Session Information
26 SES 08 B, Educational Leadership in Early Childhood Care and Primary Schools
Paper Session
Contribution
Systematic quality work is an important commitment for Swedish preschools. The latest changes to the regulations and curriculum for the Swedish preschool have increased the expectations for follow-up and documentation of each child’ s experiences and proficiencies in the curriculum’ s target areas, as well as how this is linked to quality development work in the preschool in general (cf. Sverige, 2010; The Ministry of Education 2010). Within the preschool manager function lies a special responsibility for the planning, monitoring and development of these activities and for ensuring that the systematic quality work is carried out in conjunction with the staff, guardians and children. Research on principals’ leadership in schools has generated a solid base of knowledge over time, but, in the Swedish context it seems that the research has paid less attention to the preschool manager’ s leadership. This paper focuses on preschool managers’ leadership as it relates to quality development and learning for the staff. It builds upon the results of a previous study where 18 preschool managers, in a questionnarie with open-ended questions, expressed their understanding of their own leadership in the systematic quality work (cf. Håkansson, 2016). The results from the study showed, among other things, a tension between linear and interactive forms of governance in the systematic quality work, but also that knowledge gaps among the staff could lead to uncertainties that the preschool manager has to address. In the study, there were traces of what can be characterised as leadership for learning (ibid.). The research reported in this paper is a qualitative follow-up interview study with ten of the preschool managers mentioned above. The main purpose of the paper is to contribute to a deeper understanding of preschool managers’ leadership of systematic quality work in Swedish preschools. Three research questions are adressed:
What strategies and substantial leader actions do the preschool managers use in the systematic quality work?
How do the preschool managers handle knowledge gaps and uncertainties around the systematic quality work among the staff?
In what ways do the general governance of the systematic quality work from the municipality influence the preschool managers leadership for learning in practice?
The theoretical framework of this study is based on curriculum theory (i.e. the frame factor theory, Lundgren, 1989), which among other things, pay attention to three components in the understanding of, for example, the outcome of teaching, or in this case preschool managers leadership in the systematic quality work – frames/preconditions, processes, results. In this study it is chiefly the internal and organisational preconditions and how they influence processes and outcomes that are in focus. Other research-based points of departure for the study is the school improvement research carried out in recent decades which have helped to highlight what it is that characterises successful development work and leadership (cf. Hallinger 2011; Hargreaves and Fullan 2012), but also the knowledge base around professional and collegiate learning, which in this context is related to the preschool managers’ leadership (Stoll, 2009). Also important as a framework and related to the mentioned empirical research is the research on school principals in general but also and particularly research related to preschool managers (c.f. Hallinger, 2011; Nihlfors, Jervik Steen, and Johansson, 2015; Ang, 2011; Ho 2011). Of special interest here is for example the concept of ’leadership for learning’ developed in a British preschool context (cf. Siraj-Blatchford and Manni (2008). This study investigates in particular some aspects which relates to the preschool managers’ leadership, such as effective communication and openness around expectations, monitoring and assessment of practices and developing collegiate learning as well as a collaborative culture.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Ang, Lynn. 2011. Leading and Managing in the Early Years: A Study of the Impact of a NCSL Programme on Children’s Centre Leaders’ Perceptions of Leadership and Practice. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 40 (3): 289–304.doi:10.1177/1741143212436960. Bryman, Alan. 2002. Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder [Social Research Methods]. Stockholm: Liber (in Swedish). Cohen, Louis, Manion Lawrence, and Keith Morrison. 2000. Research Methods in Education. 5th ed. London: Routledge. Fullan, Michael. 1994. Coordinating Top-Down and Bottom-Up strategies for Educational Reform. In Anson, R.J. Systemic reform. Perspectives on Personalizing Education. Washington: US Department of Education. Hallinger, Philip. 2011. Leadership for Learning: Lessons from 40 Years of Empirical Research. Journal of Educational Administration 49 (2): 125–142. Hargreaves, Andy, and Michael Fullan. 2012. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. New York: Routledge. Ho, Choi Wa Dora. 2011. Identifying Leadership Roles for Quality in Early Childhood Education Programmes. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 14 (1): 47–59. doi:10.1080/13603120903387561. Hopkins, David, Stringfield, Sam, Harris, Alma, Stoll, Louise, & Mackay, Tony. (2014). School and system improvement: a narrative state-of-the-art review. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 25 (2): 257-281. Håkansson, Jan. 2016. Organising and Leading Systematic Quality Work in the Preschool – Preschool Managers’ Perspectives. School Leadership & Management, 36 (3): 292-310. McDonald, Lyn, Annaline Flint, Christine M. Rubie-Davies, Elizabeth R. Peterson, Penny Watson, and Lynda Garrett. 2014. Teaching High-expectation Strategies to Teachers through an Intervention Process. Professional Development in Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/19415257.2014.980009 Lundgren, Ulf P., (1989). Att organisera omvärlden: en introduktion till läroplansteori. (Organizing the Surrounding World: Introduction to Curriculum Theory; in Swedish). Stockholm: Utbildningsförlaget på uppdrag av Gymnasieutredningen. Nihlfors, Elisabeth, Linda Jervik Steen, and Olof Johansson. 2015. Förskolechefen – En viktig länk i utbildningskedjan [The Preschool Manager – An Important Link in the Educational Chain]. Malmö: Gleerups (in Swedish). Siraj-Blatchford, Iram, and Laura Manni. 2008. Effective Leadership in the Early Years Sector. The ELEYS study. London: Institute of Education. Stoll, Louise. 2009. Capacity building for school improvement or creating capacity for learning? A changing landscape. Journal of Educational Change, 10: 115-127. Sverige. 2010. Skollagen (2010:800): med Lagen om införande av skollagen (2010:801) [The Education Act (2010:800): With the Regulation of Implementation of The Education Act]. Stockholm: Norstedts juridik (in Swedish). The Ministry of Education. 2010. Läroplan för förskolan Lpfö 1998, Reviderad 2010 [Curriculum for Preschool Lpfö 1998, Revised 2010]. Stockholm: TME (in Swedish).
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