Tiffany Jones, the owner of Precious Moments Family Childcare in Rockville, MD, has always seen herself as a leader. “Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt like the underdog, and underdogs are natural grassroots leaders who kind of know how to get things done,” Jones said.
“As providers, we’re the boots on the ground actually doing the work and following all these rules and regulations and policies that other people make. And sometimes those policies don’t make sense.”
—Tiffany Jones
That’s certainly how Jones ended up owning her own business in early care and education. As a young wife and mother who was contemplating med school, Jones could not find an affordable childcare provider with whom she felt comfortable leaving her son, so she decided to be a stay-at-home mom. But Jones also knew she had to contribute financially to her family.
Congratulations to the participants of our inaugural StrongStart Coaching Institute!
Created and facilitated by the StrongStart Coaching Committee, this training was offered to all coaches, who work with early childhood leaders and educators through the StrongStart PDCs. The training was developed to support coaches in the implementation of the PDC coaching model within all early education programs in Massachusetts. The strengths-based institute was delivered in five sessions, with equity and continuous quality improvement at the center of all learning and training.
Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation One of Six Partners Leading $30M Project
The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at UMass Boston is one of six core partners in a collaborative that was awarded $30 million over five years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Administration for Children and Families. The collaborative will launch and implement a new National Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Center that will coordinate and provide technical assistance and rigorous research to advance the recruitment and retainment of a diverse, qualified, and effective workforce.
Congratulations to the graduates of our Instructional Leadership for Continuous Improvement in Early Education course!
This free course is designed to help small teams from programs (e.g., a director, curriculum coach, and a lead teacher working collaboratively) build capacity for creating the conditions that enable continuous learning and improvement and facilitate job-embedded professional learning.
On Dec. 7 we brought together graduates of our Native American Scholars in Early Education, Small Business Innovation Center, and Post-Master’s Certificate in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice programs for a festive afternoon of networking focused on early educator health and wellness and outdoor education.
We’re grateful for the leadership of Brent Dunn, a graduate of our Native American Scholars program, and Merrill Miceli, a current Post Master’s Certificate student, in making this event so successful.
Alumni sipped white pine tea as Miceli guided them in creating floating candle decorations, filling recycled jars with water, tea candles, pine branches, and cranberries to warm up the holidays. They also sculpted solstice calendars from clay. Dunn led a presentation on outdoor education, describing accessible ways to bring the natural world into the classroom by creating classroom materials made from common organic items.
Additionally, Lynne Mendes, our director of leadership development, led a wellness and self- care exercise in which alumni created their own self-care plans, as maintaining a self-care routine has been shown to reduce or eliminate stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout; and improve concentration and boost energy, among other benefits.
There was also lots of socializing and networking over dinner. Mendes said alumni expressed the desire for additional opportunities to gather and share expertise.
“We found that alumni are looking for more network and leadership opportunities, workshops, monthly meetings, information on taxes and computers, self-care, and degree opportunities,” said Mendes. “We’re grateful to everyone who joined us, as alumni made connections with each other and were excited to participate in the workshop. We’re looking forward to hosting a few more events including one in February, so watch this space for more information!”
Students will receive training in entrepreneurial leadership, assessment, curriculum development and implementation, family support, and home- and center-based program development. They will graduate with a working knowledge of equity and social-justice practices, an understanding of typical and atypical child growth and learning, and proficiency in ethics and professionalism.
The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at UMass Boston (the Early Ed Leadership Institute) announces today that it has been awarded $2 million by the City of Boston to increase the number of credentialed early childhood educators working in the city. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the three-year Growing the Workforce Grant is intended to mitigate the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the early childhood workforce.
The grant will support the creation of a new Early Childhood Fellowship program at UMass Boston for early educators seeking to earn a bachelor’s degree. The Fellowship will create a pathway to higher education by directly addressing and mitigating the myriad barriers faced by early educators pursuing a bachelor’s degree.
The work of the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation is to catalyze transformation in the early care and education sector through leadership from within our field. The foundation for this work is our belief in the power of early educators to lead and drive change in ECE programs and systems.
Hear from Leading for Change graduates and facilitators in this video. Leading for Change is our professional development program that trains program administrators, educators, and family child care providers on how to lead for change and quality improvement in their practice, program, or in the field. It is offered for free to early educators in Massachusetts in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.
