Educational leadership : An evolving role in Australian early childhood settings

• Published in: Educational management, administration & leadership Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 960 - 979
• Main Authors: Sims, Margaret, Waniganayake, Manjula, Hadley, Dr Fay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-11-2018
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Bureaucracy; Compliance (Legal); Decision Making; Early Childhood Education; Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (Australia); Educational Change; Educational leadership; Educational Policy; Educational Quality; Foreign Countries; Instructional Leadership; Leadership qualities; Leadership responsibility; Leadership Role; Multimethod techniques; Neoliberalism; Policy implementation; Politics of Education; Preschool teachers; Program Implementation; Resistance to Change; Australia; Early childhood; neoliberalism; resistance; leadership
• ISSN: 1741-1432; 1741-1440
• DOI: 10.1177/1741143217714254

In the Australian early childhood sector the role of educational leader emerged as part of a very large process of policy reform that began in 2009. The position of educational leader was established to drive the quality improvement requirements of the reform, but many organisations did not establish these positions until several years after the reforms were introduced. Lack of clear role descriptions and authority make it difficult for educational leaders to fulfil the expectations held of them. This study examines the sense leaders make of the policy reforms and the street-level bureaucracy they perform to translate the policy into action. This sense-making and street-level bureaucracy is taking place in a neoliberal context where, we argue, the demands for professional discretionary decision-making are in conflict with the top-down standardisation inherent in neoliberalism. Educational leaders have the potential to challenge neoliberalism through their professional decision-making but, in the Australian context, many are currently focusing on compliance with their street-level bureaucracy. [Author abstract]