“I am the pilot, but i need a committed crew” : Researching early childhood education and care leadership by using the actantial model of power

Abstract

Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is changing globally. We investigated ECEC leadership and leaders’ interpretations of power and its realization between leaders and followers, a little researched topic in the field. Our theoretical framework consists of ECEC contextual knowledge and prior research attached with Michel Foucault’s and Mary Parker Follet’s perceptions of power as positive, relational and discursive microphenomenon. Our essay data (N = 46) was written by ECEC center leaders before participating in educational leaders in-service training. The method of analysis was Greimas’ actantial analysis (1979), which enabled us to build two actantial models of leaders’ perspectives and relation to power. Findings indicate that power is a leader-centered, unstructured and hiding concept needing conscious reframing and integration of positional and non-positional leader roles in the community.