Early childhood education in Australia is significant to everyone in Australia, especially for the overall development of children. The curriculum is designed for holistic development of a child, and equip them with skills and knowledge, thus preparing them for lifelong learning.
Central to all that is the educational leader, a formal teacher/educator who has assumed a leadership role both in the classroom and in the center. This report will present a brief role of such educational leadership, challenges that they face and the contributions in context the Australian context. An example of a best practice has been presented which is relevant to the Australian context, and its effectiveness in the Australian landscape. The term ‘education leader’ and ‘educational leader’ has been used interchangeably in the context of this report.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION LEADERS
A document in Queensland government’s education
website credit that first early childhood education started on 10 August 1891,
when around 40 female teachers from Brisbane and the following suburbs
undertook the first ever training for early childhood teachers in Queensland, a
first-ever in Australia. KU Children's Services credit it to 1895 when the
first Kindergarten Union of NSW was established, and “in that moment, early
education in Australia was born” (KU Children's Services, 2021). However humble
the beginning, the present role and influence of educational leaders are
exceptionally significant and important, more so evolving from a passive
perspective to an active changemaker, both inside the classroom and at the
center (Sims et al., 2017).
Their responsibilities transcend pedagogy and
administrative, moving over to community engagement. Providing curriculum
direction to educators, and engaging them with all approved learning
frameworks, including principles, practices and learning outcomes according to
ACECQA (2012a).
ACECQA’s publication of a 2018 National Quality
Standard (NQS) Quality Area 7: The role of the educational leader handbook,
defines the role of educational leader as primarily to collaborate with
educators and provide support regarding curriculum direction. There is also
mention of leading the development of educational programs and ensuring
children’s learning is guided by the approved learning outcomes frameworks
(ACECQA, 2018a) (ACECQA, 2018b)
Case in point, a curriculum leader in an Early Childhood Education (ECE) center will be responsible for the monitoring pedagogical documentation such as written observation, program plans and evaluations developed for each child (Sims et al., 2017) (Fleet et al., 2015).
CHALLENGES
FACED BY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION LEADERS
There
are numerous challenges that ECE education leaders face in Australia, starting
from regulatory complexity to policy changes and limited resources. A research
by Brooker and Cumming (2019) highlights the dark side of education leadership,
where educators are handicapped because the centre is trying to save money.
Resources are limited, the teacher-to-children ration are barely maintained,
while safety practices are ignored, unpaid meetings conducted and underpaid
staff whose qualifications are not recognized according to research (Brooker
and Cumming, 2019).
Early
childhood services are a growing industry with a huge potential for revenue
generation. Profit will be at the centre of managements mind as they are
pressurised by the shareholders to turn over higher returns. This in turn leads
to resource constraints for the general children and unavailability of proper
individualised care packages to children of diverse needs according to Brooker
and Cumming (2019). This poses a challenge to the education leaders whose sole
role is being contradicted, and he/she will turn to being thrifty for the sale
of educating the children.
Teacher
to children ratio is barely maintained and transferring of children from one
room to another to ‘adjust’ the ratio for the day is a common trend in some
centres according to Brooker and Cumming (2019). This undermines the integrity
of the room educators.
These
challenges negatively affect the morale of the early childhood educators and
teachers in the classroom, as they become a part of the guilty group. There
have been some instances when issues have been communicated, both formally and
informally, to the management, which have been met with them being
‘black-listed’ within the organization according to a research by Brooker and
Cumming (2019).
Addressing
to diverse children’s need is another serious concern in almost all ECEs.
Children with physical limitations as well as cultural and religious
differences are all brought together under a homogeneous setting, and attending
to their individual needs might run up operational costs of centre and the
company, according to Brooker and Cumming (2019).
To
overcome most of the obstacles and limitations that are associated with the
families and the management, communication is the key. This can happen through
electronic means, handbooks, formal and informal meetings, and discussions, and
gathering feedback from all stakeholders. This will build partnerships with
colleagues, families, schools, community workers and allied health
professionals to promote the best learning opportunities for all children, as
elaborated by Barnes (2022) as a role of educational leaders.
Communication with the management to balance the needs of the curriculum and the rooms with the mandates of the centre (and shareholders) is of utmost importance. This is in line with education leaders modelling professional and ethical practices.
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION LEADERS
Educational
leaders can not only model themselves on being professional and execute ethical
practices, but they can also mentor other teachers, commit to ongoing
professional development, and be advocates to the children, family, and
community, besides building partnership with them, as listed by Barnes (2022).
They
can exhibit professional practices and model ethical form using the ECA Code of
Ethics as a model. Education leaders can contribute using their knowledge of
current research and practices, frameworks, laws, and policies to make informed
decisions and assist in the decision making of the management (Barnes, 2022).
By being critical and knowledgeable of their role in the centre, they can
justify their positions with clear intentions.
In
case of pedagogical decisions and design, documenting plans, and evaluations,
education leaders can contribute by being clear and precise of what is expected
in the learning teaching intentions (Barnes, 2022). This leads to a shared
understanding across the board with all educators being mentally prepared to
portray to their best understanding and ability.
Education
leaders also act as advocates, as bridges between the centre and the families.
They can contribute by advocating for children to ensure that all their
learning needs are fulfilled. They can advocate for better quality and change
in the early childcare setting (Barnes, 2022).
According
to Martin et al., he summarizes his findings in a research conducted in 2020,
using twenty educational leaders and their perspectives. Rachel, one of the
participants communicated that she is committed to quality (educational)
programs …but found out that “Educational Leaders are motivated by
professionalisation, while policy makers are motivated by accountability
regimes” (Martin et al., 2020). This clearly outlines the difference in the
mandates of these parties as recognized and experienced by themselves.
Therein lies the danger of the ripple effect that leadership plays in stakeholders, including children, teachers, and parents.
CONTEXT
OF THE AUSTRALIAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SYSTEM
The
Australian early childhood education system stresses on the importance of
facilitating holistic child development, with "Belonging, Being &
Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia" as a key
document (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022b). Children from
birth till they attend primary schools, are catered to, with their “social,
physical, emotional, personal, creative, and cognitive learning” delivered
through a “formalised learning framework”, the National Quality Framework (NQF)
according to the Department of Education website (Australian Government
Department of Education, 2022a). The Australian Children’s Education and Care
Quality Authority (ACECQA), an independent national authority is responsible
for administering the NQF.
There
are a diverse range of educational settings for early childhood education and
care provided in Australia, like centre-based daycare, family daycare, outside
school hours care, and in-home care (Australian Government Department of
Education, 2022a).
The
educators in these settings include those with a Cert III-IV, including
Bachelor and Diploma in early childhood education. While the former stays on as
an educator, the latter move up to leadership positions in the classroom and in
the centre, as room leaders and curriculum leaders (Victorian Government,
2022).
ACECQA
also looks after the accreditation and issuance of teaching license in
Australia with strict requirements, both from the training and the
accreditation bodies (ACECQA, 2012b).
Keeping the above contexts of Australia in mind, we can conclude that the role of an educational leadership is not taken for granted, and various policies, frameworks, and laws govern the early childhood setting in Australia.
BEST
PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
The
foremost best practice that can have quite an impact is for the education
leader to adopt a revolutionary leadership style, the hybrid leadership
framework.
According
to Bøe and Hognestad (2015), hybrid leadership framework is used in Norway
where "formal teacher leaders in middle management level direct and
facilitate staff resources for distributed pedagogical leadership". This
is one example of best practice that can be implemented in Australia, where
hybrid leaders can use hybrid forms of interaction and response to contextual
factors, where power and democracy are intermingled.
Research
indicates that instead of leading solely or operating collaboratively, a hybrid
system works better (Bøe and Hognestad, 2015). Instead of leading from the
front always, being amongst the educators and leading with the mass allows
educational leaders to understand the ground reality. "When the leaders
balance influence, trust, participation and support with enough control,
authority and power" it supports their "capacity to direct and
facilitate distributed leadership to preserve and safeguard their aims, methods
and educational values" (Bøe and Hognestad, 2015).
Leadership for learning, as discussed in ACECQA’s occasional paper of 2017, mentions the NQS Quality 7 associating leadership with supporting professional learning and developing the educators under their supervision (ACECQA, 2017b). A research by Colmer found that “professional learning and development in education and care settings is determined by a range of external, internal, inter-personal and personal influences on educators” (ACECQA, 2017b). This is the ‘response to contextual factors’ as mentioned in the hybrid leadership framework, where response is based on the experience, context, and timeframe of the need.
CONCLUSION
In
summary, the roles of an educational leader have been discussed within the
scope of this report, with references taken from the NQS Quality Area 7. Though
there are various challenges they might face, from various stakeholders, they
can pave the way forward for change, because not only are they responsible for
the curriculum matters but also for collaboration with the other educators
working with them. Leadership is a tricky course to manoeuvre, and one
well-researched method is hybrid mode, power and democracy can be mixed
depending on the situation and context.
But
this is not the end of the road. As Sims et al. (2017) asks whether the
“leaders who have been in their role for a longer period move past automatic
compliance into critique and challenge of the status quo? Or will sustained
periods of compliance reinforce this as the behaviour that gets results:
leadership that achieves and maintains a good quality accreditation?” (Sims et
al., 2017).
To conclude, the necessity of cultivating strong leadership in the classroom and in early childhood centre will always be of paramount importance in Australia, and the world.
Image Courtesy: ACECQA website
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