McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Linda Butkovich | February 25, 2020

Early childhood programs are active places with teaching, administrative, and support staff working with children and families. Everyone is so busy focusing on day-to-day responsibilities that it is easy to lose sight of the larger organization. Jon Gordon says “You’ll never have a committed team without connection . . . The more connected you become, the more committed you’ll be.” One important way to connect with staff is to schedule centerwide meetings for all employees to come together. Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. Time pressures and conflicting schedules are just some of the barriers that may get in the way of this goal. It can definitely be a challenge to find time for all staff members to come together; however, the effort will pay off in better communication, collegiality, and connection to the organization.


Centerwide staff meetings are addressed in Item 9 of the Program Administration Scale (PAS). This item focuses on Internal Communication. At the minimal level, “there are at least two regularly scheduled, centerwide staff meetings per year” (Talan & Bloom, 2011). It is important that all staff members have the opportunity to discuss and learn about the center together, as a team. Centerwide staff meetings offer staff the opportunity to interact with staff members they may not typically interact with, get to know one another, share ideas, hear the same information, make decisions, problem solve, revisit how the work they do intersects, share leadership tasks, and build relationships.


Once you have decided to commit time, energy, and resources to bringing all of your staff together for a meeting, the next step is to plan the agenda. Staff are the pulse of the center, therefore involving them in planning centerwide meetings makes sense. It is a good idea to send out a draft of the agenda early and ask staff if they have any items to add. You may also consider asking members of the staff to join you in planning the meeting. When staff are involved in planning the content of meetings, they are more likely to be engaged, participate in discussions, and be invested in decisions.


Centerwide staff meetings provide great opportunities for staff to get to know colleagues they do not typically interact with and to get to know staff they do interact with on a daily basis in a different way. Warm-up activities can be a fun way to begin a meeting. Here are some questions that can help team members learn more about each other:

  • What rhyme or poem can you still recite from childhood?
  • What is your favorite children’s book?
  • What was the first music concert you attended?
  • Name something on your bucket list.
  • If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?
  • What do you appreciate most?


Meetings may also be a wonderful way to encourage leadership skills among staff members. One way to do this is to ask for their participation in facilitating agenda items. For example, staff who have attended a conference could share what they learned, teachers could come prepared to share something fun or exciting that has been going on in their classrooms, administrative staff may share a technology tip, or the bus driver may share ideas about how to prepare for winter driving. Another way to encourage leadership is to provide staff with the opportunity to participate in centerwide decision making, such as planning a special event for families, selecting artwork or displays for the center entryway, reviewing public relations materials, or brainstorming field trip options. For some staff facilitating meetings, or a portion of meetings, might be a goal in their individual professional development plan. If you decide to use meetings as a way to build leadership among staff, be prepared to provide feedback. Reflecting on My Facilitation from the Making the Most of Meetings book may be used as a self-assessment for staff who facilitate meetings and a discussion starter when providing reflective supervision.


Finally, be sure to use centerwide staff meetings as a time to recognize important milestones and celebrate accomplishments. Have any staff members recently earned a degree or credential? Any births or marriages to celebrate? Has your center achieved accreditation or received an award? Any special work anniversaries to celebrate?


I hope the next time you are faced with whether or not to hold a centerwide staff meeting you will look forward with excitement to this opportunity to connect with your staff and build leadership among them!


Are you interested in learning more about meetings? Attend the 28th Taking Charge of Change Leadership Academy at the McCormick Center or inquire about having the McCormick Center come to you for training on the PAS or the Making the Most of Meetings books by emailing McCormickCenter@nl.edu.


References

Bloom, P.J. (2011). Making the Most of Meetings: A Practical Guide (2nd ed.). Lake Forest, IL: New Horizons.

Talan, T.T. & Bloom, P.J. (2011). Program Administration Scale (2nd ed.). New York: NY: Teachers College Press.


Linda Butkovich, M.S.Ed., is Report and Certification Manager for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. In this role, Linda oversees the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) certification system. Linda is also a national reliability anchor for the PAS and BAS. She holds a master’s degree in early childhood special education. Prior to joining the McCormick Center, Linda worked as a developmental therapist with children birth to three years of age and their families. She has also been director of an NAEYC-accredited program, teacher, and family child care provider. Linda also provides training, consultation, and mentoring for early childhood program administrators.

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Scaffolded Beginnings: Navigating Orientation with Intentional Design: Part 2: Making It Stick

By Leslie Layman • November 12, 2025
BY LESLIE LAYMAN Introduction: Building on Intentional Design In part one of this “Scaffolded Beginnings” series , Emilie Austin, McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s Manager of Learning Design Experience, spoke to the importance of intentional design and scaffolding to support new employees in deepening their learning during orientation. This second part of the series covers the importance of operational leadership in helping that learning to “stick” so that employees can successfully apply skills learned in orientation to their new roles. Many organizations structure orientation as a “big day” of meeting people, reviewing handbooks and procedures, and maybe sharing coffee and sweets. On that day, new employees are taking on a new role, expectations, and culture while trying to understand and memorize functional processes and procedures. Going beyond the big day by applying intentional environmental design and contextual, participatory learning theory in your day-to-day helps your employees own and grow into their place in your organization’s culture. Applying a Reggio-Inspired Approach to Onboarding Intentional leaders are responsible for both the administrative leadership of the workplace environment and the strategic leadership and guidance of the organization. Both areas are involved in scaffolding new employees from understanding what they have learned during orientation to applying that information in their new role throughout and beyond the onboarding and training process (Talan, Masterson, & Bella). Loris Malaguzzi’s Reggio approach to early childhood education is a useful framework for thinking of and planning for new employees as learners and participants in the environment, as well as educators and carers of children and families. “To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, liveable, documentable and communicable, a place of research, learning, re-cognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well - is our point of arrival.” -Loris Malaguzzi (Sourced from: Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia ) Each of the Reggio Values can be used to create a shared learning space where educators and children can thrive. A few examples include: Children are active protagonists in their growing processes And so are adult learners! Find ways to make new employees the “lead” in the story of their onboarding. New employees can participate in individualized goal setting to help them feel in control of their professional development. Progettazione/Designing People of all ages learn by doing. Support new employees to participate in designing training and learning experiences rather than providing only pre-planned or scripted training. The Hundred Languages People bring all of themselves, their experiences, and their ways of being to learning and work environments, and they gain new knowledge through active co-construction. Integrating learning experiences into the work environment can help training become more memorable and easier to apply. One example is implementing training on technology or documentation tools as they are being used in context. Participation New employees need opportunities to participate in the environment as they are learning and to experience the emotions and culture of the role. Observation time is important, and being an active team member early on is also important. Organization and the Environment Intentional planning of the way in which employees will interact with the space makes learning more fluid. Some ideas include: making sure that the resources needed for tasks are in functional locations, having deadlines for documentation or responding to family communications built into the daily schedule, and modeling intentional care for children by demonstrating deliberate care for the space. Thoughtfully organize adult materials and create a welcoming, inviting environment for adults and children. Leadership Insight: Apply what you know about Learning and environments The same principles of guiding the learning and independence of children in the educational environment can be applied when helping new staff to move beyond understanding their role to actively embodying their role on your early care and education team. This process can be applied using the early education and care philosophies that are most important to you and relevant to your leadership context. Reflecting on the philosophical and curricular choices you have made for your program and why you chose them can help you think about how you may want to apply those approaches for adult learning. This strategy works because it is integrated and intentional, and it builds skills by modeling skills in the “real world” context to make them stick. Resources for Further Exploration Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Reggio Emelia Approach. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Beirmeier, M. (2015). Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments. Young Children, 70(5), https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum Schlieber, M. & McLean, C. (2020). Educator Work Environments Are Children’s Learning Environments: How and Why They Should Be Improved. Sequel, January 21, 2020. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/blog/educator-work-environments-are-childrens-learning-environments-how-and-why-they-should-be-improved/ Citations Scuole E Nindi D’Infanzia, Institutionzione del Comune di Reggio Emilia. (N.D). Values. Reggiochildren.it, https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/ Talan, T., Masterson, M., & Bella, J. (2023, April 4). Whole leadership: A framework for early childhood programs – 2023. Whole Leadership: A Framework for Early Childhood Programs – 2023 | McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.
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