Would you need a balance between Yolanda and Becky's approaches to be a successful program director?

Becky seemed to have goals towards the curriculum being based off of the themes of the month, like many programs do. She has a goal for her teachers to have all of their plans and observations/checklists done by a certain date. She plans staff training workshops and provides criticism when needed to her employee. Yolanda had goals towards her employee's thoughts and ideas that came about during their staff meeting. They made goals for the children's development individually and as a group. Some strategies Becky used to reach her goals were to use checklists, give feedback, offer praise and assistance in addressing her employee's weakness, and to have a private meeting with her employee. She also was very clear that rules and regulations were extremely important. Some strategies Yolanda used to reach her goals were to keep herself attuned to the activities that was going on in her program (observing in the classroom), to understand where the development each child was at, and to create activities based off the children's weaknesses. She was clear about the standards but allowed conversation among the teachers about different topics.

I think Becky was more of a managing and overseeing part of the triangle. I feel that part of her practice undermines in supporting her teacher, because there was no room for Juanita to discuss with her the problems she was facing in her classroom with the curriculum. There should be open communication between the director and teachers and it seemed that Juanita was too scared to talk to her director about the concerns she had. There was no real dialogue between Becky and Juanita, it was more of Becky telling Juanita what she is doing well in and what she needs to improve on. While, Yolanda's practice encourages in supporting her teachers. Yolanda allowed the teachers to dialogue with each other and express each others concerns, feelings, ideas, and activities done or to be done in the classroom. She also observes the children and teachers in the classroom, which she then brings ideas to the teachers.



I am not a director, but I do work in a four-five year old classroom every morning.
Current Approach:
- Listen to what I am told to do by my program director in terms of meeting standards and rules/regulations.
- Understand what to do in the daily routine of the classroom.
- Observing children in the classroom during activities in groups and individually. Reporting back to my lead and assistant in what I observed.
- Working closely with my lead and assistant in creating activities and going over the children's documents and things that need to be done in the classroom.
New Things to Try:
- Discussing things with my director more often in terms of some challenging behavior of a child, obtaining more songs and fingerplays, and reflecting on my practice and what needs to be improved.