Distributed pedagogical leadership and teacher leadership in early childhood education contexts

Heikka, Johanna; Pitkäniemi, Harri; Kettukangas, Titta; Hyttinen, Tatu

doi:10.1080/13603124.2019.1623923

Cited by 69 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although the middle leaders were initially asked by the principals to become middle leaders, their practices developed from being among the group of middle leaders. But at the same time, each recognised that they were confident in the role and were supported by their colleagues, their principal and other middle leaders, opposite to what Heikka (2014) found in her study where a lack of trust was found between macro and micro levels in directors having difficulties in sharing responsibility for leadership in the organisation. This issue can further be related to the discourse of professional learning communities (Stoll et al 2006) and collegial learning as a way to strengthen knowledge among the teachers which in turn benefit students' learning (Timperley 2012).…”

Section: Concluding Commentscontrasting

confidence: 71%

“…According to the middle leaders, this kind of peripheral involvement by the principal is not uncommon (see e.g. Heikka 2014). However, one noted that some teachers found it uncomfortable when the principal was present; it was felt that when the principal was absent for any length of time, discussions had a different tone and depth.…”

Section: Principals As Participants Not Leadersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The practice architectures of middle leading in early childhood education

Rönnerman

Grootenboer

Edwards‐Groves

2017

ICEP

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BackgroundAcross the globe, public sector leadership is generally organised in a hierarchical and linear way with decisions distributed to an appointed leader at each level in the organisation; this structure is particularly evident in the Swedish school system. Principals at each school are responsible to a director of education, and teachers are directly responsible to their principal. In this climate, a new kind of leadership is evolving with the specific purpose of facilitating collegial professional learning and the development of quality student learning in schools and preschools. Leaders in these roles generally have a recognised and often appointed role in supporting the professional development of their colleagues, but seldom this role is taken to be a more formal paid position in the linear or hierarchical formation of organisation. In Sweden, these leading roles are recognised as utvecklingsledare, handledare, förstelärare (development teacher, facilitator, first teacher) or curriculum coordinators. Moreover, these leaders are teachers whose work is mostly that of a classroom teacher. Their leading role has often been generated AbstractThe development of Early Childhood Education in Sweden is a central concern for national and local government, and for school districts and preschools. While principals have the responsibility for, and a particular role in, leading education in the preschools, they are somewhat removed from the core work of teachers. In this article, we argue that it is 'middle leaders' who are the critical professionals for developing quality in education. The argument is made through examining the leading practices of middle leaders using a practice theory framework. We specifically draw on the theory of practice architectures to explore and understand the arrangements and conditions that enable and constrain the practices of these leaders in their work. The study draws on survey data and recorded professional Learning Dialogues among participants. Responses revealed a number of enabling and constraining conditions relating to particular cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political conditions that influenced what was possible in their leading practices. Results further show how the practices of middle leaders were crucial in not only developing but sustaining quality in Early Childhood Education as they coordinate between the educational practices within the preschool and across the city district.

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Section: Concluding Commentscontrasting

confidence: 71%

Section: Principals As Participants Not Leadersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The practice architectures of middle leading in early childhood education

Rönnerman

Grootenboer

Edwards‐Groves

2017

ICEP

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“…In the Finnish context, the directors' expanded areas of responsibility mean that ECE teachers also need to have responsibility for pedagogical leadership (Fonsén and Ukkonen-Mikkola, 2019). Therefore, distributed leadership practices have a crucial role in leading the implementation of the ECE curriculum (Cheung et al, 2019;Heikka, 2014;Kivunja, 2015).…”

Section: Pedagogical Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedagogical leadership and children’s well-being in Finnish early education

Fonsén¹,

Lahtinen²,

Sillman³

et al. 2020

Educational Management Administration & Leadership

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In this paper, we present research that focuses on pedagogical leadership that is evaluated by the staff in the early education unit. The evaluations relate to the observed indicators of the well-being of children and leadership evaluations conducted by the early education centre directors. The methods include systematic observation of children, educators’ evaluation of leadership and directors’ evaluation of their leadership. The measurements are independent of each other. The data were collected between 2017 and 2019 in Finnish early education units. The results indicate the connection between the pedagogical leadership of director and observed activities of children, including involved learning, positive emotion, physical activity and participation. The connection between pedagogical leadership evaluated by the staff was also connected with leadership evaluated by the director, highlighting the need for the director to focus on pedagogical leadership and staff involvement. The results provide a perspective to help the director to focus on the main task of early education, the well-being of the children.

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“…As defined by McDowall Clark and Murray (2012), this style of leadership is "non-hierarchical, flexible and responsive, enabling leadership to emerge at any level of the organisation wherever the appropriate knowledge and expertise or initiative occurs and with the ability to identify and act on challenges and opportunities" (p.12). Recent research suggests that pedagogical leadership is ineffective when a traditional leader works alone, highlighting the importance of implementing distributed leadership (Heikka and Waniganayake, 2011, Heikka et al, 2013, Heikka, 2014.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 Conceptual Framework

Sim¹,

Bélanger²,

Stancel-Piątak³

et al. 2019

OECD Education Working Papers

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This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. 2  EDU/WKP(2019)5 STARTING STRONG SURVEY 2018 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Unclassified OECD EDUCATION WORKING PAPERS SERIES OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein are those of the author(s). Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works. Comments on Working Papers are welcome, and may be sent to the Directorate for Education and Skills, OECD,

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Distributed pedagogical leadership and teacher leadership in early childhood education contexts

Cited by 69 publications

References 22 publications

The practice architectures of middle leading in early childhood education

The practice architectures of middle leading in early childhood education

Pedagogical leadership and children’s well-being in Finnish early education

Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 Conceptual Framework

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