intentionality in professional development: collaboration across centers and cities sharon carver...

Intentionalityin Professional Development:

Collaboration AcrossCenters and Cities

Sharon Carver & Carla Freund

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

Christi Chadwick & Tanya Woods

City Colleges of Chicago

Participants & Programs

• Names & Roles

• Program Types

• Existing Collaborations(especially re: Professional Development)

Vision for Your Program

• What is the ideal re: professional development for your team?

• What obstacles are you facing?

Goals for Today’s Session

• Share possibilities and practicalities of collaborating to intentionally improve professional development across centers & cities

• Support intentional visioning and planning of specific steps to initiate or strengthen collaboration re: professional development

Alcoa Collaborativefor Early Childhood Prof Dev

• Launched in 2000 by the Alcoa Foundation to consolidate efforts among five diverse centers of excellence

• Supported by $50K funding and a consultant• Guided by center directors collaboratively• Initial three years of familiarization, trust building,

designing professional development offerings for the community, and significant administrative changes at two of the centers

• Strategic planning in 2003 yielded clearer vision, plus a focus on center staff involvement


• VISION: To create long term systemic change in the profession of early childhood education through world class professional development.

• MISSION: The Alcoa Collaborative distinguishes itself in early childhood education by utilizing best adult learning strategies, exploring multiple perspectives in the field, and implementing a range of delivery models, all tailored to diverse participants through the region and state.


• Children’s School, Carnegie Mellon University– www.psy.cmu.edu/childrensschool

• Cyert Center for Early Education, CMU– www.cmu.edu/cyert-center/

• Shady Lane– www.shadylane.org

• University Child Development Center, Pitt– www.hr.pitt.edu/ucdc/

http://www.cmu.edu/cyert-center/

http://www.shadylane.org/

http://www.hr.pitt.edu/ucdc/

mailto:[email protected]


• Community Professional Development– Planning Team of Directors– Alignment with PA System & Core Body of

Knowledge– Seminars for directors and teachers at

local and national conferences – Annual Leadership Conference (4 years)

• Initially grant funded, then tried once with center funding (doubled as staff development)


• Partner Professional Development– Planning Team with Directors & Educators– Whole Staff KickOff Event (June, 2004)– Open Houses / Walk & Talks / Roundtables– Book Clubs– Site Visits– Special Interest Groups– Whole Staff Training

• Tom Hunter (August, 2005)• Rosamund Zander (November, 2006)


• Impact of the Collaborative– Variety of successful approaches– Breadth of interest & equality of

participation across educator levels– Relationships between educators within

and across centers– Value of voice / choice– Professionalism motivates participation,

which spreads & is self-perpetuating


• Challenges of the Collaborative– Slowness and difficulty of process– Amount of administrative overhead, esp.

for communication & documentation– Coordinating calendars– Finding sustainable funding


• Next Steps for the Collaborative– Explore ways to cover low cost

professional development via center budgets

– Explore connections with PAEYC to fund professional development and expand outreach in the community

– Support partner centers through the re-accreditation process

– Try a directors’ book club (using The Visionary Director)

City Colleges of ChicagoChild Development Studies Initiative

• Launched in 2003 with the support of a grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation to enhance quality of academic degree programs and lab centers through intentional and collaborative planning

• Guided by the leadership of the Initiative team, center directors, and faculty

• Scope of the Initiative– Several workgroups targeting various aspects of the Initiative – Collaboration among 6 academic programs and 5 lab centers

CCC CDSI: Lab Centers

• Interaction Before the Initiative

– Center directors met to discuss issues pertaining to compliance and finance• Meetings largely reacting to current

crises.– Professional development very limited and

operated at the center level– Management vs. Leadership


Lab Center Workgroup

• Workgroup Composition – Directors, 1 faculty member per college

and Initiative team

• Initial Goals– Developing a shared mission and vision– Individual center strategic planning


• Vision of the lab centersThe City Colleges of Chicago Laboratory Centers are recognized citywide as high-quality model programs, as well as demonstration and training sites that serve CCC faculty, students, children and teachers of the Colleges and

community.

CommunityRelationship with

Academic Program

High Quality Centers


What Have We Done?

– Forum for conversations about quality and intentionality in practice

– Plan collaborative professional development experiences

– Reflect on individual center planning and progress

CCC CDSI: Lab CentersWhat Have We Done?

In Collaboration• Walk & Talks• Open Houses• All center staff training (2-3 x per year)• Annual retreat• Leadership opportunitiesIndividual Center Level• Strategic Planning• In-depth ECERS training and assessments• Professional Conferences• Customized consulting

CCC CDSI: Lab CentersImpact of the Initiative

• What Worked– Increased focus on quality and intentionality in

practice: Why, What and How– Collaboration led to motivation

• Director level• Teacher level

– Trust, increased overall collaboration, seeing one another as a resource

– Leadership development– Consultants as partners


Impact of the Initiative

• Challenges We Faced– Some staff resistant to change– Closing centers for training difficult because of

college schedules and requirements of funding agencies

– Labor union issues– Varied levels of quality among the centers and

within the centers– Turnover among directors– Limited faculty participation in the workgroup

CCC Child Development Studies InitiativeImpact of the Initiative

• What Surprised Us– Director conversation became more focused

on intentionality and reflective practice– Teachers began to forge partnerships across

centers– Recognizing that money does not solve all

problems– Embracing change: it’s S L O W E R than

you think

Pgh - Chicago Collaboration

• Inspiration at NAEYC in June, 2005– Critical timing for the CCC Initiative

because we were ready to take steps, but were not sure what the next steps were.

– ALCOA presented a collaboration that was successful and more experienced

– Chose to explore ALCOA further as a potential model for our future work


• Chicago to Pittsburgh Visit 1– Conceptualized initially as a fact-finding trip– Structure of the Visit

• Tour of the centers• Participation in a Alcoa activity (Book Club)• Participation in Alcoa director meeting• Opportunity for discussion and questions with

center directors

Pgh - Chicago Collaboration• Chicago to Pittsburgh Visit 1

– Our Reactions• Surprise - What quality centers and success of the Alcoa

Collaborative!• Awe - How could we get our centers and collaborative to

the same level of success?• Sadness – There is no way we can become that! • Hope – Are there a few specific practices that we could

adopt?

– Sharing the News• Communicating our experience to the workgroup• Overcoming resistance to change and defensiveness

about comparing ourselves to others• Finding success through small steps, starting with the

“Walk and Talks”.


• Chicago to Pittsburgh Visit 2– Conceptualized as a way to inspire the

directors and faculty – Initial hesitation from the directors – why

make time for this? – Structure of the visit

• Center tours• Evening with Alcoa directors• Participation in Alcoa Leadership Conference


– Our Reactions• Excited, energized, enthusiastic• Motivated to do more, be more, share more

– Sharing the News, and Planning for Change• Directors returned to their centers to share

what they learned with their center staff• Workgroup planned meetings, events, and

dates– Reality’s Effects on Enthusiasm

• As time goes by, enthusiasm fades • Status quo and daily life delay event planning


– Conceptualized as an educational and motivational opportunity for teachers

– Structure of the Visit• Center tours• Lunch with other teachers• Attending teacher presentations• Reflection

– Bumps in the Road• Not adequately prepared for what and why they were there

• Inexperience with travel and professional development led to incongruent expectations about the trip

• Centers did not always send the best candidates for the trip


– Teachers’ Reactions• Excitement, enthusiasm, great interest

• Felt somewhat overwhelmed

• Wished they had more time with teachers, instead of directors

• Wished they had more unscheduled time

– Importance of Reflection• Process experience through writing and discussion

• Prepare what to share upon return

• Gave trip leaders a better understanding of the complexity and diversity of teachers’ responses


• Chicago to Pittsburgh Visit 3

– Resetting Expectations• Everyone is in a different place in terms of

professional development

• Teachers all gained something from the trip, but not necessarily what I thought/hoped

• Development takes time…..lots of time


• Summary & Further Reflections– Must celebrate our successes– We still have a long way to go – Road is not the same for everyone– Some will embrace collaboration, and others will

be more resistant– Development is slow, and sometimes even slower

CCC Child Development Studies InitiativeImpact of the Initiative

• Next Steps– Developing and implementing of staff development

enhancement plan– Recruiting & retaining the right people– Increased focus on the professional development

of the individual teacher– Continued focus on center quality through

collaboration– Developing an exit strategy for the Initiative

• Developing a blueprint • Ensuring the sustainability of our current programs

Pgh - Chicago Collaboration• Reflections from the Pittsburgh Hosts

– Validation / pride in our work– Deeper understanding of partners’ philosophies and

practices because of need for articulating contrasts and rationale

– Connection between partners re: visit planning, plus sense of ownership & responsibility across visits

– Appreciation of the Alcoa Collaborative uniqueness, importance & relevance to the ECE community

• NAEYC 2007 in Chicago– Exploring options for linkages

Lessons Learnedre: Collaborative Prof Dev

• INTENTIONALITY– Emphasis on Multiple Perspectives

• Articulation / Understanding / Appreciation

– Commitment to Balance!!– Preparation for a Lifelong Journey

• Relationships• Reciprocity• Risk / Resistance, esp. re: Flexibility & Change• Resources (esp. time and money)• Reflection

Realizing Your Vision

• Identifying Potential Partners

(immediate vs. long term)

• Exploring Potential Sources of Funding

(immediate vs. long term)

• Responding to Other Obstacles

• Committing to Specific Steps

Reflections / Q&A

Linkages for Action

• Email Contacts– Sharon Carver [email protected]– Carla Freund [email protected]– Christi Chadwick [email protected]– Tanya Woods [email protected]

• NAEYC Contacts• Today’s Participants …




intentionality in professional development: collaboration across centers and cities sharon carver...

Documents

early education

professional developmentvision

center funding

educhildrensschoolcyert

alcoa foundation

educyertcenter shady

collaboration acrosscenters

equality of participation