Chapter 9 Leaders in Practice Profiles

Meagan Lake

Curriculum Officer Early Years, Palmerston & Rural Region, Northern Territory Department of Education (NT)

Meagan is also the President of the Preschool Teachers Association of the Northern Territory Inc. and is the Former Teacher in Charge of Driver Preschool, Palmerston (NT).

I have been an early years teacher for 12 years and have worked in a range of early childhood settings across the Northern Territory. Although I already held a Bachelor of Education (Primary), to meet the new national requirements for early years educators I recently completed post-graduate studies specialising in early childhood.

The introduction of the EYLF and the NQS has really forced myself and other preschool teachers to take a leadership role in shaping what the early childhood reform agenda will mean for preschools in the Northern Territory. Our preschools in the Northern Territory are part of our school system and so we have for many years worked within the hierarchy and expectations of the Northern Territory education system and its requirements, curriculum and otherwise. The introduction of the NQS meant that we needed to make changes and, as it happens, preschool teachers needed to be proactive in ensuring that the intent of the NQS was well understood within the school system. While many preschool teachers have great working relationships with their school executive and principals, the changes affecting the early childhood classes of preschool and transition had the potential to divide. The teachers wanted and needed clarification of the changes and how the NQS would work in a school setting. Principals and executive were busy with a multitude of other imperatives including the introduction of the National School Curriculum. It became clear very quickly that preschool teachers had expertise in early childhood and an understanding of the NQS that could assist school executives to implement the changes that were needed. The most significant factor for me in this change was rethinking the way that we programmed and planned for children. The EYLF required us to plan according to children’s interests and use intentional teaching strategies to develop curriculum to contribute to children’s learning journeys. In the past we had been required by the school to submit our programs in advance each semester and identify specific learning outcomes for children in the terms ahead. We were unsure how we could meld these two seemingly opposing approaches.

I was fortunate enough to be working in a two teacher preschool. This meant I was able to discuss and bounce ideas off my teaching partner (Kate). After talking it through with each other, we felt we needed to make some changes and required some clarification, so we alerted our assistant principal to our initial concerns. Following discussion with her she suggested that we explore some ideas and possible solutions and come back to talk with her about how a new approach could meet both expectations. From this initial discussion we had a better understanding of the school-based requirements that needed to be met and we went away to work on our ideas. We were fortunate that over the years we had built a good working relationship with the assistant principal based on trust and clear communication.

Initially, we just had informal chats when issues or questions came up for us. We soon realised that we needed a more formal structure of meetings and keeping notes, so we were not wasting time and going back over old conversations, and had documented our agreements. We agreed to meet formally, including all preschool staff, the assistant principal and the principal, at least once each term throughout last year. There were many robust discussions and it was important that we were well prepared for our meetings and clear in expressing our ideas. I realised through this process that if you want to be taken seriously you have to be convincing but also understand the perspective of the other. While the NQS was dominating our thoughts, we needed to recognise that the school executive staff had many competing agendas. We needed to force the issue to make sure it got the attention it needed, but also had to be mindful of making this as easy as possible for the executive to digest and understand where we were coming from. What resulted was an agreement about a new approach to planning that took account of the school’s requirements for forward planning for children’s learning and our desire to follow children’s interests according the EYLF. We have begun to work with this new system and it seems at this early stage to be effective in meeting both sets of expectations.

It was good to be working with Kate, who was as enthusiastic as I was to work this out. I believe having her as a professional partner through everything was one of the major reasons we got by; having someone to bounce your ideas and thoughts off was imperative. We tried many different approaches, attended professional learning sessions and used our professional association, the Preschool Teachers’ Association of the Northern Territory (PSTANT), to network with others about how they were approaching the changes. Being often the only preschool teacher in a school can be very isolating and makes it difficult to be heard on matters that are important in preschool and transition classes. PSTANT has been able to put teachers in touch with resources that are available through national networks, hold meetings and create working groups to develop ideas and share expertise. Importantly, the association has been able to talk with government officials to clarify concerns or make suggestions where we have identified a potential problem.

I had been involved in PSTANT for two years when the outgoing president approached me last year to take on the role of president. As is my way, I was nervous and a little shocked because I didn’t really think of myself as a leader and didn’t think that others saw me as an authority figure. I was pleased to be asked and so decided to accept the nomination. Her reasoning was it was time for youth and enthusiasm to reinvigorate PSTANT at this important time for early childhood. I have been lucky that she agreed to stay on as vice president and so has been an important mentor as I get to know what being president really involves. At first I was looking to her for advice on what to do, but now I find myself finding my feet and taking more initiative. As I take on new challenges I gain more confidence. Now I am really enjoying the role and think that I am doing a pretty good job.

I think my experiences over the past few years have made me realise that I do know what I am doing and I do have something to offer. I find myself in a meeting or talking with someone and am often surprised that I know what I know and that they are listening to me. I can use my knowledge wisely to make a positive contribution and know that I do not need to feel powerless with those in higher authority.

Jennifer Ribarovski

Early Childhood Consultant (NSW)

Can you share a little about your qualifications, experience and current work in the EC sector?

I am an EC teacher with over 35 years of experience in the sector. I completed a childcare certificate straight out of high school, and in subsequent years completed my Bachelor of Teaching (EC) and a Masters of Educational Leadership and Management. I’ve worked in preschools, long day care centres, health, disability and support services, public schools, universities, regulatory authorities and with the national authority. Throughout my early career, I had three sons, and am very recently a proud grandmother. Currently I teach at Sydney University and I have my own EC consulting business. My career has been diverse and has stretched me professionally and personally at every turn, but there are some fundamental principles that underpin my work and the professional decisions that I make every day. They are that children must be at the forefront of both operational and pedagogical decisions, and that children are innately skilled learners with rights as active social citizens. I believe that EC education is the perfect platform to create a just and fair society, and that children have the capacity to enact the change that is so necessary in today’s complex world.

How do you use social media in your work to inspire and empower educators to reflect on and work towards quality EC education for young children?

Over the years, and particularly in more recent times, social media has become a powerful communication tool that has brought with it many advantages. The moment my granddaughter was born in Paris, I could see her on FaceTime and congratulate her parents! Social media has the power to strengthen relationships, to shrink vast geographical distances and to advocate for fairness and justice. But conversely, it is equally capable of doing exactly the opposite. Facebook forums, for instance, can be a source of support for EC educators as they share practice and reflect on their work. Mentoring relationships can be established online that can build the confidence of educators and hone their expertise, and contribute to longstanding relationships being formed. But equally, differences in philosophical perspectives can lead to division, questioning educators’ practices and undermining their confidence, contributing to a sense of professional isolation and uncertainty.

In my current consulting work, I use a range of social media tools to both advocate for the rights of children and families, and to support educators to grow and develop as confident and capable practitioners. This hasn’t come easily to me though. I’m not from a generation that is technologically literate, and so using social media tools is a skill that I’ve had to work hard to develop. Initially, I saw this as necessary to be current in the market, and something that I had to do, but certainly didn’t want to! But in a relatively short space of time, I’ve come to see social media as a powerful and valuable communication tool that can bring about effective and positive change. An example of this is a project that I recently led with three remote services in Western Australia. Because I couldn’t physically be at their centres on a regular basis, and they were located around 600 kilometres apart, social media proved to be an effective way to overcome their geographic isolation, and their lack of face-to-face networking opportunities. This project centred around educators and teachers reflecting on their routines and practices to think about opportunities for children’s agency. As they modified their practices, they reflected both in images and writing, and then uploaded their reflections to a closed Facebook group established for this purpose. I then provided feedback and further ideas for them to think about and implement as they went about the process of change. Once a week, we met by Skype and educators shared their practice, reflections and further ideas for improvement. This built their ability to reflect on practice, their collaboration skills as they worked together, and the development of a positive and supportive culture leading to a professional learning community. As their skills developed throughout the project, I was able to withdraw my support, knowing that the group would continue and that the learning and development would be sustained.

Can you share some insights about how an awareness of power and ethical considerations can assist an intentional leader’s effective use of social media in their everyday practice?

While this proved to be a successful project, there were some important ethical considerations and agreements that needed to be established prior to its implementation, such as ensuring that:

• the approved provider understood the project and endorsed it in writing, including the use of Facebook as a learning and development tool
• ground rules about acceptable communication are established; for example, always using respectful and professional language
• permission from children and families was given to share images and reflections with the group
• images would not be shared beyond the closed Facebook group by using appropriate privacy settings
• a single moderator would be responsible for approving posts, providing a source of accountability
• personal Facebook accounts, required to join the group, were adjusted to protect the personal information and privacy of participants
• no additional participants would be added to the group without the permission of existing members, and that information would not be shared beyond the membership of the group.

With these agreements in place, the group was confident to fully participate, adding to the project’s ongoing success.

June Wangmann

Early Childhood Consultant, Sydney (NSW)

In the period 1993 to 2005 I held three newly created and rather challenging leadership positions. The first of these was the position as Head of School for the Institute of Early Childhood (IEC), Macquarie University. The IEC had just moved from a College of Advanced Education into a university environment. From this position I later moved on to set up two offices for the New South Wales government: the NSW Office of Child Care and then the NSW Parenting and Research Centre.

Each leadership position takes place within a unique context and while an understanding of this context provides an essential framework for one’s work, I have found there have been certain similar elements that have underpinned my general approach to leadership. In each of these positions I first needed to understand the use of power within each organisation and use that understanding to inform and strengthen my own leadership strategies. All leadership positions involved elements of power at various levels within the organisational structures.

Within this context I have always seen power existing as a reciprocal relationship between myself and the people and organisations I worked with. I have always tried to share power through being consultative, listening, communicating and creating opportunities for individuals to build on their own strengths. The core element that has formed the framework for all my work has been an understanding of the political context. In Australia, EC services have been and continue to be developed within an intensely political environment. This has meant my focus has been on the ‘big picture’ of EC provision rather than single issues. Taking account of where things will probably move in the future means that people can create change and shape the future, rather than have the future created for them and policies thrust upon them.

From the big picture I have had a vision of what I wanted to achieve and put in place processes whereby others get to share and have input into this vision. All strategies/initiatives, to be successful, need to involve the team in all aspects of the process. The relationships that then develop are the glue that holds an organisation together and provide the platform for the distribution of power.

It is important to emphasise that with initiatives that create change, the process is not always easy. I learnt very early on in my work that there are times when things did not happen as I had planned or expected—some things just don’t work. It has always been important to be able to reflect/analyse on what went wrong, get feedback from staff/colleagues on what could be done differently, then pick myself up and go on to put in place some new strategies.