"Mastering Change"
Head Start Phase III Management Institute
November 27 - December 1, 1995, Atlanta and its post-Institute implementation:
Phase IV Mastering Change Initiative
1996-97

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Index [Pages on this site related to this initiative] ...

The Regional and State "Mastering Change" Initiatives

Audubon Area's Plan and Approach

The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge | A study in "systems thinking"

ACF's acceptance of Audubon Area's Phase IV plan and approach

Introduction

Head Start today needs high-functioning management teams able to respond quickly and appropriately in an environment of rapid change. To meet the challenge of rapid expansion, reduced funding, and/or Federal policy changes such as welfare reform or block grants, management teams need training of a particular kind: not training that will give them the answers to the many and different problems they face, but training that will build their capacity to develop their own answers.

That is the purpose of this training. It builds on the in-depth knowledge of management and leadership innovation and seeks to create for teams a "new lens" that will allow them to see how their leadership can help turn challenges into opportunities. Head Start may have been able to operate effectively under the direction of managers, but in the turbulent atmosphere in which programs are currently operating, effective leaders are essential for the program to survive. The training synthesizes the principles and best strategies available. Finally, the training adapts these principles and strategies to the complex world of Head Start, integrating theory and problem-solving applications to demonstrate how these strategies can work in a Head Start environment. As a result, we expect that teams will be better able to:

• Conduct or lead monitoring and evaluation activities

• Develop, analyze, and review grant applications

• Enhance program capacity through strategic planning and use of training and technical assistance

• Improve capacity for team and individual leadership.

Focus

A focus on four main features runs through the training:

• Improving communication: strengthening the ability to ensure accurate, sensitive, two-way communication, in group meetings, supervision sessions, and written exchanges

• Changing mental models: strengthening the ability to understand, articulate, and challenge the core beliefs that drive program operation

• Using systems thinking: strengthening the ability to recognize that a Head Start prprogram is a living, dynamic interconnected system

• Setting a vision for the future: strengthening the capacity to look beyond today's problems and consider possibilities for the future.