Building leadership capacity in early childhood pre-service teachers

Abstract

Building leadership capacity has emerged as a key concern within the early childhood profession in Australia as the sector responds to recent national reforms focusing on raising standards and improving quality provision of services. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion around these reforms and to make a case for changes needed in tertiary training to provide opportunities to build early childhood leadership capacity in school settings. Eight experienced early childhood teachers enrolled in a post graduate leadership unit participated in a small scale, exploratory study. Data were drawn from the participants' research plans, reflective journals and a post unit survey. The findings indicated that the participants found it difficult to perceive themselves as leading families and community. Two key challenges emerged; the importance of developing home/school partnerships and difficulties with infrastructure. In order to prepare teachers for the changing early childhood environment, teacher educators need to consider course renewal.