Preschool veteran principals' perceptions of leadership in Hong Kong early childhood education

Abstract

This doctoral thesis explored six preschool principals' perceptions of leadership in early childhood education in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government implemented a series of educational reforms in 2000, introduced the Pre-Primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) during the 2007-2008 school term, and planned to implement a free kindergarten education policy beginning in 2017-2018. Since 2000, the Education Bureau (EDB) has been executing a Quality Assurance Inspection (QAI) to assess the current quality of preschool services. Some researchers point out that Hong Kong preschool educators are struggling with a heavy workload as they try to meet the QAI requirements (M. N. C. Wong & Li, 2010). In addition, market choice ideas stemming from the PEVS are leading some parents to view themselves as consumers; this will create inequality of choice among parents (W. K. G. Yuen, 2007). The primary research question for this study was: How do experienced principals in early childhood education in Hong Kong perceive their role as preschool leaders? A qualitative study using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was conducted to explore six preschool principals' perceptions of leadership. Four superordinate themes, Difficult decisions as leaders, Concerns about early childhood education quality, Working with parents, and Characteristics of preschool principals, were identified. The findings revealed that the participants' leadership behaviors were aligned with Bass' (1998) transformational leadership theory and that preschool principals encountered challenges from stakeholders in society.