Building Together - by Fiona Stewart (Paperback)

About the Book

Develop the leadership skills needed to build sustainable early childhood systems and work toward continuous improvement.

Book Synopsis

Building Together is a journey focused on the leadership necessary for today's early childhood education system building. This book provides a road map to what effective leaders do, how they do it, and the leadership necessary to work towards collaborative systems level change.

Building Together includes a wealth of information on the leadership skills, styles and competencies necessary to address today's challenges and opportunities in the field of early childhood education. It also includes how to put leadership skills and knowledge into action to work towards sustainable system planning, implementation, and continuous improvement. Author Fiona Stewart includes success stories throughout the book from professionals in the field as well as examples from her own leadership work.

Today's systems-level work requires sophisticated leadership skills. Building Together provides all the leadership information needed for both emerging and experienced leaders.

Review Quotes

"Building Together includes a wealth of information on the leadership skills, styles, and competencies necessary to address today's challenges and opportunities in the field of early childhood education." --The Midwest Book Review, Education Shelf

"Stewart shines a light on the complex web of systems that affect how well young children are served, and the nature and characteristics of the leaders who make those systems work. This book is for people who play a leadership role in serving children--and those who want to." --Gerrit Westervelt, director, Early Childhood Policy and Resource Development, WestEd; former executive director, BUILD Initiative

"Just as we teach children to collaborate, cooperate, and play well together, Fiona Stewart has provided a pathway for grown-ups to do the same. This includes the all-important step of planning for the inclusion of the 'meaningful voice' of diverse stakeholders. Building together, we can make a change!" --Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan, co-founder and president of the Praxis Institute for Early Childhood Education and author of Learning to Lead

"Building Together is a page-turner for ECE practitioners and policymakers alike! With clear reasons why we need to collaborate, leadership models and strategies that inspire us, and rich, real-life examples to show how this works, we can read and continue to consult this book for years to come. Fiona Stewart has given us a golden primer for both beginning and seasoned ECE advocates collaborating for local, regional, state and national ECE systems change and integration." --Jan Fish, EdD, co-lead consultant, Partnerships for Education, Articulation and Coordination through Higher Education (PEACH); Professor Emerita, California State University-Northridge

About the Author

Fiona Stewart Fiona has worked as a teacher and director in early childhood programs, a college instructor, grant administrator, program director, and consultant and trainer. She is currently the Program Director of the Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles, a network partnership of the child care resource and referral, and alternative payment agencies across the county. She oversees county-wide collaborative programs, including the Gateways for Early Educators™ professional development system and the California Early Care & Education Workforce Registry. Fiona holds a Bachelor's degree from Cornell University and Master's from Pacific Oaks College and was recognized as a Master Leader from the Exchange Leadership Initiative.