Early Childhood Education and Its Connection With Effective Leadership

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Leadership Roles and Responsibilities in Early Care Context...................................................2
Different Leadership Styles and their Application in Early Child Education........................3
Area 7 of National Quality Standard......................................................................................4
Educational Leadership and EYLF........................................................................................5
Role of pedagogical leadership in curriculum development......................................................5
Differences between Leadership and Management in Early childhood Education Context..6
Strength and weaknesses of the Reflective Leadership.........................................................7
Research Gap in the Area.......................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Introduction
The early childhood education and its connection with effective leadership has been a
part of discussion in child pedagogy for long. The leadership approaches are aimed at
developing a child education curriculum and making the learning process efficient. The roles
and responsibilities of a teacher in the early child education is not limited to mere passing of
information. The context of childhood education is all the more difficult as the overall
psychological, physical and cognitive development of the child is depended on their early
childhood education (Waniganayake et al., 2017). This study is dedicated to understand the
different management and leadership perspectives in the early child education in light of the
National quality Service and EYLF provisions. A broader literature on early childhood
education will be taken to conceptualise the topic more effectively. The second part of the
study is about the role of the educational leaders in shaping the curriculum for the students in
the early childhood context.
Leadership Roles and Responsibilities in Early Care Context
The term leadership is interpreted in multiple ways and most of the time, it changes
according to the context and requirements. In the context of the early child education or ECE,
leadership is the medium to make positive changes in children education dimension. The
educators are the change agents in the educational sectors. The effective leaders in the
organisation help these educators to be in their full potential in shaping the mind of the
children. According Cheeseman & Walker (2019), leadership is an integral part of any
organisation or workplace; the functions of the workplace cannot be understood if the
leadership system is not understood effectively. As an educational leader, I have faced the
different aspects of leadership and management in early childhood education. From my
experience, I have realised that the elements of the school structuring might be different in

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
several context, but there are some common elements present in the types of leadership
practices. These common elements can be the merging cultures and beliefs related to the
community of the child.
Different Leadership Styles and their Application in Early Child Education
The early childhood education setting makes me and my colleagues participate in the
process in multiple roles. The educational leaders can be the care giver, educator, assistant to
the parents and guide to the whole curriculum of the education system. Therefore,
understanding of the role of the leaders in this context can be done through the different
theoretical interpretation (Heikka & Waniganayake, 2011). The leadership approaches in
ECE and in general have three dominant theories. These are-
Trait Approaches
The trait theory of leadership focuses on the individual characteristics of the leader.
According to this theory, effective leadership is the result of the leader’s personality and how
that is reflected in their work. The essential traits if the leadership is not learned but they are
inherent. Some of the important traits are- self-confidence, decision making capabilities,
intelligence and leading capabilities. In the context of the ECE, these traits are quite
important in a leader as they have to take quick decisions (Goleman, 2014). This theory can
be associated with the ECE as the educational leaders have to possess the personality traits
like self-confidence, high energy, trustworthiness, and intelligence and communication skills
to manage the challenges.
Contingency Approaches
Another important leadership theory that I think could be connected with the ECE is
the situational or contingency theory. The theory advocates the changing of leadership
approaches according to the circumstances. In the ECE contexts, the leaders face different