第十屆 園長的領導對於社區中融合幼兒園品質的影響

Program Director’s Leadership on The Quality of a Community-based Inclusive Early Care and Education Program
楊世華  Shih-hua Yang
致遠管理學院幼兒教育學系
Department of Early Childhood Education, Diwan University

Background and Purpose: In any education setting, providing quality education and care for children of all abilities requires complex changes in a program’s culture, and in its teaching and learning processes. Program directors are often in critical positions to facilitate successful and long-lasting program-wide culture changes or, unfortunately, may have the power to impede such reform. Although many have recognized the vital role of a program director in the overall quality of an early care and education (ECE) program and the success of early childhood inclusion through the studies in university-based or model programs, researchers have not specifically addressed the role of a program director’s leadership in the success of a community-based inclusive ECE program. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to learn how the program director of a nominated community-based inclusive ECE program in a mid-western state of the United States has demonstrated her leadership on the program quality.

Methods: A qualitative case study research design was chosen to help provide a deep and detailed understanding of the program director’s leadership in establishing this high quality community-based inclusive ECE program. In order to recognize alternative perspectives and establish the credibility of the information gathered and conclusions drawn, after the nominated community-based inclusive ECE program, Casa dei Bambini (CB), had been selected and the program director, Paula, had agreed to participate in the study, individuals in the following three categories were also invited to participate: (a) classroom staff, (b) parents, and (c) early childhood special education service providers from the local public school district. Eleven individuals (the program director, four classroom staff, four parents, and two early childhood service providers) agreed to participate in semistructured, one-on-one and in person interviews.

Findings: The key areas of Paula’s leadership demonstrated emerged from this study – finding enough “right” staff members, providing ongoing professional development, and retaining effective personnel – intertwined to operate on a highly consistent program framework influenced by Montessori philosophy to create CB, a high quality community-based inclusive ECE program. Paula looked for people who have similar traits such as passion, a child centered perspective, and a strong work ethic to join the team at CB. She required all her lead teachers to hold certifications from either the American Montessori Society (AMS) or the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). In addition, she used other internal or external resources to provide ongoing professional development, such as “home grown” staff members, setting an example for staff to learn, and holding regular staff meetings and supporting staff members to attend conferences. Paula was also very rigorous in retaining the “right” staff members for CB by employing strategies such as: (1) carving out suitable places for the individuals in the organization, (2) giving autonomy within the Montessori framework, (3) having an open door policy, (4) being sensitive to staff’s abilities at any given time, (5) constructing a family-oriented atmosphere, and (6) paying as much as possible.

Conclusions: This study, therefore, suggests that in order to construct a high quality community-based inclusive ECE program, a program director as the chief operation officer first needs to lay a consistent operational and educational foundation for the program, which is child centered, developmentally appropriate and highly individualized. On top of such foundation, one needs to be able to find and retain enough effective personnel who are knowledgeable and skillful in working with young children in a community-based inclusive ECE program and provide them with ongoing professional training.
 Key words: early childhood inclusion, inclusive education, inclusive schools, program effectiveness, leadership