Ofsted View On Effective Leadership

Throughout this assignment a discussion will take place into the theories of leadership, whilst examining the role of managers within the context of the early years. A series of management competences will be evaluated, whilst investigating the notions of leadership and collaboration.

The importance of effective leadership and its impact on improving student achievement are evident in today’s schools (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, and Wahlstrom, 2004). While the school principal is traditionally thought to be the school leader, Glickman (1989) proposes that “the principal of successful schools is not the instructional leader but the educational leader who mobilizes the expertise, talent, and care of others” (p. 8). Lumpkin, Claxton, and Wilson (2014) contend that helping “each school fulfill its mission and energize and expand the professionalism and professional contributions of teachers, the expertise of all teachers, especially teacher leaders, is needed” (p. 59). Teachers directly impact student learning, and

Leadership is a sociocultural construct underpinned by the beliefs and values of a society (Waniganayake, Cheeseman, Fenech, Hadley, & Shepherd, 2012). Leadership in early childhood have shifted the focus from one designated leader into a more collective approach – distributed leadership, which is not about delegating. As Cheeseman (2012) states, in early childhood settings, attention is often directed at administrative and management leadership (Waniganayake et al., 2012); however it is important to have a designated leader in the areas of development and implementation of curriculum and pedagogy – being the educational leader as a requirement of the National Quality Framework – whilst at the same time see educational leadership as a

Literature states that leadership is displayed as a persistent and positive activity (Fitzgerald and Gunter, 2008 cited in Siraj-Blachford and Hallet, 2014, pg.9). According to Rodd (2006), early childhood practitioners need to be effective leaders to make sure their roles and responsibilities are carried out effectively. Although leadership can be learned or developed, it is important that all individual gains access to professional training and opportunities to practice, refined and broadened (Rodd, 2006). Therefore, the importance of leadership and implementation to the setting is recognized by all Early Years Leaders. Leadership can be displayed as a process in which one person, usually it is the leaders role and responsibility to set the purpose or direction for one or more other persons. Then later on gets them to move along together with him or her and with each other in that direction with competence and fill commitment. (Jacques and Clement, 1994, cited in Briggs and Briggs, 2009). Siraj-Blatchford and Hallet (2014) adds that leadership is also known as a process for personal and professional learning and development; organizational change and improvement. Rodd (2013) defines leaders working in early childhood sector as people who are able to influence the behaviours of others to achieve a certain goal or planned outcome. Similarly, leadership in the early childhood sector appears to be more of a result to groups of people who work together to influence and inspire

“Understanding leadership in early childhood has been plagued by its confusion with the concept of management” (Rodd, 2013, p. 19). The quotation highlights the overlapping of different roles of leadership and management. It is true in respect that people misunderstand the true nature, roles and responsibilities of both the roles because the educational leaders play the role of manager in early childhood setting and the managers perform the duties of educational leader. The following essay will discuss the role of the leaders, which is different from the managers in early childhood settings. There will be discussion on the different skills and dispositions required to perform the role of a leader and a manager. There are different models and theories, which influence the way of working of the leaders and managers. First, the essay will explain the Collin’s level five leadership model; and Katz’s four development stages model followed by the Formal, Collegial and Cultural models of educational management in early childhood setting. Finally, the essay will compare and contrast the current theories of leadership; the charismatic theory, the transactional theory and the transformational theory of leadership. The different theories’ implication to the early educational settings will also be discussed through the essay.

This assignment will explore the meaning of vision within early years’ and the theories and principles of leadership, examining the role of people management, models of staff development; problem solving skills and the importance of communication within a pre-school provision. There are numerous definitions of the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’. Some theorists believe they are synonymous with one another, whereas others believe both terms have a specific role and purpose and are, in effect, very different from one another. Harvard Business School professor John Kotter (2001), believes that management and leadership are distinct but complementary and that one cannot function without the other. Early Years Matters (2015) define leadership as:

Normally in a good childhood, a child will grow up well educated and wanting to be a role model for younger children whereas a child with a bad childhood might follow in their parents’ footsteps and be a bad influence to others. In an article written by Victoria Carr, Lawrence J. Johnson, and Connie Corkwell, it is explained that “One of the most important aspects of any early childhood setting is the quality of its leadership. Leaders set the tone and are critical to the development of a nurturing environment that supports families and staff, who then encourage children to flourish” (Carr, Corkwell, Johnson 1). They explain that a good or bad childhood is influenced by the role model in that child’s life. A role model can be a parent, a neighbor, a teacher, even a sibling. To the child, they want to grow up and be like their role model. These role models are teaching future “Leaders [to] inspire those they supervise to find their own voices,” or unfortunately to take revenge upon the people who did not help them (Carr, Corkwell, Johnson 2). A child needs someone to look up to because they need direction; it is up to a role model to show the child right from wrong so they can learn and become a leader in the

What is leadership? How does people perceive leadership in their everyday Life? Can we still today, in a world oriented more an more towards individualism and commitment to achievement of personal goals, talk about leadership?

In this assignment, leadership will be defined and analysed, then explore different approaches and traits to leadership and its importance in the context of Social housing specifically referencing Cardiff community Housing Associations as case study and then summarise with conclusion.

Over the years as a student body, as individuals and as young adults we have been presented with the question, ‘what is a leader?’ personally, I find the answer constantly changing. In respect to the continual growth of my understanding of people, the world and myself; what defines a leader to me evolves based on the experiences and individuals I encounter. An enormous contributor to my concept of leadership has been the St Hilda’s environment and our our motto of Non Nobis Solemn. It seems that no matter how the definition may expand and evolve, there are certain qualities and beliefs which are recurrent and remain at the foundation. It is my understanding that I can bring forth a number of these idiosyncrasies as an individual and possibly,

This essay will begin by discussing the importance of the early year’s leadership which implies the effective strategy to develop school education according to Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS, 2012) curriculum. This will be following by a discussion of early years’ leadership practice and key learning theories which underpin upon early years learning environment.

This student has held a lifelong interest in the area of leadership. From as early as age 8, this student has been intrigued with the sense of exuberance, found in personal success and achievement and began to wonder if others could be made to feel the same sense of excitement and belief in themselves. Thus, began this student’s endeavor to helping others “become”, “believe”, “expand” and “succeed”. But, was that leadership or the expression of a trait, or perhaps it was something spiritual or maybe it was an exertion of power over my life or the life of another. To answer the question, “What does leadership mean? ”, this student has selected the article “Leadership is about What We Deliver; Shaping culture, Creating Patterns of Success.”

Komives, S., Owen, J., Longerbeam, S., Mainella, F., & Osteen, L. (2005). Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6), 593-611.

Students may not be receiving leadership training in early childhood education program that could be beneficial to them in their development as leaders. The problem I want to address is if the preschool students are getting enough education about leadership before enter school such as kinder garden. The statement I came up with is something that needs more attention in order for it to be changed in the preschool curriculum.

Effective leaders have the ability to learn from the past and able to integrate it within the present setting. The goal of this paper is to analyze the topic of leadership in school settings in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources.