Building higher education community: A lesson from Nebraska

Hierarchical leadership models are not well matched to the early childhood field, which is a complex, diverse system where early childhood educators serve in multiple dynamic roles. Distributed leadership, which involves collaboration, inclusive engagement, and shared problem-solving, typifies efforts of leaders who advocate and work toward systemic change. This chapter explains how early childhood teacher educators used distributed leadership to push for statewide changes that removed barriers to degree completion for early childhood educators. In Phase 1, educators used a shared set of competencies and a common course system to improve articulation agreements between two- and four-year colleges. In Phase 2, educators expanded, revised, and delineated core competencies from national standards (NAEYC, CEC, DEC) to inform state endorsements. In Phase 3, educators built an inclusive, formal network to lay a foundation for a statewide articulation agreement system that will incorporate the Power to Profession's unified framework and standards.