Final Project

· Week 1 Six ISLLC

· Standard 6: An education leader promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.

List one or two overarching themes embedded in the standard you are assigned.

· Rules and responsibilities of educational leaders

· Cultural diversity in learning.

Suggest one professional resource. The resource should be relevant to the early childhood field as well as “provide guidance and insight about the traits, functions of work, and responsibilities expected of school and district leaders” (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2008, p. 5). 

Shore, R. A., Lambert, R. G., & Shue, P. L. (2020). An Evaluation of Leadership Professional Development for Early Childhood Directors. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 1-14.

Assess and describe your knowledge of the ISLLC conceptual framework and standards according to your personal leadership experience and goals. What areas are your strengths? Do you have any concerns about the standards or the framework or goals for further development in this area?

I understand that the conceptual framework is designed to provide high-level guidance and insight about the traits, functions of work, and responsibilities expected of school and district leaders.  My areas of strength are the creation of a conducive and motivating learning environment, promoting the safety of students, acting ethically, building and sustaining positive relationships with families and caregivers, and advocating for children. I understand the rules and responsibilities of educational leaders. I also understand various ways of enhancing inclusivity in learning. I can make every student feel confident in his/her cultural background by encouraging them to speak about it. My concern would be to make sure that I respond to the cultural and economic context and the diversity of students.

RESPOND FROM Elizabeth Booth

Annette, 

I really enjoyed your post! I to have concerns about the cultural context of diverse students. I have very little personal experience with various cultures and ethnicities.  Just recently I had a child in my class whose family only spoke Spanish. I found it really difficult and kind of awkward to communicate and establish a strong relationship with them. On the one hand my center was not prepared or had the tools to communicate effectively with the family which is something that our center need to improve, and quickly! On the other hand I have not had a lot of professional development in diversity either. This is where I would like to gain more training and become more comfortable with. The NAEYC Professional Preparedness Standards (2010), Standard 4 Connecting with Children and their Families, states that educators should have various strategies and resources. This is an area that I need to grow in.  I also need to grow in the area of legality as I have not had much experience in this aspect of the field either. Since school leaders are required to "solve, address, and understand problems (Stader, 2013)," I know that this is something I need more professional development in.

References 

National Association of the Education of Young Children (2010). Summary of the NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/higher-ed/standards/summary (Links to an external site.)

Stader, D. L. (2013).  Law and ethics in educational leadership  (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com

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RESPONSE FROM Christina Elderbrook

Elizabeth,

I 100% understand.  I live and work in a very small town with no real diversity of people.  I have had many classes and training seminars on cultural diversity but I think until I have a child who speaks another language or from another country it is hard to hands on understand.  I have many cultures in my classroom (single parents, foster kiddos, low income, high income, etc) but I do not have many children from different ethnicity.  

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