How Do They Manage? An Investigation of Early Childhood Leadership

Autor/inn/en	Aubrey, Carol; Godfrey, Ray; Harris, Alma
Titel	How Do They Manage? An Investigation of Early Childhood Leadership
Quelle	In: Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 41 (2013) 1, S.5-29 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1741-1432
DOI	10.1177/1741143212462702
Schlagwörter	Early Childhood Education; Decision Making; Leadership Responsibility; Leadership Role; Case Studies; Questionnaires; Semi Structured Interviews; Educational Administration; Problem Solving; Surveys; Foreign Countries; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Fragebogen; Bildungsverwaltung; Schuladministration; Schulverwaltung; Problemlösen; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Ausland
Abstract	Early childhood (EC) leadership literature indicates few theoretically based studies identifying and testing different models and characteristics of leadership. Objectives were thus to identify, describe and analyse what leadership meant to key EC participants; to consider roles, responsibilities and characteristics; to investigate core components; to capture practice and judge how it was understood and enacted. A case-study approach used 12 sites and multiple data-gathering methods: questionnaires; interviews; and in-depth "day in the life" video vignettes. Participants described their organizations as hierarchical in structure and traditional in strategic decision-making, yet collaborative in culture and operational functioning. Variation in leadership, management and administration patterns across settings indicated multiple leadership roles in diverse EC settings. Principal components analysis revealed that those with postgraduate qualifications favoured "leaders as guides"; those with professional heritages other than teaching leaned towards ‘leaders as strategists’; those with NVQ qualifications tended towards "leaders as motivators"; those with postgraduate qualifications also valued "leaders as business oriented". New models of leadership are thus worthy of consideration. Leaders acknowledged difficulty in standing back and reflecting, recognizing an essential aspect of leadership was ongoing thinking and decision-making, inaccessible unless they "talked-aloud" whilst engaging in professional practice. This suggests a need to increase self-understanding and alternative routes to problem-solving. (Contains 16 tables.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10