Fostering a Culture of Collaboration Among Early Childhood Professionals in Higher Education

Collaboration among professionals is promoted in various disciplines. This Organizational Improvement Plan addresses a Problem of Practice (PoP) in a Canadian higher education institution. The PoP is the absence of a culture of collaboration among faculty of an Early Childhood Studies program. In the context of this plan, collaboration is defined as a multidimensional, ongoing process that includes interaction, time commitment, the exchange of expertise, and the maintenance of a professional working relationship with stakeholders in order to promote best outcomes. Failure to address this PoP is a disservice to children and their families. Leadership and faculty of the Early Childhood Studies program have an ethical obligation to engage in a culture of collaboration to promote skills, knowledge, and pedagogical practices that will produce graduates of the highest quality. A ripple effect of this change is that graduates will be better prepared to make the greatest possible difference by supporting children and their families to achieve equal outcomes and well-being. Central to this plan are three leadership approaches: transformational, participative, and mindful leadership. Social constructivism is the overarching theory framing this plan and is supported with organizational culture theory. A solution is identified, a union of reflective group practice and communities of practice, and a change path model is used to facilitate the change, with a focus on addressing resistance, communication, knowledge mobilization, and reflection. In addition, a participatory orientation to evaluation and the Plan, Do, Study, Act model are used to frame the monitoring and evaluation of the change. Keywords: collaboration, social constructivism, organizational culture, early childhood studies, reflective group practice, CoP