Leadership within the early childhood education (ECE) sector in New Zealand is both positionally assigned and a required practice of all teachers. Within this context, distributed leadership-where all team members have the opportunity to lead-is increasingly seen as an effective leadership model. This article reports on a study whose aim was to discover practices of effective positional leaders in facilitating distributed leadership. A nationwide survey was carried out in Aotearoa New Zealand to capture a picture of current perceptions of ECE teachers and positional leaders about distributed leadership for professional learning. Subsequently, leadership practices for distributed leadership in three previously-identified high quality ECE services were investigated through individual and group interviews. The analysis of literature, survey and interview findings from this study led to a framework of effective leadership practice, consisting of: mentoring and coaching; fostering relational trust; and creating vision and designing supportive structures.

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<p>Over the past 100 years, educationalists such as Dewey and Eisner have proposed radical and progressive ways in which visual art can support and enrich learning in education (Lindsay, 2016b). The early childhood pedagogy of Reggio Emilia, in Italy, is a renowned example of how teachers take an active role in facilitating children’s artistic abilities with positive outcomes for children’s learning (Gandini et al., 2005). However, in New Zealand (NZ) early childhood education (ECE), visual arts teaching for young children is still enacted within a largely developmental frame, using a hands-off approach (Terreni, 2017). According to Lindsay (2021) and Smyth (2017), teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, knowledge and skills in art education need to be addressed in order to shift practice. Professional learning communities (PLCs) offer the potential to challenge teachers’ assumptions and beliefs and to foster transformative learning, resulting in observable shifts in art teaching practice (Damjanovic & Blank, 2017; Servage, 2008). This mixed methods study (Johnson & Christensen, 2019) within an interpretivist paradigm (Schwandt, 1994), examined the perceptions and practices of NZ ECE teachers about art education through a nationwide survey and a professional learning intervention using a network PLC approach. Situated and social cognitive theories, socio-cultural theory and transformative learning theory were interlinked in a bricolage approach (Tobin, 2018) to form a theoretical lens for this study. The first stage of the research involved a survey of ECE teachers regarding practices and perceptions about visual arts, and this provided a background context for the PLC project. Key survey findings included a dominant developmentalist view of children’s art learning amongst ECE teachers and confusion about the role of the teacher. In the embedded case study, a network PLC was established with seven teachers from four ECE services, meeting over 9 months with a mixture of practical and reflective learning about visual arts. The data collection included multiple sources for rich analysis: interviews; reflective writing; meeting dialogue; photographs; and learning story assessment documentation. Case study findings included the value of reflective and practical learning for visual arts teaching, the impact of a network PLC on the practice and perceptions of both the participants and their colleagues, the critical place of teacher self-efficacy in visual arts teaching practice, and the importance of leadership of various actors across the network to support the application and sharing of new learning. Overall, the outcomes of this study have important implications for visual arts pedagogy in ECE and effective professional learning approaches for teachers.</p>

In this article, we examine how teachers in two kindergartens, one in New Zealand and one in China, used the stimulus of a fictional story combining mythical creatures from Māori and Chinese culture to enhance young children's sense of place and cultural identity. Sociocultural understandings about the role of collaboration and cultural tools in meaning-making informed the research design. Teachers' documentation about the children's learning throughout the project was analysed and focus group interviews were conducted with teachers and parents. Findings demonstrated that story-telling provided an effective stimulus for children's learning using a range of multi-literacies. It was also helpful for exploring and connecting children, teachers and families with significant aspects of the cultural backgrounds of the children. The research also revealed that teachers engaged in intentional teaching practices to achieve these outcomes but experienced challenges (pedagogical knots) as they used the story. Nonetheless, we argue that the use of storytelling can be a powerful tool for fostering greater understanding for children, teachers and families of their own and others' cultures.

<p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, leadership within the early childhood education (ECE) sector is both positionally assigned and a required practice of all teachers. Within this context, distributed leadership – where all team members have the opportunity to lead – is increasingly seen as an effective leadership model (Thornton, 2010). The purported benefits of distributed leadership have significant overlap with professional learning: increased engagement, deeper learning, context-specific learning and improved pedagogical practices among teachers (Poekert, 2012). This study considers the relationship between distributed leadership and professional learning in ECE settings, and seeks to discover practices of effective positional leaders in facilitating both. A nationwide survey was carried out in Aotearoa New Zealand to capture a picture of current perceptions of ECE teachers and positional leaders about professional learning communities and, in particular, distributed leadership for professional learning. Subsequently, the leadership practices for distributed leadership and professional learning in three previously-identified high quality ECE services were investigated through individual and group interviews. The analysis of literature, survey and interview findings from this study led to a framework of effective leadership practice, consisting of six elements: inquiry and articulation of thinking; teachers enacting leadership; collaboration and dialogue; mentoring and coaching; fostering relational trust; and, creating vision and designing supportive structures.</p>