Southwest Human Development is a leader in providing professional development opportunities for those who work with children and families.  Trainings are conducted by leaders in their fields and often include nationally known speakers.

Southwest Human Development is committed to training that is interactive and applicable to everyday work with children and families.  Key elements include group participation, discussion of real-lifeproblems and implementation of ideas learned during the training experience.

Early Education

Emergent Leaders

Class of 2011

Apply now for Class of 2010!

Research studies continue to acknowledge the critical role of Early Childhood Center Directors in establishing the overall quality of an early childhood program.  In recognition of such research, Southwest Human Development (SWHD) is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the 2010-2011 Arizona Early Education Emergent Leaders Program.

Since its inception in 2004, the Arizona Early Education Emergent Leaders Program has engaged/enrolled/impacted over 130 early childhood professionals who work in a variety of early childhood settings throughout Arizona.  Program participants have demonstrated significant improvement in a number of key leadership areas: program administration and management, knowledge of the best practices in teaching methodologies and philosophies, availability of state resources and in the creation of an early childhood professional support network.

From the beginning, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been a corporate partner of the program as part of their ongoing commitment to support early childhood professional development opportunities that improve early care and education environments for Arizona’s youngest children.  In 2009, Helios Education Foundation made a multiyear investment that will help with the overall initiative, including workshop content enhancement and presenters, mentor coaching, and alumni relations development.  The contribution also includes the opportunity for professional development projects related to language acquisition and literacy.

Early childhood directors face a multitude of challenges as they improve and maintain program quality.  The Arizona Early Education Emergent Leaders Program creates opportunities for the directors to broaden their current views on teaching, advocacy, and learning environments while providing a forum for each participant to reflect on their own personal attributes that impact on the culture of the early childhood program they direct. 

Goals of the Arizona Early Education Emergent Leaders Program include:

• Enhancing management and leadership skills.
• Engaging in leadership and professional development discussions.
• Providing a forum for collaboration and networking.
• Building leaders that reflect the cultural diversity of the children in Arizona’s early care and education programs.

By taking part in this program, participants gain knowledge of best practices for their teachers and classroom environments, and become more confident leaders as they positively impact early care and education, both in their own centers and across Arizona. Graduates of the Emergent Leaders classes of 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 have gone on to become:

• Directors of accredited centers, program administrators, mentors, trainers, and administrators at state and community agencies.
• Officers in state and local early childhood education professional organizations.
• Members of statewide and regional early childhood education committees and partnerships.

The program has four major components:

Cohort Learning Model

This one-year program uses a cohort learning model which provides participants with opportunities to share resources and strategies.  Relationships formed with other directors during the program year provide an informal support network that supports problem solving, resource development and creative approaches to staff development and training.  The opportunity to network and build relationships with directors working in centers throughout Arizona, as well as state leaders in early care and education, helps directors feel less isolated in their own programs and builds a base of resources that support their day-to-day work with their teaching staff, children, and families.

Mentor Support

Each director is assigned a mentor who supports and guides the director through the year long experience. The mentor’s role is to assist the director in implementing concepts, ideas, and information presented in the workshops by establishing a planning process which builds on strengths and identifies challenging areas.

Directors’ Project

A key element of the program is the Directors’ Project.  Each participant will work with their mentor and up to two teachers from their center to develop a project based on the content presented at the workshop session on the critical role of language and literacy. The project will enhance an aspect of language and literacy development of young children, support family literacy, and/or improve interactions between staff and children.  A summary of this project will be displayed at the graduation ceremony.

Workshops with National and State Experts

The Arizona Early Education Emergent Leaders Program includes an orientation and nine training sessions with national and local early care and education professionals.  Workshops are designed to help program directors access and build their leadership styles and skills, gain knowledge on critical areas of program quality including an emphasis on the importance of language and literacy, and social and emotional development.  The program addresses key components of program administration, provides an introduction to a number of assessment instruments, and creates opportunities to meet and learn from national experts in early care and education.  All workshops are held in the Phoenix area and are mandatory.

To apply now for the Arizona Early Education Emergent

Leaders Program Class of 2010, and to view the complete

list of workshops required for this program,

please click here.