The Visionary Director: A Handbook for Dreaming, Organizing, and Improvising in Your Center

by Margie Carter, Deb Curtis

An inspiring and practical guide to creating a larger vision in early child care, this popular professional development tool has been thoroughly revised and offers a concrete framework for organizing an early childhood center director's ideas and work. Updated and expanded, it reflects new requirements and initiatives for center directors and addresses topics including cultivating a vision, developing "systems thinking" for management roles, implementing principles and strategies for mentoring, building a learning community for adults and children, and bringing visions to life. The Visionary Director provides directors with information to perform their jobs with motivation and creativity.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

Published July 1, 2002

Reviews

[Karina Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Visionary Director is about running a relationship-based early learning center. It is for directors to help teach them to support staff, families, and create an inclusive, accepting community. It encourages the creation of a vision that everyone is a part of and can believe in. It is a guide for mentoring and coaching, and gives concrete outlines of usable strategies to help you succeed.

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good book and ideas about being a director but I hate reading books for work. I’d rather read for pleasure.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my work as a Child Development Program Director and as a classroom teacher of preschool children I have found The Visionary Director a great resource in many areas of my respective jobs. The inspiration and vision of working as part of a learning team came through in reading this text on being a director in a large school district of all the child development services offered by the district. I used it to help train staff, other child development professionals and for a personal reference many times over the years I have own The Visionary Director, a Handbook for Dreaming, Organizing & Improvising in Your Center. I keep coming back to thinking of myself as a mentor for staff rather than a boss. One central idea that has influenced me is that the happier the staff, the better care given to the children and I think this book gives directors to look at staff in an entirely new manner and to make centers better places to work and better for our young children. The Visionary Director is a great reference book and assets to have in my collection of professional books and one I use often.

[Amanda Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for the future director or even a teacher in an early childhood program. This book indicates a variety of very respectable terms to use when establishing a vision for your program. They provide lots of principles and strategies.

[Andrea Putman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful ideas for teachers, directors and people looking to open their own school. I wish this book was photo rich like some of their other books.