Perceptions of early childhood education professionals on teacher leadership in Finland
Heikka, J., Halttunen, L., & Waniganayake, M. (2018). Perceptions of early childhood education professionals on teacher leadership in Finland. Early Child Development and Care, 188 (2), 143-156. doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1207066
Published in
Early Child Development and CareDate
2018Discipline
KoulutusjohtaminenCopyright
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This study investigated perceptions of early childhood education (ECE) professionals employed at three ECE centres on teacher leadership enactment in Finland. These professionals comprised childcare nurses, teachers and ECE centre directors. Theoretically, the study was anchored on an analysis of teacher leadership and distributed leadership literature comprising research based in early childhood and school education contexts. Findings based on focus groups and interviews with participants suggest that teacher leadership was perceived as a responsibility of ECE pedagogy in Finland. Centre directors were considered remote from daily practice and leadership for pedagogy within the centres was shared with teachers. Teacher leadership was enacted through assessment, planning and ensuring that pedagogy was connected with each centre’s goals. Participants’ perceptions also indicated that centres differed on how support was being provided to teacher leaders.
Publisher
RoutledgeISSN Search the Publication Forum
0300-4430Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
An exploration of teachers’ and leaders’ perceptions of their collaborative working and learning : the case of three general upper secondary schools in Finland
Machala, Molly (2021)Educational leadership is an abstract concept that is still often discussed from the perspective that it can be understood, as through roles, practices, or outcomes (Dinh et al., 2014). However, the present study and its ... -
Teachers' perception of children's agency in early childhood education
Thomayer, Claudia (2017)The concept of agency is currently brought more and more into the focus of ed- ucational research. While professional agency at work is for instance already broadly discussed in adult education, research on children’s ... -
Views from the Inside : Roles of Deputy Directors in Early Childhood Education in Finland
Halttunen, Leena; Waniganayake, Manjula (MDPI AG, 2021)This study explored the perceptions of deputy directors about their leadership in Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres in Finland. Our aim was to look beyond task distribution and understand how deputy directors enacted ... -
Investigating Teacher Leadership in ECE Centres in Finland
Heikka, Johanna; Halttunen, Leena; Waniganayake, Manjula (Suomen varhaiskasvatus, 2016)This study was aimed at investigating the enactment of teacher leadership in early childhood education (ECE) centres in Finland. Theoretically, the study was informed by the emerging scholarship of early childhood distributed ...