Diversity of the assessments of a joint leadership model in early childhood education in Finland

Abstract

This article provides the assessments of a joint leadership model based on research in early childhood education (ECE) leadership in the city of Hämeenlinna, Finland. In this new leadership model, each ECE unit was led by a pair of directors, with one responsible for the financial and human resources aspects and the other responsible for the pedagogy and client processes. The aim of the new leadership model was to strengthen the leadership and pedagogy as the core of leadership. The study explored how the staff members evaluated the quality of leadership within several ECE units. Furthermore, this study examined if there were differences in the assessments of the quality of leadership of the pair of two directors. The quantitative data for the study were collected by an electronic questionnaire completed by ECE directors and staff. Statistically significant differences were found in the assessments of the units led by the same director pair. The parallel line in high and low assessments indicated that satisfaction or dissatisfaction with leadership was a holistic way to see the impact of leadership on the organisational culture of the units. The findings drew attention to the question of how the conditions that were necessary for distributed leadership should be supported.

Principal leadership practices, professional learning communities, and teacher commitment in Hong Kong kindergartens: A multilevel SEM analysis

“…Through setting directions, developing people, refining and aligning the organization and improving the teaching and learning program, ECE principals facilitated the development of PLCs and teacher commitment. The findings complemented to the emerging studies on ECE leadership (Chan, 2018; Fonsén, 2013; Heikka and Waniganayake, 2011; Hujala et al, 2016) that usually focused on only one aspect of the leadership. Against the fragmented nature of ECE principals’ work (Hujala et al, 2016), the investigation on leadership practices provided an overall picture of what principals could do to improve kindergartens rather than discussions on merely a part of the roles or certain leadership styles.…”

“…In this aspect, PLCs can facilitate the success of pedagogical leadership. As literature identified, pedagogical leadership depended not only on principals’ pedagogical competence and leadership skills but also organizational structures and cultures that promote a shared vision and articulated values in the community (Fonsén, 2013). As Fonsén and Soukainen (2020) suggested, “the main power cog of pedagogical leadership contains values, reflective discussion and development work towards the vision” (p. 214).…”

Occupational well-being and teamwork in Finnish early childhood education

“…Leaders of ECEC centres can support ECEPs in their team development work by creating possibilities for teams to improve their work (Ahtiainen et al, 2021). By monitoring and supporting the development work, leaders are also sharing their leadership among ECE professionals (Douglass 2019;Fonsén & Mäntyjärvi, 2019).…”

Leading early childhood education centers as professional bureaucracies – social organizational structures in Finnish early childhood education

“…The structural changes in Finnish ECE include not only changes related to the personnel structure, but also changes related to management structures (Fonsén and Keski-Rauska, 2018). ECE leaders are leading units formed of two or more centers, and the number of employees has increased (Eskelinen and Hjelt, 2017).…”