As a leader in early childhood education (ECE), you have a powerful role in supporting change to achieve better programs and practices. While change and development are ongoing and often necessary for growth, resistance to change is common because a dynamic environment is moving away from the known and comfortable. As an educational leader, it is important to embrace constructive change while inspiring others to do the same. Kouzes and Posner determined that effective leaders engage in five leadership practices to inspire change that accomplishes extraordinary things. These leaders “Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and last but certainly not least, they Encourage the Heart” (Kouzes and Posner, n.d., para. 1).

Think about one area in the field of ECE that you feel passionately about as a leader. This could be a topic connected to any area in the field where you believe change is needed. Use any other source of credible or scholarly sources to locate two articles that support the need for change in this particular area.

In an initial post of 300-400 words,

· Provide a full APA citation for each article and share links so your classmates can review these sources.

· Briefly summarize the key information and main points and positions put forth in each of the articles.

· Critically assess each article with respect to its usefulness to ECE leaders.

· For each article, describe how you would apply the knowledge and practices described to bring about needed change in the ECE environments you will lead.