Specialized Mentoring Program Creates a
Continuous Learning Culture
In 2003, when Sandy Schaefer was director of child care programs at Erie
Neighborhood House in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago, she introduced a
mentoring initiative that helped to create a continuous learning culture among
the staff. Erie Neighborhood House serves 500 children, 2-12 years of age, from
low-income, working families.
The mentor program was modeled after the system of Professional Development
Advisors (PDAs) offered through Gateways to Opportunity. Sandy was in the first
PDA class at Gateways and witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of a mentor
program that helped others navigate the professional development system.
The Erie program trained nine mentors among its staff in the skills necessary to
help others create a professional development plan, including using online
resources like Gateways to Opportunity. Part of the mentors’ task was to help
Erie staff think about their short- and long-range goals, based on where they
see themselves in the field in one, five, or ten years. Each Erie staff person
is assigned to a mentor and is awarded a $1,000 education grant each calendar
year to be used for items necessary to implement his or her professional
development plan (e.g., college tuition, books, child care expenses).
Once assigned to a mentor, a majority of Erie staff members elect to pursue
additional formal education as part of their professional development plan.
Mentors help staff research education scholarships and grants and explore
programs at nearby colleges and universities. Not all Erie staff members choose
to pursue additional higher education. For example, some elect to attend
specialized training to improve their classroom skills, work with children with
special needs, or implement specialized assessment tools. As a result of the
individualized mentor support, Erie staff members began to take more college
classes and to explore education opportunities they had not previously used,
such as type 04 certification and professional development funds from the
community CCR&R.
There is additional evidence that Erie’s mentor program helped to create a
culture that values education and training. Each year, Erie has a celebration
to recognize the professional development achievements of its staff. In the
years before introducing the mentor program, 3-5 staff members typically were
recognized for completing an AA, BA, or MA degree program. In July of 2006,
three years after the mentor program began, 12 of approximately 45 staff
members at Erie were recognized for completing a degree program.
Because all levels of Erie staff participate in the mentor program, the shared
experience helps perpetuate interest in the program. The more staff members
talk about implementing their professional development plans, the more
excitement is generated, and the more staff members want to be part of the
experience.
An additional contributor to the success of the mentor program is workplace
flexibility. Because of the value placed on professional development at Erie,
staff members are more willing to rearrange work schedules to accommodate their
colleagues who need to attend a college class or training event during work
hours.
Some cautioned Sandy that she might lose her child care staff to other programs
as their formal education increased, but in fact, Sandy found the reverse to be
true. Retention among staff improved at Erie. The continuous learning
environment culture at Erie made staff members feel valued and provided the
encouragement they needed to pursue additional education. Another important
result was that formal program assessment showed an increase in the quality of
care provided by the Erie staff.
Erie Neighborhood House received a four-year grant from the Center for Urban
Learning at Loyola University and the McCormick Tribune Foundation for
Professional Development to implement the mentor program that paid for staff
educational grants and the mentor stipends. Mentors were given a financial
stipend for each professional development plan completed.
With widespread recognition of the connection between staff education and
high-quality child care, local business groups, service organizations, or
United Way agencies may be interested in funding initiatives similar to Erie’s
mentor programs in other early childhood settings. In addition to local funding
agencies, Illinois has state resources to help early care and education
practitioners pay for continuing education (e.g., T.E.A.C.H. and Great START).
Free mentoring assistance is also available through the Gateways system of
Professional Development Advisors.
For more information:
Sandy Schaefer
Early Childhood Consultant
Erie Neighborhood House
1701 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60622
Email: sschaefer@eriehouse.org
Professional Learning Communities Help Teachers Reflect on Learning
The Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children
(CMAEYC), with funding from the McCormick Tribune Foundation, created
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in September 2003 to help teachers
reflect on and improve their techniques with children. PLCs are groups of
teachers who regularly meet to discuss children's interests, needs, and talents
and how to extend children's learning in the classroom. PLCs are
intentional about their purpose. The meetings are a time to discuss children’s
work and teachers’ strategies—not a time to discuss administrative issues such
as bus schedules, lunch menus, completing financial reports, or district
assessments. PLCs can be formed in one center or school, or within a group of
centers or schools, as is common in some regions of the state.
PLCs were adapted from site-based school improvement frameworks for use in
early childhood programs. PLCs focus on the following three areas of
professional practice: (1) implementing emergent curriculum, which builds on
children’s interests and involves documentation of children’s work as a method
of recording what children are learning; (2) identifying child outcomes and
developing teaching strategies that promote their achievement; and (3) sharing
documentation of individual children’s work in meetings in which teachers
discuss ideas on next steps to take to build the child’s interests and to
pursue a particular learning outcome.
Those who participate in the PLC approach have noticed two significant outcomes
that contrast with more traditional approaches to professional development.
First, the transfer of new ideas occurs more easily with the PLC approach
because teachers focus on specific children in their own classroom settings. In
traditional inservice meetings, teachers often hear from an outside “expert”
who draws on examples from other children in other classrooms unfamiliar to the
teachers.
Second, because the emphasis is on their own classroom children and settings,
teachers involved in PLCs express enthusiasm and energy in their discussions
with other teachers. Conversations at PLC meetings are typically lively and
thought provoking. Teachers involved in PLCs say they value structured time to
reflect with other teachers on teaching and learning—how their classroom
practices affect children’s growth and development.
Those interested in starting PLCs within their program can request a copy of Professional
Learning Communities Handbook for Child Care Centers and Schools Serving
Children from Birth to Eight from CMAEYC. The 14-page booklet
describes the principles and practices that guide the Professional Learning
Communities project at CMAEYC and was made possible by a grant from McCormick
Tribune Foundation. The booklet may be ordered from CMAEYC (see contact
information below). There is a small fee for postage.
CMAEYC has also created an extension of the PLCs called CREATE Results™. CREATE
Results™ brings small groups of teachers together to discuss strategies that
continuously improve programs, demonstrate children’s learning, create a set of
practices specific to the children and community, and integrate the Illinois
Early Learning Standards into day-to-day practice.
For more information:
Gail Conway, Executive Director
Chicago Metropolitan Association for the
Education of Young Children
30 East Adams, Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60603
Email: gconway@chicagometroaeyc.org
Building on Teachers’ Strengths through the Use of Videotape
Christopher House is a seven-site family resource center on the north side of
Chicago offering early childhood development services that stress early
literacy, motor skills, and social and cognitive development for 3- to
5-year-olds. As Education Director for Christopher House, Allen Rosales
provides supervision and training for more than 60 preschool teachers.
Two years ago, to help teachers reflect on their practices and interactions with
children, Allen started videotaping classroom teachers in action. Some teachers
are reluctant initially about being videotaped. Allen reassures teachers that
he is focusing on teachers’ strengths and that he can stop the taping at any
time in order for a teacher to redo a particular activity or interaction, if
desired.
Before the scheduled videotaping, Allen works with teachers to help them prepare
their activities and think through the questions they will ask children during
the lessons. Allen videotapes an hour of classroom time, looking for examples
of how language arts can be integrated into all content areas (literacy, math,
and science), a focus of their program’s professional development.
Using editing software, Allen creates 8-10 minute videotapes that highlight
examples of best classroom practices. Allen includes transcriptions of the
videotapes so teachers can read the conversations occurring between the
teachers and the children that illustrate examples of scaffolding—through which
teachers encourage children to extend their explorations and representations of
what they are learning. Allen also adds titles and labels throughout the
videotapes to focus the viewers’ attention on the children’s learning
processes.
Allen watches the edited videos with the teachers. Together they reflect on what
is occurring. They note best practices in the videotapes and share ideas of
ways the activities and interactions could be extended and enhanced.
Allen then uses the edited videos in agency-wide training so teachers can
observe their peers in other Christopher House classrooms. This process is very
affirming, as teachers applaud and compliment one another after viewing a
classroom videotape.
As a result of using the videotapes for professional development, Allen believes
more meaningful interactions are occurring in classrooms, as well as more
integration of language arts in other content areas. The videotapes provide a
tool that helps teachers incorporate new classroom strategies effectively
because they build on teachers’ strengths—what teachers are already doing
well—and because teachers are guided in reflecting on their own behavior in a
familiar setting.
For more information:
Allen Rosales, Education Director
Christopher House
4701 N. Winthrop Chicago, IL 60640
arosales@christopherhouse.org
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