Fortifying the Front Line: The Marcus Collaborative Coaching Project

As professionals in the area of child development, we share the common goal that every child is supported in obtaining his or her fullest developmental potential. This can be achieved by empowering our front-line caregivers and teachers with expert knowledge and skills via communication, internalization, and practice through collaborative learning experiences with other specialists in the field. Though each team member brings a specific level of knowledge and experience to collaboration, there are important processes that must occur to ensure all tools are consolidated into appropriate support of the utmost quality for each child. These include understanding the process of adult learning, reflection, and how to effectively communicate accordingly. As each team member develops and hones their skills, each is able to coach others: other specialists, professionals, teachers, and even parents, multiplying the number of children who receive the highest level of developmental support exponentially. An example of practical implementation is seen in the Marcus Autism Center / DECAL Collaborative Coaching Project, whose goal is to train front-line caregivers to identify red flags for Autism as early as possible, and developmentally support accordingly