GCC & Community Action Lead the Way in Early Care and Education

October 9, 2014

When Community Action’s staff couldn’t find enough college-level coursework in leadership to meet Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care requirements, Gwen Hawk knew who to call. Hawk, Education Manager for Community Action’s Parent Child Development Center (PCDC), phoned Kate Finnegan, Co-Chair of GCC’s Education Department, to talk about how to meet this workforce development need. That conversation led to Finnegan and Hawk creating and delivering EDU 244 “Leadership in Early Care and Education” in summer 2014 to 15 PCDC staff members from Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.

Hawk said, “I turned to GCC for several reasons. GCC is a responsive community player uniquely invested in the development of the early care and education workforce. GCC’s Education Department was instrumental to my success within the field. I would not be the leader I am today without the leadership, mentoring, and wisdom of the Education Department leaders at GCC. And, I know where to go to make things happen because GCC moves mountains when it comes to meeting community needs!”

Hawk and Finnegan quickly realized they each brought invaluable perspective and knowledge to the project and needed to co-create a course. Finnegan brought a background in academic scholarship on leadership in education and a broad theoretical perspective. Hawk, who holds an Associate in Science from GCC, an Associate in Arts, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, brought the context of working her way up from being an early childhood teacher to her current position managing the PCDC/Head Start education department in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Vision Project provided support for the development and delivery of the course.

Massachusetts rates licensed child care centers using the MA Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). For a program to achieve QRIS Level 3, the program’s administrator must have nine credits of college courses in leadership and management. Across the state, program administrators are having a hard time finding such courses. Most of the students in EDU 244 were PCDC site program administrators seeking credits to benefit their centers and careers.

Topics covered by the seven-week course focused on building the students’ capability as supervisors and mentors. To serve students working in three counties, Finnegan and Hawk chose an online/hybrid course format with reading and writing assignments, online discussions, and three face-to-face sessions. The face-to-face sessions featured speakers addressing challenging real-life workplace situations and student presentations.

Reflecting on the course’s impact on PCDC staff, Hawk said, “Early care and education is evolving as a field from a babysitter mindset to an educational professional mindset. There’s nothing more important than the care provided to children and it takes a lot to run an effective program. We have a dedicated workforce, but they they need more tools to help them do the job. This course is one of the tools.”

Finnegan sees EDU 244 as a model for other courses. She said, “When considering workforce development, we must listen to the people in the workplace. I could have developed an academically rigorous course on my own, but developing and delivering this course with Gwen meant it was very specific to the workforce needs and grounded in the here and now. It was wonderful to share a rapid, thoughtful, creative course development process with Gwen. We can learn broad lessons from this collaboration about excellence in college courses for workforce development.”

For information about EDU 244 and other GCC Education Department courses, contact Kate Finnegan at or 413-775-1125.

By Mary McClintock, 82