Policy rhetorics and responsibilization in the formation of early childhood Educational Leaders in Australia

Nuttall, Joce; Henderson, Linda; Wood, Elizabeth; Trippestad, Tom Are

doi:10.1080/02680939.2020.1739340

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Recent work explores leadership as a social responsibility (Sakr & O'Sullivan, 2022;Stampoulos & Barblett, 2020), wellbeing of leaders (Logan et al, 2020;Neilsen-Hewett et al, 2022) and leadership emergence and development (Gibbs, 2020). Small pockets of research challenge normative constructions of leaders and leadership in ECEC (Davis et al, 2015;Nuttall et al, 2020;Sims et al, 2014;Varpanen, 2021;White et al, 2023). In the context of ECEC workforce shortages, it is increasingly important to understand the attraction to leadership and its effects.…”

Section: Early Childhood Education and Care Leadershipemerging Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership in Australia’s early childhood workforce policy: Silences and ambiguities as missed opportunities

White

2023

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

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This paper explores how leadership is addressed within Australia’s National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy (ACECQA, 2021). The Workforce Strategy has been widely welcomed, arriving at a time of unprecedented workforce pressures in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Yet, on close examination there appears an absence of focus on leaders as a distinct group within the ECEC workforce. Considering leadership is unequivocally central to retaining and sustaining early childhood educators, this absence of focus is noteworthy. First, the paper unpacks what is currently known about ECEC leadership. Then, how leadership in the policies under consideration is constructed as a problem in relation to quality and capability. Next, silences and ambiguities in how the strategy addresses the retention of leaders and their wellbeing is discussed. Ultimately it is argued that we need more understanding of the experiences of leaders as a distinct subset of the ECEC workforce.

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Section: Early Childhood Education and Care Leadershipemerging Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership in Australia’s early childhood workforce policy: Silences and ambiguities as missed opportunities

White

2023

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

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“…The Australian context for the study is a set of policy reforms that has increased the focus on the quality of early childhood education and care services (Nuttall et al, 2022). Behind these reforms are a set of policy rationales that connect high quality early childhood education and care with ameliorating the effects of early deprivation and building human capital (Garcia et al, 2016).…”

Section: Public Judgement Of Australian Early Childhood Education And...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational leadership in early childhood education: Participant vulnerability and a ‘rule of care’

Henderson,

Nuttall,

Wood

et al. 2023

Journal of Early Childhood Research

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There is considerable literature describing the use of Change Laboratory as a simultaneous research and intervention methodology in workplace settings. However, there is limited literature describing Change Laboratory from the researcher-facilitator perspective. This paper examines the ethical dimensions of Change Laboratory from this perspective and specifically how a ‘rule of care’ became a conscious rule. The context is a series of Change Laboratories implemented with Centre Directors and Educational Leaders from early childhood education and care centres in Darwin and Melbourne, Australia. Based on our analysis we attribute the emergence of this rule to a particular vulnerability of the participants: that they were all recruited from centres that had been publicly designated as Working Towards National Quality Standard requirements for quality early childhood education and care practices. We present evidence of this ‘rule of care’ in our work as researcher-facilitators from our data. We conclude that attention to a ‘rule of care’ is necessary to support transformation, particularly for vulnerable participants such as Educational Leaders.

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“…In England, despite several reports, (DfES 2006;Nutbrown 2012;DfE 2013DfE , 2017Bonetti and Blanden 2020;Campbell-Barrr et al 2020;Pascal, Bertram, and Cole-Albäck 2020; Social Mobility Commission 2020), and academic commentaries and analyses (Osgood 2009;Nutbrown 2013;Kempton 2014;Barron 2016;Campbell-Barr 2018;Kay et al 2021) the crisis of qualifications persists (Nuttall et al 2020); indeed, it is particularly noteworthy that four key reports on qualifications and the workforce were published during 2020 alone, an indication of urgency if more were needed.…”

Section: The Early Childhood Education Qualifications Crisismentioning

confidence: 99%

Early childhood educators’ qualifications: a framework for change

Nutbrown

2021

International Journal of Early Years Education

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In the context of an ongoing policy crisis in relation to the qualifications of the early childhood workforce in England, this paper first rehearses the context and long overdue need for reform before presenting a framework for career structure and professional early childhood education qualifications in England. This framework is designed to address difficulties of recruitment, retention, and progression, and thereby raise the status of qualifications and the roles they enable early years practitioners to undertake. The paper ends by reiterating the importance of qualifications for those working in early childhood education, what they need to study and how what they study equips them for their various roles.

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Policy rhetorics and responsibilization in the formation of early childhood Educational Leaders in Australia

Cited by 14 publications

References 33 publications

Leadership in Australia’s early childhood workforce policy: Silences and ambiguities as missed opportunities

Leadership in Australia’s early childhood workforce policy: Silences and ambiguities as missed opportunities

Educational leadership in early childhood education: Participant vulnerability and a ‘rule of care’

Early childhood educators’ qualifications: a framework for change

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