Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice - by Anne Marie Coughlin & Lorrie Baird (Paperback)

About the Book

"Early childhood professionals and leaders need to reconcile the responsibility between never-ending administrative tasks, ensuring program quality and supporting the growth of others. Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice is a comprehensive practical look at creating systems, structures and protocols for supporting people in large and small organizations, individuals working as mentors, coaches or pedagogical leaders to invite educators into a thinking and learning process about their work"--

Book Synopsis

As the field of early learning continues to grow and evolve, we must consider the impact of our approaches to working with adults and children. Early childhood professionals and leaders need to reconcile their responsibilities in never-ending administrative tasks, ensuring program quality, and supporting the growth of others. Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice: The Role of Pedagogical Leadership in Early Child Programs is a comprehensive practical look at creating systems, structures, and protocols for supporting people in large and small organizations, individuals working as mentors, coaches or pedagogical leaders to invite educators into a thinking and learning process about their work.

Readers will develop the skills and mindsets that can enhance their performance and effect organizational change. Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice offers stories and structures connected to four principles of pedagogical leadership with specific ideas to enhance the work of educational leaders.

Working from a place of values and vision

Building strong relationships

Seeing and supporting strengths and competencies

Supporting professional learning in multiple ways

Review Quotes

"Baird and Coughlin disrupt coaching and supervising approaches that disempower educators and invite us to consider pedagogical leadership that creates the conditions for relationships and learning to flourish. They share stories drawing on decades of experience transforming their own work, offer pages for reflection, and challenge us deeply." --Margie Carter, early childhood consultant and co-author of The Visionary Director

"Wow! I loved every minute of this book. If you only pick one book for your professional unfolding this year, make it this one. The depth of thinking, reflection, and real-life stories set you on a path of deep learning and growth. Essential reading for all who are about the lived experience of young children and their educators. This should be required reading in all ECE programs." --Dr. Jean Clinton, MD, FRCP (C), Clinical Professor Child Psychiatry McMaster University

"Brilliant! I want to read it over and over, slowly, and deliberately, savoring every word. Baird and Coughlin demonstrate how, with deliberate intention, we can build a program worthy of our children, our families, our teams, and ourselves. Through story sharing and clear achievable steps, they invite us to think about how we can create space for reflection, and build our environments through respect, trust, and collaboration. A must-read for all leadership positions within child care organizations and for those aspiring to lead. This is how I want to live and work." --Sheila Olan-Maclean, CEO, Compass Early Learning & Care

"An inspiring and insightful resource. Finally, a book that will become my pedagogical companion! Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice will be referred to time and time again by educators and pedagogical leaders that would like to reflect and grow their practice." --Paola Hohenadel, RECE, MEd, Affiliated Services for Children and Youth (ASCY), Hamilton, Ontario

"Throughout their book, Lorrie and Anne Marie offer a variety of thought-provoking reflective questions that help shift practice. As a Pedagogical Leader, offering opened questions along with 'reflection', inspires educators to align their values, beliefs, and learning, while developing a critical understanding of their own practice. This provokes educators to consider their own knowledge, skills, and dispositions to achieve the best outcomes for children." --Lisa Bellardini, RECE, Director of Learning and Pedagogy & Carrie Horn, RECE, Executive Director Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Child Care Centres

"When early childhood educators and program leaders choose to step away from pre-planned curricula, we may initially find ourselves without much to hold on to. Simply directing educators to pursue a reflective teaching approach--without providing any supportive guidance or practical tools--is just mean! Intentional pedagogical leadership fills that gap, enabling a reflective and responsive experience for educators, children, and families. From a place of deep experience and empathy, Lorrie and Anne Marie offer us relevant and usable strategies for pedagogical leadership, and a robust framework for upholding reflective practice in our classrooms and schools." --Sarah Felstiner, operations manager, Epiphany Early Learning Preschool

About the Author

Anne Marie Coughlin is the educational director at London Bridge Child Care Services in London, Ontario, Canada. She is an accomplished, passionate speaker who is known for her innovative work with Early Childhood Educators and her inspiring vision. Anne Marie works as a mentor for both classroom Educators and program leaders, exploring ways to work with and think about both children and adult learning. Over the past 35 years, she has held a variety of roles in the early learning sector including, preschool educator, center and program director, professional development coordinator, a community college teacher, and served as a provincial director with the Canadian Association for Young Children and as Director at Large for the Ontario Reggio Association.

Lorrie Baird has been actively working in the early learning field for over 30 years and currently is the executive director of pedagogy with Compass Early Learning and Care in Peterborough, Ontario. Lorrie has immersed herself in the early learning field strengthening her understanding of the teaching and learning process. As a pedagogical leader and professional learning facilitator, she believes in engaging educators in reflective practice and ensuring that our work in adult learning parallels what we want to foster with children. Deeply rooted in a social constructivist approach, her practice is to engage early learning professionals in opportunities to reflect and think together about their work.