and nurturing his emotional needs as he used to. Dad felt
confident enough to share his own concerns here and the health
visitor is now in the process of arranging six weekly weekend

190. respite for Peter to give dad a break’.
(Whalley 2008:p 136/137)
.
.
Reflective task
.
Both Yasmin and Sidney are working inter-professionally and in
a collaborative manner.
.
What are the factors that are hindering effective communication
and multi-agency working in Yasmin’s situation?
.
What are the factors that are promoting successful
communication and multi-agency working in Sidney’s setting?
.
Note down your experience of communicating with other
professionals, beyond your setting/centre.
.
How can leaders/managers enable others to contribute to the
work of multi-professional working and effective
communication?
.
Overcoming the psychological barriers and group dynamics
Rodd (2006:p.74) highlights the ‘psychological barriers’ that
may exist to challenge effective communication. Particularly
when information becomes distorted due to professionals having
different value stances, beliefs, or principles. She believes that
an effective leader should ‘not underestimate the power of
psychological barriers to interpersonal interactions’.
It is important to remember that personality play a crucial role
individuals are different in personality, previous experiences,
background, age, cultures and in terms of tolerance levels.

191. Below is case study highlighting such difficulties:
Case Study – Gemma
‘I have been in the setting for a number of months and thought I
was building up strong rapport with most of the team. One of
the aspects I was particularly concerned about was the way that
creative activities were planned and organised for the children –
especially the over two’s. Historically, staff would set out a
limited amount of resources and have a sample of the “finished
product” to show to children. Some of the staff had likewise
shared their concerns about this so we worked together to
implement a much more child-initiated approach where the
children were free to choose their own resources, work at their
own pace and produce – or not! – their own “end products”. We
shared this at our team meeting. Rita was one of the
practitioners in the setting who was still rather wary of me and
my role but I was not prepared for her reaction to these changes.
She did not come to me directly but spoke to the room leader
saying that she would have nothing to do with this approach, the
parents wanted to see “proper art work” and this approach was
going to create a lot of “unnecessary mess” in the base room’.
Whalley (2008:p 101)
17.8 Reflective task
.
.
Think about the scenario from the perspectives of both Gemma
and Rita.
.
Can you suggest ways that Gemma might work with Rita from
this point to address the psychological barrier that exists here?
.

192. What opportunities for effective communication and leadership
does this situation offer?.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
.
.
17.9 Key Reading
.
Managing Staff in Early Years Settings by Adrian Smith and
Ann Langston (1999: p.84 -96), which is available as an E-
book. Click here to access in the Library now.
.
Chapter 6 explores the way in which communication is often
taken for granted or left to chance and highlight the importance
to settings/centres of effective communication.
.
Read the chapter then journal your reflections and responses to
the following:
.
· The different approaches to communication in settings/centres
· The barriers to effective communication
· Possible strategies to achieve improved communication
Finally, consider how the information noted could support
discussion within your reflective essay.
.
.
17.10 Summary of session
.
During this session we identified what communication is and
looks like in practice. We considered the political context
around the importance of communicating effectively between
multi-professional teams. We explored communication and the

193. interpersonal world (touching briefly on emotional
intelligence).
.
We examined the different ways leaders/managers can put their
points across and communicate more effectively. We also
looked at overcoming barriers to effective communication,
particularly in multi-professional teams. You reflected on case
studies in order to enhance effective communication and multi-
professional working.
.
17.11 Weekly task
.
.
Your task this week is a reading by the Young Children’s
Voices Network Listening as a way of life (Leadership for
Listening).
.
Click here to access now.
.
Active listening is essential to effective communication. This
reading aims to inspire and support early years practitioners in
developing a culture of listening in their setting/centre through
effective leadership.
.
During the week observe when and where you see effective
communication happening. Also consider opportunities where
this could be developed further. Use your journal to record your
responses.
.

194. References and further reading
.
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. Robinson, M.
(2010) Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services
Open University Press McGraw Hill Education
.
Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in the Early Years
(2ndEd) London: SAGE Publications Ltd
.
Davis, J. and Smith, M. (2012) Working in Multi-professional
Contexts London: SAGE Publications Ltd
.
Jorde-Bloom, P. (1982) Avoiding Burnout: Strategies for
managing time, space and people in early childhood
education, Gryphon House, Mt Rainier
.
Laming, H. (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry. London:
HMSO
.
Pietroni, P. C. (1992) ‘Towards reflective practice – languages
of health and social care’ Journal of Inter-professional Care,
6(1): 7-16.
.
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
.
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Routledge.
.
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and Collaboration in Early Years
Settings: Learning Matters Exeter

195. .
Steiner, C. (1999) Achieving Emotional Literacy, Bloomsbury,
London
.
Whalley, M. E. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years
Settings Learning Matters Ltd
.
Wong, C. S. and Law, K. S. (2002) ‘The effects of leader and
follower emotional intelligence on performance and
aptitude’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 134, pp. 243 -74.
.
Young Children’s Voices Network Listening as a way of
Life Leadership for Listening: National Children’s Bureau
London
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-
ab&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.ncb.org.uk%2Fmedia%2F74060%2Fle
adership_for_listening.pdf&oq=http:%2F%2Fwww.ncb.org.uk%
2Fmedia%2F74060%2Fleadership_for_listening.pdf&gs_l=hp.3.
..4128.4128.0.5348.1.1.0.0.0.0.115.115.0j1.1.0.les%3B..0.0...1c
.2.5.psy-ab.-
URUapcZjeI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.d
2k&fp=651ff7a61caa450c&biw=1277&bih=641
Accessed 8/3/13
Week 18: Leading and managing a quality provision
18.1 Aims this week
.
This week we look at ‘Leading and managing a quality
provision’. The session is outlined below:
.

196. · Identifying what quality is
· Looking at the political context and vision for providing a
quality provision
· Considering who is responsible for quality in centres/settings
(e.g. the leader/manager, local authority, governors, OFSTED)
· Exploring the support leaders/managers and other
professionals need to develop and deliver quality provision
· Looking at distributed leadership as a tool in supporting
leaders/managers to deliver quality provision
· To examine ‘A Discussion Paper’ by Dr Jillian Rodd
Leadership an essential ingredient or an optional extra for
quality early childhood provision.
· Continue to reflect on practice in your leadership journal
.
.
18.2 What is quality?
.
.Defining ‘quality’ in relation to provision is often complex.
After all, how do you define quality? What does it mean to you
in your daily practice?
Quality is a subjective concept. Moss (1994:p.1) points out that’
.
‘Definitions of quality reflect the values and beliefs, needs and
agendas, influence and empowerment on various ‘stakeholder’
groups having an interest in these services’. He also believes
states that, ‘the goals set by stakeholders will reflect their
needs, interests, concerns and priorities. These in turn will be
influenced by values and beliefs’ (p.4).
.
Deming’s philosophy cited in Neave (1990:p.32) asserts that,
‘Quality Begins with Delighting the Customer Customers must
get what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. An
organization must strive not only to satisfy the customers’
expectations. This is the least one should do. A company should
also strive to delight their customers, giving them even more

197. than they imagined possible’.
.
The word ‘quality’ has become a mantra, especially when put
with ‘good quality’. It is widely used and desired, but
problematic to pin down and define. There can be two different
interpretations of the word ‘quality’. One is descriptive and
used as a tool to analyse the substance and sum of something,
whilst the other is evaluative. The latter is the approach used by
government when it talks of quality. It uses the term in an
evaluative way when it wants to assess whether a service meets
its aims and objectives (Moss, 1994).
.
Deming’s 14 points (his writings now form much of the basis of
the Total Quality Management movement) adapted for
centres/settings is a useful tool in pursuing quality. It requires
centres/settings to:
.
1. Pursue continuous improvement of curriculum and learning
diligently and constantly
.
2. Adopt the system of profound knowledge in the
centre/setting as prime management tool
.
3. Build quality into teaching and learning and reduce the
inspection of quality into work after the event
.
4. Build a partnership relationship with staff, parents, and
other professionals
.
5. Constantly improve the system within which the team and
children’s learning takes place
.
6. Take every opportunity to train in new skills and to learn
from others (children, parents, colleagues)
.
7. Lead, do not drive or manipulate

198. .
8. Drive out fear of punishment, create joy in learning
.
9. Collaborate with colleagues from other agencies
.
10. Communicate honestly, not through jargon and slogans
.
11. As far as possible create a climate without grades and rank
orders
.
12. Encourage and celebrate to develop your teams pride in
their work
.
13. Promote the development of the whole person in children
and staff
.
14. Wed your team to learning by negotiation with them of a
quality experience
.
(Greenwood and Gaunt 1994)
.
.
The Political Context
.
The government has defined what it considers to be ‘quality
outcomes’ for all children. It has set goals for every early years
providers in an effort to achieve its objectives. ‘Quality is a
crucial aspiration of policy development aspiration of policy
development for early childhood. Effective regulation and
inspection are seen as a vital aspect of ensuring that
leaders/managers meet required standard in delivering services
for children and families’ (Pugh and Duffy 2010). The
government believes that in order to ensure quality,
centres/settings need ‘committed, enthusiastic and reflective
practitioners with a breadth and depth of knowledge, skills and
understanding’ (DfES, 2005C:P.3).

199. .
The government strategy laid out in the Every Child Matters
(ECM) agenda is that provision works in a way that develops
and furthers the five ECM outcomes. A vision for the care and
education of children was expressed in the Green Paper, ECM
(DfES, 2003) that led to the Children Act 2004. The Childcare
Act 2006 is a piece of legislation that ‘attempts to bring
cohesion to the quality assurance and inspection of early years
provision’ (Pugh and Duffy 2010:p.64).
.
The government (DfES 2005:p 6-9) wants to see ‘good practice
become common practice’ for all settings/centres (particularly
children’s centres) by:
..
· Reaching the most disadvantaged families and children
Especially those commonly excluded from main stream services
.
· Increasing consistency in the level of support services offered
In order to improve children’s life chances
.
· Improving multi-agency working
‘The Childcare Act 2006 places a duty on local authorities
working with their partners…to improve outcomes for all
children and in particular to reduce inequalities’
.
· Grounding (specific to children’s centre) practice in evidence
There is now a significant amount of information on specific
interventions that help parents support their children’s
development (e.g. structured parenting programmes)

200. .
· Raising the quality of early years provision
Centres/settings should provide early years provision that is
tailored to the needs and interests of each individual child and
family
.
· Employing more highly trained and qualified staff
Evidence shows that well qualified staff make the biggest
difference to the effectiveness of services for both parents and
children.
.
18.3 Reflective task
.
.What is your definition of a quality provision?
.
What does quality mean to you in your daily practice?
.
Journal your reflection and responses
.18.4 Who is responsible for ensuring quality in
settings/centres and what does good practice look like?
..
Jorde-Bloom and Sheerer (1992:p.138) points out that, the
leader/manager of a setting/centre is ‘the gatekeeper to quality’.
Robins and Callan (2009:p.2) also highlights this stating that,
‘there is a significant relationship between the quality of a
setting and its leadership’. Hence the increasing drive for
leaders and managers to attend leadership training and
development such as the National Professional Qualification in
Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL).

201. .
Working in partnership with parents and other professionals is
key to providing quality provision. See below an example of
developing good practice with parents.
.
.
A Picture of Good Practice
The following comments were made by a Children’s Centre
leader (Robins and Callen 2009:p.106)
The centre has created a learning environment where everyone,
including parents, mentor each other by learning together,
learning from each other and learning through trial and error.
This is something that can be achieved when relationships are
trusting and strong. As a centre leader, I am not the expert in
everything and it is the team that provides expertise in all areas
collectively. The team is strong because of:
· Quality relationships
· Effective communication
· Drawing on each other’s strengths.
As a result, the centre has developed an ‘ethos’ that everyone is
equal and able to make a valuable contribution.
.
‘Research indicates that a number of factors influence parental
choice of service, and that quality service is a high priority only
for those parents who are aware of quality matters’ (Rodd
2006:p.248).
.
The core purpose of leaders (particularly children’s centre
leaders) is to ‘ensure that their centre really makes a difference
to the children and families it serves. How well are those
services managed, how well integrated and how effective are

202. they in reducing the gap between the most disadvantaged
children and their peers? Is every child and family better off?
Are they safer, healthier, more resilient and better able to enjoy
new learning opportunities? (DfES 2007:P.3).
.
It is clear that leaders/managers (service providers) will be held
responsible for the quality of their services/provision,
particularly through OFSTED inspections, governors, parents
and local authorities (Pugh and Duffy 2010).
.
Below we will explore how.
.
Governance and leading a quality centre/setting
For clarity I refer to governors or governance but recognise that
many different terms are used for these roles, for example,
management committees, boards, management groups and
trustees.
.
‘Governance is the leadership, direction and control of an
organization. The function of governance is to ensure that an
organization or partnership fulfills its overall purpose, achieves
its intended outcomes for citizens and services users and
operates in an effective and ethical manner’ (Independent
Commission on Good Governance in Public Services, 2005:p.7)
.
Good governance underpins effective services, and effective
leadership cannot be divorced from good governance (DfES,
2007)
.
The purpose of governance arrangements (particularly in
children’s centres) is to support strategic development so that
partners can meet local needs, identify priorities, agree
objectives and draw up and execute development plans, and
monitor progress, quality and standards. Governance
arrangements do not replace or take day-to-day responsibility
for operational management of the centre as this responsibility

203. has been delegated to the leader/manager. (DfES, 2007).
.
Local authorities and the impact on leading quality provision
The Childcare Act 2006 places duties on local authorities (an
therefore leaders/managers of settings) under the early years
outcomes duty. It requires them to undertake activities to
improve well-being for children aged 0-5 years through the
delivery of services in a way that is integrated and which
recognises the contribution that a wide range of partners play in
improving child outcomes. These duties include the following:
.
1. An English local authority must
a) Improve the well-being of young children in their area
b) Reduce inequalities between young children in their area
in relation to the matters discussed above
.
2. In the Act ‘well-being’, in relation to children, means their
well-being so far as relating to:
a) Physical and mental health and emotional well-being
b) Protection from harm and neglect
c) Education, training and recreation
d) The contribution made by them to society
e) Social and economic well-being
.
(H M Government, 2006, chapter 21 in NPQICL Booklet 10:p.6)
.
The government gives funding to local authorities who intern
allocates funding to centers/settings to support outcomes,
quality and inclusion and childcare.
.
Children centre leaders/managers generally have an ‘annual
conversation’ with the local authority. These conversations are
an ‘opportunity for centre leaders to add to the authority’s
knowledge of what is working well … Some authorities have
included others in the annual conversation, asking for parent

204. witnesses to convey their views and feelings about the centre’s
performance’ (NPQICL Booklet 10:p.9).
.
OFSTED
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s
Services and Skills. They report directly to Parliament and are
an independent and an impartial body. They inspect and regulate
services, which care for children and young people, and those
providing education and skills for learners of all ages.
.
They work with centres/settings, which are not yet good to
promote their improvement, monitoring their progress and
sharing with them the best practice they find.
..
18.5 Reflective task
.
.
.Reflect on your current centre/setting. Whom do you see as
responsible for providing quality and why?
.
What impact do parents have in developing quality?
.
What are the governance arrangements in your centre? If you
are unsure find out.
.
How do or can you contribute to developing quality in your
centre/setting?
.
Get a copy of your last OFSTED inspection. Highlight the really
good things that contribute to developing a quality provision.
Then highlight the areas for further development.
.
If you were the leader/manager of the centre/setting what areas
would you see as a priority to improve first and why?
.

205. Journal your reflections and responses.
.
.
18.6 Support leaders/managers and other professionals need to
develop and deliver quality provision.
.
Robins and Callan (2009:p.92) suggests that, ‘it is easier to
motivate a team that is functioning well and achieving because
success breeds motivation and motivation secures
success’.However Elfer and Wedge (1996:p.53) highlight some
of the difficulties of working with others. They are of the view
that ‘Agreeing standards at a local level is hard work. If
different groups are involved, the process can be painful’, as
agreement is needed from all when trying to develop quality and
set standards.
.
Ensuring that all professionals involved in the delivering of
quality provision get the support they need, is not easy and can
be a difficult process.
.
Pugh and Duffy (2006) point out that improving the quality and
level of training and qualifications of practitioners and leaders
is identified as the primary way in which higher quality of
services will be developed. Hence the reason why training for
leaders/managers and practitioners to meet the changing
demands of childcare and education agendas, linked with social
change, has been a significant focus in government policy,
under the remit of the Children’s Workforce Development
Council (CWDC).
(Gasper 2011).
.
Quality improvement is a ‘journey towards ever higher quality,
involving teamwork, commitment and some thorough self-
examination of practice’ (NQIN, 2007:P.7). Hence the
development of programmes such as the NPQICL programme
designed to support leaders/managers of children’s centres, The

206. NPQH for Head Teachers and the EYPS for those leading the
professional practice of their colleagues or curriculum across
the 0-5 age range.
.
The NPQICL programme in particular was designed to address
the complexity and turbulence that leaders and staff of
integrated centres face. Leaders/managers are expected to
challenge themselves and each other, to reflect on and question
their own and other’s practice and motivation and to support
others to do the same. Rather than ask leaders/managers to
compromise their values and principles, they are encouraged to
ask questions that begin: ‘How can we…?’ (Trodd and Chivers
2010). The weekly task reading will give you more information
about the impact of NPQICL programme on Centres..
.
18.7 Distributed leadership as a tool/model for supporting
development and increased responsibility in other when trying
to deliver a quality provision.
.Distributed leadership considers leadership as a pluralist rather
than individual activity (Southworth, 2004:p.3). Within this,
authority to lead comes not from the occupancy of a designated
organizational role, but is rather based on one’s knowledge,
understanding and ability to lead within a specific context.
.
Leadership is therefore a form of behaviour and not a position.
As a result, all members of the organisation are likely to
perform as leaders and followers at different times (Gastil,
1997:p.158).
.
The main advantage of distributed leadership is that it increases
the level of skills and expertise available (Harris, 2002). It is
particularly desirable in large organisations where scale of
activity is so broad it is difficult for any single individual to
retain an overarching view of the big picture, and is seen as
particularly effective in promoting organisational change (Hay
Group, 2004:p.5). Positive effects have also been identified in

207. terms of employee motivation and job satisfaction (Daft,
2002:p.44).
.
Despite this emphasis on openness and the ability of all being
able to lead, the formally designated leader remains key to the
development of this culture of shared authority and
responsibility. The formal leader also plays a critical role in
ensuring that, as leadership becomes ever more shared, the
group stays on-task, all members of the group are able to
contribute to its progress, and that the agreed cultural norms are
respected (Gastil, 1997:p.162).
.
Terms closely related with distributed leadership include:
delegated leadership, democratic leadership and dispersed
leadership (Bennett et al, 2002:p.4). These alternative models
can be differentiated in the extent to which they place different
degrees of emphasis on consultation, delegation and
empowerment.
.
.
Why is this model so useful?
Where there is such a broad remit (particularly in Children’s
Centres) and spectrum of professionals working with children
and families across a wide area, it is impossible for
leaders/managers alone to have knowledge and expertise in
every field. Nor is it possible for one person to have oversight
of the many and various activities associated with the centre.
This demands that the leader gives considerable attention to
creating a culture in which individuals embrace opportunities to
lead. Many leaders/managers are reluctant to ask other to take
on what they may see as ‘extra work’. However if this is seen in
the spirit of developing others as leaders this barrier is soon
overcome.
(Cited in NPQICL Booklet 9:p.27)
.

208. How does the leadership structure in your centre encourage
distributed leadership?
.
.
18.8 Key reading and reflective task
.
.
This key reading is ‘A Discussion Paper’ by Dr Jillian Rodd.
Click here to read as a pdf file now.
.
Leadership an essential ingredient or an optional extra for
quality early childhood provision?
.
Once you have read the paper reflect on discussions so far and
answer the following questions:
.
1. What is the relationship between leadership and quality?
.
2. Why do you believe that it is important for leaders to have
appropriate leadership/management training?
.
3. Why is effective communication and interpersonal skills
fundamental to leaders/managers
.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses.
.
.
18.9 Summary of session
.
During this session we identified what quality was and looked
like. Considered the political context surrounding quality in
centres/settings. Identified who is responsible for quality issues
within centres/settings and explored the support leaders and
managers and other professionals need to develop and deliver

209. quality provision. Finally we explored distributed leadership in
supporting quality provision.
.
.
18.10 Weekly task
.
1. Click here for a report for you to look at highlighting The
Impact of the NPQICL on Children’s Centre Leaders and their
Centre.
.
2. Find out what the difference is between quality
improvement and quality assurance. Consider the concept of
quality improvement in enabling practitioners to ‘make changes
to the way they think and feel about their work’ (NQIN, 2007).
.
.
References and further reading
.
DfES (2003) The Children’s Workforce Strategy, Consultation
Paper. DfES.
DfES (2005C) Key Elements of Effective Practice, London:
HMSO
DfES (2007) Governance of Sure Start Children’s Centres:
Planning and performance management, Nottingham, DfES
Gasper, M. (2010) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Greenwood, M. and Gaunt, H. (1994) Total Quality
Management for Schools, Cassell
Independent Commission on Good Governance on Good
Governance in Public Services (the Langlands Commission),
(2005) Good Governance Standards for Public Services, London

210. CIPFA, OPM & Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Jorde-Bloom, P. and Sheerer, M. (1992) The effects of
leadership training on child care program quality, Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, vol.7.
Laming, H. (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry. London:
HMSO
Moss, P. (1994) Defining/Quality: Values, Stakeholders and
Processes’ in Moss, P. Pence, A. (Eds) Valuing Quality in Early
Childhood Services. London: Paul Chapman Publishing
Neave, H. (1990) The Deming Dimension, SPC Press
NQIN (2007) Quality Improvement Principles London: National
Children’s Bureau
NPQICL Booklet 9 (2011) Leadership concepts and analytical
tools
National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Services.
NPQICL Booklet 10 (2011) Outcomes Matter Most
National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s
Service
Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010) Contemporary Issues In The
Early Years, London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Robins, R. and Callan, S. (2009) Managing Early Years Settings
London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity
Press
Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in Early
Years Settings London: Rutledge.

211. Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Interprofessional Working in
Practice
Learning and working together for children and families
Week 1:An Introduction to the Module and to Journaling
Introduction to Module and Journaling .
1.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is: ‘Introduction to the Module and
Journaling’. This is outlined below:
•The structure of the module and its content
•Reading materials
•The module assessment and learning outcomes
•Using journaling as a way to self-evaluate and support the
development of a reflective leader/manager/practitioner
•Begin to consider the role of leaders and managers
We begin the week by looking at the structure of the module
and its content. Make a note of anything you do not
understanding as you will have an opportunity to discuss them
with your personal tutor.
1.2 Module Syllabus
This module will critically evaluate a range of theories and
current perspectives on the distinctive features of leadership
within the early years. This will include staff supervision,
support and development alongside the development of
teamwork. You will examine the role of the early childhood
practitioner in relation to other professional roles and parents’
responsibilities and evaluate models of working in partnership
with parents and carers.
You will consider the range of professions and occupations
involved in the provision of early years services. The benefits
and challenges of multi-professional working will be explored
and their links to vulnerable groups such as refugees, asylum
seekers and children with Special Educational Needs.

212. You are expected to critically examine the concept of
professionalism and how this is perceived from a range of
perspectives and identify the implications for each. You will
consider their own professional identities and their approaches
to practice.
You will look at a range of methods and strategies to evaluate
the quality of current provision and explore managing change
theory to develop and improve practice, including addressing
issues of class, race, gender, culture, language, sexual
orientation, age and special needs. The management of
curriculum planning, the function and development of policies
will be discussed. Relationships with the local community -
including collaborative working, partnership with parents and
working with governors or managers will also be considered as
part of the management structure. Strategies for developing
reflexive practice and teamwork will be explored.
1.3 Module Aims
To critically analyse a range of theories relating to leadership
and management styles and approaches in the early years
To examine the role of leaders in empowering teams, to extend
knowledge and practice within the early childhood community
To explore the underpinning theory and practical knowledge of
developing and supporting individual early years practitioners
and diverse teams in an equal opportunities context
To consider the different types of provision and professional
disciplines that relate to early childhood
To examine concepts of professionalism as they relate to the
early childhood community and develop professional skills in
working in multi-professional teams
1.5 Praxis and reflexivity?
Whalley et al (2004:p.38) suggests that ‘it is not enough that we
reflect in order to know or understand, it is necessary to reflect
in order to make a difference – to bring about change’.
Trodd and Chivers (2011:p.177) describes reflexivity as ‘the
quality of thinking and seriously considering and grappling with
ideas and experiences. Through reflection a person constructs a

213. personal understanding of relevant structures of meaning
derived from her or his own action in the world’.
Praxis is a self-directed process springing from our core
professional values, demanding that we continuously consider
the impact and effect of our own actions. Praxis involves
honouring our experience and relating it to theory, and thinking
deeply about future action. Sometimes this deepening of
awareness and reflexivity will result in us feeling
uncomfortable and realising it is our own actions rather than the
actions of others that need attention. This may be particularly
difficult in our leadership roles, since we have grown up being
encouraged to believe our leaders are superior, with inherently
powerful capacities and qualities.
1.6 What is a learning journal and what are the benefits of
journaling?
Etherington (2004) believes that a journal is a private
document that is used by the writer to document their thoughts
and feelings about any number of issues that seem important to
them and Moon (2006:p.1) describes it as ‘vehicle for
reflection’.
Journaling can be a powerful tool to critically evaluate your
leadership role as it can:
•Bring together both the personal and professional, it can also
support professional development
•Allow you to express your thoughts and feelings, to review and
learn from them
•Prompt you into recording what you think you should do next
•Help you to problem solve
•Support you in teaching yourself through your professional
practice
•‘Journals can be used to improve writing skills, improve
analytical and creative thinking and build self-awareness’.
(Cunliffe, 2004:p.418)
1.7 Key reading one and reflective task
The first reading this week is by Jennifer Moon (2006) chapter
1 and chapter 2 in ‘Learning Journals: A Handbook for

214. Reflective Practice and Professional Development. Click here
to access (it is an E book).
When reading the chapters identified consider Moon's idea that
journals can be used ‘as a meeting place in which ideas can
intermingle…[and] give rise to new learning’ (p.17).
What view would you put forward in supporting the use of
journals?
1.9 The nature of leadership and management, doing what
comes naturally
‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ have come to represent a rather
technical and high-ranking set of practices in the world of work.
When we refer to someone as a leader/manager, we assume that
they have an important and responsible job more worthy of
respect than the jobs that are being managed.
It is worth spending time thinking about this. In what ways are
the people who do the following jobs less important and less
worthy of respect than those who manage and lead them?
1. Shop Assistant
2. Nurse
3. Police Officer
4. Computer Operator
5. Social Worker
There is also the tendency to think that managers/leaders do
something that only a very few of us can aspire to; that being a
manager/leader involves rising up the hierarchy of the
organisation we work for and developing a whole new range of
skills and capabilities.
Yet managing/leading is what most of us do all the time.
Between your birth and reading this, you would have been
involved in millions of activities that have constituted the
management /leadership of your life. While there are many in
the management/leadership world that would argue against this
idea, good management/leadership is little more than the
application of all that we have learnt about being an effective
person in the places where we work.
1.10 Children as managers/leaders

215. You do not have to spend very long with young children to
appreciate that they are born managers/leaders. Right from birth
they have very powerful ways of getting their needs met and
persuading their parents to provide them with the resources they
need to go grow and develop. By the time they go to school they
will have managed to acquire the language of their home, to
stand up and walk, to feed themselves and to make an enormous
number of choices during the waking moments of their lives.
This is a natural tendency to manage their own lives is
graphically described by John Holt (1971:p23).
1.11 Key reading two and reflective task
The second key reading this week is by Jillian Rodd (2006)
Leadership in Early Childhood Chapter 1. Click here to read
now,
Rodd (2006:p.9) suggests that ‘Leadership is best defined as a
process of engagement, the leader engages fellow professionals
in the best [ways of] meeting the needs of children and
families…in early childhood there is an expectation that leaders
will be consultative in their approach’.
Chapter one explores:
•Definition of leadership for early childhood
•General concepts about leadership
•Dimensions of leadership
•Differences between leadership and management
•Leadership as it relates to the early childhood profession
•The role of vision in leadership
•Why leadership works in some situations and not others
In this chapter Rodd unpicks what leadership and management
are. Read the chapter, reflect on the information then answer the
following questions:
1.What is the writer trying to convey in chapter one?
2.How does the writer refer to ‘an adequate model of leadership
in early childhood’
3.How does Rodd describe leadership?
4.Davies (2005) refers to different perspectives that are useful
in building a model of leadership. What are these models?

216. 5.What do Sarros and Butchatsky (1996) argue?
6.What does Rodd suggest are ‘key to effective leadership’
7.What does Morgan mean by defining leadership ‘as
positional’?
8.What does Solly (2003) say about maintenance becoming ‘a
distraction’?
9.What did you learn from reading this chapter?
1.12 Summary of the session
In this session we briefly looked at the structure of the module,
its content and assessment. We considered and reflected on key
readings linked to practice and explored praxis and reflexivity
in relation to your learning and development as a leader,
manager or practitioner.
We began to examine the role of leaders and managers, which
will be developed further in next week’s session.
1.13 Weekly task
Use the web to download and read an article on leadership in
early childhood (summarise the article)
Collate any information you find on the difference between
leadership and Management then write one side of A4 on your
understanding of leadership and management characteristics.
1.14 References
Cunliffe, A. L. (2004) On becoming a critically reflexive
practitioner.
Journal of Management Education, 28, No 4, 407-426.
Davies, B. ed. (2005), The Essentials of School Leadership,
Paul Chapman Publishing, and Corwin Press, London
Etherington, K. (2004) Becoming a Reflexive Researcher: Using
Our Selves in Research. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London
and Philadelphia
Holt, J. (1971) The Underachieving School London: Penguin
Books
Moon, J. A. (2006) Learning Journals: A Handbook for
Reflective Practice Published by Routledge: Oxon and New
York
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood, OpenUniversity

217. Press
Sarros, J.C. and Butchatsky, O. (1996), Leadership: Australia’s
Top CEO’s: Finding Out What Makes Them Best, Harper
Business, Adelaide.
Solly, K. 2003, What do early childhood leaders do to maintain
and enhance the significance of the early years?’, presentation
on 22nd May at the Institute of Education, University of
London, London
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Inter Professional Working in
Practice:Learning and working together for children and
families
Whalley, M. et al. (2004) NPQICL Study Programme.
Nottingham: NCSL
Week 2:Leadership and Management
Top of Form
Leadership and Management
2.1 Aims this week
· To recap and highlight important themes from last weeks
session
· To discuss underlying features of leadership and management
· To consider how leadership and management might be
influenced by the childcare agenda
· To consider your experiences of being led, being a leader;
being managed, or being a manager
· To critically reflect evaluate your own leadership role or
leadership experiences
Last week we began to explore and reflect on the role of leaders
and managers. You read chapter 1 in Rodd (2006) Leadership in
Early Childhood. Click hereto access the chapter.
This week we will be focusing on UnderlyingFeatures of
Leadership and Management.

218. We established last week that managing is something that we do
all the time in our private as well as in our professional lives. In
terms of the organisational context of our work, management
can be described as that process of getting things done with the
help of other people. Such definitions implies a whole host of
specific activities for example:
· Managing, supervising, supporting and appraising staff
· Working in partnership with other professionals and agencies
· Attending meetings (including multi-agency meetings)
· Defining and communicating policies and plans
· Creating efficient structures and systems
· Maintaining day-to-day procedures
· Ensuring that work gets done
· Monitoring outcomes and results
· Promoting efficiency
· Dealing with budgets and expenditure
Many attempts have been made over the years to categorise
management functions. Although there are variations between
different versions, most of them would include the following:
· Planning
· Organising
· Motivating others
· Communicating
· Solving problems
· Evaluating provision and services
While these management functions enable a centre to run
efficiently and smoothly, something more is required if the
work of the centre is to be inspiring, innovative, developmental
and effective. This is what leadership does. Leadership is
essentially interactive, about interpersonal engagement. It is
concerned in achieving the best out of the centre’s resources. It
is also about supporting all staff to utilise and optimise their
skills and qualities, whilst striving to challenge themselves.

219. Leadership is also about helping others to develop their
leadership skills.
While management is required to keep the centre running
efficiently, leadership is concerned with achieving the best that
is possible. Leadership is an engagement with hearts and minds
in the interest of the children and families.
2.2 Leadership and Managers Roles Compared
Leader
Manager
Inspires
Controls
Thinks
Does
Motivates
Organises
Initiates change
Accepts practice
Dictates
Administers
Makes decisions
Follows through
Sets objectives
Coordinates
Inspires loyalty
Motivates by discipline
2.3 Crucial Elements in Leadership
· To be able to show empathy to others
· Conveying the right messages
· Projecting positive body language
· Being self aware
· Empowering others

220. Solley (2003) suggests that the distinctive difference between
leadership and management is quite clear: management involves
maintenance and oversight of an organisation, whereas
leadership is more to do with enhancement improvement and
development. Hall (1996:p.11) believes that ‘Leadership is
philosophy in action with management an integral part. The
women heads in the study were therefore simultaneously leaders
and managers. Managing without leadership was unethical;
leadership without management was unethical; leadership
without management was irresponsible’.2.4 Reflective task
Think of experiences when you were well led or well managed.
How did you know that your leaders/managers were doing a
good job?
Have there been times when you felt you were experiencing
poor or inadequate leadership or management?
Use your learning journal to record and evaluate your
experiences and reflections.
· Personal characteristics necessary for leaders and managers:
1. To have knowledge and a natural enthusiasm for children,
learning
and teaching
2. A commitment to the pre-school transition of the child
3. Have an attraction to the profession for intrinsic rather than
extrinsic
reasons
4. Have status and rank as a culture setter
5. Commitment to and a vested interest in child development
6. Have a strong sense of ambition and to improvement

221. 7. Have an approach advocating creative intelligence and
emotional
intelligence
8. Infectious self-awareness
9. Have a good sense of humour and understands the
importance of
fun
10. Kind, warm friendly
11. Nurturing, sympathetic
12. Patient
13. Rational, logical, analytical
14. Professional, professionally confident
15. Visionary
16. Mentor, guide, empower
17. Assertive, proactive
18. Goal-orientated (to get things done).
Becoming a leader is much more than simply accepting a
particular role or position. It is about personal values,
principles and qualities.
Maxwell (1999)writes that Leaders are effective because of who
they are on the inside – in qualities that make them up as
people.
2.5 What is Emotional Intelligence?

222. In What Makes a Leader? Daniel Goleman (1998:p.94) points
out that ‘effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all
have a high degree of emotional intelligence’.
Below are Goleman’s (1998:p.95) Five Components of
Emotional Intelligence at Work.
Definition
Hallmarks
Self-Awareness
The ability to recognise and understand your moods, emotions,
and drives, as well as their effect on others
Self-confidence
Realistic self-assessment
Self-depreciating
sense of humour
Self-Regulation
The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods
The propensity to suspend judgment – to think before acting
Trustworthiness and integrity
Comfort with ambiguity
Openness to change
Motivation

223. A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status
A propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence
A strong drive to achieve
Optimism, even in the face of failure
Organisational commitment
Empathy
The ability to understand the emotional makeup of people
Skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions
Expertise in building and retaining talent
Cross-cultural sensitivity
Service to clients and customers
Social Skill
Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks
Effectiveness in leading change
Persuasiveness
Expertise in building and leading teams
2.6 Senior Management/Leadership
Work at the senior level requires attention to four particular

224. functions, coordination, responsibility, accountability, and
development, which I will discuss in more detail below:
Coordination
Coordination is about harnessing the professional energy and
skill of all participants towards a common purpose or goal. This
does not only require the appropriate structures and systems
being in place but also the skilful management of staff
(including multi-agency staff who you may not have complete
management responsibility for).
Responsibility
Is about that familiar phrase: ‘carrying the can’. When we take
responsibility, we accept a sense of obligation that we will do
everything we can in order to meet our contractual duties. These
could include many of the following:
· To deliver and be accountable for a quality service
· To develop and articulate a philosophy, values and vision for
the centre
· To engage in collaborative and partnership working
· To engage in on-going professional development and to
encourage it within all staff
· To be responsive to the need for change and to lead change
effectively
· To act as a advocate for children, parents/carers, staff, the
profession and general community
A sense of responsibility is not something that leaders and
managers can insist upon. It is a response to the work we have
been contracted to carry out. It is the responsibility of leaders
and managers to support all staff in cultivating responsibility as
a key element of their professional commitment.
Accountability
Issues of accountability are never far from our minds these
days. It is vital to be clear about our responsibilities to share
information (The Children Act 2004) with colleagues and

225. explanations with those who are concerned with any early
childhood centre, particularly local authorities and other
agencies e.g. health professionals.
In a highly political environment where significant financial
investment has gone into the early years and concerns about
value for money and high standards, accountability will involve
managers and leaders in a great deal of their work.
Development
One of the most important roles of leadership and management
is lead development bringing about the changes that will result
in improved quality and service. Recently we have seen
unprecedented levels of interest, investment and expectations in
the early years. The nature of provision has changed
dramatically over the last fifteen years. Early years leaders and
managers are faced with two types of developmental activity:
1. Leading and managing the changes brought about by
government initiatives and legislation e.g. Children Act 2004,
Childcare Act 2006.
2. Managing the internal changes that managers, leaders and
staff feel are necessary and desirable to achieve the quality of
provision to which they are committed.
Read and familiarise yourself with contents of the Children Act
2004 and the Childcare Act 2006. Click here and here to read
now.
Many early years leaders and managers feel that the weight and
pace of governmentally driven changes is limiting their capacity
to give sufficient time and energy to the internal developments,
which they feel are of equal importance. Achieving a
satisfactory and successful balance between these two is one of
the most demanding challenges now facing early years leaders
and managers.
2.7 Reflective Task
How do the four functions outlined (pages 5-6): coordination,
responsibility, accountability, and development, feature in your
own role?

226. How is the relationship between centre-generated development
and governmentally driven changes managed in your centre?
Use your learning journal to record and evaluate your
experiences, reflections and responses.
Authority and power
The quality of climate and ethos in all early childhood centre’s
depends on some significant human factors, some of which are
outlined below:
Authority: the right bestowed on the employee to carry out
certain task and duties. It specifies the extent to which an
employee can make decisions, spend money and make demands
on other colleagues.
Power: the employee’s ability or capacity to fulfil specified
tasks and duties. While managers may have authority in their
role, they do not always have sufficient power to exercise it.
Some managers try and use power to exceed the authority the
role bestows on them.
Freedom: the extent to which the employee can exercise their
own judgment and initiative in carrying out their tasks and
duties.
Trust: the extent to which the employee can encourage
relationships built on openness and trust.
Rights:the extent to which members of staff have their own
basic human rights respected and upheld by those who manage
their work.
Duties: the extent to which staff respect and uphold the duties
they have been contracted to carry out.
These six powerful but often subtle factors merge into a set of
dynamic forces, which exercise themselves in most

227. organizations. Effective leadership and management depend
upon the skill with which these forces are understood and
handled by those in senior positions.
Organisations, which are built on varying levels of status and
pay, always generate challenges which leaders and managers
need to develop skills in handling. It is the way these forces
combine and intermingle which determines how well centres
operate.
2.8 Reflective task
Use the six factors outlined (page 7): authority, power, freedom,
trust, rights, as a checklist to reflect upon the nature of
authority and power either in your own place of work or in
another organisation you are familiar with.
Use your learning journal to record and evaluate your
experiences, reflections and responses.
2.9 Summary of the session
Important themes from last week’s session were highlighted.
We considered features of leadership and management and how
the role may be influenced by the childcare agenda.
You reflected on your experiences of being lead/managed.
Throughout this session you have been given opportunities to
begin reflecting and evaluating your own leadership role or
experiences.
2.10 Weekly task
Observe a meeting that takes place in your setting. It may be a
team meeting, a planning meeting etc. What does the person
leading the meeting say and do? How do others react and
respond? What would you do differently. In your Journal record
and reflect on your findings.
2.11 References
Goleman, D. (1998) What Makes a Leader: Harvard Business
Review
Hall, V. (1996) Dancing on the ceiling: A Study of Women
Managers in Education, Paul Chapman Publishing,
London

228. Maxwell, J. C (1999) The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a
Leader: Becoming the person others will want to follow,
Thomas Nelson, London.
Rodd, J. (2006) ‘Leadership in Early Childhood’, Open
University Press London
Solley, K. (2003) ‘What do early childhood leaders do to
maintain and enhance the significance of the early years?’
presentation on 22 May
at the Institute of Education, University of London, London.`
The Children Act
2004https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=the+children+act+2004
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229. Week 3: The Personal Qualities Of an Early Childhood Leader
and Leadership Styles Top of Form
Bottom of Form
The personal qualities of a leader (in early childhood) and the
various styles of leadership
3.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘the personal qualities of a leader (in
early childhood) and the different styles and theories of
leadership’. This session will:
· Look at new directions in leadership and management
· Support students in beginning to see their personal qualities as
examples of different approaches to leadership
· Introduce students to different typologies and styles of
leadership
· Consider the qualities/competencies that make up a leader
· Encourage students to reflect and think critically about how
their competencies match the centre’s ethos
Your first key reading comes from an E book by Bass and
Riggio (2006): 'Transformational Leadership' (click here to
access and look at the preface and introduction).
Your second key reading comes from Ancona et al (2007) and
can be accessed by clicking the link here .
3.2 New directions in leadership and management
In recent times we have seen the gradual development of a set
of ideas about management and leadership that focus on the
human side of the work. This has largely come about through a
change in assumptions about work itself and those who do it.
The beginnings of this shift of understanding can be found in a
series of studies that were carried out in the 1950’s. Although
they created a great deal of interest at the time, they appeared to
have little effect on the practice of management and leadership.
As in many other areas of human activity, it often takes a

230. generation or two for radical theories and ideas to become
generally accepted.
In ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’ Douglas McGregor (1960)
found that the behaviour of workers in the factories he studied
was largely dependent on the attitudes of their managers
towards them and the way those attitudes translated into the
leaders behaviour. He expressed this in two contrasting
positions, which he defined as Theory X and Theory Y:
Theory X managers believe the following:
People dislike work and try to avoid it. They have to be bribed,
coerced, controlled and even threatened with punishment to
perform adequately. Most workers lack ambition, prefer to be
managed and wish to avoid responsibility. By nature people at
work are resistant to change.
Theory Y bosses believe the following:
People do like work and value it as an important part of their
lives. They do not have to be forced or threatened to perform
adequately. If encouraged to pursue objectives to which they are
committed, most people will work hard and not only accept
responsibility but also actively seek it. Workers have a natural
ability to change and adapt.
What McGregor found was that in workplaces where managers
held Theory X views, the staff did try and avoid work, shun
responsibility and behave uncooperatively. They also had a low
work rate and haggled about the rate for the job. Where
managers held Theory Y views and translated them in their
working relationships with their colleagues, staff tended to be
more committed, innovative and enterprising and with a much
higher work volume.
In all areas of the workforce, people’s expectations of their
managers and leaders are changing at an unprecedented rate.
Workers are demanding work conditions that are nourishing to
the human spirit.

231. 3.3 Reflective task 1
What sort of manager/leader do you think you are? Identify
someone who you think is an effective manager/leader either
within your workplace or in some other walk of life. In your
journal write down and reflect on the qualities or characteristics
that contribute to their management/leadership ability?
3.4 What are the personal qualities of an early childhood
leader?
Rodd (2006:p.51) suggests that, ‘Becoming a leader is much
more than simply accepting a particular role or position. It is
about personal values, beliefs and qualities’. Maxwell (1999:)
writes that, Leaders are effective because of who they are on the
inside in the qualities that make them up as people.
Wonacott (2001) in Rodd (2006) discusses the concept of
transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is
more concerned with values, ethics, standards and achieving
long-term goals. It is linked to what is described as female traits
such as i.e. communication, collaboration, consensus, nurturing
and inclusion. The focus is on the relationship developed by
the leader with team members.
“Transformational leadership refers to a process whereby an
individual engages with others and creates a connection that
raises the level of motivation and morality of both leader and
follower, for example a manager who attempts to change a
company’s corporate values to reflect a more humane standard
of fairness and justice.” (Northouse 2001)
3.5 Key reading
The first reading this week is by Bernard Bass and Ronald
Riggio (2006) on ‘Transformational Leadership’. You can
access the text as an e-book online through the university
library. To gain some context around the subject matter read the
preface and the introduction. It may be a challenging read but
try it.

232. When reading the text try to highlight key aspects of
transformational leadership, also try to link these to your setting
i.e. can you identify any areas of transformational in yours or
your leaders style? How could this be developed? Reflect on the
reading and make notes in your journal.
3.6 What is a typology of an early childhood leader?
In the late 1990”s Rodd (1997) undertook research in Britain
and Australia with early childhood practitioners. From this
research she developed what we now know as a typology of
early childhood leaders. The typology includes three different
aspects that were identified from survey and interview data. It
involves the groupings of personal characteristics, which reflect
understanding at different stages of professional development.
See below.
Rodd’s (2006:54) typology of an early childhood leader
Stage of professional development
Personal characteristics
Professional skills
Roles and responsibilities
Direct Care: novice
Kind, warm, friendly, nurturing, sympathetic, patient
Technical competence as an early childhood practitioner to act
as a model, guide, mentor
To deliver and be accountable for a quality service
To develop and articulate a philosophy, values and vision
Direct Care:
advanced
Self-aware
Knowledgeable

233. Rationale, logical, analytical
Professional, professionally confident
General administration
Finacial management
Effective communication
Human resource management
To engage in a collaborative and partnership approach to
leadership
To engage in ongoing professional development and to
encourage it in all staff
Indirect care
Visionary
Mentor, guide, empowering
Assertive, proactive
Goal-oriented
To be sensitive and responsive to the need for change and lead
change effectively
To act as an advocate for children, parents, carers, staff, the
profession and general community

234. Leadership Competencies
· Visionary Leadership is concerned with rational leadership
Builds resonance – moves people to shared dreams
Has a positive impact on the climate in which one is leading
Initiates appropriate change that is sustainable
· Self-awareness
Emotional self-awareness – attuned with their inner signals –
this suggests a stable base
· Accurate self-awareness – know their limitations and strengths
– welcome constructive criticism and feedback
· Self-confidence – a sense of presence and self assurance that
makes them stand out in a group
· Self-management
· Self-control – manage their disturbing emotions and impulses
and even channel them in useful ways
· Transparency – an authentic openness to others about their
feelings and beliefs and actions
· Adaptability – leaders are able to multi-task and juggle
demands
· Achievement – leaders have high personal standards that are
reflected in their professional life
· Initiative – are in charge of themselves and will cut through
red tape, even bend the rules, when necessary to create
possibilities for the future
· Optimism – leaders see others positively, expecting the best of
them and their “half-full” outlook leads them to expect that
change in the future will be for the better
· Social Awareness
Empathy – leaders are able to attune to a wide range of
emotional signals, letting them sense the felt but unspoken
emotions in a person or group
· Organisational awareness – politically astute, able to detect
crucial social networks and read key power relationships
· Service – leaders foster an emotional climate so that people
directly in touch with the client base will keep things on the

235. right track
· Inspiration – leaders inspire and articulate a share
mission/vision
·
Influence – leaders adept in influence are persuasive and
engaging when they address a group
· Developing others – leaders are good at cultivating people’s
abilities
3.7 Reflective task 2
Consider and reflect on Rodd’s typology table and the bullet
points above on leadership competencies. In your journal note
down what you believe are your leadership
qualities/competencies.
3.8 Leadership Styles and Approaches
Trait Approach:In the early 20th century the development of
‘great man’ theories which were concerned with innate qualities
and characteristics. This approach implied that people were
‘born leaders’ or ‘natural leaders’.
Behavioural Theories: In the 1940s this perspective began to be
replaced by behavioural theories such as Style Approach.
A style approach focuses on the behaviour rather than personal
characteristics. Task behaviours focus on goal accomplishment
and relationship behaviours focus on helping to motivate
people. Blake and Mouton (1968) describe different kinds of
behaviours for different purposes:
Authority-compliance: Task orientated, directive, sees people
as tools.
Country club management: puts people first and task second, is
comforting and uncontroversial.
Impoverished management: Is disengaged, apathetic and
ineffective.
Middle-of-the-Road management: Takes expedient action,
compromises to avoid conflict.
Team management: Strong emphasis on tasks and people.
Paternalism/materialism: Benevolent dictator acts graciously

236. but for the purpose of achieving a goal.
Opportunism: Uses a combination of styles for their own
purpose and advancement.
By the beginning of the Second World War an alternative
perspective was developing and by the mid 20th century
leadership started to be reframed as a relationship between
people in social situations.
The basic idea was of how workers were treated by their leaders
was a much more significant determinant of how well they
operated at work than attention to the detailed operational
elements of a task. This led to research into motivation and well
being in the work place. Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of
Needs’ emerged from key developments in the 1950’s.
Click here for the article which was originally accessed
12/09/12
For example in the 1970’s, Path – Goal Theory focused on how
to motivate others to accomplish designated goals. It suggested
that people would be motivated if the rewards are worthwhile.
In this approach the leader defines the goals, clarifies the path,
removes obstacles and provides support. This approach is also a
‘contingency theory’ (see below) as the leader also chooses a
leadership style to fit the needs of the workers.
Contingency Theories: In Contingency Theory effective
leadership is seen as contingent on matching a leaders style to
the right setting and should not be expected to fit all situations.
The idea that different situations require different kinds of
leadership emerged in the 1960’s. In this Situational Approach a
leader will use directing and supporting behaviours according to
the needs of different workers.
Transformational Theories: More recently, leadership has been
explored as a process as well as a function, those things that
any worker can do to affect the quality of work done by
colleagues. Transformational leadership is concerned with

237. values, ethics, standards and long-term goals. It can be used to
describe a wide range of leadership, from influencing an
individual to whole organisations or even cultures.
Transformational leadership ideas incorporate ideas of
charismatic leadership in which the leader:
· Is a strong role model for the values and beliefs they want
others to adopt
· Appears competent to followers
· Articulates ideological goals with moral overtones
· Has high expectations of followers
· Links the individual identity of followers to the collective
identity of the organisation
Transformational theories also focus on team leadership, in
which the group is helped to accomplish tasks and to function
well also seeing the leader as a catalyst of change and strategic
visionary.
3.9 Key Reading Two
Ancona et al (2007:p.92) points out that ‘No leader is perfect.
The best ones don’t try to be – they concentrate on honing their
strengths and find others who can make up their
limitations’.http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=in+praise+of+th
e+incomplete+leader+deborah+ancona&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.
microsoft:en-gb:IE-
SearchBox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=jaFQUKulE--
S0QXwsYHABwAccessed 12/09/12
After reading the article consider the following questions:
1. Do you expect leaders to perfect? If yes why? If not why
not?
2. Is the leadership in your centre hierarchical or
collaborative? What evidence do you have of this?
3. Reflect on your leadership capabilities, what are the areas
that you believe are weak and need to be developed further?
4. What key points have you taken from this article and what

238. has been your learning?
3.10 Summary of the session
This session began to explore new directions in leadership and
management, also the personal qualities of an early childhood
leader. We also considered different leadership styles and
approaches.
Key readings were recommended to give a wider perspective of
issues relating to leadership and management.
3.11 Weekly task
Try to be more aware of management and leadership in your
centre and at home. In your journal record practical examples of
leadership styles you encounter.
3.12 References
Ancona, D. Malone, T. W. Orlikowski, W. J. and Senge, P.M
(2007) In Praise of the Incomplete
Leader,http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=in+praise+of+the+inc
omplete+leader+deborah+ancona&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.micro
soft:en-gb:IE-
SearchBox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=jaFQUKulE--
S0QXwsYHABw
Argyris, C. (1957) Personality and Organization. New York:
Harper and Row
Bass, B, Riggio, R. (2006) Transformational Leadership (2nd
Ed), Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Blake, R and Mouton, J. (1968) The Managerial Grid: Key
Orientations for Achieving Production through People. Houston
Texas: Gulf Publishing
Herzberg, F. (1976) Managing Choice:To be Efficient and to be
Human, Dow Jones: Irwin
Jaques, E. (1951) The Changing Culture of a Factory. London:
Tavistock

239. Maslow, A. (1970) Motivation and Personality. New York:
Harper and Row
McGregor, A. (1960) The Human Side of Enterprise. New
York: McGraw-Hill
Morgan, G. (1986) Images of Organization. London Sage
Maxwell, J. C (1999) The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a
Leader: Becoming the person others will want to follow,
Thomas Nelson, London.
Mayo, E. (1949) The Social Problems of an Industrial
Civilisation. London Routledge and Kegan Paul
Northhouse, P. (2001) (2nd Ed.) Leadership: theory and
practice. California: Sage
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood,
OpenUniversity Press
Schein. E. H. (1985) Organizational Culture and Leadership.
San Francisco: Jossey- Bass
Wonacott, M.E. (2001), Leadership development in career and
technical education, ERIC Digest, No. 225, Columbus, Ohio.
Week 4: The Range Of Professions and Occupations Involved In
Early Years Services
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
· The range of professions and occupations involved in the
provision of early years services
4.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is to: ‘explore a range of professions and
occupations involved in the provision of early years
services’.This is outlined below:
· Examine the range of qualifications and professions involved
in the early years

240. · Begin to consider the legal framework underpinning
partnership working
· Begin to reflect on some of the benefits and challenges of
partnership working
4.2 Leadership responsibilities and support
Effective leadership is vital to the development of early years
services, which include the involvement of a range of early
years professionals. Leaders/managers are therefore expected to
understand and recognize the contribution of other professionals
in supporting children and families and support practitioners
(where appropriate through supervision) to understand the
limitations of their role and recognize when to refer children
and families for specialist support.
The government’s vision, set out in the 2020 Children and
Young People’s Workforce Strategy (DCSF, 2008a, P.6)
suggests that everyone working with children and young people
will be:
· Ambitious for every child and young person
· Excellent in their practice
· Committed to partnership and integrated working
· Respected and valued as professionals
https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/
CYP_Workforce-Strategy_Report-summary.pdfAccessed
12/09/12
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) practice guide
requires professionals to work ‘collaboratively within the
setting to share knowledge, question practice and test new ideas
– with high aspirations for every child’ (DCSF, 2008c:p.9).
Working collaboratively is at the heart of the government’s
agenda for agencies to work together (Stacey 2009). Mercer and
Littleton (2007) believe that where tasks or activities are
complex and no one appears to have the complete answer is
often when successful collaboration takes place.
It is the responsibilities of all professionals and occupations to
work together to improve the well-being of children and

241. families. This includes their ‘physical and mental health and
emotional well-being; protection from harm and neglect;
education and recreation’ (Childcare Act, 2006, p.1). Individual
professionals may have different responsibilities but they are
‘all in this together. Responsibilities with each other do not
need to be close but they do need to be respectful and
understood. (Stacey 2009:p.58)
It is vital to collaborative working that professionals meet
regularly together. All participants need to be aware and clear
of ‘the common purpose and goal. Most importantly they need
to understand the nature of their contributions and the limits of
their decision-making authority’. (Delehant, 2007 cited in
Stacey 2009:p.62).
4.3 Different perspectives on professional traditions or
heritages
1. Health perspective
The very principles of health-visiting are founded upon an
acceptance of the professional responsibility to seek to
challenge and influence public policy, rather than submissively
assisting people to live with its consequences, taking all the
blame themselves for their unhealthy lifestyles. (Goodwin,
1998, pp379-83)
2. Education perspective
Education and probably early childhood education more than
any other area, is political. It is about the distribution of power,
the extension of influence and the ability to provide people with
the means to conserve and transform society. (Pascal, 1992)
3. Social work perspective
The social work profession promotes social change, problem
solving in human relationships and the empowerment and
liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of
human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at
the points where people interact with their environments.
Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to
social work. (BASW, 2001)
4. Community development perspective

242. Community development is about building active and
sustainable communities based on social justice and mutual
respect. It is about changing power structures to remove the
barriers that prevent people from participating in the issues that
affect their lives. (NPQICL 2011 Booklet 15: Community
development, p.17.)
4.4 Reflective task 1
What is your professional heritage/discipline? Does it link with
any of the perspectives above? If not, why not? If it does what
would you add to the statement and why?
Do other professionals (for example: Speech Therapists, Health
Visitors, Social Workers) visit your centre and if so what is the
purpose of their visit?
Use your learning journal to record and evaluate your
experiences and reflections.
Below is a table of professionals and agencies that work with
children and families and may have contact within early years
settings. See if you can complete the question on the table.
Profession/Occupation/Agency
What could be the nature of their visit to an early childhood
centre?
Health
GP
Health Visitor (HV)
Speech and Language Therapist (SALT)

243. Accident and Emergency (A&E)
Education
Educational Psychologist (EP)
Teacher
Nursery practitioner
Social Services
Social Worker (SW)
Intervention Team
Voluntary Organisations
Homestart
Church or any other religious organization
Housing
Environmental Health

244. Architects
Police
Probation service
4.5 The Every Child Matters Agenda and key reading
The Every Child Matters (ECM) document states that ‘we have
to do more both to protect children and ensure each child fulfils
their potential’. (Every Child Matters, 2003, p.3)
Please spend some time reading and familiarising yourself with
the document highlighted through the link
below.https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publi
cationDetail/Page1/CM5860
Every Child Matters focuses on four key themes:
· To increase our focus on supporting families and carers
· To ensure necessary intervention to prevent children from
falling through the net
· To address the underlying problems identified in the Victoria
ClimbiéInquiry Report – which were weak accountability and
poor integration between agencies
· To ensure that people working with children are valued,
rewarded and trained
(Every Child Matters, 2003, p.4)
Anning et al (2006:p.127) reminds us that the ‘delivery of
services for children and families is better than it was and
results in enhanced outcomes for them’.
4.6 Reflective task 2

245. Reflect on the early years perspectives below. Make a list of
what each type of setting offers for staff. What qualifications
are needed to work in each setting? What are the strengths and
limitations of working in each setting?
Social Services Day Nurseries
Education – nursery schools / nursery classes/ children’s centres
Voluntary – playgroups
Community Nurseries
Private and independent
4.7 Key Reading Blocks to development
(Makins V, 1997, Not Just A Nursery, NCB, London)
http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Makin
s+V,+1997,+Not+Just+A+Nursery,+NCB,+London&ie=UTF-
8&oe=UTF-
8&redir_esc=&ei=BT1CUPSpBImb1AXChIHICA(1/9/12)
· Different legislation
· Different professional values and priorities
· Different geographical and statutory boundaries
· Different training
· Different levels of status and authority
· Different management styles
· Different pay and conditions of service
· Mutual distrust between services
4.8 Recent changes and development of settings/centres
· 1997 – Early Excellence Centres
· 1999 – Sure Start Local Programmes (6 waves)
· 2001 – Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative
· 2003 – Children’s Centres
· 2005 – Extended Schools
4.9 The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is enshrined in
legislation (Childcare Act 2006) and states that,
‘The child’s needs are at the centre of all that we do and
children have a right to high quality responsive and flexible

246. service. We all need to ensure that that is what they get’. The
Early Years Foundation Stage document makes it clear that
multi-agency working is a key part of the framework that is
designed to deliver improved outcomes for all children in their
learning and development.
A common thread running through all government documents is
that services and agencies need to work together to make the
delivery of services more effective.
4.10 Key Messages for partnership or collaborative working
(which has been enshrined in legislation, Children Act 2004)
· Multi-agency working is an integral part of early years work
· Discussions about strategies for moving forward should be
open, transparent and inclusive. It is through the day to day
interactions in settings that dilemmas are worked out.
· Professionals need to feel psychologically safe in
organizations in order to take risks. We need to create safe
spaces and forums for workers to share, discuss and debate
issues that are important to them
· Organisations which support children’s care, learning and
development must develop a culture of collaboration.
· Meaningful change comes through the development of self-
awareness and the development of trusting relationships
between colleagues, both within settings and between
organisations and the communities they serve.
· Professional skills should always be drawn on but we should
never loose sight of our own beliefs and values.
4.11 Reflective task 3
As a leader of an early years setting, what do you consider are
some of the benefits and challenges to collaborative or
partnership working? Make a list, also use your learning journal
to record and evaluate your experiences and reflections.
4.12 Summary of the session
In this session we began by highlight the responsibility leaders
in developing early years services and involving a range of
professionals. We looked at a range of professions, perspectives

247. and qualifications necessary for working within the early years.
We also began to explore some of the legal framework
underpinning partnership working i.e. ECM, EYFS, Childcare
Act 2006.
4.13 Weekly task
Research the data held by your setting on the backgrounds of
the children who attend. Compile a profile on the ethnicity,
economic activity and marital status of families in the area
around your setting. (Office For National Statistics website will
have some information on this). How do these statistics compare
with your setting?
Discuss with your staff team how family well-being impacts on
the children in your group/setting.
Think about recent legislation. Put together a SWOT analysis
(Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats)
demonstrating how it might impact on the families you are
working with.
4.14 References
Anning, A. Cottrell, D Frost, N. Green, J and Robinson, M
(2006) Developing Multiprofessional Teamwork for Integrated
Children’s. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
British Association of Social Workers (BASW), 2001
International Association of Schools of Social Work and
International Federation of Social Workers
DCSF Childcare Act 2006. London HMSO.
DCSF (2008a) 2020 Children and Young People’s Workforce
Strategy. Nottingham:
DCSFhttps://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDow
nload/CYP_Workforce-Strategy_Report-summary.pdfAccessed
12/09/12
DCFS (2008c). Practice guidance for the early years foundation

248. stage. Nottingham: DCSF
Delehant, A (2007) Making meetings work: how to get started,
get going, and get it done. London: Sage Publications.
Every Child
Mattershttp://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&output=search&sclient
=psy-
ab&q=every+child+matters+outcomes&oq=Every+Child+Matter
s+&gs_l=hp.1.0.0l4.5722.5722.0.16849.1.1.0.0.0.0.108.108.0j1.
1.0.les%3Bcesh..0.0...1.2.di6XIPhALFU&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r
_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=756d3c283199c9c8&biw=1275&bih=641/
Accessed 18/09/12
Goodwin, S. (1998) Whither health visiting? Health Visitor 6
(12), pp379 - 83
Makins V, 1997, Not Just A Nursery, NCB, London
http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Makin
s+V,+1997,+Not+Just+A+Nursery,+NCB,+London&ie=UTF-
8&oe=UTF-
8&redir_esc=&ei=BT1CUPSpBImb1AXChIHICA(1/9/12)
Mercer, N, Littleton, K (2007) Dialogue and the development of
children’s thinking: a socio-cultural approach. London:
Routledge
NPQICL booklet 12 (2011) Module 4: Developing integrated
centre leadership. National College for Leadership of Schools
and Children’s Services.
NPQICL booklet 15 (2011) Community Development: A
framework for thinking and action. National College for
Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.
Pascal, C. (1992) Early Years, Vol 12, No 2 pp7-12 The
Changing context of teacher education for the early years in
Europe.

249. Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and Collaboration in Early Years
Settings: Learning Matters Exeter
Week 5: Multi Professional / Multi Disciplinary Working
Top of Form
5.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is to consider ‘Multi-professional/multi-
disciplinary working (MPW) within a context of leadership and
management’. The session is outlined below:
· To explore what MPW is
· Look at a range of terminology
· Highlight the links to legislation – The Children Act 1989 and
the Children Act 2004
· Consider the legal framework underpinning partnership or
MPW
· Begin to reflect on the benefits of partnership or MPW
Professional roles and responsibilities in partnership working
Leaders are expected to understand and recognise the
contribution of the other professionals in supporting children
and families and where appropriate to be involved with them in
planning of children’s individual needs.
5.2 Reflective task
Take 5-10 minutes to consider what you perceive as MPW.
What does it look like? What has been your experience of
MPW? Note down your reflections, we will look at them again
later on in the session.
5.3 Locating the context and recent history of integrated
services for children and families

250. The provision of seamless services for young children and
families is essential to the development of early years services.
Integrated Children’s Centres have been central to the
Government’s (Labour) commitment to end child poverty. In
order to make the best use of available resources, managers and
leaders of centres are encouraged to build partnerships with
other professionals and agencies that offer services to young
children and families (NPQICL booklet 14).
The first of the integrated early years centres were formed
through collaboration and co-location of existing local services
provided by different statutory agencies, private providers and
voluntary and community organisations. Partner agencies
typically included local authority nursery schools, social
services day-care centres and/or family centres, health centres,
adult learning, Home Start, Pre-school Learning Alliance and/or
the National Child-minding Association.
The earliest of these pioneering early years centres was
Hillfields in Coventry, which was set up in 1971 as the first
‘combined’ (Ferri et al, 1981). Not long after, the Thomas
Coram Centre bought together nursery education, day-care and
health. In 1975, the Dorothy Gardner Centre combined nursery
education, day-care and family support. In 1983, the Pen Green
Centre in Corby was established in order to provide
comprehensive, community-responsive services. Its objective
was to realise the vision of a one-stop shop, meeting the needs
of young children and families on their doorsteps. The then
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Early Excellence
Centre (EEC) programme was started in 1997 and brought
much-needed resources to 29 integrated early years centres. In
its final years, the DfES EEC programme funded over 100
centres in England.
In 1999, the Treasury Funded the Trail Blazer Sure Start
programmes, which were designed to provide universal and
integrated services to all families with children under the age of
four who were living in wards with high levels of deprivation in

251. England. Sure Start was funded on the principal that each local
programme would be unique because its provision would be
responsive to the expresses needs of local parents. While local
Sure Start partnerships, Sure Start partnerships were often
similar to Early Excellence Centres partnerships, Sure Start
programmes tended to develop a strong outreach and community
development focus in collaboration with health visitors and
midwives, housing officers, welfare rights workers, community
safety organizations and local residents groups. By 2004, there
were 526 local Sure Start programmes.
The Government planned to fund each local Sure Start
programme for 10 years, during which time services would be
gradually mainstreamed by their partner organisations with
government funding decreasing in the later years. In 2005, the
decision was taken to direct all Sure Start funding to local
authorities to create an extensive network of children’s centres
with at least one in each of the most deprived wards in England.
The Early Excellence Centre programme and Sure Start brought
much-needed capital and revenue funding to early years and led
to some exemplary inter-disciplinary and inter-agency
collaboration at practitioner and community level. However,
they were not universally embraced, by local authorities (HMI,
2004). The short timeframes and the experimental quality of
these initiatives challenged traditional relationships within the
community and, in many localities, threatened professional
boundaries and institutional norms.
The effectiveness of local programmes was contingent upon
engaging and influencing the majority of those families eligible
for services, however meaningful parental involvement in the
design and delivery of services proved impossible to achieve
quickly. In addition, the multi-disciplinary professional
environment soon exposed marked differences in professionals’
view of parent participation. (NPQICL booklet 14
(2010:p.2),Sure Start Children’s Centre Practice Guidance
(November 2006) DCSF Children’s Plan (2007)

252. www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications)
Definitions and shared meanings
Many terms are used interchangeably when referring to
working collaboratively across professions or agencies.
Below I have highlighted some vocabulary frequently used:
· Multi-agency / Inter-agency
· Multi-professional / Multi-disciplinary / Inter-professional /
Inter-disciplinary
· Co-operation / Collaboration / Co-ordination
· Partnership
· Joined up thinking / Joined up working
· Integrated working
Integration
To mix with and join a society or a group of people, often
changing to suit their way of life, habits and customs; to
combine two or more things in order to become more effective
(Cambridge Dictionary)
Integrated working
Where everyone (arrange of professionals) supporting children
and families work together effectively to put the child at the
centre, meet their needs and improve their lives
Integrated Service
Key characteristics:
· Acts as a hub for services, usually on one site but not
exclusively
· Partners share a common location, vision and principles
· The management structure supports integrated working
· It is usually delivered from a school or early years centre
· Service level agreements are usually present
· A dedicated manager/leader will often be present
· Services will usually include health, specialist advice and
guidance, outreach and adult learning

253. · Collective training strategies will often be present
Using integrated working leaders and practitioners can:
· Identify needs earlier
· Deliver a coordinated package of support that is centred on the
child or young person and help secure better outcomes for them.
They do this by combining practitioners’ professional expertise,
knowledge and skills and involving the child or young person
and family throughout their work. Integrated working is
achieved through collaboration and co-ordination at all levels,
across all services, in both single and multi-agency settings. It
requires clear and on-going effective leadership and
management
Main benefits:
· The full range of issues can be addressed
· Knock on benefits exist for education standards
· Greater co-working and cross fertilization of ideas between
agencies
· Opportunities for joint training
· Shared base enhances communication
· Members remain linked to their home agency
· Members have access to training and development in their host
agency
5.4 Reflective task
Reflect on the main benefits of integrated services. In your
journal see whether you can add any benefits to this list.
Main challenges:
· Requires fresh thinking around the concept of school/early
years centre
· Requires engagement through collaborative leadership
· Needs common sense of purpose
· Time and pay issues can need careful handling
(NPQICL booklet 14 (2010:p.3), Developed from Coleman
(2006:p.12)

254. 5.5 Reflective task
Reflect on the main challenges of integrated services. In your
journal see whether you can add any challenges to this list.
Joined-up
Refers to overcoming existing professional and institutional
barriers that impedes seamless or even adequate services to
families and communities.
Multi-disciplinary or inter-professional working
Refers to a team of individuals with different professional
training backgrounds who share common objectives, but who
make a different but complementary contribution to a service.
Multi-agency or inter-agency
Multi-agency working can be defined as: ‘a range of different
services which have some overlapping or shared interests and
objectives, brought together to work collaboratively towards
some common purposes’ (Wigfall and Moss (2001:p.71). Clark
(1993:p.220) suggest that it is ‘bringing various professions
together to understand a particular problem or experience … In
this sense they afford different perspectives on issues at hand,
just as one sees different facets of a crystal by turning it’.
Multi-agency or inter-agency refers to individuals or teams
from different agencies who:
· Co-operate - service work together towards consistent goals
and complementary services while maintaining their
independence
· Collaborate – services plan and address issues of overlap,
duplication and gaps in service provision towards common
outcomes
· Co-ordinate – services work together in a planned manner
towards shared and agreed goals (Frost, 2005:p.13)
Post World War 2
The development of the Welfare State after the Second World
War saw 5 main departments/agencies:

255. 1. Social Security (Including benefits)
2. Health Services
3. Education
4. Housing
5. Social Services, which was primarily for: The physically
disabled, elderly, mentally ill and deprived children.
All 5 agencies worked mainly in silos with their own values,
visions, priorities, budgets and professional status leading to:
· Historical divisions
· Professional jealousies
· Barriers created by different priorities
· Lack of co-ordination
· Shortfall in what was available and what families were asking
for
Why the push for multi-agency working co-operation and
integration of services for children and their families?
The answer lies in recent failures of communication between
professionals and across agencies. This was most tragically
exposed in the area of child protection in a number of deaths
and abuse in children. (Laming, 2003:p.3).
5.6 Reflective task and key reading
Take some time to research and read (online) information on
two of the following children and try to highlight what had gone
wrong in partnership or MPW in these cases.
1973 – Maria Colwell
1984 –Jasmine Beckford
1986 – Kimberley Carlisle
2000 – Victoria Climbié

256. 2009 – Baby P
Child Protection and safeguarding
As a result of a number of deaths and child abuse cases the
government put in legislation to protect and safeguard children.
5.6 The Children Act 1989 – Key reading
Click here to access the Act.
( http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=the+
children+act+1989+summary&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-
8&redir_esc=&ei=sTRCUJTdCsr80QWNhIHoBQ (1/9/12))
This Act highlights 8 main principles:
1. The child is Paramount
1. Parental responsibility
1. Prevention
1. Protection
1. Partnership
1. Participation
1. Planning
1. Permanency
Multi-agency work became a statutory requirement for all
agencies and all professionals who work within them. There was
now a duty on the Local Authority to safeguard and promote the
welfare of children in need. (Section 17) If agencies were
approached for help or support they must respond positively as
long as the requests is in keeping with their role. (Section 27)
5.7 The Children Act 2004 and key reading
http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=the+c
hildren+act+2004+summary&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-
8&redir_esc=&ei=6TdCUNPOO6nA0QX-7YDgDA(1/9/12)
The change in policy following the death of Victoria Climbié,
the Government set out in the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM)

257. Change for Children Programme and the Children Act 2004. The
change programme focuses both on strengthening universal
services to which every child is entitled to and developing more
targeted services for those with additional needs. The ECM
Outcomes require all children and young people to:
. Stay safe
. Be healthy
. Enjoy and achieve
. Make a positive contribution
. Economic well being
In addition to the Children Act 1989 and The Children Act 2004
requires:
. Agencies to actively make arrangements to promote co-
operation between one another
. Have more multi-disciplinary teams with a lead professional
. The co-location of services in schools
. The development of the Common Assessment Framework to
identify any additional needs
. The development of Children’s Trust in each area to integrate
services under one plan.
5.8 Summary of the session
This session began by looking at the context, recent history,
shared meanings and definitions of MPW. We also continued to
explore some of the main benefits and challenges of MPW. We
spend considerable time identifying and reading key legislation
and initiatives vital to effective MPW, i.e. ECM, The Children
Act 1989 and 2004.
5.9 Weekly task
1. During this week reflect and identify how effective MFW is,
within your centre/setting.
1. Complete a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats) analysis of MPW.

258. 1. As leader of the centre, what steps would you need to take in
order to move MPW on? Which professionals or occupations
would this include?
1. Using your learning journal, reflect on your leadership
experiences and responses.
References
Cambridge International Dictionary of English, Cambridge
University Press , 1975
Coleman, A, 2006, Collaborative Leadership in Extended
Schools, NCSL, Nottingham
DCSF Children Act 2004. London HMSO.
DCFS (2008c). Practice guidance for the early years foundation
stage. Nottingham: DCSF
DCSF, (2007), The Children’s Plan, Nottingham, DCSF
DfES, (1999), Sure Start: Making a difference for children and
families, Suffolk, DfES
DfES, (2003), Every Child Matters, CM 5860, Norwich
DfES, (2006), Sure Start Children’s Centres Practice Guidance,
Nottingham, DfES
Every Child
Mattershttp://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&output=search&sclient
=psy-
ab&q=every+child+matters+outcomes&oq=Every+Child+Matter
s+&gs_l=hp.1.0.0l4.5722.5722.0.16849.1.1.0.0.0.0.108.108.0j1.
1.0.les%3Bcesh..0.0...1.2.di6XIPhALFU&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r
_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=756d3c283199c9c8&biw=1275&bih=641/Ac
cessed 18/09/12
Ferri, E, Birchall, L, Gingell, V Gipps, C, (1981), Combined
Nursery Centres, London, Macmillan
Frost , N, 2005, Professionalism, Partnership and joined-up
thinking: a research review of frontline working with children
and families, Totnes, Blacklers

259. HMI, 2004, Children at the Centre: An evaluation of early
excellence centres, HMI 2222, London, Ofsted
Laming, Lord, 2003, The Victoria Climbie Inquiry, Report of an
inquiry by Lord Laming, CM 5730, Norwich, HMSO
NPQICL booklet 14 (2011) Multi-agency working National
College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.
Wigfall, V. and Moss, P (2001) More than the sum of it’s
parts? A study of multi-agency childcare network. London,
National Children’s
Week 6: The framework for the assessment of Children In Need
and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) .
6.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘The Framework for the Assessment
of Children in Need and their Families and The Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)’ This is outlined below:
•To introduce you to the framework for the assessment of
children in need and their families
•To look at the role of different professionals in the assessment
process (including the leader/manager of the centre) and how
this will fit with the new government initiative, the common
assessment framework
•To highlight the importance of sharing information between
agencies, staff and parents through the CAF and consider the
role of the leader in this process
•To develop an understanding of the framework as an ecological
approach to assessment
•To develop an understanding of what we mean by a balanced
assessment including factors which can impact on our analysis
including assessment distortions
We begin the week by looking at the aims of the framework.
6.2 Background and National Context of the Framework
The government believe that we cannot improve the lives of

260. vulnerable or disadvantaged children unless we are first able to
identify their needs. And are therefore ‘committed to delivering
better life chances…for disadvantaged and vulnerable
children…through a range of cross-cutting, inter-departmental
initiatives’. (Hutton 2000 p:vii)
Local authority Social Services departments working with other
local authority departments and health, have a duty to safeguard
and promote the welfare of children in their area who are
deemed as being in need (Hutton, 2000).
Definition of a child being in need (Children Act 1989)
•They are unlikely to achieve or maintain or have the
opportunity of achieving, or maintaining, a reasonable standard
of health or development without the provision for them of
services by a Local Authority
•Their health or development is likely to be significantly
impaired or further impaired, without the provision of such
services
•They are disabled (Sec.17/10 Children Act 1989)
The Assessment Framework reflects the principles of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. And is informed
by the requirements of the Children Act 1989. The framework
places focus on the individual child their specific set of needs,
the environment they live in and their parents’ capacity to care
for them. It aims to ensure consistency in the collection and
recording of data about children, thus facilitating evidence
based analysis. Timescales for initial assessments are short and
this can often make the collection of data difficult for children
with complex needs. The framework is therefore a significant
tool, assisting social workers, managers and leaders in the
identification of need and the allocation of resources.
6.2 Key reading 1
In order to get an overview of the subject matter open the link
below and select and read pages vii–xii of the first PDF
document titled ‘Framework for Assessment of Children in
Need and their Families’. Click here to read now.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/

261. PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4003256 Accessed
18/09/12
The document is a good reference, therefore keeping a book
mark for easy access would be useful. Once you have read the
pages see if you can answer the following questions:
1. What is the Framework?
2. Why was it developed?
3. What legislation has the Framework been linked to?
4. Which agency/department has the lead responsibility for
assessment of children in need?
5. Why is early intervention crucial in supporting children and
families.
If you are unable to complete all the questions do not worry. By
the end of the session you should be able to answer any
outstanding questions.
6.3 Collating and recording information
Until recently every local authority collected and recorded
information in a different way. As a result of this in 2000 the
Department of Health published a Framework for Assessment of
Children and their Families (DoH 2000):
This framework is a way of ordering and recording information
about children. It is represented as a triangle because it has
three dimensions: the child’s developmental needs, the parents’
capacity to meet these needs and the environmental factors,
which may also impact on their care. The aim of this framework
is to ensure that all authorities collect the same information and
record it in the same manner. The Common Assessment
Framework (CAF) now follows the same framework.
The framework places the child in the middle. This is a
reminder that they are the focus of the assessment process.
In order to complete the framework an understanding of
developmental theorists such as Piaget (1926), Vygotsky (1978)
and Bowlby (1979) are essential as they underpin our
understanding of what children need to reach their
developmental potential. Similarly an understanding of
developmental norms (Sheridan 1997) is required if assessment

262. is to be informed and age appropriate.
The framework takes an ecological approach (Jack 2001). It
looks at the child’s developmental needs in the context of their
wider environment. This allows for a more holistic approach,
which acknowledges the complex interaction between, the
child’s needs, the parental capacity to care and the wider
environment.
6.4 The child’s developmental needs
The first side of the triangle is the child’s developmental needs.
Children need the assistance of another person to carry out their
many everyday activities. The amount of help they need
depends primarily on their age and most children become more
independent as they grow older. For disabled children this
ability to achieve independence may be restricted. When
gathering information about the child’s developmental needs we
are looking not only at the help they need now but what the
child needs to develop independence skills, as they get older.
This part of the framework asks us to look at seven aspects:
•Health - What does the child need to remain healthy?
•Education - This may be formal education but could also
include attendance at the local school, children centre, nursery
or playgroup. Children need to be adequately stimulated from an
early age.
•Emotional development - What does the child need in order to
reach their developmental potential? Key to this section is the
concept of a secure attachment as detailed by Bowlby (1979)
and more recently Howe (1999). Children need to be cared for
by consistent people and in a consistent way if they are to feel
secure and develop emotionally.
•Identity - We all need to develop a sense of identity. We get
this from our family, our community and the formal groups we
attend like school. It is important that those who care for
children value them for who they are as individuals and help in
developing their pride and identity.
•Family relationships - This looks at and identifies who the
important people are in children’s lives. We need to be aware of

263. not making assumptions. Children can have a variety of primary
carers and live in a variety of family groups.
•Social presentation and self-care skills - Younger children need
more help with choosing the right clothes to wear, washing,
dressing and grooming. As children get older they become more
independent. However they learn by example and only gain
independence if they are encouraged to do so. Disabled children
may need assistance for longer but not necessarily in all aspects
of their lives.
6.5 Reflective task
The framework also considers Parenting Capacity and Family
and Environmental Factors.
Can you identify a child in your setting who you may have
concerns about?
Reflect on all three sides of the assessment triangle and list the
areas (of the child’s development) where you have a concern.
Who would you discuss these concerns with and which other
professional/agency may you contact for support or information
and why?
6.6 Introduction to the Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
The CAF is a key component of the Every Child Matters:
Change for Children programme (DfES, 2004a) and aims to
identify any child or young person’s additional needs that are
not being currently met. The CAF has three main elements: a
pre assessment checklist; a process for undertaking the common
assessment; and a standard proforma to document the
assessment.
(The CAF) …will help embed a shared language; support better
understanding amongst practitioners; reduce the number of
different assessments; facilitate early interventions; and speed
up service delivery’ (CWDC, 2007f).
National Context
The change in policy following the death of Victoria Climbiè is
set out in the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) Change for Children
Programme and the Children Act 2004. The change programme

264. focuses both on strengthening universal services to which every
child is entitled to and developing more targeted services for
those with additional needs. The aim is to assist children and
young people to achieve the five ECM outcomes. This will be
achieved by reducing levels of educational failure, ill health,
substance abuse and neglect, crime and anti-social behavior
among children and young people. It is therefore the
expectation of the government that all local authorities and their
partners (e.g. Health, Education, Childcare, Early Years, Social
Care, Police and Youth Justice) develop and implement the
Common Assessment Framework and the Lead professional role
as part of Integrated Working by April 2008.
The Five ECM Outcomes are for children and young people to:
1. Stay Safe
2. Be healthy
3. Enjoy and achieve
4. Making a positive contribution
5. Economic well-being
Aims and principles of the CAF are to:
•A process supported by a standard national approach and form
•Improve joint working and communication
•Support the sharing of information
•Rationalise assessments
•Aid better referrals
•Holistic
•Focuses on needs and strengths
•Simple, practical and understood by a range of professionals
and agencies
•Empowering and a joint process
The CAF is:
•A shared early assessment of the child’s needs
•Supports early intervention/prevention
•Child or young person centred
•Evidence based
•Common to all agencies and are completed by a variety of
professionals e.g. health visitors, nursery staff, teachers etc.

265. •A process that leads to a coordinated interagency working and
a reduction in multiple assessments and duplication of service
The CAF takes a holistic approach to assessment but does
consider three main themes:
1. The child’s development: health; emotional and social
development;
behavioural; development; family and social relationships; self-
care and independence; and learning;
2. Parents and carers: basic care; emotional stability and
guidance and boundaries;
3. Family and environmental: family history and functioning;
wider family; housing and economic factors; and social and
community factors. (Stacey 2009:p.135)
The Three Key Steps of The CAF Process
1. Preparation
2. Discussion
3. Delivery
Talk to child/parent, other professionals/agencies involved
Child centred – consider the needs of the individual child.
Where practically possible talk to the child or young person
Identify the Lead Professional
With child/parent, decide if a common assessment would be
helpful
Work together to understand issues and develop solutions
Agree an action plan
Use pre-assessment checklist to aid decision
Focus on strengths as well as needs
Make referrals or broker access to other services
Seek parental consent to proceed
Record agreed conclusions and actions
Arrange a TAC (Team Around the Child) meeting
Complete a full CAF (If necessary)
Monitor and review progress
The Pre-assessment checklist

266. This form is intended to guide managers and practitioners to
consider whether or not child is achieving 5 ECM outcomes and
whether or not a full CAF is needed.
The (full) Common Assessment Form
This is a national standardized holistic assessment tool. It is
designed for all agencies to use to identify, gather and record a
range of information of children and families with additional
needs.
Identifying Levels of Need (e.g. Levels 1 -3)
Level 1
Low level needs, the need is clear and can be met by the
referring agency through own resources or by referring to a
single agency
Level 2
Additional needs which cannot be met by a single agency. A
Lead Professional is needed to co-ordinate integrated support
(CAF)
Level 3
Significant, severe or complex needs, statutory intervention is
necessary (Social Care)
Any child protection, safeguarding concerns must be referred to
Social Care immediately!
Vision and Core Functions of the Lead Professional
Vision: All children and young people identified with additional
needs (after the completion of the CAF) who require support
from more than one practitioner should experience a seamless
and effective service in which one practitioner takes a lead role
to ensure that services are coordinated, coherent and achieving
intended outcomes.
Core Functions of the Lead Professional:
•Act as a single point of contact for the child and family
•Co-ordinate the delivery of agreed actions (from the CAF)
1.Reduce overlap and inconsistency in the services received
(CWDC, 2008b)

267. Selecting a Lead Professional
The lead professional could be drawn from any of the people
currently involved with the child or young person. The lead
professional should be the practitioner who is most relevant to
the child or young person’s action plan and who has the most
appropriate skills.
Useful skills for Lead Professional Functions
•Strong communication skills; diplomacy; sensitivity
•Establish a successful and trusting relationship with
child/family
•Empower child/family to make decisions and challenge when
appropriate
•Understand implications of the child’s assessment, for example
in relation to risks and protective factors
•Support and enable child/family to achieve their potential
•Work effectively with other professionals from a range of
services
•Co-ordinate meetings and initiative discussions with relevant
professionals
•Have knowledge of local and regional services for children and
families
•Understand boundaries of own skills and knowledge
6.7 Reflective task and key reading 2
Read through the sample forms, pre-assessment and full
assessment form (follow the link below)
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/i
ntegratedworking/caf/a0068970/the-pre-caf-and-full-caf-forms
Accessed 7/09/12
In light of the information read is there a child in your setting
who you feel is not meeting the ECM outcomes? What makes
you believe that this may be a child who needs additional
support?
As the leader of the setting/centre what would be your
responsibility in this process? What steps would you take to
support this child? Which agency or professional/s would you
need to contact for support and information?

268. In your learning journal record your thought and responses.
6.8 Team Around The Child (TAC), key features
Once consent to complete the CAF has been gained and
information has been shared and gathered, it is the Lead
Professional’s role to advise the relevant services and
professionals to come together in a TAC meeting to assess the
child’s needs and decide with the child/family (where
appropriate) the next course of action, which would include the
services needed.
The TAC is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals
established on a case-by-case basis.
The TAC provides the following:
•Integrated working through a pre- agreed action plan with the
child’s needs at the centre
•Gives parents the opportunity to share progress and impact
•Stakeholders can review their support and evaluate outcomes
•A Lead Professional you are expected to do all the work – you
are ‘Wrapping the team around the child’
Confidential Information
Confidential - Information that is sensitive, not already in the
public domain, shared in confidence. Confidential information
can be shared if authorised by the person who provides it or to
whom it relates. It can be shared if justified in the public
interest:
•Evidence that the child is suffering or at risk of suffering
significant harm
•Reasonable cause to believe that the child may be suffering
significant harm (where there is a child protection issue social
care must be informed)
•To prevent significant harm
•To prevent serious harm
•To prevent crime
It is important that you use your professional judgement!
Consent
•Must be informed
•Should normally be explicit but can be implied (written is

269. preferable but can be verbal)
•Must be willing and not from a non-response
•Can be withdrawn at any time
Professionals must:
•Use clear accessible language
•Explain there are times when confidentiality cannot be
maintained
•Be aware of relevant legislation (e.g. Children Act 1989, 2004
and the Childcare Act 2006)
•Follow local policies and protocols
6.9 Summary of the session
This weeks session began by examining the background and
national context to the Assessment of Children in Need and
their Families Framework.
Key processes of the CAF were explored and the role of the
Lead Professional in relation to the coordination of services,
particularly the TAC, was highlighted. We looked at the
importance of gaining consent and the responsibilities of
professionals and practitioners in that process.
Reflective tasks have included exploring the role and
responsibilities of the leaders within this process.
6.10 Weekly task
Take the opportunity this week to find out how many CAF’s
have been completed for children in your setting (this year) and
why. Explore the role and responsibility of the leader in the
CAF process.
Using your learning journal, reflect on your experiences and
responses.
References
Bowlby, J. (1969) Attachment and Loss Volume 1: Attachment.
Harmondsworth: Penguin
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Integrated working
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3Bcesh&gs_nf=1
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&fp=f6dd2f783ee0307b&biw=1263&bih=641Accessed 8/09/12
Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) (2008b)
The lead professional fact sheet
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783ee0307b&biw=1263&bih=641Accessed 8/09/12
Children Act 1989. London: HMSO
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003) Every child
matters (Green paper). London: HMSO
Howe, D. (1999) Attachment theory, Child Maltreatment and
Family Support London: Palgrove
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Need and their Families: Department of Health, Department for
Education and Employment, Home Office
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and their families’ In J. Howarth (2001) The Child’s World:
Assessing Children in Need DH/NSPCC: JKP
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London: Barnardos
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York: Harcourt, Brace and World
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Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of
Higher Mental Processes Cambridge MH: Harvard University
Press

271. Week 7: The complexities of working with a range of
professionals in order to support children and families .7.1
Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘The complexities of working
with a range of professionals in order to support children and
families’ . This is outlined below:
•To explore some of the challenges related to achieving multi-
professional collaboration and multi-professional working
(MPW)
•Explore organisational cultures and the impact on
professionals/practitioners
Look at the purpose and role of the leader/manager in
supporting children and families, which includes a
responsibility to develop MPW
•Consider the difficulties and barriers in engaging families who
do not access services
•Look at the challenges of managing complex relationships
with other agencies (e.g. Health)
•Resolving challenges and finding solutions
7.2 Uncertain Leadership and Organisational culture
We begin the week by looking at a quote by Graham and Jarvis
(2011) in Trodd and Chivers (2011:p.131) which states that:
‘Uncertainty is an aspect of current Early Years practice, with
multi-disciplinary working, new services and changing
relationships with children, families and colleagues. Rapid
change, uncertainty about the future and new role expectations
can lead to insecurity and lack of clarity about how to move
forward’
Does the quote above sum up some of the difficulties that you
or your setting are experiencing?
Organisations (which include settings/centres/agencies) are at
the heart of our lives and communities. Particular features
below are common to all of these organisations:
•They exist in social settings and consist of a complex network
of roles, relationships and interactions (particularly multi-
agency/professional working)

272. •They are purposeful. They exist to serve particular intentions,
functions and purposes
•They are led and managed. The activities of the people who
work within them have to be planned, coordinated and evaluated
•They are life centred, concerned with the experiences and daily
life of young children and families
•They are concerned with the growth, development, care and
welfare of children and families
•Success in their work is significantly more difficult to measure
and analyse than the outcomes of more product-based
organisation (e.g. the chain Marks & Spencers)
Organisations like families are human systems in which a
whole range of personal, social, psychological and political
dramas are played out. Difficulties and challenges are created
because it is not easy to achieve agreement about the script: the
roles that people play and how the various acts and scenes are
to be acted. In bureaucratic organisations there tends to be
pressure to adhere to the script but in other types of
organisation there is often more room for improvisation.
Cultures refer to the ways in which the various participants in
organisational life – the practitioners, children and families that
they serve experience their day-to-day work and the extent to
which they feel able to commit themselves to the tasks and
activities for which they are responsible.
When we become part of an organisation, we find ourselves in
two distinct types of environment. First, there is the physical
environment: that which we experience with our senses. This
includes the building, the fixtures and fittings, the furniture and
all the material resources. It also includes the people who work
there, what they say and what they do. This sensate
environment can be observed and documented. It can be filmed
and recorded, and it can be witnessed both by its regular
participants as well as by casual and occasional visitors.
Secondly, there is the invisible but equally significant
psychological environment: that which is experienced mentally
and felt emotionally by those who work there. This environment

273. is not available for observation, filming or recording. It consists
of the internal constructs and meanings, which each participant
creates and adapts from moment to moment in the course of
daily life in that organisation. It is the second environment that
we need to give more attention for it is here that many of the
clues to conflict, human effectiveness, efficiency, enterprise
and success are to be found.
A number of significant features of modern organisational
culture can be noted:
•The richness of personal experience
•The messiness of events and incidents (MPW)
•An uncertainty about tomorrow
•Disorder despite efforts at organisational tidiness
•Fun and enjoyment
•Enthusiasm and excitement
•Anguish and despair
Given encouragement people can make the best of most
situations. The challenge comes in taking the matter of work
culture more seriously than we have done in the past. We need
to recognise that quality and effectiveness depend very much on
how people are feeling moment by moment during the working
day and on the treatment of people who are expected to carry
out the key work of the organisation
7.3 Reflective task
Think of work cultures you have experienced during your
career.
What similarities and differences can you note?
What effects do different work cultures have on staff?
How can cultures be changed and developed?
Use your Journal to reflect and note your responses.
7.4 The purpose of leaders of settings (particularly children’s
centres) in supporting children and families
What makes a setting/centre successful in meeting the needs of
children and families is ‘the collaboration and cooperation of
different professional groups’ (DCSF 2007:P.3)
It is the role of the leader to ensure that the setting/centre

274. makes a difference to the children and families it serves. They
need to ask themselves questions such as: How well services are
managed, how well integrated and how effective are those
services in helping to reduce the gap between the most
disadvantaged children and their peers. Also are the children
safer, healthier, more resilient and better able to enjoy new
learning opportunities?
7.5 Key reading – reflective task
This weeks reading is a report / paper by Martin et al (2009)
Narrowing the Gap in Outcomes – Leadership (Pages 7-18).
Click here to read now.
The report / paper aims to identify whether or not leadership has
an effective role in narrowing the gap in outcomes between
vulnerable children and young people and other children.
Although this report/paper is not specific to the early years,
however it does discuss key themes that relate to leading and
managing within an early years multi-professional context
(particularly children’s centres).
In the context of supporting children and families read pages 7-
14 and journal your reflections and responses.
Leaders can make a difference by:
•Establishing and sustaining an environment of challenge and
support where children are safe, can flourish and learn
•Providing the vision, direction and leadership vital to the
creation of integrated and comprehensive services for children,
mothers, fathers and families
•Leading the work of the setting/centre to secure its success, its
accountability and its continuous improvement. Central to
success is the quality and level of collaboration with other
services and the whole community
•Working with and through others to design and shape flexible,
responsive services to meet the changing needs of children and
families
•Ensuring that all staff understand children’s developmental
needs within the context of the family and provide appropriate
services/activities that respond to those needs

275. •Ensuring that the setting/centre collects and uses all available
data to gain a better understanding of the nature and complexity
of the local community
•Using knowledge and understanding to inform how services/
activities are organised and how to offer differentiated
services/activities that are responsive to all groups including
fathers, children or parents with disabilities or additional needs,
and black and minority ethnic communities (DCSF 2007:p.5)
7.6 Reflective task
Consider your own setting/centre. What is the purpose and role
of your leader/manager in supporting children and families? Is
it clear? What gaps or limitations can you highlight? What areas
would you like to see develop and why?
Use your Journal to record your responses.
7.7 How do families experience services?
Families are less interested in who delivers services than in
getting the support they need when they need it.
The family of a child with special needs or a family in crisis
needs prompt and well co-ordinated attention from a variety of
professionals. In his report following research into supporting
parents, David Quinton (2004:p.29) observed that:
‘The benefits of inter-agency working needs to be part of an
effort to understand the whole of the parenting ecology, not just
a desire to see agencies working better’.
Challenges and barriers in engaging and reaching families
Research has shown that parent’s welcome well-informed,
confident, knowledgeable practitioners who want to listen to
their views, take them seriously and treat them more as equals.
(Draper and Wheeler in Pugh and Duffy 2010). However this is
sometimes difficult to achieve, as partnership working does not
always appear equal. For instance where practitioners see
themselves as the experts on children’s learning they may be
reluctant to value the parents view. Parents too may not share
the same understanding about how children can learn through
play and choose not to listen to advice in the way they can
support their child at home.

276. Accessing services can be difficult for some families due to
lack of finance, time, no crèche, pressures of work, or illness
(depression) and these families can sometimes be labelled ‘hard
to reach’. Pugh and Duffy 2010:p.185 argue that,
‘The reality is that many services are very hard for families to
locate, understand and reach, and it is more appropriate to
challenge services to reflect upon and adapt everyday practice
in order to reach out and meet need’
Do you have parents who find it a challenge to access services
and activities in your setting? If yes reflect on how the services
could be adapted to meet their needs?
7.7 How practitioners and leaders see partnership working?
Gasper (2011:p.34) highlights the similarities between agencies
that contribute to building effective partnerships. These include,
‘clear aims, good relationships and trust…with an
overwhelming emphasis on good relationships that are open,
honest and respectful’.
Leaders of settings/centres state that one of the most common
barriers to partnership working is the ‘fear of change and
resistance to change’. Opposition often arises from
possessiveness and a rigid view of professional boundaries,
which creates an overwhelmingly negative attitude (ibid:p.35).
7.8 Four types of response to multi-agency working
.(Colin Fletcher, adapted from Jon Owen, Brathay Hall in
NPQICL booklet 14 2010:p.8)
Active
Protestor
Participant
Sabotaging
Withholding information
Withholding resources
Claiming exclusivity
Pessimism
Cynicism
Taking initiative
Sharing information

277. Pooling resources
Building partnerships
Networking
Optimism
Passion
Feeling Negative Feeling Positive
Prisoner
Uncommitted
Disconnected
Claims has no resources
Remains in comfort zone
Professionally insecure
Apathy
Passenger
Observer
Shares when required
Contributes reactively
Fence sitter
Jobs worth behaviour
Lip service
Passive
7.9 Reflective task – Leadership
Consider the four responses above. Where do you sit? Are you a
protester, participant, prisoner or passenger when it comes to
your attitude towards MPW?
Are there particular individuals or groups of people that you
find difficult to work with? Why do you think that is?
Are there trusting relationships within, between and beyond
your team? How do you know?

278. What forum with other agencies does your setting/centre have
for encouraging constructive and critical debate?
What is happening when everything is working well between
teams and agencies? What are the motivational factors that you
can identify?
In which relationships do you feel overwhelmed? What is
happening when you feel troubled?
In your learning journal record your thoughts and responses.
7.10 Leadership and management challenges in multi-agency
working
Change can be exciting as well as challenging at the same time,
particularly when it threatens our well nurtured comfort zones
(Gasper 2011). Goleman (1999:p.98) points out that, ‘people
who lack adaptability are ruled by fear, anxiety and a deep
personal discomfort with change’.
Bertram et al (2002:p.40) refers to the need for a ‘culture
change’ in agencies, but issues around differing pay rates, and
conditions of service for different organisations for example in
Health, Social Services and Education only perpetuates
difficulties in partnership working.
Hudson (2002) in Anning et al (2010:p.71) highlights that there
are three barriers to MPW:
1. Professional identity: how professionals understand
themselves and their roles
2. Professional status: how professional hierarchies and
different distribution of powers are generated
3. Professional discretion and accountability: how professionals
exercise discretion on a day-to-day basis
In expecting that professionals work in multi-professional teams
we are often requiring that they confront, articulate and lay to
one side the distinctiveness of their long-established ‘tribal’
beliefs and behaviours. It may appear that we are asking them to
equate the high status and prestige associated with some
professions working within children’s services - for example
being a doctor or a speech and language therapist – with what

279. some may consider as being the lower status of others – for
example being a nursery nurse or a health visitor.
Aspects of professional identity ‘who I am’, in a multi-
professional team and what I bring from my history as a
professional are key to effective MPW.
Challenges inherent in multi-agency working:
1. Lack of uniformity in pay and working conditions
2. Co-location/separated space
3. Finance and sustainability – non-financial resources can
create challenges e.g. building, sharing offices, equipment and
time
4. Access to information and confidentiality – Confidentiality
and information sharing strategies between various agencies and
the need for common systems and protocols.
5. The use of appropriate language – disability not handicapped
6. Maintaining quality through change
7. Continuous change and its impact on professionals and
agencies
8. Keeping community development on the agenda
9. Shared vision (including perception of change)
10. Valuing partners’ contribution -‘It is dangerous to think that
one culture [agency] is better than another’ (Sadek and Sadek,
1996:p.21)
11. Staff training across agencies – ‘Enabling and encouraging
professionals to work together and adapt common processes to
deliver frontline services, coordinated and built around the
needs of children and young people’ (DoH 2010)
12. Developing trust
13. Getting governance right (Adapted from NPQICL booklet 14
2010: p.14 Eastern Region Learning Community, January 2006)
Percy-Smith (2005) argues that sustainable partnerships are
never easy as there are numerous barriers to overcome.
Below is a case study showing features and challenges of MPW
at strategic, operational and professional or cultural levels.
Meaning

280. ‘Its about a number of agencies being able to work together,
making sure you are not working in isolation and making sure
you are working with stress…we are all interdependent, it’s
about the sum of the parts is grater than the whole’
(Health)
Challenges
•Different priorities resulting from different targets and
emphases
•Working with agencies with political in put
•Different levels of commitment to working with others
•‘When you sit down as a group and you want to make a
decision, everybody sitting round the table may not be able to
deliver that, because the organisation behind them may not
support them. It’s about negotiation about your authority, what
you are able to bring to the table, about consensus building
understanding of the other’s position, really quite complex’
Overcoming barriers
•Pooling budgets –local area agreements: ‘it brings you to the
table, makes you look at the whites of each other’s eyes and
actually make a commitment’
•Section 31 of Health Act gives a tool, but ‘pooling budgets can
take away autonomy and control from other people and getting
through those cultural and organisational barriers can be
difficult’
•Understanding where everybody else is coming from, the rules,
and how local government works, how commissioning works in
health, how education works in order to get a common goal
Preconditions
•Leadership ‘setting the environment and the tone’
•Acknowledging that others (e.g. the voluntary sector) can do

281. some things better than us
•Using the tools you have to pool resources
7.11 Reflective task
What challenges have you encountered with MPW? Next to each
challenge highlight a possible solution? Use the table below:
Challenge with MPW
Possible solutions/resolving difficulties

282. 7.12 Summary of the session
This weeks session began by looking at uncertain leadership and
the impact of organisational culture on practitioners and the
working environment. We also began to explore the role of
leaders in supporting collaborative working in order to benefit
children and families.
We briefly looked at the way families experience services and
the challenges that are sometimes present in accessing services.
We examined how practitioners and leaders see partnership
working and discuss the complexities and challenges that can
arise when working with a range of professionals and agencies
and considered solutions to these. Throughout the session time
was built in to reflect on your practice and areas for
development.
7.13 Weekly task

283. Speak with colleagues in your setting about the challenges that
they see with working with a range of Professionals in order to
support children and families. Make a note of these and
consider solutions to these challenges. Add these to the chart in
section 7.11.
Key reading
A key reading for this week is taken from Education 3-13:
International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years
Education
Naïve Change agent or Canny Political Collaborator? The
change in leadership role from nursery school to Children’s
Centre by Lesley Curtis and Diana Burton.
To access this article click here to link to the University library.
Choose to look at the article through Swetswise. You will be
asked to log in with your University User-name and Password.
When you are on the journal website, you are looking for 2009 -
Issue 3, Volume 37.
When reading this article try to highlight some of the challenges
faced whilst leading and managing. Use your journal to reflect
and record your responses.
References and additional reading
Anning, A. Cottrell, D. Frost, N. Green, J. and Robinson, M.
(2010) Developing Multi-Professional Teamwork For Integrated
Children’s Services Research, Policy and Practice Berkshire:
Open University Press
Bertram, T. Pascal, C. Bokhari, S. Gasper, M. and Holterman, S.
(2002) Early Excellence Centre Pilot Programme Second
Evaluation Report 2000-2001, DfES Research Report No. 361.
Norwich: HMSO, p.40 Typology of network EEC’s; p.77, p.108
Curtis, L. and Burton, D. (2009) Naïve Change agent or Canny
Political Collaborator? The change in leadership role from
nursery school to Children’s Centre: Education 3-13:
International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years
Education http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004270903133162
DCFS (2007) National Standards for Leaders of Sure Start
Children’s Centres

284. Gasper, M. (2011) Multi-agency Working in the Early Years
Challenges and Opportunities London: Sage Publications
Goleman, D. (1999) Working with Emotional Intelligence.
London: Bloomsbury
NPQICL booklet 14 (2010) Multi-agency working National
College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.
Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010) Contemporary Issues In The
Early Years (5thEds)London: Sage Publications
Quinton, D. (2004) Supporting parents: Messages form
Research London. Jessica Kingsley.
Percy-smith, J. (2005) What Works in Strategic Partnership
Working for Children Barkingside: Barnardo’s.
Trodd, L. and Chivers, L. (2011) Inter Professional Working in
Practice Learning and working together for children and
families Berkshire: Open University Press.
Week 8: Assessment A: The development plan
Content
Week 8: Assessment A: The development plan .
8.1 Aim this week
The focus this week is on: ‘Assessment (A) The Development
Plan’
. This is outlined below:
•To look at assessment details for the first assessment of this
module (The Development Plan)
•Discuss the learning outcomes for assessment (A)
•Consider what a development plan is and what it is used for
•Explore S.M.A.R.T Objectives
•Look at the rationale for the Development plan
8.2 The first assessment (A) in detail: The DevelopmentPlan
The assessment for this module has two parts, however we will
only be concentrating this week on assessment (A). Please take
note of the details below outlining what you need to include for
the first assessment.
•A Management Development Plan (DP), which demonstrates
the student’s ability to assess and plan for growth and change in
the workplace

285. •Along with the development plan you will need to include two
A4 (included in the word count) sides outlining your rationale
for the DP and the chosen priority area (this will be discussed in
more detail later).
•Because there is another assignment (assessment B) for the
module, assessment (A), the Development Plan, contributes
40% towards the final mark you will get for the entire module
•You will be given a mark out of 100 for both assessment (A)
and assessment (B). Your final mark will be an average of the
two marks
•The total number of words you can use for the Development
Plan is between 2,000-2,500 words
•When counting words you must include everything in the
actual text, including quotes and references. However, we do
not include the reference/bibliography list at the end of each
assignment
•We allow a margin of 10% either way
•If you use far too few words, it is unlikely that you will have
included all the information that you need to pass
•If you are very much over words we stop marking your work at
the point you are 10% over. This may have extreme
consequences if you have included vital information at the end
of your work
8.3 The Learning Outcomes
There are 5 learning outcomes that need to be addressed across
the two assignments (A) The Development Plan and (B) The
Reflective essay. However there are 2 learning outcomes that
are particularly important for assessment (A). The Development
Plan will be assessed on the extent to which it addresses the 2
assessment criteria that have been highlighted below:
•Learning outcome 2
Explain the role of leaders in promoting high quality provision
in the early childhood learning community
•Learning outcome 3
Discuss a range of theories to support early years teams and

286. relate these to their practice in an equal opportunities context
In addition to meeting the learning outcomes above the
Development Plan should:
1. Be realistic, appropriate and achievable
2. Offer a coherent assessment of what needs to be done to
achieve
the identified goals
3. Identify the likely impact on children’s learning,
development and
well-being
8.4 Assignment Feedback
.You will get two pieces of feedback on your work. One is a
formal written feedback sheet and the other is the comments
written on your work. It is worth taking time to read both
sources of feedback carefully.
Sadly many students do not take this opportunity and can find
themselves making similar mistakes in other assignments i.e.
referencing, not meeting the learning outcomes. Pay particular
attention to the university marking guidelines.
You should be able to understand from the comments why you
achieved the mark you did. If you are unclear contact your
tutor.
8.5 The Development Plan (also known as an improvement plan)
Development Plans are generally an outline of what you would
like to improve (priority area) and how you plan on going about
it e.g. an action plan showing who will do what and when.
Development Plans are based on best practice and continuous
improvement. They are seen as a step-by-step approach to
planning. They are useful tools for assisting the team in
improving a particular area and highlighting expectations.
To do this assignment you should review current practice in a
work setting related to young children, their families and within
a multi-professional context. Prioritise an area that would
benefit from a development focus e.g. Introduction of staff
supervision within the setting, encourage Multi-professional
working, choose a curriculum area to develop or an aspect of

287. provision that need improving.
The extent to which you will be able to implement the planned
developments will of course depend upon your role but you
should make the process as meaningful as possible. If you are
not a manager/leader in the setting, talk to the manager/leader
about what you are doing, as they may be able to support you.
Use the grid (see Menu Content to the left of the screen) to
indicate aspects of development such as the purpose and aim of
the initiative, the range of tasks that will be needed to complete
the initiative or development, staff development needs and so
on.
Development plan grid
On a large piece of paper, draw (on the computer) a grid with
twelve columns. The headings of each column are as follows:
1. Priority area
This will be an area that you wish to develop or improve e.g. a
major curriculum issue or provision such as the introduction of
ECAT (Every Child A Talker), the 2 year old pilot, EYFS
(Early Years Foundation Stage) or the introduction of Multi-
professional working. If you are not sure what constitutes a
major area for development or improvement, please check with
your tutor. Choosing the home corner to develop is not
considered a major issue or area.
2. Objective
An objective is a short-term, measurable step within a
designated period of time and moving towards a long-term goal
(Do not use more than 4/5 objectives). This should identify
what you are trying to achieve. So for example under the
priority area of improving children’s Communication, Language
and Literacy (CLL) skills, you may want to improve CLL:
•Throughout the setting by creating communication friendly
spaces.
•Increase parental understanding of the ECAT programme and
raise awareness of the importance of their involvement and the
impact it can have on their children’s language development.
•Monitor practitioner/child communication.

288. 3. Tasks
Tasks are like to do lists; things that need to be done and
as part of an objective e.g. arranging a team meeting. For each
of the objectives you have set there will be a wide range of
tasks and these should be identified and listed as far as possible
in the order in which you think they should be undertaken.
4. Involvement
Who will need to be involved (and in which of the identified
tasks)? e.g. Deputy manager, Multi-agency team, Early Years
Teacher, EYP, Parents.
5. Responsibility
Who is to be responsible for the overall development and
oversee the task and ensure that it is completed.
6. Start date
When will the task start (estimate)
7. Completion date
8. Staff development
Staff development implications or support. Where possible
solutions, for example actual courses, arrangements for visits,
reading (policy or academic). These should all be identified.
9. Resources
Resources identify what is needed to get the task completed.
The estimated budget figure should be given. As many actual
costs as possible should be included. These may include the
costs of materials, of covering staff to go on courses or visits or
for release to develop materials or work with parents. This
column should include time implications, for example staff
meetings or meetings with parents, managers or governors.
10. Success criteria
This column should show how you intend to judge whether you
have successfully achieved what you set out to achieve. It will
not be enough to say for example that a policy is completed – a
success criterion may be that the policy is understood by staff
and implemented in their practice.
11. Monitoring
Monitoring involves keeping a close watch over a task. Who

289. will actually do the monitoring? What will they actually do and
when?
12. Evaluation
This column is for you to set out the ways in which the
success criteria will be judged.
Included is an example of a students management development
plan. This is meant as a guide only and should obviously be
customised to meet your needs.
8.6 S.M.A.R.T Objectives
S.M.A.R.T Objectives are acronyms that are often related to key
performance indicators, see the chart below for its meaning
(Doran 1981):
S Specific Is the objective clear and well defined? Can
everyone understand it?
M Measurable You should be able to tell when the
objective has been completed
A Achievable Is the objective realistic? Can it be done?
R Relevant Does the objective matter to achieving the
overall goal?
T Timely What will be the start and completion date?
When setting objectives for the DP these acronyms may help
you decide whether or not the objectives will be useful in
achieving your overall goal. So check your objectives using the
above chart.
8.7 The rationale for the Development Plan
This should be written on no more than two A4 sheets of paper
(and is included in the word count).
The rationale should include a context around your choice of
priority area e.g. During a recent Ofsted inspection it was
identified that staff knowledge and understanding of children’s
early language development was limited. The Early Years
Advisory teacher then recommended the governments Every
Child A Talker programme as a way of raising staff knowledge
and understanding to support children’s achievement in this

290. area. Obviously this will be discussed in more detail and
include elements of the learning outcomes.
There may be more than one reason for your choice of priority
area but this must be made clear. Remember to be mindful of
the two learning outcomes mentioned previously:
•Learning outcome 2
Explain the role of leaders in promoting high quality provision
in the early childhood learning community
•Learning outcome 3
Discuss a range of theories to support early years teams and
relate these to their practice in an equal opportunities context
. 8.8 The assessment deadline and the practicalities of handing
in your assignment
•The deadline for handing in assessment (A) is the week of 14th
January 2013.
•Assignments (the two A4 written sheets and not the DP itself)
should be double-spaced and in a clear font such as Ariel. Use a
font size no smaller than 12. There should be clear margins at
the top, bottom and sides
•Each page should be numbered and should preferably have
your University ID in a prominent position
•Include a title page for your assignment, with the module code
and the assessment element (A for the Development Plan)
•At the end of each assignment, include a list of references of
the sources you have used in the text
•Keep an electronic copy of your final assignment
•Put your work in a plastic envelope or a light binder. Please do
not use ring binders that take a great deal of space. Similarly,
do not put individual sheets of paper into individual plastic
wallets as this is annoying for the marking tutor
•For each assessment (A or B) print off an assessment cover
sheet from E vision. Firmly attach this to your assignment
•We would like to remind you that plagiarism is seen as
academic misconduct. This is where the submission for
assessment of material is originally produced by another person
or persons, without indicating that the material is not original

291. and that the work could be assumed to be the student’s own. If
you are confused about what plagiarism is please read The
Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. This
is an E book.
8.9 Reflective task
Take some time out to consider and reflect on the above
information. Is there anything that you are unclear about? If
there are make a note of these and discuss them with your tutor.
Journal your reflections and responses.
8.10 Summary of session
During this session we have covered what a DP is and looks like
(example attached). The learning outcomes and word count
(2,000-2,500) pertinent to this assessment has been highlighted,
which includes a two page A4 rationale for the DP. Reference to
SMART Objectives was discussed in relation to keeping your
objectives more focussed and meaningful. The practicalities of
handing in your assignment and the deadline were also
mentioned.
8.11 Weekly task
•Get a copy of your settings Development/Improvement Plan
•Find out as much as you can about how the DP was arrived at
in your setting and why
•Speak with colleagues to get ideas and support for your chosen
priority area
•Begin to identify and start to develop your ideas (where
possible share these with your tutor) then begin to write your
DP
References and additional reading
Doran, T. (1981) ‘There’s a SMART way to write
Management’s goals and objectives’ Management Review,
Volume 70, Issue 11 pp.35-36
Neville, C (2010) The Complete Guide to Referencing and
Avoiding Plagiarism Maidenhead OUP (especially Ch 6) An E
book

292. Week 9: Working with teams and groups
9.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘Working with teams and groups’
This is outlined below:
•Consider Indicators of good practice in multi-professional
working
•Highlight both the national and local context of team work in
the early years
•Identify what teams and groups are and how they operate
•Explore what it means to be part of a team and explore
Belbin’s (1981) theory of effective personality types within
work teams
•Engage in continual evaluation and reflection of practice in
students learning journal
We begin the week by considering the following quote in
relation to team members working together:
Working in an early years setting whether it is large or small
involves many interactions between adults… These may be
formal or informal. But these interactions are regarded as the
building blocks of the service and the outcome of the service’
(Rodd 1998 cited in Jones and Pound 2008:p.25).
9.2 Key reading 1
In order to gain a context of multi-professional working read
and reflect on this article from the Scottish Council for
Research in Education - Multidisciplinary Teamworking
Indicators of Good Practice by Valerie Wilson and Anne Pirrie.
Click here to read now.
What are the authors trying to tell us about multi-disciplinary
team working? Journal your responses.
9.3 Background, National and Local Context
It is the intention of government to create an ‘integrated
workforce, with multi-disciplinary teams (DfES,2004:P.17), and

293. ‘partnerships’ across services (DfES, 2004:p.23), the
government has therefore raised the profile of teamwork in
Early Years.
In the context of rapid and accelerating change, it is no longer
sensible to lead settings/centres, which rely on separation and
individualism. Survival and effectiveness depend upon those
working in settings/centres developing more efficient and
effective ways of satisfying the numerous, varied and continual
work demands that are created, particularly with regards to
multi-professional working. Much of the stress experienced in
settings/centres comes from the fact that team members seem to
be competing with each other or agency rather than
collaborating.
Ray Krok (1977) suggests that ‘None of us is as good as all of
us’. This underlines the enormous potential – lying untapped
and underused in most settings/centres – that can only be
released by bringing individuals together in powerful work
alliances, often temporary ones, to tackle the unending flow of
tasks, projects and demands that arrive daily in most
settings/centres. Increasing levels of stress suggest that
traditional management structures are experiencing considerable
difficulty in meeting new demands and changed circumstances.
Collaboration has the capability to enable most organisations to
increase both their efficiency and effectiveness particularly in
meeting the needs of children and families.
In recent years, the combination of pressures from heightened
expectations, rapid change and legislation has bought about
some significant effects on settings and centres:
•Increase in the weight of individual workloads
•Increase in the complexity of workloads
•Too little time for too many changes
•Managing many significant changes simultaneously
•Lack of time for preparation, adjustment and training
•Changes changed again before being implemented
•Increase in confusion, ambiguity, turbulence
•Panic to cover the ground with insufficient attention to detail

294. •Further erosion of professional time into personal time at the
expense of individual wellbeing, family life and work-life
balance.
Reflective task
Think about the differences between working in a setting/centre
based on competitiveness and one based on collaboration and
cooperation.
Which is best for you?
How, in your experience do individuals tend to react to
competitive cultures?
What tends to happen in collaborative cultures?
Use your journal to evaluate and reflect on practice, and where
relevant make links to learning outcome 3
9.5 Being a team member and teamwork
What is a team? There are various definitions; Rodd
(2006:p.149) has the view that a team is, ‘a group of people
cooperating with each other to work towards achieving an
agreed set of aims, objectives or goals while simultaneously
considering the personal needs and interests of individuals’.
Whalley (2008:p.89) however considers that a team is ‘a number
of persons associated in some joint action’. What is your view
or definition of a team?
What are the differences then between a team and a group?
Whalley (2008:p.89) gives us her theory and puts forward the
view that a group ‘is simply a collection of individuals who
happen to be in the same place at the same time but not
necessarily bound by any common purpose’. Do you agree with
Whalley? If not how would you describe a group?
Duck (2001:p.95) believes that good teamwork it is essential
and is about working together for the common good, being
committed to the same goals and helping each other to achieve
these. He highlights that ‘failure to create that kind of teamwork
can be fatal to the entire change’.
Teams are made up of individuals, each with their own hopes
and aspirations as well as their worries and concerns. Three
particular issues facing us when we join a team:

295. •Inclusion: Will I feel involved and accepted?
.•Control: How much influence will I have?
•Affection: Will other team members like me?
The following list of questions will help to focus on these
issues and to raise awareness of the challenges and difficulties
that can arise when people who do not have a great deal of
experience working in teams and are often required to work in
multi-professional teams in more collaborative ways.
Inclusion
•What am I hoping for in this team?
•How do I want team members to behave towards me?
•Do other team members include me in the process?
•Do they call me by name and invite my participation?
•Do they respond when I make suggestions?
•Do they tend to welcome my contributions?
•How am I feeling about my participation in this team?
•What have been the things I have enjoyed?
•What incidents have upset or worried me?
Control
•Who exerts the most influence in the team?
•How do I react to attempts to influence or control my
behaviour in the team?
•Do I get volunteered for tasks? How do I react to this?
•How do others respond when I exert some influence in the
team?
•Which people are more inclined to support my ideas?
•Do some team members tend to oppose or try to block my
influence?
•How do I behave when I feel the team is moving in directions I
am not comfortable with? How do I register my concerns? How
do others react when I do this?
Affection
•Do others in the team like me? What have individuals said or
done that show that they go?
•How do each of the team members show their feelings towards
me?

296. •How do I feel about my colleagues in the team?
•How do I express my feelings for those I like?
•How does the team handle disagreements and interpersonal
conflicts?
•How do I express myself to particular individuals when what
they say upsets me?
These issues are crucially important to the effectiveness and
well being of individuals in groups yet they are rarely
acknowledged as part of the necessary process development of a
team. We all bring important needs into teamwork, as we do
into other aspects of our work, and good teams develop a
sensitive awareness of personal difficulties, worries and
concerns. If team members are struggling to handle their
feelings of being excluded, being controlled or being disliked,
the whole team is likely to suffer and the quality of the
teamwork will be inhibited.
9.6 Reflective task
Reflect on your involvement in groups and teams, both at work
and in other aspects of your life.
Come up with some examples of when you were:
•Part of a group
•A member of a group
•Part of a team
•A member of a team
Use your journal and consider the questions above (p.3) to
guide your reflection and responses.
9.7 Organisational forces and the challenges facing
leader/managers
There are many challenges facing leaders and managers of early
childhood settings/centres. However one of the great challenges
is based on staff involvement and collaboration and the need to
abandon the harmful effects of two deeply entrenched positions:
competition and hierarchy.
Throughout our childhoods and schooling and later in the
organisations, which employ us, we have been socialised into a

297. competitive ethic. Being smarter than someone else, getting
better grades, living in a better area and receiving a higher
salary have become synonymous with success and achievement.
Cooperation has not been on the agenda of qualities to develop
in workplaces. It is therefore not surprising that so many of us
find it difficult, often preferring to work on our own.
One of the harmful effects of too much competition at work is
that it can create a sense that we can either win or lose. Since
there tend to be more losers than winners, a loser mentality can
set in creating despondency, feelings of inadequacy and the
belief that it is not really worth making an effort. The
motivational costs of a competitive work culture can be very
high with a few striving very hard and the majority wishing they
worked somewhere else.
As for hierarchies, they have been developed to emphasise
vertical separation and steep career ladders. It is important to be
aware of the effects that separating colleagues in such a way
can have. Status and salary differentials have traditionally been
the cause of a great deal of discontent and conflict and the
tendency in recent years has been to produce flatter
organisations with fewer status levels.
People at the top of hierarchies tend to see their roles as
interesting, challenging, unpredictable, important and
satisfying. They have the opportunity to bring to their work the
whole range of experience and expertise. Whereas people low
down or at the bottom of hierarchies tend to feel bored and
frustrated because so little of their total repertoire of skills and
experience is involved in their work. Oppressive hierarchies
tend to diminish people, make them less than they usually are
and certainly less than they could be. Such a crushing of human
enterprise is bad for any organisation ensuring a poorer quality
of provision and service than is possible.
.9.8 Reflective task
What is your experience of being low down in a hierarchy?
What effect did it have on you?
How do you think leaders and managers can reduce harmful

298. effects that hierarchies can have on those with lower status and
play?
Use your journals to reflect and record your responses.
9.9 Team members
Numerous research (e.g. Belbin, 1981) has been done on
effective personality types within work teams. Belbin’s research
focused on his practical work with teams of managers in
training courses, where he identifies arrange of personality
types within achieving teams. Belbin (1981) highlights the
importance of a team having a variety of attributes. Teams that
only have creative and highly intelligent members, for example
did not necessarily get on with each other, nor get the task
done. To read more, click here .
Below is a brief outline (adapted) of Belbin’s teams
(Handy1999).
The Chair person
He/she is the one who presides over the team and co-ordinates
its efforts. He/she may not be brilliant or creative but
disciplined, focused and balanced. He/she talks and listens well,
is a good judge of people and of things: a person who works
through others.
The Shaper
The shaper is often described as the highly-strung person,
outgoing and dominant. He/she is the task leader. Their strength
lies in a passion for the task, but he/she can be over-sensitive,
irritable and impatient. They are needed as the spur to action.
The Plant
Unlike the shaper, the plant is introverted but is intellectually
dominant. He/she is the source of original ideas and proposals,
being the most imaginative as well as the most intelligent
member of the team. He/she can, however, be careless of details
and may resent criticism and may need to be drawn out or could
switch off.
The monitor-Evaluator
The monitor-evaluator is also intelligent, but it is an analytical
rather than a creative intelligence. His contribution is the

299. careful dissection of ideas and the ability to see the flaw in an
argument. He/she is often less involved than the others, but
tucked away with the data, aloof from the rest of the team, but
necessary as a quality check.
The Resource-Investigator
This is the popular member of the team, extrovert, sociable and
relaxed. He/she is the one who brings new contacts, ideas and
developments to the team, the sales person, diplomat or liaison
person. However this team member needs the team to pick up
their contributions.
The Company Worker
This member of the team is the practical organiser. The one who
turns ideas into manageable task, schedules, and charts.
Methodical and efficient.
The Team Worker
The team worker holds the team together, by being supportive,
listening, encouraging, harmonising and understanding.
Likeable and popular but un competitive, he/she is the sort of
person you may not notice when they are there but missed when
he/she isn’t.
The Finisher
Without the finisher the team might never meet its deadlines.
He/she is the one who checks the details, worries about
schedules and gets the other moving with their sense of
urgency. Their relentless follow-through is important but not
always popular.
Handy (1999:p.161) highlights that ‘Too many of one type in a
team means a lack of balance; too few roles and some tasks do
not get done. In a small team, therefore, one person may have to
perform more than one role. The full set is most important
where rapid change is involved in the workforce’
9.10 Reflective task

300. Looking at Belbins theory of team attributes or personality
types, which attributes do you bring to your team?
Can you identify team members with any of the attributes or
personality type discussed above?
Do you believe that there is a balance of attributes within your
team? If not which personality type do you feel is missing and
why?
Use your journal to evaluate and reflect your responses.
9.11 Key reading 2
This weeks key reading is a scanned chapter taken from
Leadership and management in the early years: from principles
to practice, chapter 3. Written by Caroline Jones and Linda
Pound. Click here to read now.
Read pages 25-38 and use your journal to reflect on and answer
the following questions:
1. How do or can child-minders work as part of a team?
2. How can teamwork have a crucial impact on the quality of
services or provision?
3. What are the responsibilities or role of the leader in
supporting teams?
4. Why is it important that each team member contributes to an
effective team culture?
5. Thinking of the forming, storming, norming, performing
stages – What stage would you say that your team is at and
why?
6. Looking at the section on characteristics of effective teams,
highlight the comments that relate to your team.
7. What areas of those characteristics (p.35) do you believe
need developing to make your team more effective?
8. Why is it of paramount importance that roles and
responsibilities are clearly defined, established and understood?
9. Edington (2004) discusses three types of teams -rigorous and
challenging teams, turbulent teams and cosy teams. What is
your understanding of these teams?
10. Reflecting on the three types of teams described (on page
37), how would you describe your team and why?

301. 9.12 Summary of week
We began the week by looking at Multi-disciplinary Team
Working Indicators of Good Practice by Valerie Wilson and
Anne Pirrie, in order to understand the context of this type of
working. We then explored the National and local context of
team work in the early years. We also examined what being a
team member and teamwork involved and considered
organisational forces and the challenges facing
leaders/managers in relation to competition and hierarchies in
teams. We then explored Belbin’s theory on personality types
and attributes. We end the week reflecting and analysing a
reading by Caroline Jones and Linda Pound on developing a
team culture.
9.13 Weekly task
Imagine you have been selected to open a new Children’s
Centre with a multi-disciplinary team. What would be among
your top priorities as leader/manager?
What would you do to create a culture where everyone felt
involved, committed and enthusiastic?
Use your journals to record your responses.
References
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2004) Every child
matters: change for children. Nottingham: DfES.
Duck, J. D. (2001) The Change Monster: The Human Forces that
Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change. New York:
Crown Business
Handy, C. (1999) Understanding Organizations (4thedn)
Penguin
Jones, C. and Pound, L (2008) Leadership and management in
the early years: from principles to practice. Open University
Press
Krok, R. (1977) Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonalds
New York: Berkley
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood (3rdedn).
Maidenhead: Open University Press
Whalley, M. E. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years Settings

302. Learning Matters Ltd, Exeter University Press
Wilson, V. and Pirrie, A. (2000) Multidisciplinary
Teamworking Indicators of Good Practice: The Scottish Council
for Research in
Educationhttp://moderntimesworkplace.com/good_reading/GRW
hole/Multi-Disciplinary.Teamwork.pdfaccessed 16/11/12
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and Collaboration in Early Years
Settings: Learning Matters Ltd Exeter University Press.
Week 10: Identifying Values, Principles and Visions
10.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is on: ‘Identifying values, principles and
visions’ . This is outlined below:
· Identify the meaning of values, principles and vision
· Look at terms and definitions
· Explore values and visions
· Consider what is needed to create a vision
· Explore how to convert big ideas (vision) into practical
actions
· Students to continue to reflect and explore their own values,
principles and visions using a learning journal
We begin the session with a reflective task.
10.2 Reflective task
1. What are values?
2. How are values formed?
3. What are principles?
4. How are principles formed?
5. What is a vision?
6. How are visions created?
At the end of the session go back and look at your answers and
consider whether your views have changed or whether you

303. would like to add anything.
10.3 Terms and definitions
In a world abounding in technical terms, it is important to try
and define the words we use. It is useful to place these terms
within some framework of meaning if management work is to be
systematic and purposeful.
The following definitions are arranged in three categories –
visions, policies and plans. In the work setting, both dreams and
visions are to do with our professional hopes and aspirations.
Dreams capture what it is we really believe in and what we want
to achieve for children and their families. Visions are more
about what it will look and sound like when we have achieved
it.
Visions: what we envisage in our minds
· Dream – a glimpse of the future in which our life purposes and
yearnings find fulfillment
· Vision – a deliberately created mental picture the future in
terms of ‘how we want it to be’
Policies: what we are committed to achieving
· Mission – a deliberately stated intention to work towards
specific aspects of this vision
· Policy – a statement of commitment to a particular area of
development
Plans: the sequence of actions necessary
· Programme – an outline of the development tasks to be
accomplished in a given time
· Plan – a detailed specification, listing the action steps to be
taken to accomplish the programme and serve the policy
· Aims and objectives – largely interchangeable terms for
concrete and specific intentions within a specific action plan

304. · Goals and targets – largely interchangeable terms for specific,
concrete and desirable end results
10.4 Reflective task
Think of your current work and also other jobs you have done.
How have the terms and concepts outlined above featured in
your work?
Do you agree with the definitions given or do you have your
own different distinctions between the different concepts?
Use your journal to record your responses.
10.5 Exploring values and principles.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines a value as ‘one’s
judgment of what is valuable or important in life’.
Martin and Henderson (2001:p.57) argue that the organisations
values influence what they want to achieve and their overall
goals and that ‘Values are deep-seated beliefs about what is
right or wrong, and what is important and unimportant’.
The OED defines a principle as ‘A fundamental truth as a basis
for reasoning … A law as a guide to action’.
One of the key features of work in the early years is a powerful
commitment to values and principles for young children and
their families. Particularly in children’s learning, care, growth
and development. Values driven settings/centres pose special
and significant challenges to leaders and managers. How we feel
about the children and families that we care for educate and
work with will influence how they behave and engage with us.
What we believe about how that care, education and work are
managed will determine success and effectiveness.
Where there is such a powerful relationship between what
professionals feel, think and believe about their work and the
outcomes of that work, makes it vital that attention is given to
the values and principles themselves. To take them for granted
is to disregard their significance and to undervalue their
importance. Leaders and managers of early years
settings/centres have to be champions of values constantly
helping their colleagues to use them as the key foundation of
their work.

305. Since the values and principles are themselves developing,
much time and energy will need to be committed to discussing,
debating, clarifying and articulating values. This is both
interesting and exciting work but it is also very demanding
because it goes right to the heart of what we know, think and
believe. Such work focuses on some of our most deeply held
beliefs about what it means to be a human being. Working with
values, particularly with multi-professional teams, is sensitive
work and has to be handled with care and skill but it cannot be
avoided. Rodd (2006) in Stacey (2009) believe that
professionals personal value systems can influence and have a
huge impact on their thinking. Stacey (2009:p.81) highlights
that,
‘Unless staff acknowledge and discuss their beliefs and share
their differences, the messages children and their families may
receive could be ambiguous’.
Those who lead and manage early years settings/centres have
some of the most difficult and demanding challenges in our
society.
10.6 Reflective task
In your journal write three key values that relate to your
particular professional tradition.
What are your values and beliefs about how children should be
cared for and educated in the early stages of their lives?
What happens when you meet others who have different values
and beliefs?
.10.7 Values and Visions
Key reading by Eden Charles New futures, at whose cost?
Clickhere to read now.
Take some time out to read and reflect on Eden Charles’s paper.
It will challenge your thinking about values. Whilst reading use
your journal to reflect and respond to any challenges.
Whalley (2008:p.36) believes that ‘One of the most important

306. ways you will demonstrate leadership of equality practice is
through your personal value stance… Acknowledging the extent
to which our own personal belief and value systems influences
what we bring to the Early Years environment is an important
‘first’ step’ en route to anti-discriminatory practice’.
Rodd (2006:p.26/27) highlights that a vision is ‘the leaders
hopes and dreams’ that ‘provides direction for and sustains
action in the team’.
Most of us spend a lot of our lives locked into our imaginations.
Unlike our normal vision, which often needs corrective lenses
to improve it, our imaginations stay powerfully active
throughout our lives. Imagination is responsible for giving form
and shape to our fears and anxieties as well as to our desires
and longings.
Virtually all the great achievements of the human race began as
seed ideas, which grew into mental pictures in the imagination
before they manifested themselves in practical realities, so too
in leadership and management.
But it is never enough to stay in the imagination or to be only a
dreamer. The hard realities of leadership and management are
that the visions and dreams have to be worked and struggled
for. But without the powerful visions and dreams for our work,
there would be little point to the striving. Effectiveness in our
settings/centres and work is the practical realisation of what is
first imagined in the mind.
Kouzes and Posner (2012) points out the importance of
articulating the vision to teams and highlight that,‘There’s
nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can’t articulate
why we’re doing what we’re doing’. Hesburgh (2012) believes
that ‘The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a
vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and
forcefully on every occasion’.
The visionary leader
The key task for leaders is to create and build a vision, which

307. is shared by all those involved. Smith and Langston (1999:p.20)
suggest that, ‘Leaders should be visionary yet realistic;
sensitive but demanding, innovative yet practical’.
Vision needs to be seen as a calling, rather than simply a good
idea. Sharing in a vision can uplift our aspirations and create
sparks of excitement, compel experimentation and risk taking,
and increase the courage to succeed. Shared vision can never be
‘official’; it needs to bubble up through the staff as well as
filter down from the top. Vision is not to be seen as a solution
to problems but rather a driving force for development and
change. It is one of the key components of leadership work,
relentless and never ending. It involves constant attention to
three fundamental questions:
· What does the future we are seeking to create look like?
· Why are we pursuing this particular vision?
· How do we behave to be consistent with the vision we are
committed to?
Below is a table outlining principles of visionary leadership
taken from Walden and Shaiba’s eight principles for the
visionary leader cited in Whalley (2008:) which has been
adapted.
Principles of visionary leadership
Application to leadership practice
A reflective task
Principle 1
The visionary leader is observant and vigilant and must do on-
site observation leading to personal perception of changes in
societal values
Here the role of the leader in empowering staff keeping them
fully informed of key changes affecting policy and practice.
This includes staff changing their own perceptions and value

308. stance.
In what ways can the leader act as a conduit of key information
relating to policy and practice in the setting?
Principle 2
Even though there is resistance, the visionary leader never gives
up; squeezing the resistance between outside-in pressures in
combination with top-down inside instruction.
Here the often precarious role of the leader in translating and
making many of the changes ‘manageable’ and ‘doable’.
Can you think of a time when the leaders vision for practice was
met with resistance by colleagues? What helped him/her stick
with the vision?
Principle 3
The visionary leader begins transformation of practice with
symbolic disruption of the old or traditional system through top-
down efforts to create chaos within the organisation.
The role of the leader is being able to deal positively and
effectively with the chaos that is an inevitable part of transition
from one way of organising/’doing’ practice and another.
Think of an instance when you or your leader has been involved
in leading change to practice. What personal coping strategies
did you or the leader use to cope with the chaos of transition
and retain a sense of vision?
Principle 4
The direction of visionary transformation is illustrated by a
symbolic visible image and the visionary leader’s symbolic
behaviour.

309. Shared action planning and positive role modeling by the leader
– not just by action but by attitude – are crucial factors in
successful visionary transformation.
How could the leader convey positive action and attitude to
change?
Principle 5
Quickly establishing new physical, organisational and
behavioural systems is essential for successful visionary
transformation.
The management and timing of change are critical. New systems
are crucial but what is needed of the leader is to inspire
confidence in colleagues and to empower them to play their part
in implementing change. Getting the timing/timescales for this
‘right’ is a key leadership skill.
What organisational skills do you believe you bring to visionary
leadership? Are there any you particularly need to develop?
Principle 6
Real change leaders are necessary to enable transformation.
Skills in change management are essential for all leaders of
practice.
Begin to reflect on your skills and areas for development in
change management.
Principle 7
Create an innovative system to provide feedback from results.
Think of the last time you or your leader created an action plan
with colleagues in order to implement some aspect of change to
practice.
Did this include structured opportunity for review on a regular
basis? If not, why not?
Principle 8

310. Create a daily operation system, including a new work
structure, new approach to human capabilities and improvement
activities.
This enables the leader to encourage staff to reflect on practice,
review practice and engage in an on-going programme of
continuing professional development (CPD).
How can the leader support CPD?
In what ways does the leader role-model effective reflective
practice on a regular basis?
10.8 Reflective task
To what extent are you a professional dreamer, building visions
in your imagination of an ideal early years world?
Take time to review your professional visions; the clearer they
become, the more powerful will be your determination to
achieve them.
Use your journal to reflect and record your responses
10.9 Key reading
Judi Marshall – Re-visioning organizations by developing
female values. Click here to read now.
This paper by Judi Marshall will challenge your thinking.
Marshall considers the potential contributions of female values
to organisational life.
Use your journal to reflect and respond to any challenges to
your thinking.
10.10 Creating a vision
Visioning helps to give professionals a sense of purpose and
meaning to their work. If leaders are skilled they can influence
professionals getting them excited about their view of the future
while inviting them to help develop and form that picture or
image.
How can you create a shared vision?
The Children Act 2004 was one of the main catalysts for

311. encouraging Multi-professional working. The vision is for
services to work together to support children in achieving the
Every Child Matters five outcomes, whilst helping staff to focus
on their roles and responsibilities.
1. Practice creating a vision in an area of your work. Ask
yourself ‘what do I want to create?’
2. Develop a vision about something that inspires you. Your
enthusiasm will motivate you and others. Listen to what they
find exciting and important
3. Expect that not all people will share your passion. Be
prepared to explain why people should care about your vision
and what can be achieved through it. If people don’t get it,
don’t just turn up the volume. Try to construct a shared vision
4. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to accomplish the
vision. If it is compelling and credible, other people will
discover all sorts of ways to make it real – ways you never
could have imagined on your own
5. Use images, metaphors, and stories to convey complex
situations that will enable others to act (Ancona et al,
2007:p.92)
10.11 From big ideas to practical actions
.In a world obsessed with precise targets, it can be easy to lose
sight of the big idea from which we draw our purpose and
motivation. Vision is concerned with creating a mental picture
of what it is we want to achieve. Targets have little power if
they are not part of a desired dream or vision of how we want
things to be. Once we have a clear mental picture of what we
desire, we are more able to plan the steps from where we are
now to where we want to be at some stage in the future.
The striving forward into the future involves three particular
and distinct journeys:
1. The visionary journey

312. Leaders spend a lot of their lives in a visionary landscape. The
visionary story which guides and steers their practical work
involves constant twists and turns as obstacles are encountered,
and sometimes major diversions are necessary when the planned
way ahead is blocked.
2. The psychological journey
This is the journey of desires, ambitions, hopes and fears. Good
leaders know that moving from the known into the unknown can
be very frightening. Journeys in life can be frightening as well
as exciting. A key component of managing is taking a sensitive
interest in – and showing an understanding concern for - the
fears and anxieties that arise when people are faced with
significant change and are doing something they have not done
before.
3. The practical journey
The visionary and psychological journeys are undertaken
through the inner landscapes of imagination and emotion. At
work we also have to operate in the outer world of everyday
realities. Being effective is about doing actual things and
having actual conversations. In the end leaders are judged by
what they say and do, and whether or not it achieves the results
intended. In practical terms it is through the many professional
conversations each day that dreams and visions are built. As
they listen to what their colleagues think and feel about their
work and how they are experiencing it, leaders are able to
reflect their understanding and contribute our own thoughts and
ideas. Through such professional dialogue, connections are
made, insights gained and actions planned.
.
The issue of the leaders and mangers role in the defining of
purposes and intentions is a vital one. We have inherited the
tradition that one of the key functions of managers is to define
and articulate the purposes and intentions for those lower down
in the organisational hierarchy. This was based on the
assumption that only leaders and managers had the wisdom and
experience to understand the aspirations of the organisation and

313. that those lower placed would not be sufficiently interested or
concerned about the organisation.
10.12 Reflective task
What is your experience of being involved in the development
of being involved in the development of big ideas and of
contributing to the building of a shared vision?
What do you think it is like for those who are excluded from
this important process?
Use your journal to reflect, evaluate and record your responses.
10.13 Summary of week
We began the session reflecting on our initial understanding of
values, principles and visions. We them began to explore
different theories around values, principles and visions. In the
first reading you consider Eden Charles view on values and the
second reading by Judi Marshall you considered the potential
contributions of female values to organisational life. Both
readings offered very different challenges. As we move through
the session you look at different ways to create a vision and
what that involves, from big ideas to practical actions in making
it all happen.
10.14 Weekly task
.Consider some of the building blocks of your identity (Dickens,
2002) such as 1.Gender, 2. Ethnicity, 3.Class, 4.Religion and
5.Education.
Reflect on the significance of these in shaping who you are and
what you believe.
· Describe yourself in a sentence using the five attributes
discussed above
· What is the role of the leader in ensuring that staffs are aware
of these influences on them and their roles?
· How can leaders give staff the skills and confidence to
challenge appropriately overt inequality/ discriminatory practice
they witness?

314. References
Ancona, D. Malone, T. Orlikowski, W. and Senge, P (2007) In
Praise of The Incomplete Leader: Harvard Business Review
Charles, E. (1994) New futures, at whose cost?
http://api.ning.com/files/BRXqmhI9560WPBhEZxoAR4JquiU-
0*X2Gb-R8219SjBjwgIO45Aczwq0JkNtZcD2bMF00-
RiapJR4QwYlSF3T4OGjlNH3Ifb/cmnewfuturesatwhosecost.pdf
Accessed 23/11/12
Dickins, M. (2002) All about …Anti-Discriminatory Practice.
Nursery World, 3: 15-22
Hesbergh, T. (2012) About.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/leadership/a/leader_vision.
htm
Accessed 22/11/12
Kouzes, J. and Posner (2012) About.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/leadership/a/leader_vision.
htm
Accessed 22/11/12
Martin, V. and Henderson, H. (2001) Managing In Health And
Social Care.
London: Routledge
Marshall, J. (1994)Re-visioning organizations by developing
female values
http://www.randj.plus.com/Papers/1994%20Marshall%20Futures
.pdfAccessed 23/11/12
Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood (3rd edn).
Maidenhead: Open University Press

315. Smith, A. and Langston, A (1999) Managing Staff in early years
settings. London: Routledge
Stacey, M. (2009) Teamwork and Collaboration in Early Years
Settings: Learning Matters Ltd Exeter University Press
The Oxford English Dictionary (2005) Oxford University Press
Whalley, M. E. (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years Settings
Learning Matters Ltd
Take a moment to journal your initial thoughts on the
following:
false
false
Week 1:An Introduction to the Module and to Journaling
Introduction to Module and Journaling .
1.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is: ‘Introduction to the Module and
Journaling’. This is outlined
below:
•The structure of the module and its conten
t
•Reading materials
•The module assessment and learning outcomes

316. •Using journaling as a way to
self
-
evaluate
and support the development of a
reflective leader/manager/practitioner
•Begin to consider the role of leaders and managers
We begin the week by l
ooking at the structure of the module and its content. Make a
note of anything you do not understanding as you will have an
opportunity to discuss
them with your personal tutor.
1.2 Module Syllabus
This module will critically evaluate a range of theori
es and current perspectives on
the distinctive features of leadership within the early years.
This will include staff
supervision, support and development alongside the
development of teamwork. You
will examine the role of the early childhood practitioner
in relation to other
professional roles and parents’ responsibilities and evaluate
models of working in
partnership with parents and carers.
You will consider the range of professions and occupations
involved in the provision

317. of early years services. The
benefits and challenges of multi
-
professional working
will be explored and their links to vulnerable groups such as
refugees, asylum
seekers and children with Special Educational Needs.
You are expected to critically examine the concept of
professionalism
and how this is
perceived from a range of perspectives and identify the
implications for each. You
will consider their own professional identities and their
approaches to practice.
You will look at a range of methods and strategies to evaluate
the quality
of current
provision and explore managing change theory to develop and
improve practice,
including addressing issues of class, race, gender, culture,
language, sexual
orientation, age and special needs. The management of
curriculum planning, the
function
and development of policies will be discussed. Relationships
with the local
Week 1:An Introduction to the Module and to Journaling
Introduction to Module and Journaling .
1.1 Aims this week
The focus this week is: ‘Introduction to the Module and

318. Journaling’. This is outlined
below:
•The structure of the module and its content
•Reading materials
•The module assessment and learning outcomes
•Using journaling as a way to self-evaluate and support the
development of a
reflective leader/manager/practitioner
•Begin to consider the role of leaders and managers
We begin the week by looking at the structure of the module
and its content. Make a
note of anything you do not understanding as you will have an
opportunity to discuss
them with your personal tutor.
1.2 Module Syllabus
This module will critically evaluate a range of theories and
current perspectives on
the distinctive features of leadership within the early years.
This will include staff
supervision, support and development alongside the
development of teamwork. You
will examine the role of the early childhood practitioner in
relation to other
professional roles and parents’ responsibilities and evaluate
models of working in
partnership with parents and carers.
You will consider the range of professions and occupations
involved in the provision
of early years services. The benefits and challenges of multi-
professional working
will be explored and their links to vulnerable groups such as
refugees, asylum
seekers and children with Special Educational Needs.
You are expected to critically examine the concept of
professionalism and how this is

319. perceived from a range of perspectives and identify the
implications for each. You
will consider their own professional identities and their
approaches to practice.
You will look at a range of methods and strategies to evaluate
the quality of current
provision and explore managing change theory to develop and
improve practice,
including addressing issues of class, race, gender, culture,
language, sexual
orientation, age and special needs. The management of
curriculum planning, the
function and development of policies will be discussed.
Relationships with the local