Assessment 2 - ECE3002

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Victoria University *

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Management

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Feb 20, 2024

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The definition of leadership changes depending on what field you are in. Leadership in early childhood education is about standing up for what you and others believe in and is about putting the needs of the children first. According to Jillian Rodd (2006, pg.51) ‘becoming a leader is much more than simply accepting a particular role or position’, effective leaders and leaderships motivate others to accomplish their goals and influence others to be their best no matter what their role or position is in the ECE centre. Effective leaderships also use their leadership skills and their beliefs and values to be the voice of the children. Effective leaders are able to critically reflect on their practices and teachings to essentially better themselves as a leader and to better their team and children around them. Case Study This case study will be structed around my recent experience in a long-day care kindergarten for 3-5- year-old children. Throughout this short experience I was faced with a mix of negative and positive experiences of leadership skill from room leaders, diploma qualified staff and management teams. Peterson et al. (2010) describes mentors as educators who are instructional leaders who help pre- service teachers make sense of the early childhood work environment, during my placement I did not feel as if my mentor fit this definition of a mentor, instead the other educators who were not considered to have a leadership role stepped into these shoes for me. These educators took time out of their day to help and guide me when I needed it and explained their expectations which helped me achieve my goals within the placement. Although I saw examples of positive leadership, I experienced negative leadership skills from staff and educators who had roles that would be considered leadership positions. Nupponen (2006, pg.44) explains that effective leadership is about focusing on client-centred goals, in this scenario the clients are both the children and the children families. An effective leader in an early childhood centre is someone who will continue to put the needs of the children and their families first, and will create an environment in which other educators and staff feel motivated and influenced to create positive change for themselves, the

children and families and the other members of the centre. Stamopoulos (2012, pg.41) defines early childhood leaders as professionals who share a reciprocal process to pursue changes that lead to a desired future, through my placement I feal that I had educators around me who would fit this definition of a leader. These educational leaders had a common interest and goal for the children and the classroom and using their leadership skills and their pedagogies they were successfully able to make this happen. Reflection I had a lot of different emotions and feelings during this placement in regard to the leadership at my centre. During this placement I did not feel supported by the organisation’s leadership, the staff who were considered to be the leadership of the centre were the people who I felt the least supported by. I felt this way as the expectations in the classroom and the centre were not clarified and I was often referred to as an extra set of hands rather than a learning pre-service teacher. I felt supported by casual and diploma qualified staff who wanted to see me succeed and become a more comfortable and confident teacher, these staff members became my instructional leaders in times when I felt like my own mentor leader did not step up to this role. These staff were not considered to have leadership positions in the centre, yet they always offered me help, guidance and always offered constructive feedback when I asked and needed it. I thought it was rather difficult to communicate with the leadership at this centre, I often felt as if I wasn’t being listened to and when I did speak up about the implications I felt needed to be addressed, there was no positive outcome. The room leaders and management team at the centre were often away or they were busy which made it hard to have proper communication without being interrupted or the conversation being cut short, although there were educators who I could confine in and have an open conversation with about placements, the expectations and what it looks like to be a successful pre-service teacher. These educators who took the time to help and guide me without holding a position of leadership, I would consider them to be transformational leaders.

Nupponen (2000, pg.8) describes transformational leaders as people who motivate their followers to perform well, while developing the skills of the followers to allow them to make their own decisions. This placement showed me that by simply being the centre director or an educational leader is “not a sufficient condition of being a leader” (Waniganayake, Morda & Kapsakakis 2000). Open communication and transparency about expectations from the staff who were not leaders ultimately allowed me to learn, take and apply feedback and become a more confident pre-service teacher. I felt as if the leadership was ineffective as there were times when I felt stranded, lost, and unclear about what was need and expected of me. This ineffectiveness of leadership often led to doubt and confusion of myself as a teacher, though there were times when the leadership was effective. I knew the leadership was effective when I felt motivated and influenced by my leaders and when I felt secure in myself and my teachings, the leadership felt effective when my leader and I established what I felt I needed to do and how I would accomplish this. Throughout the placement I felt I overcame many obstacles, I learnt to trust my instincts and responded to the needs of the children without the help or guidance from my leader and I overcame the communication obstacle by confiding in other educators. Analysis Overall I did not have a pleasant experience at this centre, I feel that I was not supported enough as an emerging teacher which made it difficult for me to learn and gain experiential knowledge on this placement. Graves (2010, pg.14) believes that pre-service teachers receive the support, guidance and nurturing necessary to facilitate their professional growth and development. These are all the areas I feel that my placement centre and mentor were lacking and can be improved for future mentoring, to improve their leadership skills for the future, this centre needs to choose mentors who can be there for their pre-service teachers and offer them the experiential knowledge they need to become confident teachers. My professional practice was enhanced by the real life experience I got from this placement, I do not feel like it was enhanced by my mentor leader as I did not feel I got the support and guidance I needed as a pre-service teacher. Professionalism and

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communication skills were the two areas that I believed the leadership at this centre could have improved on the most, with improvement of these two areas, I feel my professional practice would have been enhanced more and I would have become more comfortable and confident earlier on. As I did not have an overly positive and effective experience of leadership on this placement, it has shown me what type of leader I want to be and how I can be an activist for effective leadership in my future in early childhood education. I will make sure that anyone, no matter their position has the opportunity and the skills to be effective leaders. I can be an activist for effective leadership by reminding educators and others that leadership does not start at the top but instead is “reframed as a shared responsibility amongst all professionals” (Stamopoulos, 2012). Overall, I feel that the centre I attended would have bettered if they had a shared responsibility approach to their leadership. Conclusion Throughout this case study I have been able to reflect on what I believe a true effective leadership is. Effective leadership in early childhood is a collaborative approach which should be putting the needs of the children and their families first. Effective leaders do not start at the top nor are they in certain role or position, instead every individual should be partaking in leadership within the centre. Through my mixed experience with leadership, it has made it clear what I want to achieve as an emerging future leader in the early childhood setting, I want to be able to motivate and influence other educators to be and do their best, while having open communication, feedback and self- reflection on practice.

References Graves, S 2010, ‘Mentoring pre-service teachers: a case study’, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 35, no. 4, Sage, pp. 14–20, viewed 17 June https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=25b93453-f8e5-4c4f-99a5- 1d77141b8939%40sessionmgr4006 Nupponen, H 2000a, ‘Leadership and management’, Every Child, vol. 6, no. 3, Early Childhood Australia Inc., pp. 8–9, viewed 16 June. Nupponen, H 2006, ‘Leadership concepts and theories: reflections for practice for early childhood directors’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 31, no. 1, Australian Pre-School Association, pp. 43–50, viewed 16 June https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/183693910603100107 Peterson, SM, Valk, C, Baker, AC, Brugger, L & Hightower, AD 2010, ‘“We’re not just interested in the work”: social and emotional aspects of early educator mentoring relationships’, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, vol. 18, no. 2, Carfax Pub. Ltd, pp. 155–175, viewed 17 June, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13611261003678895?needAccess=true Rodd, J 2006, ‘Unpicking leadership in the early childhood context’, Leadership in early childhood, 3rd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, pp. 9–51, viewed 16 June Stamopoulos, E 2012, ‘Reframing early childhood leadership’, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 37, no. 2, Sage, pp. 42–48, viewed 17 June, https://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=c1864adf-5ddd-4f59-9db4- d262fda76e9a%40pdc-v-sessmgr03

Waniganayake, M, Morda, R & Kapsalakis, A 2001, ‘Leadership in child care centres: is it just another job?’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 26, no. 1, Australian Pre-School Association, pp. 13– 19, viewed 17 June, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/183693910002500105

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Assessment 2 - ECE3002

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