Developing a learning organization – creating a common culture of knowledge sharing

Abstract

Leadership in early education in times of change depicts topical issues of leadership within the context of Early Childhood Education (ECE) from various perspectives. It aims to contribute to the advancement of ECE leadership preparation and training as well as leadership enactment and governance by presenting current research and innovative ideas from five continents (Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America).Societal and educational reforms as well as increasing research on ECE leadership and pedagogy call for transformational and active leadership. The chapters in this book explore local solutions, innovations and leadership activity that respond to contemporary expectations and challenges in a timely manner. The studies presented in this book provide windows for proactive, advanced leadership enactment, governance and training, which renew local educational communities, the ECE profession and leadership itself. Varying functional environments presented in these studies expand and diversify our understanding of leadership processes in changing operational contexts. Even though the contexts of leadership vary, the universal essence of leadership as reflected in the chapters in this book appears to be collaborative, participative, inclusive, learning focused as well as developing capacity by building on existing knowledge. This book presents current ECE leadership research from five continents. It advances the knowledge base of ECE leadership through research collaboration and dissemination of research findings. The authors of this book have discovered leadership phenomena from four perspectives comprising of: i) Leadership preparation and training: Leader preparation is among the high importance topics in ECE today. The chapters in this section present innovative approaches in preparing ECE leaders and teachers involved in daily practice of ECE as well as working at universities. They share commonalities in their practice through their contributions to mentoring, training and by participating in development projects. This section also presents chapters focusing on the current status of human resource and personnel development and professional learning in ECE. ii) Enacting and Developing Leadership: The chapters focusing on enacting and developing ECE settings present the implementation of new leadership mod-