July 2021 – CEED

An update from the director

Ann Bailey, PhD, director of CEED, shares an update on our work.

Dear CEED Community,

Summer is in full swing, and many people are taking advantage of the season for vacationing, getting out on the water, or just lying in a hammock with a cool beverage. Here at CEED, however, we often find ourselves just as busy during the summer months as the people we serve: the early childhood professional workforce. I wanted to share an update on our recent activities as well as a look at a major new project.

In June, we hosted over 200 early childhood professionals at our first-ever online Minnesota Early Intervention Summer Institute. The Summer Institute is an annual professional development event that provides high-quality, evidence-based content to early childhood educators, early childhood special educators, and related services personnel across Minnesota. CEED’s Deborah Ottman and Karen Anderson develop, organize, and implement the event. This year, CEED personnel—Kristina Erstad-Sankey; Anne Larson, PhD; Margie Milenova, PhD; and myself—presented two out of the five tracks offered. We were delighted to be able to host our early childhood colleagues after the 2020 Summer Institute had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. We very much hope you will join us next year. 2022 will be the 40th anniversary of the very first Summer Institute!

Additionally, CEED is very pleased to announce that we received a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to implement a statewide system that supports child care trainers and relationship-based professional development (RBPD) specialists. This project, known as TARSS, will significantly add to our work and our mission of “Integrating the science of early development to enhance the work of professionals through evidence-based research, program quality, reflective practice, and professional development.” Read more about TARSS here. Coaches, trainers, and RBPD specialists can get in touch with us directly for assistance with their professional development needs.

As we anticipate getting back to our St. Paul campus offices in early August, we are also thinking about our colleagues throughout the University of Minnesota system and in the early childhood sector during these times of transition. We look forward to continuing to help practitioners and programs achieve the best outcomes for children and to seeing you in person once again. If you would like to learn more about CEED and our work, please feel free to reach out to me, or take a look at the opportunities that are available on our website.

With my best wishes for a healthy summer,

Ann Bailey, PhD
Director, CEED

CEED to provide professional development for trainers and coaches through State of Minnesota grant

CEED will be the new home of the Trainers and RBPD Specialists Support (TARSS) program through the State of Minnesota.

Trainers and RBPD specialists can access TARSS support from CEED staff by emailing tarss@umn.edu or calling 612-624-5708. Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; we will respond to calls and emails within one business day.

CEED is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Child Care Services Division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. CEED was awarded a contract to provide support for trainers and relationship-based professional development (RBPD) specialists who work with child care providers throughout the state of Minnesota. Through the Trainer And RBPD Specialist Support (TARSS) program, CEED will support the needs of trainers and RBPD specialists throughout the state by continuing to implement what is already working well within the current training and mentoring system, bringing innovative and culturally-responsive ideas to enhance this system, and evaluating the process and impact of these activities to inform future programmatic decisions.

Learn about the 2021 RBPD Fall Retreat and register!

Two smiling adults converse while sitting on a sofa in a preschool classroom

“We’re excited to be able to build upon the existing system and enhance support for child care trainers and RBPD specialists through the TARSS program,” said Ann Bailey, PhD, director of CEED. “We know that early childhood is a critical time in human development. Educators of young children are doing extremely important work and need more support. This support must include access to high-quality, usable content; training; coaching; and mentoring that leads to improved outcomes for young children. We look forward to drawing upon CEED’s 45 years of research and practical experience to maintain a highly-qualified and diverse support system for all trainers and RBPD specialists.”

The TARSS program is grounded in best practice for early childhood trainers and RBPD specialists. Research shows that these two related yet distinct disciplines have a meaningful impact on early childhood educators. Professional development opportunities for trainers and RBPD specialists will span a variety of formats, such as in-person and online events, along with opportunities for ongoing coaching and mentoring. The TARSS team aims to use innovative technologies to build communities which support peer learning. These technologies will also make coaching and mentoring services more accessible and customized for each professional’s schedule.

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Reflecting on complexity: Q & A with module author Tracy Schreifels

Tracy Schreifels, MS, LMFT, IMH-E® (IV), shares insights from developing the self-study module The Plot Thickens: Reflective Supervision for Groups.

Tracy Schreifels, MS, LMFT, IMH-E® (IV), is a therapist, reflective consultant, and executive director of Ellison Center, a non-profit early childhood mental health agency in the St. Cloud area. Schreifels teaches in the marriage and family therapy program at St. Cloud State University and is the co-chair of the Advisory Board for the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health – Infant and Early Childhood Division. In addition to teaching CEED online courses, Schreifels authored two of CEED’s self-study modules: A Guide for the Guide: The “How” of Reflective Supervision and The Plot Thickens: Reflective Supervision for Groups. In this Q & A, she discusses The Plot Thickens.

Who do you see as the audience or audiences for this module? Who do you think would benefit from enrolling in it?

Tracy Schreifels: This module is designed for professionals who are preparing to lead group reflective supervision sessions either as consultants or supervisors. In order to provide reflective supervision, professionals should have a solid foundational understanding of the principles of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). They themselves should also be receiving ongoing reflective supervision.

This module would also work well for those who are looking to expand their skills. I would recommend it to professionals who have been providing individual reflective supervision and wish to add group offerings. I’d also recommend it to those who are looking for some new tools or ideas to try out when providing reflective supervision in this format.

Could you share some of the reflections or realizations you had while building the content for this module?

I always enjoy getting back into the literature around the dynamic and growing field of IECMH. As I explored the content and topics for this module, I found myself reflecting on my methods for starting reflective supervision with the groups I provide it to. Creating this module helped me be more intentional and aware of why I operate the way I do.

Putting together the module was also an opportunity to to reflect on how I learned to provide group reflective supervision and how much the field has changed since then. When I was being mentored on providing reflective supervision, there wasn’t much research on the topic that we could use to guide the process. It’s amazing how much the field has grown in the past 10 years! In addition, I found that the group formation process can be informed by evidence from the field of parent education. It’s astounding to me how all kinds of disciplines are needed to support this important work!

What drew you to the work of reflective practice and reflective supervision?

I was drawn into this field by amazing mentors. I have always had a passion for working with young children, and that guided me to get a degree in child and family studies. With that educational background, I worked as a preschool teacher as well as with caregivers and children. Along the way, the agency I was working for as a teacher brought in a reflective consultant to support us in our work. I looked forward to our monthly sessions, but when the grant funding ended, so did our reflective practice. I decided to go back to school to earn my master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, and I knew that I would specialize in IECMH.

What are the top three takeaways that you hope students come away with from your module?

First, I want students to be able to hold in mind the differences and similarities associated with group and individual reflective supervision. While the same foundation is used for both, the execution can be very different. Being able to process those similarities and differences can help us be more intentional in our approaches and better able to hold the perspectives of reflective supervision participants.

Second, reflecting on reflecting is essential. That is something I hope students take away from this module. I want students to consider the impact of group development. This field is founded on developmental principles, and those principles can inform group reflective supervision as well.

Third, I hope that students feel a sense of confidence after completing this module, so that they can step in to address concerns that arise in the group delivery model of reflective supervision. Holding in mind each participant, the group dynamics, and the work they are reflecting on is complex. This module was designed to help practitioners reflect on those complexities.

Are there any additional thoughts you would like to share?

We are never done learning. Professionals need the supportive relationships that develop in reflective supervision to support them and the children and families they work with as well. I hope that participants enjoy the content and allow themselves to reflect and process as they work through it.