Leading with Heart: The Power of Valuing Teachers in Early Childhood Education

Hands-down, one of my most favorite things to do is travel to small towns and engage with the wonderful service providers of Head Start.

A small-town girl turned big-city woman gets to go into rural towns with big hair, fancy glasses, red lips, and a larger-than-life personality, pouring into people who change the lives of children every day.

This week I visited Fauquier County Head Start. I was scheduled to give a keynote to motivate their teachers as they start a new Head Start year.

The energy in the room was absolutely amazing.

And when I finished my talk, my spirit was full.

Before leaving, I talked to Ms. Pat, the Head Start Director, about the status of early childhood education (ECE) today.

During our conversation, I made a comment about the critical teacher retention and turnover that we are currently experiencing in ECE.

Ms. Pat told me that during and after the pandemic, she didn’t lose a single teacher.

As she said this, in my brain, I was thinking, “How is that even possible in the middle of a critical teacher shortage?”

No sooner than I could get the thought out of my head, Ms. Pat started to call the name of each teacher in the room and tell me their story.

One teacher started out as a bus monitor while her children were in Head Start, and now she’s a classroom teacher.

Another teacher was provided transportation by Ms. Pat and her team to get her GED, and now she’s getting her CDA and is a classroom teacher.

Another teacher had all three of her children go through Head Start; she served on their Policy Council as a parent, and now she is a Head Start teacher.

Head Start changes lives!!!!

Oftentimes when people think about early childhood education, they think about young children.

But Head Start understands that when working with young children, you must work with the entire family.

Head Start understands the importance of breaking generational cycles by pouring into parents and increasing their capacity.

After Ms. Pat went through the list of teachers in the room, telling me their stories one by one, I understood why Ms. Pat didn’t have turnover during a critical teacher shortage.

Because her teachers are seen, heard, valued, and supported.

Early childhood educators lay the foundation for children’s growth and development.

They do invaluable work with our youngest global citizens.

But they aren’t often recognized for the considerable contribution that they make to our society.

However, if you could see the smiles of pride on each one of those women’s faces as Ms. Pat called their names and told their stories of triumph, you could tell that those teachers felt valued, and you’d understand why Ms. Pat doesn’t have teacher turnover in the middle of a critical teacher shortage.

She knew, honored, and respected each of their stories.

She cared about them as people first.

When I walked out of that building after spending time with Ms. Pat and her team, I knew two things for sure: