I have just started work at a daycare it is chaos there!! Staff set in their ways unwilling to change help!!?

Question

How can I make simple suggesions to calm the place-without coming across as the 'know it all' new person?

There are a number of staff who have been there for YEARS and are VERY set in their ways. There are 3 new staff who have all started within the last 3 months and all 3 of us new grads cant believe the choas there!!!

Really simple things would help - not having so many toys out, insisting on please and thank yous, not calling out and grabbing food at meal times, encouraging children to put things away tidy when they have finished playing - really basic simple things that would make a big difference let alone the other things we want to try.

It feels like we cant even begin to get onto trying out new ideas when very simple things arent happening. There has been a routine change recently & the old staff are so catty about it and keep rolling their eyes and dragging their heels etc.

Any advice for handling devlopment resistant 'older timers'? Its just such extra hard work

Answer 1

Unfortunately I have seen this quite often.  Like Matt mentioned...it doesn't seem like you are a lead teacher so really all that you can do is be the example.  The three of you should get together and decide what needs the MOST attention and then the three of you do it yourselves...encouraging the proper behavior.  If you are in separate room...so be it...do it in your own rooms.  The others will notice.  Actions speak louder than words!

Answer 2

If if is that chaotic, I think I would bring it up at the next staff meeting saying these are the things we learned in school and can we try them? If they don't work, we will stop but we'd sure like to try, what do you think?  Ask the main staffer who you think is the leader and get her opinion first to  let her think you value her opinion.  This would be the best for the kids. I worked in a daycare for three years and it was just as you described - I absolutely hated it. I ran things the way I wanted in my room but then the other children would join in late in the day, at lunch  and early in the morning.  I ended up quitting and opening up my own preschool - not daycare - preschool and I love it.  Very structured and noone getting hurt or being  unmannerly.  Stick to your guns because you know that is not a healthy environment for those children to be in.

Answer 3

What is your actual role and how long have you worked there?  I think it's important to bear in mind that if this situation is quite new to you, there might be more to the situation than meets the eye; there could be an endless list of why things are the way they are and this doesn't necessarily relate to the longer standing staff members being 'lazy' (as suggested by another answerer) or out of touch with standards.  Think about how you might be perceived by other staff members (maybe you ARE coming across a know-it-all?!) and remember that these people have experience in what they are doing; if you are one of three new staff members and routines have changed as well, do you know why this has come about?  What are the reasons for the routine changes/staff changes?  The staff who have been there for a longer time might still be adjusting to the changes that have been made, they might be following certain procedures or adhering to wishes of the parents.  Have you spoken to the daycare Manager about rules, regulations, policies, home-school agreements etc etc?  Were you aware of how the daycare was run before you started working there?  Did you visit the daycare before you interviewed?  I think you need to be wary that you are not being disrespectful of these other members of staff, the way you refer 'handling' 'old timers' 'dragging their heels' suggests a negative attitude towards the situation, and it could be that these staff members are picking up on that negativity and becoming defensive because of it.

You might want to consider whether the issues you have with the way the Daycare is run is affecting children's learning?  What you see as chaos, untidiness and encouraging bad manners, to others might be encouraging independence and ignoring undesirable behaviours and rewarding good behaviours.

I am 25 and when I began working in my current teaching post in a Foundation Stage Unit, with a number of more experienced/older in years Teachers and Teaching Assistants, what seemed like chaos over the first months became a well thought out setting, with planning from many areas of the Curriculum, taking into account individual children's needs, using formative assessment on a regular basis etc etc.  I'm not saying this is the case for you though (!) so would suggest you ask for a meeting to discuss recent changes with routines and staff.  Rather than make it evident that you are baffled by the Daycare's systems, relate the meeting to ensuring new staff wanting to be clear on how things work, and ensuring that everybody is working consistently as a team and towards the same goal.  Turn negative statements into positive questions e.g. not having so many toys out = how many toys should be out in a morning/afternoon session? OR is there specific planning relating to the toys that are used in a session.  Ps and Qs, calling out, grabbing food = what systems do you have in place to ensure children are developing their Personal, Social and Emotional Development?  Alongside asking for Fire Evacuation Procedures, Health and Safety guidelines, ask for a list of 'key rules' that every staff member should be adhering to to ensure consistency for the children.  If you have genuine concerns about the work ethic of those particular staff members, ask questions that appear to be for your own guidance, but are checking that the staff members have standards set in place for the Daycare, and this will hopefully answer the questions you have too.  If the Daycare Manager is not included in that group of staff members, either ask for them to join the meeting or request a separate meeting with them.

Answer 4

I was in a child care centre with 3 'oldies' who were in charge and were so set in their ways! They wouldn't listen to any advice on how to do things more effectively. So I know exactly how you feel!

However, I was not succesful in changing anything that needed to be changed. I eventually left to teach instead and have my own classroom. I found, though, that the director would pay attention to books by reputable authors. Perhaps you could suggest some books to the old timers, which might have some of the more effective child care strategies.

Answer 5

I have been there done that and it is so dang hard you can not change how people are or force them to agree with what you believe in. I did modeling but that didn't work. What you need to do is get the director and parents on your side. Parents really pay attention if you are caring and put their child first and if they take it to the director and make comments about you and how well you are doing your job she/he might direct others to take notice and insist on a change it worked for me but I was just too tired and over drained to notice that I quit. The thing is you need a good director who is willing to go to bat for you and if you can get other teacher's in your room too the others will follow unwillingly though.They will but it will take time for older staff to see that sometimes you need a change to make things better and  that things run smoother if you do.

Answer 6

Ghandi said it best.  "Become the change you wish to see."  

I am in a similar situation as you right now.  I have a lot of things going on here and I am also in Taiwan and teaching at a school where the people do not speak English, for the most part.  So it's a total challenge to teach and change set ways.  If we look at behavioral studies, however, we see how to make these changes.  

Unlearning old behavior, especially if it's a bad habit, takes a lot of time.  Their bad behavior is laziness which, ironically, makes the job much more difficult to do.  What you have to decide is how the children want to see you.  I decided in my job that no matter how terribly the teachers here are treating the students, I want the students to see me as a positive influence.  I decided to not yell at the students, no matter how much I wanted to, because that is something they would expect.  That's what all the teachers before me did and that's what the teachers often do now.  I decided to start my class with a sort of ritual of singing the same song.  I made all these adjustments and stuck to them and, after a while (it wasn't close to immediately happening), the whole attitude of the class started to change and it became much more positive.

It sounds like you are not only new, but are not really the lead teacher in the classroom.  If there are 2 lead teachers, that's even more complicated.  Either way, I suggest not trying to change everything at once.  Someone who is set in their ways will simply look at that as you trying to undue what they feel is working.  Pick one thing, the please and thank you is a good place to start, and stick with it.  When I say "stick with it," I mean really REALLY stick with it.  Shaking hands when the student first comes in and saying "good morning" might be another simple thing you can do that starts to get the students' mindsets into place.  Just pick one...MAYBE 2 things...and realize you're working against years of bad practice.  Bad habits usually take months to undue if you are lucky.  

Just remember that, when you get frustrated, you can look at your day and say, "At least I made sure a child said 'thank you' every chance I saw it was important that he say that."

Change will happen.  Trust me.  It takes time, but it will happen.  But you must be the way you expect the change to be and demonstrate that perfectly, a little at a time.

Answer 7

I'm sorry to hear that you are working in a facility with unprofessional non-educators. I have had a similair experience in the past.

Can you speak to the director? Is he or she a part of the probelm? What about the owner of the school? You will need to document all your concerns carefully.

They will have to completely clear the decks at this school and start fresh to see changes. The people you work with should not be working with children. If your superiors will not help, leave and find a better school.