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| Contents | Preface | Introduction | Module 1 | Module 2 | Module 3 | Professional Development | Resources | Training Guides | |
Introduction
Overview
Purpose
Head Start delivers its services from people to people: 100,000 frontline
staff and managers working with children and families every day. It is not a
factory or technology; it is a social system. Our strategy to improve quality,
therefore, needs to begin with the working environment for staff Our energies
need to be placed on... the interactions between staff and children and parents.'
In this statement, the Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion
recommends the path that programs must follow to realize Head Start's vision
of providing quality services to children and families.
Twenty-first century Head Start programs need management concepts that focus
on quality and a team process. To accomplish this task, everyone
in the program must come together and understand his or her own values. Everyone
must be committed to making a significant contribution to effective management.
To manage well, each Head Start staff member and parent needs to understand
how to apply the dimensions of planning, organizing, influencing, and evaluating.
A connection exists between values and the work one chooses to do. That notion
is one of the primary reasons why people come to work for Head Start. They give
their time and talent to Head Start because of an intrinsic attraction and personal
reward because Head Start fits with what they believe is good and worthwhile.
Anything good and worthwhile deserves the best management foundation.
In Head Start, this management foundation helps staff members and parents understand
how the mission statement guides the program's operation, how their ability
to work as a team and fulfill their job responsibilities achieves the mission,
and how personal responsibility for their own professional growth and development
ensures program quality.
Participating in the Management Process establishes the foundation for
reinforcing the management skills of all Head Start staff and parents.
Organization:
This foundation guide, Participating in the Management Process, consists
of three modules:
- Module 1: What Is Management?
This module helps participants recognize how they use basic management functions in their personal lives and in their interactions with Head Start staff, parents, and children. The activities also help the participants assess the management skills used in the Head Start program. By understanding the dimensions of management, participants recognize that management is a team process.
- Module 2: Everyone Plays a Role
This module links the concept of shared values with the process of teamwork and a comprehensive team approach to service delivery. In addition, it provides participants with an opportunity to identify the values they share with other staff members and parents and to determine their roles in achieving the program's mission. They will view the program as a social system to better understand how the parts of the program work together.
- Module 3: Quality Is a Priority
This module helps participants understand the importance of quality and demonstrates how the achievement of quality depends on shared Head Start values and the team process. Participants also examine the characteristics of a quality program. The activities help participants recognize how they deliver services in their program and see how they can continually improve the services they provide by looking at their individual roles and responsibilities.
Each module includes outcomes, key concepts, and background information that
support the four guide outcomes. The Module Outcomes identify the skills participants
will develop through completing the activities in the module. The Key Concepts
outline the important ideas that participants must learn and understand to achieve
the training outcomes. The Background Information explains and expands on the
Key Concepts. The Background Information provides a context for the training
activities and allows the trainer to present the information in several formats
such as handouts, overheads, or lectures.
In addition, each module contains an opening activity related to the preface
scenario so participants can begin to apply the key concepts in the module to
Head Start.
Although the modules can be used sequentially, the trainer can select and customize
the topics to match the program needs. For example, after completing a training
assessment, the trainer may decide that it is better to examine values and establish
a mission statement with his or her group (Module 2: Everyone Plays a Role),
before addressing the dimensions of management (Module 1: What Is Management?).
This skill-based training guide is designed for individuals with various learning
styles. It reinforces the Head Start philosophy that learning is an ongoing
process for individuals and organizations and that staff, parents, policy groups,
and governing bodies must continually seek new approaches to meet the needs
of children, families, and communities.
This training guide also includes various formats for training: workshop activities,
coaching activities, individualized follow-up activities related to each module,
and continuing professional development activities. The final section of the
guide consists of an annotated list of resources. This Resources section provides
additional information on the topics in the modules and can be used by the trainer
to expand his knowledge of a particular topic or enhance the skills focused
on in the guide.
| Coaching |  |
A training strategy that fosters the development of skills through tailored instruction, demonstrations, practice, and feedback. The activities are written for a coach to work closely with one to three participants. |
| Workshop |  |
A facilitated group training strategy that fosters the development of skills through activities that build on learning through group interaction. These activities are written for up to twenty-five participants working in small or large groups with one or two trainers. |
| Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice |  |
Additional activities assigned by the trainer immediately following the completion of the module to help participants review key information, practice skills, and examine their progress toward expected outcomes of the module. |
| Continuing Professional Development |
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Follow-up activities for the program to support continued staff development
in the regular use of the skills addressed in a particular training guide.
It includes: (1) Opportunities tailored to the participant to continue building on the skills learned in the training (2) Ways to identify new skills and knowledge needed to expand and/or complement these skills through opportunities in areas such as higher education, credentialing, or community educational programs |
At a Glance
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(W) Activity 1-1: How We Did It! | |
Handout 1: How We Did It - Our Management Skills Scenario from the preface at the front of this guide. Chart paper, markers, tape. |
| (C) Activity 1-2: Managing My Life | |
Handout 2: The Dimensions of Management Handout 3: Performing Management Activities at Home and at Work |
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| (W) Activity 1-3: Everyone Manages at Work | |
Handout 2: The Dimensions of Management Handout 4: Planning Handout 5: Organizing Handout 6: Influencing Handout 7: Evaluating Chart paper, markers |
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| Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice | Handout 2: The Dimensions of Management |
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(W) Activity 2-1: How We Did It! | |
Handout 8:How We Did It- Values, a Common Mission, and Relationships Scenario from the preface at the front of this guide Chart paper, markers, tape |
| (W) Activity 2-2: What I Value Most | |
Handout 9: What Are My Values? Handout 10: Head Start Core Values Chart paper, markers |
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| (C)Activity 2-3: Portrait of My Work | |
Handout 9: What Are My Values? Handout 10:Head Start Core Values Scissors,paste,colored paper Markers and magazines. |
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| (C)Activity 2-4: Achieving My Personal Mission |
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Handout 11: Journal Assignment Questions: Things to Reflect On... Handout 12: My Personal Head Start Mission Statement Handout 13: Head Start Mission Statement Copy of program mission statement Spiral Notebook |
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| (W) Activity 2-5: Everyone Contributes to the Mission | |
Handout 13: Head Start Mission Statement Handout 14: Social Systems Model of a Head Start Program Clear tape, markers Copy of program mission statement Prepared puzzle |
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| (C) Activity 2-6: Working Together | Session 1, 60 minutes Session 2, 90 minutes |
Handout 14: Social Systems Model of a Head Start Program Handout 15: The Cazeau Family Construction paper (blue and white) Scissors, markers, staplers, tape, paste |
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| Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice | Handout 19: Examples of Quality Strategies in Service Delivery Areas Handout 20: Strategies for Achieving Quality |
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| Module 3: Quality Is a Priority | (W) Activity 3-1: How We Did It! | |
Handout 17: How We Did It - Examples of Quality Service Scenario from the preface at the front of this guide. Chart paper, markers, tape |
| (W) Activity 3-2: Quality Story | |
Handout 18: What is Quality? Chart paper, markers |
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| (C) Activity 3-3: What Is a Quality Head Start Program? | |
Handout 18: What is Quality? Handout 19: Examples of Quality Strategies in Service Delivery Areas Handout 20: Strategies for Achieving Quality Markers, index cards |
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| (W) Activity 3-4: Program Wheel of Quality | |
Chart paper, markers | |
| (C) Activity 3-5: Continuous Improvement and Quality Service | |
Handout 21: Individual Wheel of Quality | |
| Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice | Handout 19: Examples of Quality Strategies in Service Delivery Areas Handout 20: Strategies for Achieving Quality |