Building Practitioner Resilience for Change in EI/ECSE

Samin, a district preschool special education coordinator, hires Mira, a new teacher with a master’s degree in early childhood special education. The two had connected at a local conference about promoting social–emotional outcomes in young children and Mira expressed enthusiasm about a new related initiative in the district. Samin is eager to support Mira’s success and considers asking her to meet routinely over the school year. She envisions these informal conversations as a safe space where Mira can ask questions about the initiative, identify what is going well, and action plan for challenges. She reaches out to Mira before the start of the school year to welcome her and suggest these reflective meetings, but then pauses to think about the change process. She doesn’t want to overwhelm Mira. She chooses to wait until after the training to check in about Mira’s “readiness” for the change ahead.