• Corpus ID: 16972589

Leadership in early childhood education and care : Facing the challenges and embracing new possibilities

@inproceedings{Hrd2012LeadershipIE,
  title={Leadership in early childhood education and care : Facing the challenges and embracing new possibilities},
  author={Louise H{\aa}rd},
  year={2012}
}

• L. Hård
• Published 2012
• Business

In the highly femin ised field of early ch ildhood education and care (ECEC) research indicates discord with traditional leadership models and rationales (Aubrey, 2007, Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2003, Rodd, 2006) The cultural expectation of ‘niceness’ is often considered incongruent with interpretations of leadership, resulting in limited leadership enactment. ECEC personnel express a resolve to achieve improved outcomes for children, staff and families However, low social kudos and remuneration contribute to limitations in professional identity. These conditions can fester, and become negative behaviours in the ECEC field which make leadership enactment problemat ic (Hard, 2006). This paper discusses leadership in ECEC and suggests that consideration of alternative leadership conceptualisations such as Sinclair’s (2007) ideas of less -ego in leadership and Wheatley’s (2005) ideas of organisations as living systems may open new conversations about leaders hip in ECEC. These perspectives also offer a mirror to some of the dilemmas and challenges of the ECEC workplace. Alternative approaches to leadership as discussed in this paper open up new possibilities of understanding and enacting leadership which may be liberating for ECEC personnel and make a more comfortable fit with the relational and care aspects of ECEC work.