The experience of being a director in an early care and education center

Research indicates that high quality preschool programs create a framework for adult success. Delivery of quality preschool programs depends on having high quality staff, in terms of their experience and the level of their education and specialized training. Formal education and training of teachers in early care and education is largely inadequate. The director becomes the person responsible for ensuring the quality of center-based education through motivating and providing professional development to staff. Standards determining who is qualified to be a director vary by state. Few programs exist that provide directors with training and professional preparation. Research about the director's role in early education is minimal. A qualitative study was completed of eight directors managing NAEYC accredited, center-based programs. This study had two purposes: to describe and understand how directors who work in a variety of contexts perceive their work on a daily basis; and to understand how directors develop expertise in their work. Three conceptual frameworks were used. First, to understand the context of early care and education, a systems model from the "Cost, Quality and Child Care Outcomes in Child Care Centers" (Helburn, 1995) was used. The other two frameworks were used as lenses to understand director expertise. Expertise was examined through the lens of Jorde-Bloom's (1989, 1992) four task performance areas and competencies needed by directors to work effectively; and through Kennedy's (1987) four definitions of how expertise is developed and how each influences professional action. Eight directors from early education settings in New Jersey were interviewed twice. Each director's center was observed. The observations served as a frame within which the meaning of the director's interviews became more understandable. Among the findings and conclusions of this study were that the directors worked long days that commenced before the workday began, characterized by similar sets of routines, and much autonomy and agency. Directors needed to build trusting relationships among all the stakeholders in the center to do their work. Expertise was developed haphazardly through work experiences, related and unrelated to early education, short-term workshops, and observation of, and mentoring relationships with, their former directors and other employers.