Piaget to the Search Committee

Piaget

To the search committee for the Kemp Community Health Center:

First and foremost, I would like to say how delighted I am to have had the opportunity to interview with the representatives of Kemp Community Health Center. The process has been both enlightening and illuminating regarding the perspective of the center on community health, specifically child development. As the selection process draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to make a final case for my candidacy and my ability to succeed in the position as CEO of the center. I think that my philosophy and background in childhood development is precisely what this center needs to realize its goal of improving childhood education, health, and wellness.

Children today are facing great stress: they are often forced to intellectually and emotionally walk before they can crawl. Having a community center with developmentally-appropriate learning for children of all ages enables children to gain a sense of confidence and autonomy at their own pace. Children must have that sense that 'I can do this' before they are pressed to move onto the next cognitive level of development. Piaget has stressed the critical role of timeliness: too often today children are rushed through their childhoods, especially now as parents are even more anxious about the future and their child's success in school. I hope that my commitment to healthcare, combined with my understanding of modern stressors that affect children and adults alike, can enrich the holistic perspective of the center.

Jean Piaget stressed that a child cannot comprehend certain concepts before he or she was ready. For example: a baby in the sensory-motor stage needs to gain mastery over his or her body; a preoperational toddler naturally sees him or herself as the center of the universe and must be taught otherwise through learning experiences and constructive play rather than through admonishment. These shifting developmental perspectives are not a reflection of a child's morality or bad parenting; rather they reflect the natural cognitive processes of brain development. A child in the concrete operational stage must explore the world and experiment rather than be grilled in abstractions before he or she ready. Only finally at the formal operational stage do we adults fully master the need for higher-order, abstract, philosophically-oriented thinking.

Piaget said a teacher must use the child's natural curiosities to help him or her learn: giving infants something to enable them to suck, chew, and touch; working on problems of mass and volume to teach math and spatial relation skills at the concrete operational stage in a fun way, and discussing ethical issues with emotionally mature adolescents. This varied perspective has been the foundation of my approach to creating learning strategies as an administrator, and the perspective that I will bring to Kemp.

I hope that my own higher-order thinking, as an adult who has worked a great deal with children at every age group, infuses my leadership. Because I have worked with individuals at every development stage, I am uniquely able to suit the message to the listener, and to create an array of programs that can address the challenges of the Kemp community. My background in both the practice and the theory of community health is strong, and informed by my own experiences and the experiences of those with whom I have worked.

Maturity, technical understanding of my profession and the ability to apply abstraction to the concrete demands of programming are all hallmarks of my administrative style. Some might say I am too exacting, too much of a perfectionist. But working with children has and will continue to make me more accepting of the need to 'break eggs' to make an omelet, to tolerate disorder to realize a goal. Even at the formal operations stage, an adult must know that his or her cherished philosophical goals and abstractions are not shared by everyone. It is necessary to motivate others through emotions as well as logic to make employees want to achieve critical objectives and benchmarks.

Learning how to convince other people, to make them share my ideals, has been a great learning experience for me in all of my leadership roles. A CEO, above all, cannot have the egocentric perspective of a child. Although it is expected of a child, a CEO must put aside such 'childish things' as concern for the ego, and instead focus on getting things done. This necessitates a keen understanding of what motivates others. Anyone can know 'what to do,' it is a leader that makes other people 'want to do it' and see it as necessary, and in their best interests to do so. I think that Kemp's team leadership approach will play to my new-found strengths and help me support a philosophy that fosters learning amongst all of those whom I work with.

I approach leadership as a teaching experience: like a teacher learns from a class, I believe that I must learn from every employee, every client. But I also believe I have a responsibility to direct, manage, and set the tone for those individuals who are my responsibility. Flexibility and individualization is always needed when addressing the needs of children and one of the great strengths of a community-based organization is that it is better equipped address every child's unique needs.

My research on Piaget has confirmed my conviction in the need for early intervention. Programs such as Head Start have demonstrated how children who receive preschool-level education can benefit from having reinforcement in the basics for years afterwards. And a multigenerational strategy should be adopted: parental and prenatal health must not be forgotten. Piaget's analysis of parents' critical roles in fostering development through games reminds us of the need to make parents feel included and valuable in fostering critical skills in their children.