Assessment Brief
TCHR3004 Leadership and advocacy in
Early childhood
ASSESSMENT BRIEF: Assessment 1
Title Assessment 1: Report
Due Date (End of week 3)
Length 1500-word
Referencing APA Style 7 SCU Library referencing guides
Unit Learning
Outcomes
You will demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes on the
successful completion of this task:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the key principles of leadership and
management in practice in early childhood education and care services
and settings underpinned by theoretical and practical perspectives on
administration, management and leadership.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of how to build supportive and
collaborative environments for children, parents, community and staff.
3. Critically reflect on the role that advocacy plays in early childhood
education (locally, nationally and internationally) and identify the skills
that a strong advocate for the ECEC profession should display.
4. Critically analyse and understand the role of the educational
leader: including relationships, responsibilities, expectations,
ethical practice and transition to an educational leader.
Task Description
For this assessment, you are required to write a report of 1500 words. The report can include tables,charts, figures, and/or graphs to illustrate your findings where necessary.
Rationale
As an early childhood educator, it is important you have an understanding about leadership and your role as a leader.
Task Instructions
Write a report that responds to the following three tasks.
1. Identify and explain the key principles of a (one) leadership style that you aspire to follow and justify how it aligns with your professional philosophy on leadership in the early childhood setting.
2. Demonstrate your knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of this leadership style.
3. Critically review how this leadership style influences management in an early childhood setting in relation to children, families and staff.
Leadership and Advocacy in Early Childhood Assessment Report
Leadership and Advocacy in Early Childhood Assessment Report
Effective leadership is crucial in early childhood since it can help shape the growth of young children, allowing them and their families to reach their full potential. Early childhood is one of the fields that have lagged in understanding and appreciating effective leadership. However, some initiatives have been put in place over the years, meant to encourage leadership development in early childhood education care (ECEC). Distributed leadership is one of the leadership styles that are quite relevant in ECEC since it means shared responsibility, accountability, and continuous learning, principles I aspire to follow.
Key principles of distributed leadership
Shared responsibility
Unlike other leadership styles, distributed leadership is based on the idea that leadership is meant to be shouldered by the team, not one person. This type of leadership inspires every individual in the team to take some responsibility instead of having one leader delegating duties to everyone else (Gibb, 1954). This is a principle I aspire to follow in an early childhood setting since it allows everyone to be invested in the quality of care and education that the children get. It also aligns with my professional philosophy on early childhood leadership. I believe that children learn best when they are encouraged to take responsibility. For instance, instead of having caregivers do everything for these young children, this kind of leadership allows caregivers to guide the children to perform some tasks such as dressing and putting away toys and materials on their own. EYLF explains that children benefit from distributed leadership since it allows them to learn in a “stimulating environment” that engages all their faculties (Aussie Childcare Network Team, 2022). Under this leadership, children get to be part of making decisions involving their care and even setting rules (Harris, 2008). When children feel like their input is needed, they are more likely to collaborate and be more confident of their abilities, something that shapes them to become well-adjusted adults.
Accountability
Accountability is a key principle in various leadership styles. However, this works a bit differently in distributed leadership since leadership does not rest on the shoulders of just one person. However, in distributed leadership, every member of the team gets to share in accountability just as they share in responsibility (Harris, 2008). Accountability in distributed leadership aligns with my professional philosophy that everyone needs to be accountable for their actions and that rewards or punishment is not the best way to ensure accountability. Transactional leadership is often seen as the best type of leadership when it comes to accountability since team members have something to lose if they do not meet their objectives (Rodd, 2012). However, transactional leadership fails since once a reward or punishment has been given, the members no longer have any reason to perform. Distributed leadership helps ensure that everyone is committed to ensuring that the young children are continuously improving since they are committed not just to getting rewards but to the journey of these young children. Distributive leadership allows the educators to have a relationship with the children, something that cultivates a sense of responsibility in each individual (Siraj-Blatchford & Manni, 2007). This kind of leadership allows educators to be accountable since they know that they have a responsibility, not just towards achieving a particular objective but to shaping the life of a young child.
Continuous learning
Distributed leadership means that everyone who is a part of the ECEC team is continuously learning and collaborating with others. Various educators involved in ECEC have different abilities, skills, and strengths (Rodd, 2013). Distributed leadership means that these teachers and other caregivers get to bring to the table their strengths and unique abilities. It also means that the team is continuously learning from each other, and sharing this knowledge with the young children. This kind of leadership aligns with my professional philosophy that children can only thrive if educators and caregivers are all working together to ensure there is continuous learning. In ECEC, learning is a continuous journey and no educator can boast to know it all. According to Rodd (2013), what sets distributive leadership apart is its central focus on knowledge. Effective learning in ECEC can only be achieved if an organization cultivates a culture of not just learning but sharing knowledge. Distributed leadership provides a platform for every team member to continue growing by allowing them to collaborate and even by providing them with resources and access to research centers. It is also the kind of leadership that promotes mentoring as the more experienced educators get to share their knowledge with the new educators. As a result of continuous learning, young children get access to the best and most updated education that helps them reach their full potential (Colmer, 2008). I believe that young children deserve quality education since it is easier to shape them while they are still young instead of waiting until they are old.
Theoretical underpinnings of distributive leadership style
Distributed leadership is a leadership style that has a strong theoretical basis, as compared to other leadership styles. This is the kind of leadership that focuses on leadership practices instead of the leader. Before this style was introduced, people believed in the ‘heroic leader’ (Irvine, 2021). What this means is that people believed that one person had the power to just step into ECEC and make a huge difference. However, this has no theoretical or practical backing. Distributed leadership shows that the heroic leader does not exist and instead of putting pressure on one person to perform miracles, this leadership focuses on the action, not just the actor.
Three theories serve as the base of distributed leadership: activity, network, and complexity theory. Activity theory is a theory that was developed by Lev Vygotsky and it states that leadership is a multifaceted endeavor that cannot be left in the hands of just one person (Irvine, 2021). Just like distributed leadership, activity theory also emphasizes collaboration among individuals. Without collaboration, it becomes difficult for a team to achieve its objectives. Distributed leadership is viewed by most people as the most complex type of leadership since there is no one person at the helm of all decision-making. Complexity theory can be used to explain this aspect of distributed leadership since the early childhood system is a complex system that can be quite unpredictable and it requires all hands on deck (“Leading from positions of power in children’s education and care services,” 2023). Australian early childhood education is so dynamic that one educator cannot grasp it all, and they need to share responsibility with every team member if they are to provide quality care and education. Network theory can also serve as a base for distributed leadership since it is a theory that deals with structures within a network (Harris, 2014). This theory emphasizes the importance of networking (collaborating) to make sense of any complex adaptive system. A system such as early childhood is complex and it can only work if the team members can easily collaborate and if there is a free flow of information.
How distributed leadership style influences management
Distributed leadership greatly influences management in an early childhood setting concerning children, families, and staff. This kind of leadership helps promote a positive learning environment. When the staff share responsibility and collaborate, they can meet the various needs of the students. This is because shared responsibility allows the staff members to share with the young children their unique talents and skills, without leaving the children crippled in some areas, since every educator plays a specific role in the care and education of the young people (Ho, 2011). This also helps ensure that the young children get to work with educators who can address their learning needs. For instance, it is during preschool that educators get to see learning disabilities such as reading difficulties, speech and hearing impairment, or attention deficiency among others. Distributed leadership makes it easy for a student with any impairment to work with a teacher who not only understands that impairment but also knows how to help the child reach their full potential.
Families of young children benefit greatly from distributed leadership since they have access to transparent communication. In this kind of leadership, the staff members are involved in decision-making, which means that they are invested in the relationship with both the child and their family (Colmer, 2008). It also means that they know what is happening in terms of the progress of the young children, programs they are being taken through, and even activities they are part of. This knowledge makes it easier for them to communicate with the family and provide them with accurate and clear information about their children’s progress (Ho, 2011). Being part of decision makers also means that these staff members can also receive feedback from the families and even incorporate it into their programs. Good leadership should influence the growth of the followers. However, no leadership impacts growth as the distributed leadership. Since the staff members are viewed as leaders and not followers, they are given responsibilities that help sharpen their talents and skills, leading to growth. Such staff members end up becoming great leaders in the ECEC field since they end up satisfied with their careers.
Conclusion
Distributed leadership is a unique kind of leadership since it goes against the traditional kind of leadership where there is only one heroic leader. It is a more practical leadership since it not only understands that a heroic leader in the early childhood sector does not exist. It also understands that empowering every member of the team is the best way to motivate the staff and ensure that the young children can reach their potential.
References
Aussie Childcare Network Team. (2022, May 24). EYLF practices and strategies to implement them. Aussie Childcare Network. https://aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/articles/childcare-programming/eylf-practices-and-strategies-to-implement-them
Colmer, K. (2008). Leading a learning organisation: Australian early years centres as learning networks. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 16(1), 107-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930801897111
Gibb, C. A. (1954). Leadership. In Lindzey, G. In Handbook of social psychology (2nd ed., pp. 877-917). Addison-Wesley.
Harris, A. (2008). Distributed school leadership: Developing tomorrow’s leaders. Routledge.
Harris, A. (2014). Distributed leadership matters: Perspectives, practicalities, and potential. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483332574
Ho, D. C. (2011). Identifying leadership roles for quality in early childhood education programmes. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 14(1), 47-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120903387561
Irvine, J. (2021). Distributed Leadership in Practice: A Modified Delphi Method study. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 25.
Leading from positions of power in children’s education and care services. (2023, July 18). ACECQA. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/latest-news/blog/leading-positions-power-childrens-education-and-care-services
Rodd, J. (2012). Leadership in early childhood: The pathway to professionalism (4th ed.). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003116295
Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Manni, L. (2007). Effective leadership in the early years sector: The ELEYS study. Institute of Education, University of London.
