Q2.1Take the two appropriate pieces of writing that you selected as part of Activity 4.6 in the Study guide. These could have come from the collections in the Course Reader and the Course Resources, or you may have found them yourself from other sources. [Please note that ?Assertion and argument? by Hanfling, which you read in Activity 4.3, is not an appropriate piece of writing for this Task.]
If you are working with material you have found yourself, please enclose copies with your assignment.
For each piece of writing:
. Give a precise reference for it.
. Then write a brief summary of what it is about, and the key points you take from it.
. Next, say how this piece of writing relates to the management topics that you studied in Part 3 of the course.
Give examples of where the concepts, theories and models you studied in Part 3 have been used or extended in the piece of writing you have chosen. Identify any ideas that are new to you.
30 marks
Task 2 and Task 3 together should be no more than 3000 words in total.
A2.1 My first ?appropriate? piece of writing and precise reference
I have chosen for my first piece of writing: M Whalley, S Allen, D Wilson (2008) Leading Practice in Early Years Settings (Achieving EYPS) Learning Matters Ltd; Chapter 1 pp1-9
This can be viewed at:
www.learningmatters.co.uk/sampleChapters/pdfs/9781844451760-1.pdf pages 1-9
Summary
This chapter talks about defining leadership versus management within an Early Years Setting. Consisting of insightful discussion about differences between ?leadership? and ?management?. Encouraging self-reflection and analysis of your role alongside providing case studies; leading to self-assessment and for you to develop your leadership of practice into a ?holistic, inclusive and empowering process? (Rodd, J. (2006) Leadership in Early Childhood 3rd edition Maidenhead: Open University Press).
Key Points
The issues that were particularly relevant to me were that leadership and management are significantly different, with management being predominantly about task orientated duties and leadership requiring a less specific (but wider ranging) ?influence? function.
How does this piece of writing relates to the management topics that you studied in Part 3 of the course?
In the ?Leading Practice? document there are parallels for me, with discussions in Part 3 of the course about the differences between transactional and transformational leadership . Although the Leading Practice work was differentiating between leadership of practice; how effectively the physical job is done, and management; how settings are organised, there are defiantly similarities, leadership needing to provide
?enhancement, improvement and development?.
An example of this is can be shown by table 13. ?Characteristics of transactional and transformational leaders?
Transactional leader Transformational leader
Contingent reward ? contracts exchange of rewards for efforts, promises rewards for good performance, recognises accomplishments. Charisma ? provides vision and sense of mission, instils pride, gains respect and trust.
Management by exception (active) ?watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes corrective action. Inspiration ? communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes in simple ways.
Management by exception (passive) ?intervenes only if standards are not met. Intellectual stimulation ? promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem solving.
Laissez-faire ? abdicates responsibility, avoids making decisions.
Individualised consideration ?gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches and advises.
These can be compared here: ?Table 1.1 Managers and Leaders?
Managers Leaders
Plan and make decisions Give direction
Organise and clarify work Offer inspiration
Coordinate the organisation Build teamwork
Control and monitor the organisation?s effectiveness Set an example
Gain respect and acceptance
Although the actual specifics are different there is a general trend towards ?tasks? for managers and what could be termed ?feelings? or ?attributes? for leaders
Managers Leaders
Plan Charisma
Reward Vision
Watch Pride
Intervene Trust
Organise Pride
Clarify Respect
Co-ordinate Inspiration
Con trol Rationality
Monitor Consideration
Teamwork
Acceptance
In Fayol?s process account of management as represented below:
we can see that all of the 4 management tasks mentioned in the Leading Practice passage are mentioned here with the ?leadership? being described as another management task. I prefer to think that managers should be leaders but that it is perfectly possible and indeed likely that within a childcare setting the ?leader? is not a manager. The article goes on to say that the definition of ?manager? and ?leader? often cause some confusion within this sector as the leader of practice may be called: Leader, Supervisor, Manager or Teacher; I have also known the term Lead Practitioner or Room Supervisor being used.
The list that Mary Whalley proposes:?
? Developing the individual?s capacity to be self-directing.
? Helping individuals to gain more control over their lives.
? Raising self-esteem.
? Promoting learning as a life-long learning experience.
? Equality of opportunity.
? Pushing boundaries.
? ?Constructive discontent? ? not having to put up with things because it?s ?just the way they are?.
? Encouraging people to feel they have the power and confidence to change things.
? Self-fulfilment.?
as being attributes and actions that a leader can aspire to. These have a close connection with the staircase of employee involvement and empowerment .
 
Figure 13.6 The staircase of employee involvement and empowerment
I feel that ?Encouraging people to feel they have the power and confidence to change things and Self-fulfilment? have direct parallels to empowerment and are close to being synonymous.
A2.2My second ?appropriate? piece of writing and precise reference
My second choice is:
Daycare Trust (2008) Raising the bar: What next for the early childhood education and care workforce Daycare Trust.
This can be viewed at:
www.daycaretrust.org.uk/mod/fileman/files/Raising_the_bar_Nov08.pdf
Summary
This section is entitled ?The present ECEC workforce ? issues to be addressed? and addresses the Governments Strategy with regard to the training and development of workers in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It discusses the Government Initiatives and the Policy Context and the demographics, pay and conditions, recruitment and retention, qualifications and status of ECEC; providing both actual figures in each are alongside insightful analysis. It discusses both the hard facts and the perceptions in detail and proffers suggestions for improving the future of ECEC workers. The conclusion is that without significant Government intervention ECEC workers will continue to be predominantly badly qualified and low paid which leads to high staff turnover and a lack of respect for childcare in general.
Key Points
I found the conclusions about distraction due to poor domestic situations (low pay) and the lack of respect offered to childcare workers alongside the traditional view that childcare is an option for less academic (predominantly) girls whether they actually aspired to working with children were very relevant to my experiences and quite poignant. I felt that the solutions put forward were fairly limited and that there should be more practical actions which could be taken. A lot of time was taken to discuss the traditional view: that childcare is less valuable than education and how in recent legislation action is being taken to reduce this disparity.
How does this piece of writing relates to the management topics that you studied in Part 3 of the course.
In the second piece: ?Raising the bar: What next for the early childhood education and care workforce.? The first issue that I found relevant were about motivation as displayed in Hertzberg?s two-factor theory ? see table on the following page
 
 
It is clear that despite pay being poor there are still large numbers of people working in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector, this appears to be for a variety of reasons including:
? Availability of jobs
? Hours fitting in with childcare commitments/school hours
? Ability to start with few (if any qualifications)
? A emotional need to work with small children
? The knowledge that what you do will mould and develop the future of a small child/baby
? Ability to train on the job
Which are correlated to Hertzberg?s Satisfaction factors
Hertzberg - satisfaction Daycare Trust
The work itself
A emotional need to work with small children
Advancement and growth
Ability to train on the job
Responsibility
The knowledge that what you do will mould and develop the future of a small child/baby
 
The factors which are missing are recognition and achievement, which are obviously a part of working in ECEC, although the Daycare Trust clearly shows that childcare work is not held in high esteem by many employers or in society as a whole.
As a majority of ECEC workers are in the private, voluntary or independent (PVI) sector, where childcare is managed with a very tight profit margin and over 80% of expenses are staffing costs it is unlikely that, without significant policy changes pay will increase. Therefore it would be important that other benefits are put in place, examples of these are good working conditions, company policies which employees can take ownership of. Some more unusual ideas are working as co-operatives (so the employees own the organisation) or charities set up to improve the pay and conditions of childcare workers. Unfortunately generally in the PVI sector, pay is low along with working conditions being poor and staff turnover is generally high, due to low motivation and high dissatisfaction rather than low satisfaction.
 
Exchange Relationships, it seems quite obvious that although there is a relationship between pay and whether an individual works in the (ECEC) sector this is not the most important or even significant factor in the choice of career. The intangible benefits mentioned before, achievement and recognition, are the things that would improve the exchange relationship so that employees would stay.
Some examples of the exchange relationships that exist are:
Pay
Work
Training and Development
Skills & competencies
 
Good working conditions
(Holiday, sick leave, mat leave etc)
Responsibility & loyalty
Trust
Responsibility & accountability
Consideration & recognition
Motivation & loyalty