Leadership in Early Childhood - Essay Example

Leadership in early childhood Introduction Early childhood leadership has been a practical resource as practitioners aim at creating successful childcare settings. Early childhood leaders work whereby their roles are defined and therefore tend to diffuse the poor understanding of individuals. According to Ashman and Green (2005) the understanding of early childhood leadership is significant as it shows the importance of sound management. This also helps in overcoming the issues of management. Leadership can be said as the ability in which a person interacts and inspires others through values, vision thus encouraging communication and team work. This study shows how leadership is viewed and the five concepts involved. A leadership situation can be described where the children go out for a morning break to play with their peers and in the process some of them go play inside their class disturbing other and breaking toys and furniture. Among their peers there was one child who was an immigrant and so could not play with the rest as they were avoiding her because of her skin color. The teacher who was responsible in monitoring the children during in the play ground was not present at the moment but was talking to a colleague. As the head teacher passed near the classroom, the children were involved in an activity where they were about to break furniture but the damage was prevented when the head teacher interrupted the situation. The teacher in charge was questioned for not being present and for not monitoring the children. This kind of situation shows how leadership skills had been neglected by the teacher in charge where they are to guide the children on how to play and lead them out of the classroom. This type of concept can be used in early childhood leadership which includes the pedagogical leadership which ensures that children receive quality care and support. It also enhances a child development thus helping them in growth and better learning. Monitoring children is also necessary as it reveals to the entire community the need for early childhood leadership. This leadership is able to avoid a child from destructive behaviors or in adopting habits such as being discriminating peers. The other aspect is conceptual leadership which enables children to come up with new ideas of innovation which enables them become professionals (Jorde- Bloom, 2004). The major styles used in leadership include the authoritarian or the autocratic, participative or democratic and delegative or free reign. Cater (2001) show as a good leader; it is important to use all these styles but concentrate more in one of them as people who only concentrate in one leaving the rest tend to fail in their leadership. The authoritarian style is used in situations where leaders tell their followers what they want to be done and how they want it done. In this style, the follower has no say about what they have to do or can not advise their leaders. Leaders mostly use this style when they have the information needed in sorting issues around them, it can also be used when the employees seem less motivated and when they is a short time of completing projects. This style is however misused by most leaders for example by use of demanding voices or through threats (Nupponen, 2006). The participative or democratic style is where the leader and all employees participate in making business decisions. The leader’s duty in this style is to give the final decision and communicate it to the rest. As staffs continue with their duties, they have to practice unity as it encourages teamwork thus sharing a common goal. This is because if the staff reflect a negative attitude towards each other then children will also be affected in their behaviors and learning. Such as situation will make the parents doubt the services provided and to rectify this, leadership has to be included to guide and support children and to create a positive attitude. The style shows that as a leader it is advisable to employ skillful employees who can also share their important ideas to the rest thus creating a mutual benefit. The other style involves the delegative or the free region where the leader has trust in their employees thus allows them to make their own decisions. Hybels (1998) show this is applied to those employees who are able to work without supervision though the leader still checks on their progress. This kind of leadership will not be appropriate in our situation as the staff cannot work without supervision. One major difference between leadership and management depends on the way both motivate the people around them. Most managers act as leaders for example in the situation above, where the head teacher had to act as a leader by stopping the children from destruction. According to Scrivens (2001) the managers uses the authoritarian style of leadership where the subordinates act according to what they say and another style utilized in the situation involve the transactional style where the managers promise rewards to their subordinated upon completion of a task. This motivates the staff members thus they feel free to perform their duties and inspire them. The theories used in leadership such as the contingency theories have mostly been applied to particular leaders thus showing that the used of certain styles in one organization may not work in another kind of organization. Team building will also be appropriate in this kind of situation as it ensures that people the staff have the right skills and abilities to lead children. Managers also tend to put more emphasis on the completion of work as they are paid according the tasks done so they are also subordinates. Managers aim at reducing conflicts and building harmony among the staff. Leaders on the other hand do not have subordinates but instead have followers. The type of leadership styles used in this situation by leaders includes transformational style where staffs are shown the direction that they are heading is the best for them and this involves having a stronger charisma. The leaders persuade their followers and at the same time promise them benefits that would transform their lives completely. Leaders do not necessarily have to be loud but should have a good personality that is respected by all and thus including their followers. The early childhood setting shows that a person has to practice both leadership and management duties. The situation can also be resolved through having a common goal and vision. This involves working towards encouraging staff to achieve their goals and vision. Unlike managers who are risk averse, leaders seem to be risk seeking as they do not fear taking risks through facing their problems and coming out with the right solution. Rodd (2001) show leaders view risks as a guideline to the right path that is avoided by many and would feel comfortable breaking set rules in order to lead people to the right path. In summary, leadership can be seen as showing direction to a group of people while management involves monitoring and controlling individuals according to the set rules and regulations. Collaborative leadership is also important in solving the situation above. This is because it involves management aspects showing skills and attributes used in leadership. This kind of leadership involves mission oriented management. There are seven major secrets involved in the process of bringing out an effective collaborative leadership. Grey (1999) describes that this involve having a cultivated vision that should be known from the beginning of tasks. The other secret involves having the right kind of personnel who will be in a position of achieving organizational goals. It is also necessary to maintain momentum and being able to solve issues as they appear. It can be effective if the needs of individual are solved in a collaborative manner. Collaboration is also used in addressing individuals self interests through the use of processes and products. Clear roles and responsibilities should be developed and divided among the participants and to achieve these regular schedules should be drafted as this enhances creativity, commitment and saves time. In this situation, this can be explained where the head teacher intervened in the children whereabouts and stopped them from damaging the furniture. This theory also views early childhood centers as people oriented and being informal in nature (Archer and Cameron, 2008). Strategic planning as used in leadership will help to resolve the situation as it shows where the organisation in moving to. The process involves various kinds of models, methods and perspectives and the development of a strategic plan depends on the leadership skills that apply to that particular business. It also depends on the organizational culture and the complexity of the business setting. The models used in the strategic models include goal based model, issues based, organic model and scenario. All these aim at achieving vision, mission and objectives. If the above models are then practiced in the early childhood setting then they are to bring about better outcomes to children development. In the above situation strategic planning is necessary as the teachers in that particular school make use of the stipulated policies and procedures. The management therefore has a right to question teachers who fail to conduct their duties effectively. All staff members have to work according to their vision as this will help to solve various kinds of situations as above. A vision statement shows haw an organization operates and the effort put in achieving the vision. Developing a vision may depend on the culture of the organization for example through cultural groups or experiences. A vision in leadership acts as a motivational tool that attracts followers enabling them to move in the right direction. Notman (2006) describes that a vision instills a sense of purpose in individuals as well as showing a long term direction. It also tends to differentiate one organization from the other as each has a different vision towards life. It enhances critical thinking where one thinks of what they have achieved and what they have to achieve at a specified period. In the above situation, the teachers did not follow their vision which was to be responsible of their duties of inspiring and monitoring children. The organizational culture as used in early childhood leadership will be necessary to solve the situation as staffs have shared norms, values and attributes. These aspects are used in governing how activities are carried out in a particular organization and how people relate with one another. There are various kinds of culture used in businesses which include power culture, role, task, person and forward and backward looking culture. Power culture involves where decisions are made by one individual who has power to control the rest. Role culture is mostly used today where every individual is assigned a role to play in the running of the business. This is important as it facilitates specialization. Task culture deals with groups which are assigned a particular task that they are to complete in a given time (Kagan and Bowman, 1997). This motivates staff members and also improves teamwork. Forward looking businesses are those that do not fear taking risks and tend to embrace change while backward looking businesses are governed by set policies and procedures. According to Hatherly (2000) organizational culture should therefore have a higher profile in the development of early childhood as it makes children feel safe and happy. Early childhood leadership does matter as it develops children thus improving their potential. This shows the reason why early childhood programmes have been introduced that influence children positively and help them achieve short term and long term goals. Long term goals include achieving well in higher academic grades and retaining achievement. Early childhood programmes also helps in improving the quality of study. A good relationship is also built between the child and the tutor thus instilling good behaviors and develops socially. If this situation above was to continue, the outcome would be poor productivity as the staff will be reluctant to perform their duties. The parents will also with draw their children from the institution due to poor leadership and the institution will undergo some losses as the children will destroy more furniture which will need to be replaced. The losses will also amount from more children leaving the school. This outcome would be different if other strategies were used such as coaching and mentoring strategy. This is where the leadership skills are transferred through teaching which takes a short process. Mentoring of teachers builds social skills and improves their self esteem thus building respect towards one another thus will be appropriate to use in this kind of situation. These skills facilitate good communication and in the process the teachers become sensitive about the needs of children. Staff development will also be necessary where members are willing to embrace change in their organization. Studies have shown that the organizational climate can be influenced by the kind of leadership employed which in turn leads to low staff turnover that also resulted from involving employees in the decision making process. Bezzina (2002) show a stable leadership in early childhood is important as it influences effective programme implementation. The other strategy that could result to a difference outcome includes communication. Failure to openly communicate and have a good relationship with the staff members can cause major situations. It is emphasised that in an early childhood setting open and respectful communication is essential to the success of the early childhood program and the organisational culture. Muijis et al (2004) emphasize that leaders therefore should take time to get to know the people in the team personally and that regular staff meetings that provide opportunities for staff to share in decisions can create a feeling a trust. An important aspect of communication is effective listening. This is a significant skill for teachers but critical for leaders in that they should first understand for them to be understood. This principle requires staff to think of the views and feelings of others rather than focusing on having their own needs heard. The roles of early childhood leaders includes as managers though they performed various duties such as coordinating, organizing, heading the school and being responsible of all activities carried out within the school environment. Management and supervision carried the highest percentage of their roles. The other role which had a higher percent included communicating with parents about the progress of their children and institution. Developing the staff was also included and coordination. The above roles of early childhood leadership were seen to focus more on maintaining discipline and not developing it. In this case leadership skills were not so present as there was no vision statement or advocacy (Klinkner et al., 2005). Leadership involves driving people forward and focusing more especially through sharing of goals and resources. Joint funding was also encourages social interactions helping the community to provide essential services such as health services and education. According to Kagan and Hallmark (2001) early childhood leaders are to be competent and in the following ways. One is that they should have knowledge of leadership, child development and be in a position to act as teachers. The leaders should also posses skills needed in performing technical duties such as budgeting. Other skills include human skills and conceptual. The leaders should be morally upright in order to set a good example to the children. Conclusion The study shows the importance of high quality leadership in early childhood as well as what the role of leadership pertains. There is also need for training and development of leaders in order to improve children learning skills and developing them to become useful to the community. It has also been seen that development of professionalism does not only involve improving the methods of entrepreneurship but instead it involves collaborating, being cooperative and contributing to the community. It is also seen that distributed leadership is important in early childhood as it empowers people in minor and senior positions. References Archer, D. & Cameron, A. (2008). Collaborative leadership: How to succeed in and interconnected world. Butterworth Heinemann. Ashman, C. & Green, S. (2005). Managing the early years: Planning, doing and reviewing. London, UK: David Fullan Publishers. Bezzina, C. (2002). School Leadership. Msida, Malta: MSEAM Publications. Cater, M. (2001). Indicators of effective teamwork. Child Care Information Exchange, 1, 68-71. Grey, A. (1999). A vision for quality in early childhood education. Australian Journal of Early Education, 24(3), 1-4. Hatherly, A. (2000). Organizational culture: Quality’s soul mate. Early Education, 23. Hybels, B. (1998). Finding your leadership style. Leadership Journal, Winter. Jorde- Bloom, P. (2004). Leadership as a way of thinking. Zero to Three, 25(2), 21-26. Kagan, S. & Hallmark, L. (2001). Cultivating leadership in early care and education: Reaping the harvest of a new approach to leadership. Child Care Information Exchange, 7, 7-11. Kagan, S. & Bowman, B. (1997). Leadership in early care and education. Washington, DC: NAEYC. Klinkner, J., Riley, D., & Roach, M. (2005). Organizational climate as a tool for child care staff retention. Young children, 60(6), 90-95. Muijis, D., Aubrey, C., Harris, A., & Briggs, M. (2004). How do they manage? A review of the research on leadership in early childhood. Journal of early childhood research, 2(2), 157-169. Notman, R. (2006). Value-based leadership: A secondary principal’s perspective. New Zealand Journal of Education Leadership, 21(2), 5-16. Nupponen, H. (2006). Framework for developing leadership skills in child care centres in Queensland, Australia. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7(2), 146-161. Rodd, J. (2001). Building leadership expertise of future early childhood professionals. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 22, 9-12. Scrivens, C. (2001). Team and teamwork. Early Education, 27, 31-36. Read More