Course Syllabus

Summer 2024 | EDU-2041-VO01 - Leadership, Mentoring & Supervision for Early Childhood & Afterschool Practitioners

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Kara Von Behren-Herman
View Faculty Credentials

Hiring Coordinator for this course: Philip Crossman

Course Description

This course focuses on the development of leadership and mentoring by practitioners in early education and afterschool settings. It provides a basic understanding of leadership and group dynamics theory, including goal setting, decision making, problem solving, delegation, motivation, and performance evaluation. Students develop a personal philosophy of leadership and become familiar with strategies for mentoring early childhood and afterschool professionals.

Essential Objectives

1. Describe a variety of leadership strategies that can be used in early childhood education and afterschool settings, and develop a personal philosophy of leadership.
2. Analyze leadership styles for strengths and challenges connected to ongoing professional development for an early childhood education or afterschool practitioner.
3. Demonstrate supervisory strategies for effective management of group dynamics within early education and afterschool environments (e.g., problem solving, decision making, prioritizing, delegating, reporting, motivating).
4. Create a professional development plan designed to advocate for and influence regional, state, and national early childhood or afterschool education initiatives.
5. Discuss moral and ethical issues for leaders in early childhood education and afterschool programs.
6. Discuss the importance of cultural competence in early childhood education and afterschool professions and identify skills and strategies for supporting and collaborating with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
7. Practice the interpersonal skills necessary for effective mentoring and coaching, including efforts to solicit and share differing viewpoints and perspectives.
8. Explore practices for identifying professional stressors and strategies for promoting resiliency among early childhood education and afterschool practitioners.
9. Describe the process of creating and revising mission and vision statements within organizations engaging program staff in its development and implementation.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Summer 2024 textbook details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

EDU-2041-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

• Group discussions (by forum/discussion posts)
• Presentations
• Reading
• Scenario Assignments
• In-person Assignments (Conducted remotely on one’s own and then submitted)
• Reflective Writing
• Projects

Course syllabus: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10CJSmC0fVj9IpvVZCsfZE5g1KFCDqpJj/view?usp=sharing

Evaluation Criteria

ASSIGNMENT POLICY and GRADING:

Written Assignment descriptions and rubrics can be found on our course site. Assignments are due as listed in the syllabus. Assignments must be submitted in a standard word processing program. Late assignments will lose one letter grade and continue to lose a letter grade per week late. If you are not satisfied with the grade you receive on any assignment you submitted on time, you are encouraged to revise and resubmit it by a prearranged deadline with the instructor.

40% Participation via Online Posts

The course requires online participation, and it is imperative you demonstrate and challenge your learning through online discussions. Participation in the discussion forums weighs heavily on the final grade. It is expected that you contribute an original post to each of the week’s discussion threads and respond to the posts of peers (guidelines in each forum). Your responses should add new information to the discussion, show depth of thought and application/understanding of the content, be well written and clear, and be respectful. Responses should seek to make connections, add to the information, or ask for clarification in meaningful ways and then engage with the response. Simply responding that you agree is not adding to the discussion.

15% Final Project (100 points)

You will engage in a leadership, advocacy, supervision or mentoring project that includes a written component, a visual aid and a video presentation. A menu of options will be available to select from, or you may propose your own project to the instructor for approval.

45% Other Written Assignments (Rubrics will be provided): (100 points each)

• Interview of a leader 10%

• Personal philosophy of leadership & IPDP Update 10%

• Program orientation plan 15%

• Scenario Assignments (throughout) 10%

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Full participation requires active and thoughtful engagement in class each week. The following habits and skills are important.

• Read the assigned material and demonstrate an understanding of those resources in your assignments and posts. Readings and resources should be cited using either APA or MLA format.
• Post an original response to the weekly prompt(s) before Friday at midnight (11:59 PM) unless otherwise noted and response posts (when required) by Monday at midnight (11:59 PM). You are welcome to post early and/or more frequently, as your schedule allows, but you will not receive full credit if you do not meet these minimum requirements and/or deadlines.
• Posts should be substantive and demonstrate college-level writing. A substantive post is well-developed, shows evidence of depth of thought and reflection, and references the reading or another appropriate source. A substantive post is NOT one or two sentences of general statements or unsupported opinion.

Students should:

• Complete all of the week's reading and assignments before the start of class
• Positively contribute to online class discussions without judgement
• Ask questions and seek help when you need it
• Challenge yourself to do your best work

Missing & Late Work Policy

• Late assignments can be submitted past the deadline, but points will be deducted if student does not get authorization from the instructor in advance of the due date. This includes assignments, discussion posts, and response postings. However, students who are habitually late with work will have their grades reduced significantly, even if approval is given to submit items late.
• Extensions will be granted only in extenuating circumstances. If a lengthy medical problem or other emergent personal issue will result in missing weekly discussions and/or assignments, please contact your instructor as soon as possible.
• Students who know that they will not have course access for any given week should make arrangements with their instructor to complete assignments and participation requirements prior to the absence.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity