Program Design

Group 1 Program Design

Edac 634 – Spring 2018

Vicki Lehman and Tashika Carlton

Group Member Name	Role	Commented On
Vicki Lehman – GROUP LEADER	Program Design, ½ of Rationale, Tables, Formatting and posting on blog	Group 2 Group 3
Tashika Carlton	Introduction, ½ of Rationale, Reflection	Group 2 Group 3

Introduction

            This program was designed specifically for Directors and Administrators that work in the Early Childhood field. The job of an administrator in an early childhood program comes with a lot of responsibilities. They are responsible for running the business, keeping the children safe, ensuring the curriculum is developmentally appropriate, and managing staff (just to name a few). This program is designed with all of that in mind.

There will be three sessions during this workshop series. Each session will come with its own learning objectives (you can see these referenced in the paragraph before each sessions schedule below as well as throughout the activities). The end goal is to create a cohesive environment and that starts with the administration. The goal here is to encourage administrators to continue to grow and develop their management skills.

Rationale

Ideas from Literature

Our group is focusing on experiential learning. This program has been designed with experiential learning in mind while also considering other knowledge that has been gained regarding the adult as a learner. In this program design we have used the following ideas from experiential learning:

·         Idea 1: Participants need to have some type of experience in order to further encourage their learning

·         Idea 2: Participants need time to reflect on the experience as well as make new conclusions based on what has occurred.

·         Idea 3: Participants need time to take their thoughts from their reflection and make a plan of action going forward.

All three of these ideas will be put into place during each individual session. You can see below when you review the program that it has been designed intentionally. Participants will:

1.      Engage in an activity – self assessment, personality quiz, evaluation, etc.

2.      Gain new knowledge based on the topic of that particular session

3.      Take time to reflect on the experience as well as new information gained in order to effectively plan going forward.

This program presents a workshop style instruction followed by activities which allow new experience gained by application from each session. The learner is able to establish a better comprehension along with classroom instruction. David Kolb (1984) states “Learning is a continuous process grounded in experience. Knowledge is continuously derived and tested in the experience of the learner (Merriam, Caffarella & Baumgartner 2007). Experiential learning can be most effective when active experimentation is applied.  Learners will test out their new information through dialogue and reflection. Practitioners should allow groups for students to collaborate. One of most effective feature to incorporate is feedback to include reaction from peers, self-evaluation and professor/instructor assessment. This can be in the form of questions, evaluations and solutions to improve critical thinking for a new learning experience. The feature of this program is designed for the Early Childhood Development field administration employees.

Ideas from Practical Programs

            In order to complete this program design we were able to reference many programs we have seen. Experiential learning is something that you see from preschool all the way up to higher education. This is something that one of our group members is familiar with because her current position is in the adult education world. Because of this we were in a bit of a unique situation where in we had multiple program designs to reference while creating our own. We were able to reference multiple workshops and programs that are offered by Child Care Answers. These include workshops about lesson planning, intentional classroom observations, and professionalism. All three of these workshops are built around a lot of the same ideas and similar activities which include:

·         Viewing videos in order to practice classroom observations as well as classroom management.

·         Using classroom observations to plan lessons.

·         Reviewing professionalism as a whole group and reviewing responsibilities as a professional in the early childhood field.

You will notice that we have used many of the same concepts in our own program design. Although the topic area of our program is very different than the ones above the structure is similar. The cycle begins when the learner is engaged in a specific experience (Mackeracher, 2004). This is something that was very important when designing our program. Within our program design you will find activities that will lead to discussion which will ultimately lead to reflection and change going forward.

Program

Title of Program: Director Survival Series

Duration: 3 sessions (Once a month for 3 months)

                 Two Sessions – 2.25 Hrs

                 One Session – 4.5 Hrs

Location: Indianapolis

This program has been specifically designed to help encourage and develop administrators in the Early Childhood Field. These workshops will be led by two professionals within the early childhood world, both with experience in an administrative role. The ultimate goal here is to empower and encourage early childhood administrators and help support them when they are building their team. Facilitators will meet their goals by encouraging discussion and reflection among the participants. 

Learning objectives for this program:
- Reflect on the meaning of leadership within a child care program and set goals in order to                    be a more effective leader.
- Gain new knowledge regarding staff evaluations as well as how to use evaluations to help                    you build and stronger team and empower staff.
- Understand different personalities you may encounter on a daily basis. Gain tools you can                    use with these different "difficult personalities" in order to set everyone up for success.

Workshop 1: Director Survival Series – Leadership 101 (2.25 Hrs)

            This workshop is the first in the series and will be used to set the tone for the other two sessions. Participants will come together with two facilitators in order to reflect on the meaning of leadership in the early childhood world.

Content Schedule:

1.      Facilitators will introduce the series and the importance of the information the participants will receive.

2.      Facilitators will lead an ice breaker activity in order to encourage a community feel within the group.

3.      Facilitators will gather information about participant prior knowledge – we will have a conversation within the group regarding what they each feel about leadership in general.

4.      ACTIVITY (experience): Participants will complete a performance evaluation: This evaluation is going to be specifically designed to help participants analyze their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to leading their team of professionals. **It is important to reflect on our own strengths and weaknesses in order to identify areas of growth.

a.      ACTIVITY INFORMATION:

                                                              i.      Questions that will assist participants with identifying both strengths and weaknesses in regards to their own leadership and management practices.

5.      Facilitators will lead a discussion utilizing a Power Point to identify to four elements of transformational leadership

a.      Participants will be able to discuss the different elements with facilitators as well as each other.

b.      This is a SAFE space so participants can bounce ideas off of one another based on their own strengths and weaknesses.

6.      ACTIVITY: Participants will take time at the end of the workshop to identify where their strengths lie as well as identify any weaknesses. They will be provided with a planning tool they can use to set goals for themselves based on the content of the workshop.

a.      Participants reflect on their performance evaluation they completed at the beginning of the session in order to identify strengths and areas of improvement.

b.      Participants use the Four Elements of Transformational Leadership and their performance evaluation to set 1 goal for themselves going forward.

c.       Participants use their planning tool to write out their goal as well as HOW they are going to reach that goal.

Workshop 2: Director Survival Series – Getting the Team You Want (4.5 Hrs)

            This workshop will be the second and longest in the series. Participants will have the background knowledge that they gained regarding their leadership style and goals in general from workshop 1. During workshop 2 participants will have the time to reflect on the team they truly want to build in their program.

Content Schedule:

1.      Facilitators will begin by leading a discussion about the importance of having a solid and productive team in early childhood programs.

a.      Qualities to look for in an employee

b.      HOW to build the best team for the program

2.      As a group there will be discussion in regards to defining quality teaching as well as professional behavior

a.      Focus will be on the many different qualities we need to define a quality employee both inside the classroom and out

b.      Define quality teaching

c.       Define professional behavior to look for in a potential employee

d.      Review education requirements

3.      ACTIVITY (Experience): Participants will complete a self-assessment to determine how well they are supporting the development of their team. 

a.      Self-assessment will cover evaluation of staff, opportunities for staff to continue their education, and other things to consider when building their team.

4.      Participants will take time to reflect on the self-assessment that they completed in order to set goals for themselves AND their program.

a.      Participants will be provided with a handout for them to record their thoughts during their self-reflection.

b.      Handout will have space for writing areas of strength and well as areas that need improvement.

5.      Facilitators will lead conversation using a power point once the self-assessment is complete. Information that will be covered:

a.      Proper ways to evaluate staff

b.      Ways to empower and encourage staff

c.       Ways to encourage growth

d.      Qualities to look for in a perspective employee

e.      Ways to build a positive community among staff

6.      ACTIVITY: Participants will use their handout they filled out after the self-assessment and the new knowledge they have gained to set one goal for themselves going forward. They choose the goal based on the content if the workshop and then also write out a plan of action. **This is important because participants have had an opportunity to self-assess, gain new information, and they now need to complete the cycle of experiential learning by self-reflecting and setting goals. This allows them the opportunity to digest the new information and make a plan to use it going forward to better themselves and their administrative practices.

Workshop 3: Director Survival Series – Dealing With Difficult Personalities

            At this point, participants have now reflected on their own leadership qualities as well as building the team they want. This final workshop will deal with the different difficult personalities an administrator may come into contact with on a daily basis. This is important because we all have different personalities and work with many different people on a day to day basis. Understanding the different personality types you may encounter ahead of time can set you up to be prepared when the time comes.

Content Schedule:

1.      Facilitators will lead discussion with participants in regards to the different personality types they come into contact with on a daily basis.

a.      Personalities they find easy to work with

b.      Personalities they find more challenging to work with

2.      ACTIVITY: Participants will take a personality quiz. **This is important because it will help them know where they are starting in relation to other peoples personalities as well. It is important to remember that one person may think someone has a difficult personality and another person may not agree with that. When we understand ourselves first we are better able to understand our interactions with others.

3.      Facilitator will lead discussion about the different “difficult” personalities someone may encounter on a daily basis utilizing a power point.

a.      Define each personality type

b.      Discuss behaviors you may see from someone with the personality type

c.       Review ways you can communicate effectively with an individual with that personality type.

4.      ACTIVITY: Scenario response activity

a.      Participants will be placed into small groups

b.      Facilitators will hand out a scenario to each group (scenarios will all be different)

c.       Participants will talk amongst their group and use the knowledge they have just gained to plan a response or action to their scenario.

d.      After 5 minutes, groups will take turns sharing their scenarios

e.      Facilitators will lead discussion and question participants about their specific scenario:

                                                              i.      Have they ever had an interaction similar

                                                             ii.      If so, how did they hand it?

                                                           iii.      Do they think it was a big deal or not?

5.      ACTIVITY: Self-Reflection

a.      Participants will have time to review their personality test as well as the different “difficult” personalities that were discussed.

b.      Participants will use a hand out given to them by the facilitator to write 3 ways they will change their responses to different individuals within their program.

c.       Participants will also have the opportunity to reflect on the importance of encouraging a positive community among workers and how they can do that going forward.

You will notice that every session involves self-reflection time. During each session participants are provided the opportunity to gain new knowledge while also reflecting on their current practices. Each session also includes at least one activity that will help provide them with the thought provoking experiences they need. This all follows the trajectory of experiential learning. The participants engage in an activity that will encourage some sort of thought process, take time to reflect on the activity as well as new information, and make a plan going forward. At the end of the 3^rd session the hope is that the administrators/directors leave with a lot more self confidence in not only their ability to lead but their team as well. This program was designed based around class readings, our literature review papers, and our knowledge of other practical programs.

Reflection

The highlights of this assignment is workshops are facilitated by those working in the field and bring their real life experience to make the workshops factual. Completing this assignment was a struggle we lost a group member to our already small group. The advice I can give when this happens is getting assignment in as early as possible to allow for feedback and revision from remaining group members. This happens in everyday life we’re thrown off track the responsibility increases and we make adjustments. Making sure we don’t create hostility and lose focus on our goals.

Table 2 - Summary of the Literature Review

	Main Themes/Ideas from the Text/Literature: Kolb’s Experiential Learning cycle	Application of the main ideas in practice
Concrete Experience	The learner is involved in a specific experience	Set up concrete experiences that will help learners arrived at desired learning outcomes
Reflective Observation	Learners take time to reflect on the experience	Allow learners the time to reflect on the experience and derive meaning so they can go forward and be more affective and intentional
Abstract Conceptualization	Learners have reflected and now take what they have learned and apply it to more abstract knowledge	This also happens during the reflective time – you can provide learners with prompts that will help them arrive at the outcomes you were hoping for
Active Experimentation	Learners will take their new information and test it out. They may want to talk about it with others, make a plan of how they will use it going forward, or try something new	Allow learners the freedom to talk to one another once they have had their reflective time. This is also a great time for them to talk to you and check for understanding.

  Table 3 - Summary of Program Design

Rationales	Purposes/Objectives	Learning Environment	Activities	Methods/Tools/Strategies
Have some type of experience in order to encourage further learning	To allow the learner to experience something that will kick start their want to know more and learn more	Open concept learning space set up with tables that are grouped together in order to encourage conversation.	Performance evaluation Self -assessment of their management Personality quiz	Engaging in real and hands on assessments in order to jump start the topic and the learning
Time to reflect on the experience as well as make new conclusions based on what has occurred.	To allow the learner to take time to decipher the experience and what it means to them. This gives them the opportunity to plan how they will use this new information in future practice.	Open concept learning space set up with tables that are grouped together in order to encourage conversation.	Handouts given to participants that ask them questions that will encourage reflection based on what they learned in the experience.	Handouts that are given to participants with well thought out reflection questions Time for participants to sit quietly and reflect in order to really dive deep into what they experienced
Time to take their thoughts from their reflection and make a plan of action going forward.	This allows learners to set goals for themselves before they even leave the learning environment. This will help ensure participants leave with goals in mind as well as how to achieve those goals.	Open concept learning space set up with tables that are grouped together in order to encourage conversation.	Goal sheet that participants will fill out based on their discoveries during their reflection.	Time for participants to set goals and then have conversation with one another to solidify goals.

References

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Lawson, K. (2016). The trainers handbook. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mackeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S., and Baumgartner, L.M. (2007). Learning in adulthoosd: A comprehensive guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.