Leadership in early education in times of change : research from five continents

Abstract

The collection brings together the latest work of researchers from Australia, Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe focusing on early childhood leadership matters. It covers different aspects of leadership in early education: professional education and development, identity and leadership strategies as well as governance and leadership under different frame conditions.

The publication summarises the international state-of-the-art in the field of research on leadership in early education as discussed by scientists from four continents in the research network of the International Leadership Research Forums Early Education (ILRFEC). The investigators present empirical findings from professional education and personnel development as well as the leaders‘ identities, tasks, and leadership strategies in early education. Other studies are concerned with leadership strategies in different national systems of early education and reveal correlations between societal change, national policies, and governance on the one hand and leadership styles in early education settings under different frame conditions on the other hand.

International comparative studies reveal tasks and leadership strategies and provide an overview over different systems of early education in the participating countries. Finally a perspective is given on a first International survey on working conditions and professional standards of practitioners and leaders in early education in the TALIS Starting Strong Study.