Lesson 4.3

Lesson 4.3

Introduction

Children who do not make a successful school transition may struggle over time with academic performance and achievement, quality relationships with peers, display of pro-social behaviors, educational attainment, and job success (Conger & Benjamin, 1999). Programs that provide support to children in the early years indicate success in preparing children for school, building collaboration between early education and healthcare, and assisting children and families toward healthy development. The greatest benefits of early childhood programs that target children and families prior to kindergarten or formal schooling tend to accrue for those children who are most disadvantaged. Costs associated with children who are not prepared for school and ready to learn include delayed treatment for health or developmental concerns, educational costs for special services or behavioral health, and future concerns about delinquency or limited productivity. Young children are most likely to exhibit healthy development and enter school ready to learn as families, schools, and communities work together to provide an atmosphere intended to support the well-being of children across all aspects of growth and development.

Discussion

Essential to leading self authentically is finding your voice; thus, the quest for self-leadership is primarily an inner journey to discover our true selves, our identity. In the quest toward authenticity, there often exists a tension between our personal identity and our social role (Badaracco, 2006). It has been suggested that authenticity comes when we no longer believe that to be is to be like the roles and models we inherit and come to understand that to be is to be who we are. We can too easily become “beings for another” that is whether the organization, the community or society.

Roles have defining attributions, that is, one can attribute certain qualities to one's self based on one's roles. How we define ourselves and our places in ...