Di Nailon

Learning and leading: how beliefs about learning can be used to promote effective leadership

Purpose: To examine the l inks between the core beliefs a leader holds about learning and knowing (called epistemological beliefs) and how they go about leading an organisation. Design: We interviewed 15 directors in centre-based child care organisations about how they viewed learning and knowing in their leadership role. Findings: What we found in these interviews were that the directors who indicated transformational leadership behaviours also thought that staff learning and knowing should be active, meaningful and evidenced-based. This means that they viewed knowledge as evolving, tentative and needing to be critiqued and evaluated in the light of evidence (known as evaluativism in epistemological belief jargon). Conversely, the director with transactional beliefs about leadership clearly demonstrated beliefs that knowledge was about his own “truths’ or black and white facts that could be transmitted to others (known as objectivism). Value & Practical Implications: While it may be useful to reflect on the connections between core beliefs about knowing and learning and transformational leadership practice, a more important task for the field is how such leaders might be nurtured.

Changes in Policy Related to Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia

This chapter provides an overview and commentary on two decades of policy changes in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia that led to a National Quality Framework (NQF) for ECEC services for children from birth to five years (Council of Australian Governments [COAG], 2009a). It can be argued that the direction of the policy changes has meant that educators in these services have been increasingly asked to adopt pedagogical leadership skills and practices.

Professional Learning and Development for Pedagogical Leadership in Family Day Care in Tasmania

This chapter describes a qualitative study undertaken to address the question: What professional learning and development strategies are Family Day Care settings in Tasmania using to develop pedagogical leadership in response to the introduction of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)? Telephone interviews with managers of 10 family day care schemes across Tasmania were used to gather information on the EYLF related professional learning and development strategies adopted by the schemes.