Arife Arslan studied at ASH Berlin from April 2019 to September 2022 on the "Bachelor's degree in Childhood Education and Training: Leadership and Management / Professionally Integrated Form of Study". As a daycare center manager, the alumna shares with us in an interview how insights from her studies support the implementation of an inclusive educational concept. Arslan also names measures to tackle the daycare crisis and explains what is important to her as Managing Director
In September 2024, ASH Berlin celebrated the twentieth anniversary of childhood education courses with a major conference. Did you always know that your path would lead you into the management of a daycare center?
I always had the dream of founding my own independent youth welfare organization. For this reason, I have consciously continued to develop myself.
If we look at the educational concept of your facility, it describes inclusive work as a central concern in order to actively counteract discrimination. Are there insights from your studies in this concept?
Yes, there are numerous insights from your studies. For example, the theory of inclusion, intercultural education, participation, reflection and self-criticism as well as legal principles. These insights from the course support the implementation of an inclusive educational concept that actively counteracts discrimination and promotes respectful interaction.
The "daycare crisis" is a major topic at the moment. Educational scientist and ASH professor Rahel Dreyer and 300 researchers are calling for the establishment of a special fund (here is more information and the demand in detail as a pdf). What measures do you think daycare centers can take to find their way out of the crisis?
In order to solve the problem of the daycare crisis, it is indeed crucial that daycare center providers expand and improve their personnel development concepts. A well-thought-out concept for staff recruitment and development can help to find and retain qualified staff in the long term. The following measures could be important here: Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, offering training and further education opportunities, launching recruitment campaigns, mentoring and coaching programs, creating better working conditions. I also believe that support from the Senate is extremely important. As an independent provider, you are often limited by financial resources.
Back to your everyday life. What do you value about your job?
My position allows me to work in a variety of ways, I have the opportunity to network in different ways and I am constantly in contact with many providers and institutions. This gives me the chance to continuously improve the quality of my institution. I myself come from a practical background and have often experienced that questions from employees to providers have unfortunately remained unanswered due to a lack of knowledge. Being able to apply this experience as a childhood educator to my own team as a provider is extremely valuable to me.
As managing director, what do you want from future employees?
For me, the most important thing is that employees treat children - regardless of their ethnic background - as equals and are aware of their duty to protect them. The ability to work in a team is part of good cooperation.
One quote is important to me: "'Theory takes precedence over practice' means that science is normative and sets the values and then also wants to determine the tasks and goals for practice." (Engelke,1992, p.73) For me, this means putting theoretical knowledge into practice in order to be able to act in a solution-oriented manner and justify decisions.
Reliability, loyalty and professionalism as well as the willingness to constantly develop are extremely important to me.
What advice would you give (ASH) students?
The most important thing I think is that students should make contacts with their fellow students, lecturers and industry representatives as early as possible, because networks can open doors. Learn independently. Don't hesitate if something is unclear and seek help in good time. Pay attention to time management. Set priorities. Keep to-do lists, this provides an overview. And finally, make good use of your study time to explore different topics. What particularly helped me was that I reflected on the course content after the seminars, so I was able to find something useful for me from each one. We all know that not all seminars arouse interest, but each one has meaning. Curiosity is the key to personal and professional growth.
The questions were asked by Denis Demmerle.
Read more: Jurella gGmbH - "A small daycare center with heart & concept" - More on the homepage www.jurella.de
