Social Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care : An Introduction

This book is based on a host of wonderful conversations with inspiring social leaders in ECEC around the world. We are deeply grateful to all of these leaders for their insights about social leadership, which were shared with such joy and generosity. Many other conversations have shaped this book and particularly those that happen in the context of our 'day jobs' at London Early Years Foundation and Middlesex University. We appreciate the many ways in which our colleagues put social leadership in ECEC into practice every day and continually share their learning. Finally, powerful conversations at home have had a role to play too of course. In this regard, June continues to be spurred on by the deep conversations provided by her colleagues, friends who are also social leaders, her husband Steve and son Fionn who constantly get her to think hard and deeply about leadership in education. Mona would like to thank her husband Tom for thought-provoking dialogues about what makes for transformational leadership in the context of an education system that needs to do better for so many children and young people. viii ## Welcome In this book, we explore a new model of leadership in early childhood education and care (ECEC) called 'Social Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care (SLECEC)' . In this introductory chapter, we aim to do four things. Firstly, we explain why we need a new model of ECEC leadership that puts social purpose at the centre of leading. Secondly, we define -in a nutshell -the model of social leadership. Thirdly, we tell the story of how the social leadership model came about and how it has developed over time. Finally, we provide an overview of the main chapters in this book, which are organized around the six elements of the SLECEC model. ## Why do we need a new model of leadership in ECEC? This book is based on the premise that we need a model of leadership that has at its core the commitment to leading with a social purpose. We talk about the protagonists of this model as 'social leaders' . It is not particularly revolutionary to say that ECEC has a social purpose. Most of us who work in the field do so because we believe we can contribute to a better, fairer world. Research conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) consistently shows that high quality ECEC can support children and families to thrive and is particularly important for those in contexts of poverty and disadvantage. In the UK, the Effective Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) project (latest round of findings published in 2015) showed that high quality ECEC is associated with long-term academic outcomes and that this relationship is most robust for children with parents who have a lower level of educational qualification How did the model come about? In the early summer of 2019, Mona wrote an email to June asking to spend some time in London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) to explore how leadership was designed, implemented and understood on the ground in the context of "Bravo! This book brilliantly meets the moment." – Julie Nicholson, Mills College and Co-Director, Center for Equity in Early Childhood, USA "A lovely insightful exploration of leadership through a social justice lens." – Lord Victor Adebowale, UK Across the world, organisations in early childhood education (ECE) face major organisational challenges, including staff recruitment, retention and wellbeing, in the context of sectoral fragmentation and under-investment. These issues impact negatively on the experience of children, staff, parents and the wider community. Social leadership is a new model of leadership that aims to address these challenges by refocusing leadership through a much stronger social justice lens and a community. It highlights the significance of warm and inclusive modes of leadership as a means of driving positive change. Based on in-depth interviews with renowned global leaders in ECE, this book provides an introduction to the six-element model of social leadership and shows how it can be developed and implemented by organisations, training bodies and educational institutions. Written in accessible language and illustrated with original international case studies the book begins a much-needed dialogue about how we can work from within ECE to overcome the workforce and sectoral hurdles we face. "Across the world, organisations in early childhood education (ECE) face major operational challenges, including staff recruitment, retention and wellbeing. These issues impact negatively on the experience of children, carers and the wider community. Social leadership is a new model of leadership that can be implemented to combat these issues and challenges. It prioritises warm, non-hierarchical and inclusive modes of leadership, which enables all staff across an organisation to make change by acting from a strong sense of community and purpose. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this book provides an introduction to social leadership in the context of ECE, and shows how it can be developed and implemented by organisations, training bodies and educational institutions. The book draws on an international research project called Social Leadership in Early Childhood Education (SLECE), which tracked the impact of social leadership initiatives in Australia, Romania, the UK and the USA. Each chapter includes a list of aims, boxed summaries of key concepts, reflective and discussion questions, a further reading list and a bulleted chapter summary."-- Provided by publisher "Organisations in early childhood education and care (ECEC) face major organisational challenges, including staff recruitment, retention and wellbeing, in the context of sectoral fragmentation and under-investment. Social leadership is a new model that addresses these challenges by refocusing leadership through a much stronger social justice lens and highlighting the significance of warm and inclusive leadership to drive positive change. Based on interviews with renowned global leaders in ECEC, this book provides an introduction to the six-element model of social leadership and shows how it can be developed and implemented by organisations, training bodies and educational institutions." -- Back cover Cover Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Committing to a social purpose 2 Driving a social pedagogy 3 Creating a culture of collaborative innovation 4 Investing in others’ leadership 5 Facilitating powerful conversations 6 Sowing the seeds of sustainability 7 Conclusion References Index