Ready or Not: Leadership Choices in Early Care and Education (Early Childhood Education Series)

After more than a century of evolution, early childhood care and education in the United States is in transition. In this frank discussion of the field's purpose, identity, and responsibility, the authors examine the major issues that must be addressed if children are to be given more and better opportunities. They show how adaptive leadership work can unify the field, create openness to new change strategies, generate a shared vision, and build a viable strategy for its achievement.

This provocative volume:

• Examines the leadership challenges of early childhood education, drawing lessons from extensive interviews and focus groups and from historical analyses.
• Suggests how the early care and education field can position itself to take charge of its future, rather than being driven by external influences.
• Outlines the need to focus internally, along with a challenging assessment of the field’s resistance to change.
• Focuses on the necessity for the early care and education field to engage in critical adaptive work or risk the consequences of not doing so.