WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO

The emergence and development of leading in early childhood education WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO

In the July 2019 edition of Rattler, Leanne Gibbs shared an insight into her research study on how leadership emerges and develops in early childhood education settings. In this edition, Leanne talks about the study results including what emerging leadership looks like and how organisations cultivate and develop leading to deliver high quality early childhood education. The research was undertaken within education settings with different governance arrangements. All centres were rated as Exceeding in all elements in all quality areas.

WHY WE NEED TO STUDY LEADERSHIP IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION How leadership emerges and develops in Australian early childhood settings is becoming a more compelling and important question as the demand for early childhood education and care grows (ECEC), and therefore, demand for more positional leaders increases. Positional leadership roles are embedded within the standards and regulations. With the expansion of early childhood education, it follows that we would need more leaders, but where will they come from and how will they be prepared to lead?

We know that the pathway to a formal leadership role is not always straightforward. Educators can find themselves in leadership roles without the adequate preparation or confidence to undertake the challenges of leading. Professional development offerings don’t always support the important learning for the complex task of leading people, policy and pedagogy in ECEC.

So, what would it take to identify those people who are emerging as leaders and to cultivate their leadership and the leadership of formal leaders in early childhood education settings? How can organisations do the ‘heavy lifting’ on leadership development and overcome the expectation that, somehow, charismatic, heroic leaders will materialise and take on formal leadership roles?

REDEFINING ‘LEADERSHIP’ Whilst leadership in early childhood education has been historically conceptualised as a role framed by three elements; the person (traits, values, personality), the place (ECE settings) and the position (formal leader), we are seeing new propositions for leadership. In contemporary constructs, leadership is increasingly identifying as relational, participative and as a practice.

To take this thinking a step further,

leadership could be redefined as:

leading where “socially just practice

occurs as a relational activity in a

collective, (and) as a dynamic activity

that can be undertaken by anyone,

not just those in formal roles”. 1 This

definition of ‘leading’ aligns with a values driven profession like early childhood education. The definition opens the leadership story up for

Through the practice of leading, educators are preparing not just for future formal roles of leadership, but they are also sharing the leadership role through participation in decision making, communicating, vision setting and acting in autonomous ways in their pedagogy and practice. This is, by far, a more sustainable way for leadership to be enacted in early childhood settings, where people participate in the practice of leading to deliver a highquality program.

REFOCUSING THE STORY OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT So perhaps, rather than focusing all efforts on developing positional leaders, organisations could look at identifying emerging leaders. They could then consider how to support development and shape their leadership practice. As a foundation for identifying emerging leaders, it helps if we have an understanding of what leaders look like in effective early childhood settings.

Research (for example Siraj Blatchford and Manni) tells us that the practices of leaders on effective ECE sites include: effective communication; contextual literacy; critical reflection; a commitment to ongoing professional development, community partnership and using evidence to drive improvement and outcomes.

In my research study, I looked for people across each organisation who practiced leading in this way. Then I took it a step further to try to

“In contemporary constructs, leadership is increasingly identifying as relational, participative and as a practice”

understand who these people were, what drove their practice and how their practice was shaped. I found that emerging and existing leaders on these sites had sound professional knowledge and identity, effective skills of pedagogy and held values that were founded in social justice practice. They were also innovative and creative, passionate, and felt autonomous in their decision making and actions.

These educators were ‘leading’ as a socially just practice. They saw their common purpose as the delivery of high-quality early childhood education for children and families-not just driven by standards and compliance requirements. Their leading practices pursued high quality, inclusive, creative environments that were framed by the regulations but driven by their own values and professional understandings of early childhood education.

ORGANISATIONS SHAPING LEADERSHIP PRACTICE So-did these ‘leading’ educators present themselves as fully formed leaders able to act autonomously, and independently with confidence?

This was where the next stage of the research came in.

I interviewed people and conducted a dialogic café-an emergent type focus group designed to learn how organisations shape peoples’ practice of leading. These methods of investigation helped me to see how the organisational culture, the resourcing and the social arrangements on the site cultivated and shaped both emerging and formal leadership.

The culture, the resources and the social space Each site was different, particularly as they all had different governance arrangements (for example-local government, or board managed). However, all sites had some common practices and approaches that cultivated and shaped leadership.

⊲ There was a strong culture of trust and a philosophy that encouraged autonomy.

⊲ Individuals and teams used a shared professional language that helped them to navigate conversations with each other and to build a community focused on quality.

⊲ There was freedom to have professional conversations and to informally mentor and coach each other. These conversations were considered to be as important as engaging with the children and physical spaces were created to make the conversations possible.

⊲ Educators were adequately resourced to pursue projects and ideas they had conceived and led. Physical spaces were altered to enable innovation and creativity.

“I found that emerging and existing leaders ...had sound professional knowledge and identity, effective skills of pedagogy and held values that were founded in social justice practice.”

“I think you’ll see it [leadership] in the spaces, you’ll see it as you walk around, you’ll see it in the philosophy, you’ll see it in the work being done. We are all able to have leadership in the work that we do. We are all able to have our own ideas, our own personalities, our own interests, our own passions and desires. We are the ones making that happen. I can run that program...” Theresa, study participant

⊲ Leadership development was very important. The scope and range of the development was differentsome had formal approaches, whilst others gave individual educators agency to choose their own approaches to leadership development. The important thing was that it happened.

⊲ Role autonomy and equality was important. Positional leaders included emerging leaders in important meetings where they could learn about administration, funding, policy and integrated working with families.

⊲ Organisations challenged educators and encouraged innovation.

"This is a place where I want to be at this point because it’s passionate, it’s forward thinking, it’s all these things that I love, and it challenges me as well. You don’t want to go to a place that's all the same every day." Koral, study participant

The quality of leading and leadership gains greater importance as the early childhood education space expands and we see the growth of settings and workforce changes. The more complex the ECE landscape becomes the more important it is to have sustainable approaches to both the development and the practice of leadership. By redefining and decentralising leadership there is an opportunity for the proliferation of leading as a socially just practice. Organisations can then take up the challenge of cultivating and shaping leading as a practice through the conditions they create on each ECE site so that leading is actually…all around us.

Thank you to the early childhood education settings and educators who were involved in this research project investigating leadership, nested in the Charles Sturt University led ARC and industry funded study ‘Exemplary educators at work’. 

Leanne Gibbs is a researcher, author and consultant on leadership and public policy in early childhood education. She holds the position of principal researcher at a large public provider of early childhood education and is a doctoral candidate at Charles Sturt University.

REFERENCES: Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Manni, L. (2007). Effective leadership in the early years sector: The ELEYS study. Institute of Education Press. Waniganayake, M., Cheeseman, S., Fenech, M., Hadley, F., & Shepherd, W. (2016). Leadership: Contexts and complexities in early childhood education. Oxford University Press. Wilkinson, J., Olin, A., Lund, T., Ahlberg, A., & Nyvaller, M. (2010). Leading praxis: Exploring educational leadership through the lens of practice architecture. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 18(1), 67-79. [1] (Wilkinson, Olin, Lund, Ahlberg, & Nyvaller, 2010).

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mindfulness with babies Ways to practice

Mindfulness and yoga for children has been shown to have great health and wellbeing benefits such as a reduction

in stress and anxiety, greater focus, better memory and behaviour (Harvard Medical School , 2016). It can also be beneficial for babies.

8 TIPS FOR INTRODUCING MINDFULNESS TO BABIES:

Be fully present with them when you interact

Look into their eyes

Sing to them

Talk to them and tell them to be aware of their senses

Show them different objects and give them time to really observe and see the items

Encourage them to touch their surroundings and feel different textures

Give them an opportunity to explore their taste and smell

Expose them to different sounds