Beyond The Pages ECE Book Study: Chapter 4 (Week 7)

by Betsy Carlin

Over the course of the last month and a half, while discussing the book Professionalizing Early Childhood as a Field of Practice: A Guide to the Next Era, we as a diverse group of people who are committed to the field of early childhood, have considered…

• What brings us as individuals to the conversation about organizing ECE into a professional field of practice?

• What are our individual beliefs and assumptions about ECE currently?

And we have…

• Entered into a process of collective inquiry, expanding what we each thought to be true, so together we can begin to imagine the next era of ECE.

Now the time has come to put all this deep thinking and discovery to good use, to step up as leaders and advocates, and realize our role in the work of launching conversations with intent where we work and live.

In chapter 4 of the book, Stacie Goffin identifies roles that need to be filled in order to have a successful conversation with intent: the convener, the facilitator, and the designer of the conversation environment. The roles can be filled by an individual or a group of people who have read the book (like us). Each role has great value. For this week’s conversation, I would like us to focus on the role of facilitator.

Let’s start with a common understanding of the term. To facilitate means A) to make easy or less difficult and B) to help forward a process or action. Based on this definition and through experience, I have come to believe a facilitator’s role is to break down barriers and be a catalyst for deep thinking so collectively a group can make forward progress. Facilitators provide clear focus on the purpose of a process while being flexible in the route taken. Facilitators create a space where individuals feel trusted, respected and safe to share their perspective. Facilitators need to listen, question for understanding and weave together varying, even opposing ideas, to create shared understanding, all while ensuring the strongest possible outcome.

For each of us, our ability to take the role of facilitator began when we entered this book study and committed to participating in a conversation with intent. It continued as we committed to self-reflection and shared in conversations to gain new insight on the current challenges that face the field of ECE and to imagine the possibilities for co-creating something better. This book study has not only provided each of us with the background necessary to facilitate a conversation (or two) with intent; it has challenged us to do so.

For some of us, taking the challenge may be exciting or simply an extension of what we already do, for others it may be daunting and taking us out of our comfort zone. This week, for our discussion, I would like each of us to set and share goals for facilitating a conversation with intent within the next 6 months.  Along with the goals, I would like to invite you to share at least one insight, challenge, or question you have about the role of facilitator. Through the week we can collectively respond with our experience, wisdom, and expertise to prepare ourselves to be the facilitators of the next wave of conversations with intent.

–Betsy Carlin

*New here? You can find all the book study details HERE. Happy reading!

Book Study Timeline!
(click on chapter or name below to access that content)

• 2/1/16 – Book study begins!
• 2/2/16 – Chapter 1 (Kyra Ostendorf)
• 2/9/16 – Chapter 1 (Roseann Murphy & Magdalena Palencia)
• 2/16/16 – Chapter 2 & Chapter 2 Cont. (Jill Bella)
• 2/23/16 – Chapter 2 (Gayle Stuber)
• 3/1/16 – Chapter 3 (Robert Gundling)
• 3/8/16 – Chapter 3 (Tracy McElhattan)
• 3/15/16 – Chapter 4 (Betsy Carlin)
• 3/22/16 – Chapter 4 (Susan Zoll)

This book study is sponsored by Redleaf Press

Beyond The Pages ECE Book Study: Chapter 3 (Week 6)

THINKING TOGETHER

By Tracy McElhattan 

The room is tense. You can feel the air being sucked out of the room. No one is listening, the conversation is going nowhere and everyone is staring at a phone or watch, wishing that time would stop standing still. We’ve all been in a situation like that and it doesn’t feel good, nor is it usually very productive. In order to create something new in ECE, we don’t have time to have unproductive conversations. Time is of the essence.  Think we have plenty of time? I believe the time is now because while I’m energized that ECE is in the news frequently (just in the past week, I’ve read this, this, this, and this, plus others), I’m disheartened because commentary and loud opinions often come from sources outside our field- instead of within. It’s time for us to initiate our own conversations, to “foster conceptualization of ECE as a whole, and prompt collective inquiry and creativity” (p. 33). Effective conversations will take place when we implement the foundational practices described in this chapter:

1. Listening
2. Respecting
3. Suspending

Admittedly, these are tough things to do when we’re talking about our passion and life’s work. In Jill’s blog post, she told us of negative reactions to tough questions about professionalizing ECE from a conference session she attended just recently. We will do well to remember, as Stacie said, to separate our role from who we are as persons (pg. 37). Using the principles and “keep in minds” Stacie shared with us in Chapter 3, we won’t walk away from difficult conversations and we will learn to facilitate conversations together.

Why Do We Need to Think Together?

The past several weeks we’ve been able to think deeper on an individual level, and a bit on a collective level, given the nature of doing a book study. Hopefully you’ve thought through your own presumptions, and you’ve seen what your online colleagues are thinking about on an individual level. Now we’re ready to apply our knowledge and skills to answering questions that directly address structuring ECE as a profession. Let’s remember to “keep the main thing the main thing”:

Our purpose is to deepen understanding of ECE as a field of practice and explore options for its evolution to a professional field of practice; professionalizing ECE so that systemic capacity exists to consistently promote children’s optimum learning and development (p. 40).

This is the purpose of having “conversations with intent.” These conversations will push us to move beyond the ECE silos, which impede the flow of collaboration and innovation. We need to focus on “creating a compelling future for ECE as a field of practice and designing a system that brings the field’s desired behaviors to fruition” (p. 32).

What Do We Need to Think About?

A few years ago, I worked closely with Stacie as she facilitated conversations with intent with a specific group whose goal was a greater unification of their state’s early childhood programs. I learned a lot from helping her prepare for meetings, watching her work, and debriefing afterwards. Stacie has created this book to help ECE practitioners and constituents like us function in a similar way as if we were sitting in a room together. Following are two questions that I think we can explore online together this week that will steer our inquiry and creativity toward professionalizing ECE. Leave your comments and I will check in throughout the week. Remember that this is the beginning and we cannot know all the answers at the beginning. This is a journey we’ve chosen together.

1. What should be ECE’s primary purpose as a professional field of practice?
2. What do we think is the best starting point for structuring ECE as a professional field of practice?

Tracy E. McElhattan, Ph.D.

*New here? You can find all the book study details HERE. Happy reading!

Book Study Timeline!
(click on chapter or name below to access that content)

• 2/1/16 – Book study begins!
• 2/2/16 – Chapter 1 (Kyra Ostendorf)
• 2/9/16 – Chapter 1 (Roseann Murphy & Magdalena Palencia)
• 2/16/16 – Chapter 2 & Chapter 2 Cont. (Jill Bella)
• 2/23/16 – Chapter 2 (Gayle Stuber)
• 3/1/16 – Chapter 3 (Robert Gundling)
• 3/8/16 – Chapter 3 (Tracy McElhattan)
• 3/15/16 – Chapter 4 (Betsy Carlin)
• 3/22/16 – Chapter 4 (Susan Zoll)

This book study is sponsored by Redleaf Press