Supports on any given day can come to us in different forms. I also find that I have supports in different parts of my life. Supports provide me with a connection to peers, and a sense of belonging among those peers. Supports hold us up when we feel we can longer stand. Being a director fairly new to the field of early childcare, I find it very difficult to let my guard down among staff so often times there is a sense of loneliness at the office; teams share a sense of camaraderie that is difficult to be a part of due to my role as a supervisor. In addition I want to respect their sense of community making sure my teams do understand that I am available as a support system to them. Thus far our relationship has worked well with the focus being the children and families in our program. I also have done a great deal of learning through first hand experience and I have had to ask lots of questions so therefore my support have been individuals who have expertise in specific areas. When I for example, have budgeting questions, I turn to our finance manager, or when I have recruitment and staffing issues, I turn to our human resources manager.
My most trusted support system would have to be my mentor and former supervisor; she was the first person to hire me with very little teaching experience and she was the person to recommend me for a Director position six months after she hired me. As a support, she was always available to provide information, to share stories, to entrust me with responsibilities and to collaborate with me on projects. She has years of experience in the early childhood education field with lots of first hand information that she is always willing to share with me. I can always call her to talk through difficult issues or to just pick her brain. I know she is an ally in my corner who believes in me.
Another support that carries me through the day would have to be the children; I rely on them immensely. They come without judgments, are so giving of love and affection, and they are also so accepting. No matter the tone of the day, good or bad, they will always put a smile on my face and center me back to where I need to be—they provide a lovely reminder of why I come to work every day.
I utilize professional journals and web sites as supports to further expand my knowledge and expertise. In addition, I attend classes and workshops to keep growing professionally. Through these mechanisms of study, I too can be a support system for others in my professional and personal life. I am able to share newfound knowledge as well as general information to help us grow in our field. I approach each person and challenge with an open mind, and I feel I am reflective when teaching teams seek my advice. As a support I always avail myself, taking time to learn and hear what others have to say, making sure I understand what is needed of me.
Professional speaking, a challenging situation would be if I were without my Site Director at my school age program; she is one of most trusted colleagues who oversee our school age program extremely well. She and I have a wonderful, sharing relationship with a clear vision of what we want our program to be. When she is at the Center, I know the children will be cared for well, the families will be treated with respect and that she will be professional. Without her, I would have to run both my pre-school as well as my school age program, spending each day at both Centers. My schedule would consist of long days; open to close, lots of paperwork, lots of family interactions and lots of in-classroom time with the children. Not only would I have to do lesson planning, I would have to facilitate projects as well. I would have to work with my school age teaching team as well as supervise them. I would emotionally need a shoulder to call upon to simply vent about the long days of work. I would need more hours in the day to be able to complete all my paperwork and do it well. I would need additional time to research lessons and lesson plan with the teaching team. I would need adequate resource materials for lesson planning; I would need trusted teaching teams at my pre-school to have the peace of mind that the Center along with the children and families were being cared for properly. I would rely heavily on a human resources person to be recruiting and pre-interviewing potential candidates. I would also need supportive families at both sites who were not only understanding of the issues at hand but who were patient while a replacement was found.
Without any of the above realistic supports (longer hours in the day just wouldn’t happen) I would feel somewhat helpless as well as very drained; the prospect of such a reality would be very lonely indeed.
