read an article and answer the these questions ( 150 words total)

• What are the main points (topics) covered?
• What information did you find surprising? Why
• What did you did confusing? Why
• Is there something in the article you want to know more about?

22 EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP www.ChildCareExchange.com
EXCHANGE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

As the nation addresses the recom-
mendations in the Institute of Medi-
cine and National Research Council’s
report, Transforming the Workforce for
Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying
Foundation,1 leadership is emerging as

an important component for increasing
workforce capacity in early childhood
education. Because program leaders
are included with other individuals
considered to be ‘lead educators,’ a clear
understanding of their foundational
knowledge and competencies is neces-
sary for successful implementation. Yet,
early childhood leadership is a multi-
faceted and nuanced concept that is
often clouded by inconsistent standards
and policies across an array of program
settings.

The McCormick Center for Early Child-
hood Leadership at National Louis
University developed Whole Leader-
ship, a clarifying conceptual framework
to help address this need. It encom-
passes a broad view of program leader-
ship — evidenced in many areas and
collapsed into three domains: leader-
ship essentials, administrative leader-
ship, and pedagogical leadership.

Leadership essentials include foun-
dational skills in reflective practice,
communication, and relationship
building — critical for all facets of
leader ship and often expressed in
leader ship styles and dispositions.

Administrative leadership involves
maximizing team capacity to develop
and sustain an early childhood orga-
nization with both operational and

strategic leadership functions. Program
leaders also assume leadership roles
beyond their own organizations through
advocacy and connecting with their
communities.

Pedagogical leadership addresses the
complexity of teaching and learning in
settings that serve young children, birth
through third grade.

Developing the Whole
Leadership Framework

The Whole Leadership Framework
was developed through an itera-
tive process by engaging individuals
across the country in several ways.
Thought leaders at the McCormick
Center worked for more than a year to
examine the domains of early childhood
program leadership and compare their
findings to multiple existing standards
and structures. They also authored
a series of blog posts on the topic —
published from February through May
of 2016 — intended to solicit responses
from the field. Eighty-two individual
comments were received that explored
various aspects of Whole Leadership
and informed the development of the
framework. Additional feedback was
solicited at the 2016 Leadership Connec-
tions™ conference from key national
stakeholders serving on the McCormick
Center’s Advisory Board and from

Michael B. Abel, Ph.D. is the Director of
Research and Evaluation at the
McCormick Center for Early Childhood
Leadership at National Louis University
where he designs and implements
original research studies regarding

administrative practice in early childhood programs. In
addition to his work at the McCormick Center, he has
experience as a researcher, college instructor, institute
operations manager, child care center director, and
elementary school administrator. He holds an
Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Educational Leadership Policy
and Foundations, an M.A. in Educational
Administration, and an M.A. in Early Childhood
Education.

Teri N. Talan, Ed.D., J.D., is the Michael W.
Louis Chair of the McCormick Center for
Early Childhood Leadership and Professor
of Early Childhood Education at National
Louis University in Wheeling, Illinois. She
promotes action by state and national

policymakers on early childhood leadership, workforce
development, and program administration issues. She
holds a law degree from Northwestern University as
well as an Ed.D. in Adult and Continuing Education and
an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy
from National Louis University.

Marie Masterson, Ph.D., is the Director of
Quality Assessment at the McCormick
Center for Early Childhood Leadership at
National Louis University and former
professor of early childhood education.
She is a national speaker, child behavior

expert, researcher, and author. She is an educational
consultant to state departments of education, schools,
child care centers, and social-service and parenting
organizations. Dr. Masterson is a Fulbright specialist
and former early childhood specialist for the Virginia
Department of Education.

WHOLE LEADERSHIP:

A Framework for Early Childhood Programs

by Mike Abel, Teri Talan, and Marie Masterson

Copyright © Exchange Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be

reprinted for noncommercial personal use only.
Visit us at www.ChildCareExchange.com or

call (800) 221-2864.

www.ChildCareExchange.com EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP 23
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 EXCHANGE

Start and Early Head Start grantees, and
military child care programs. Public
and private elementary schools, serving
Pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade
children, may have leadership roles
located at the district or regional levels.
The framework is useful when consid-
ering the formal and informal leader-
ship structures or roles in each of these
settings.

Leadership Essentials

Leadership essentials include the
personal skills and attributes on which
administrative and pedagogical leader-
ships are built. The competencies
influence and motivate all other areas of
leadership vision and practice. Leader-
ship essentials are embodied by the
leader as necessary anchors for success.

participants in a featured conference
session, video interviews, and written
responses to a survey. This important
feedback provided a deep and rich
exploration of the concepts that led
to the Whole Leadership Framework
presented in this article.

Whole Leadership Framework

The Whole Leadership Framework is
designed to clarify our understanding
about leadership in early childhood
education at the program level. Drawing
from Kagan and Bowman’s seminal
work, Leadership in Early Care and Educa-
tion,2 the framework highlights three
primary domains: leadership essen-
tials, administrative leadership, and
pedagogical leadership. It is important
to note that there is overlap between

each of these domains, reflecting an
interdependent relationship. Few leader-
ship roles and functions are mutually
exclusive. Rather, leadership exercised
in one domain impacts and/or requires
reciprocal leadership in the other
domains.

The Whole Leadership Framework can
be applied to early childhood programs
serving young children in a variety of
settings: centers, schools, and homes.
Early childhood centers include: Head
Start, Early Head Start, state-funded
Pre-K, as well as for-profit, non-profit,
public, private, employer-sponsored, and
college-affiliated child care programs.
Multi-site organizations have leadership
structures with oversight of more than
one site. These entities include: corporate
child care programs, multi-site Head

ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

Coordinating work and mobilizing people to ensure
the organization remains stable and continues to grow.

▪ Operational leadership: Hiring and supporting
staff, overseeing budgets, and fostering positive
workplace climates

▪ Strategic leadership: Goal setting and guiding
future program direction

▪ Advocacy leadership: Acting as an
ambassador for the needs of children,

families, and programs

▪ Community leadership:
Collaborating with organizations
within the local community on
behalf of the children and
families served

LEADERSHIP
ESSENTIALS
Foundational competencies and
individual qualities necessary for
leading people that are expressed
in personal leadership styles and dispositions.
Leadership essentials are often developed through reflective practice.

▪ Self-efficacy
▪ Empathy
▪ Creativity
▪ Authenticity

▪ Humility
▪ Transparency
▪ Adaptability
▪ Learner

Personal Attributes:

Whole Leadership Framework
FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS (BIRTH TO AGE 8)

PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP

Leading the art and science of teaching with an
emphasis on educator dispositions and high quality
interactions with children. This includes ensuring
fidelity to curricular philosophy, assessing children’s
development and learning, using data for evaluation,
and optimizing learning environments.

▪ Instructional leadership: Supporting
classroom teachers in implementing
curriculum

▪ Family engagement: Promoting
partnerships with families and
fostering family leadership

WHOLE
LEADERSHIP
is an inter-dependent
relationship that exists

between leadership domains.
A balanced perspective

is necessary when
performing administrative

functions.

TOOLS FOR

PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP

▪ Knowledge of evidence-based pedagogy
▪ Knowledge of assessment methodology
▪ Knowledge of adult learning
▪ Coaching and mentoring skills
▪ Ability to apply child development theory and

research
▪ Technical credibility
▪ Family focus

TOOLS FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

▪ Ability to plan strategically
▪ Expertise in systems development
▪ Financial and legal knowledge and skills
▪ Awareness of organizational climate
▪ Public relations and marketing expertise
▪ Entrepreneurial focus
▪ Ability to interpret data
▪ Ability to advocate on behalf of young children,

their families, and the profession

▪ Ability to create organizational culture built on
norms of continuing quality improvement

▪ Ability to build community partnerships to
ensure Pre-K – 3rd learning continuum

TOOLS FOR

LEADERSHIP ESSENTIALS

▪ Awareness of self and others
▪ Knowledge of the profession
▪ Communication and team-building skills
▪ Cultural competence

▪ Ethical conduct and morality
▪ Intentionality
▪ Ability to motivate people

24 EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP www.ChildCareExchange.com
EXCHANGE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

ence within an organization as well as
expand that influence outward to impact
the full early childhood system. The core
values and dynamics of interpersonal
vitality are indeed leadership essentials
needed by all leaders.

Administrative Leadership

Administrative leadership is about
setting goals, orchestrating work, and
mobilizing people to sustain an early
childhood organization. Effective
administrative leaders establish systems
for consistent implementation of
program operations to meet the needs of
children, families, and staff. There are at
least two important aspects of adminis-
trative leadership: operational leader-
ship and strategic leadership.

Operational leadership is accomplished
through critical functions such as hiring,
evaluating, and supporting teaching

They include the foundational compe-
tencies necessary for leading people that
are expressed in personal leadership
styles and dispositions.

Leadership essentials create the fertile
and healthy environment that results
in a greater degree of collaboration,
efficacy, creativity, and ethical commit-
ment for everyone involved, including
the leader. In this way, leadership is a
shared responsibility and depends on
mutual engagement and commitment
within the context of trust and commu-
nication. Thus, both administrative and
pedagogical leaderships can be maxi-
mized.

The Whole Leadership Framework is
anchored by the personal knowledge,
skills, and dispositions that foster
increasing strength and capacity of
everyone in the organization. The vital
core dispositions flow from authentic
relationships and mutual vulner-
ability that promote shared empathy
and collegiality. Because leadership
requires mutual interdependence and
influence, it is encompassed within the
context of ongoing reflective practice
and is strengthened through mutually
beneficial dialog among an organiza-
tion’s members. With these foundational
competencies, leaders will be able
to maximize their leadership influ-

staff; developing budgets aligned with
program goals and needs; and maintaining
a positive organizational culture and
climate.

Strategic leadership involves guiding the
direction of an early childhood organiza-
tion with the future in mind. Strategic
leaders clarify mission and values, inspire
staff to pursue a shared vision, and ensure
that program goals and outcomes are
attained.

Strategic leadership is not just internally
focused. Administrative leaders need to
communicate and align their program
services with those of other community
organizations serving young children and
families. Advocacy is another essential
aspect of strategic leadership. Effective
administrative leaders are future oriented;
they engage in advocacy because they
want to have influence on the external
conditions (professional standards, regu-
lations, and government policies) that
impact young children, families, and early
childhood programs.

Administrative and pedagogical lead-
ership are separate but connected. For
example, the most qualified, skilled
teachers will not be effective teaching
young children if the organizational condi-
tions in which they work (e.g. supervisor
support, opportunities for professional
growth, shared decision-making, collegi-
ality, rewards and recognition, role clarity,

TOOLS FOR
PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP

• Knowledge of evidence-based
pedagogy

• Knowledge of assessment
methodology

• Knowledge of adult learning
• Coaching and mentoring skills
• Ability to apply child development

theory and research
• Technical credibility

• Family focus

TOOLS FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP

• Ability to plan strategically
• Expertise in systems

development
• Financial and legal

knowledge and skills
• Awareness of organizational cli-

mate
• Public relations and

marketing expertise
• Entrepreneurial focus
• Ability to interpret data
• Ability to advocate on behalf

of young children, their families,
and the profession

• Ability to create organizational
culture built on norms of
continuing quality improvement

• Ability to build community
partnerships to ensure
Pre-K – 3rd learning continuum

TOOLS FOR
LEADERSHIP ESSENTIALS

• Awareness of self and others
• Knowledge of the profession
• Communication and team-

building skills
• Cultural competence
• Ethical conduct and morality
• Intentionality
• Ability to motivate people

www.ChildCareExchange.com EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERSHIP 25
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 EXCHANGE

task orientation, innovativeness, and
physical environment) are not adequately
supportive. Administrative leadership
ensures the organizational conditions in
which teachers and other staff can do their
best work so that children and families
thrive.

Pedagogical Leadership

Leadership exercised to improve the art
and science of teaching is found in the
pedagogical domain. Our conception of
teaching is a broad interpretation — span-
ning the birth to third grade continuum
— that includes activities to optimize
child development and learning. Peda-
gogical leadership attends to educator
dispositions and high-quality interactions
with children. Activities of individuals
exercising pedagogical leadership include
ensuring fidelity to curricular philosophy,
assessing children’s development and
learning, using data for evaluation, and
optimizing learning environments.

Pedagogical leadership includes instruc-
tional leadership — supporting classroom
teachers in implementing curriculum, but
we differentiate pedagogical leadership
as a broader term that embodies activi-
ties that occur in early childhood settings
that some individuals may not associate
with instruction. For example, some
educators may not consider encouraging
infant teachers to talk with babies during
diapering routines as part of instruction.
Therefore, we choose pedagogical leader-
ship as a broader, more inclusive term.

Effective pedagogical leadership requires
promoting partnerships with families
— essential to children’s learning and
growth. Depending on the setting and
organizational structure, pedagogical
leadership in early childhood programs
may also foster family engagement.

Tools for Whole Leadership

The Whole Leadership Framework
includes key competencies for performing

within each domain. Many personal
characteristics could have been included
as tools, but we chose to select attributes,
knowledge, and skills that can be improved
through professional development. This
focus on application is useful as leaders
consider their own skill set and as systems
leaders work to improve leadership
capacity in our field. As with the primary
graphic representation of the framework,
there is considerable overlap of competen-
cies across domains. To varying degrees,
knowledge and skills necessary for effec-
tive administrative leadership have appli-
cability for pedagogical leadership and vice
versa. The tools for leadership essentials
are foundational for the other domains.

The Whole Leadership Framework is
adaptive,3 in that certain organizational
characteristics or personal traits may be
more highly valued or better suited to meet
primary needs at any given time or for
specific situations. We believe that all early
childhood leaders should have compe-
tency in leadership essentials and basic
knowledge and skills in both the peda-
gogical and administrative domains — a
balanced leadership perspective. However,
depending on the early childhood setting,
leadership may be distributed to multiple
individuals. A distributed perspective to
leadership recognizes that persons in posi-
tions of authority choose to share certain
leadership functions with others in the
organization, both in formal and informal
roles.4, 5 Shared leadership draws upon the
collective competence or efficacy of various
persons in an organization like administra-
tors, coordinators, teacher leaders, parents,
owners, board members, and community
leaders, resulting in collective leadership
capacity. Collective leadership efficacy can
improve teaching practice and workplace
climate.6, 7

Implications for the Use of
The Whole Leadership Framework

We believe the Whole Leadership Frame-
work can serve as a useful tool for early
childhood systems leaders, higher educa-

tion administrators, training and technical
assistance developers, policymakers, and
other individuals seeking to improve
early childhood leadership and increase
capacity of the workforce. We also believe
the framework will be useful for indi-
viduals working in schools and organiza-
tions serving children birth through third
grade to help them place leadership func-
tions and competencies in an organized
context. Most of all, we hope that it will
establish a common language about early
childhood organizational leadership as a
lever to increase the quality of early child-
hood programs and to advance the field
in support of young children and families.

Endnotes

1 Institute of Medicine (U.S.) & National
Research Council (U.S.) (2015). Transforming
the workforce for children birth through age 8: A
unifying foundation. Washington, DC: National
Academies Press.

2 Kagan, S. L., & Bowman, B. T. (Eds.).
(1997). Leadership in early care and education.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.

3 Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009).
The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics
for changing your organization and the world.
Boston: Harvard Business School.

4 Spillane, J. P., & Healey, K. (2010). Conceptu-
alizing school leadership and management
from a distributed perspective: An exploration
of some study operations and measures. The
Elementary School Journal 3(2), 253–281.

5 Talan, T. (2010). Distributed leadership: Some-
thing new or something borrowed? Exchange,
193, 8–10.

6 Bloom, P. J., & Abel, M. B. (2015). Expanding
the lens — Leadership as an organizational
asset. Young Children, 70(2), 8–13.

7 Louis, K. S., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K. L.,
& Anderson, S. E. (2010). Collective leadership
effects on teachers and students — Learning from
leadership. The Wallace Foundation. Retrieved:
www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-
center/Pages/1_1-collective-leadership-
learning-from-leadership.aspx

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