Supervision in Early Childhood Education

by Joseph J. Caruso and M Temple Fawcett

Book Overview

Every early care and education program deserves a qualified and competent supervisor. This pioneering text continues to address the special needs of administrators and staff to help them expand and improve their supervisory skills. The first to provide guidelines and practical suggestions for staff training and development in early childhood settings, this classic volume is still the best choice for those supervising staff from a wide variety of educational and cultural backgrounds. In this twentieth anniversary edition, updated to reflect the many changes that have taken place in the field, you'll find:

A new chapter on career ladders/lattices. A new chapter on staff selection, recruitment, and orientation. Promising staff development and evaluation practices that emphasize staff learning and reflection. Continued attention to issues of diversity. Relevant NAEYC accreditation criteria at the end of selected chapters. Emphasis on the development of supervisors as well as staff members. A focus on collaborative relationships and dialogue.

Praise for Previous Editions

"Specific strategies are offered not only on how to design and implement staff development, but also on how a supervisor can continue to improve her or his own skills." --Young Children

"The authors present practical guidelines for supervisors on the job or in training to work with teachers in day care centers, nursery schools, Head Start programs, school kindergartens, or the primary grades." --Journal of Curriculum & Supervision

"This thorough publication...should be a welcome addition to the school management collection of both the professor and practitioner." --Educational Leadership

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807747319
• ISBN13: 9780807747315
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Supervision, as a Reflective Practice

Reading this book encouraged me as a supervisor to reflect on my practice, and is a helpful tool to improve supervisory skills, in turn improving the effectiveness of teachers. In the first section, there is a discussion of the `Myths of Supervision.' Many of the myths encouraged me to confront my images of what the `ideal supervisor' should be. The book then looks at a developmental perspective of supervision. I learned that just as with children, doing the same for each teacher, is necessarily not the best practice. The book helped me to think about how such things as age, experience, and education play into the employee's expectation of their supervisor helping to define the relationship.The dance between supervisor and supervisee as describe in this book helped me to reach new depths in my search for continuous improvement. As a supervisor, I have become more mindful of my supervisory practice. As I implement supervisory changes, I have encouraged teachers to truly become `Reflective Practitioners.'One of the great lessons learned from this book is the similarity between best practices with children and best practice as a supervisor. This parallel awareness helped me to understand that supervisors who help teachers maximize their potential will focus on: the relationship, allow teachers to learn from mistakes, ask pivotal questions to deepen understanding of topics they are exploring.I recommend this book to Early Childhood professionals, who have supervisory responsibility, including: Principals, Head Start Managers, Child Care Directors and Head Teachers who may supervise. Many of us assumed these roles without formal training, yet this book will give us things to implement and much to think about.Mary Lu Love, mllove@mediaone.net