Caring leadership in early childhood education in Chile: tensions from a highly gendered context

ABSTRACT

Educational leadership at early childhood education (ECE) has been extensively studied. However, evidence from Chile is still scarce. As with many parts of the world, the ECE workforce is very female-heavy and Chile is no exception to this. This situation presents an intriguing context for leadership studies as particularities of a gendered role for women as leaders in Chile has not been a matter of analysis. Leadership in ECE includes a sense of vocation or ‘passion’ for children’s care, development, and learning, called caring leadership. This concept highlights an ethical component, interpersonal relations and a concern for the well-being. This article presents the findings of a three-year study involving 12 women leaders in ECE who established a Professional Learning Community. They were interviewed throughout the research. Findings reveal three tensions. Firstly, leadership is associated with a maternal role, perpetuating gender stereotypes. The second tension addresses the dynamics of personal connections within ECE teams in terms of asymmetry or horizontality. The third tension arises from the significance of caring as a crucial aspect of working in ECE education. These tensions underscore the need for a critical analysis of leadership in ECE, as gender considerations may overlook the complexity of the leaders’ role.

KEYWORDS:

• Professionalism
• caring leadership
• gender
• early childhood education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Participants were identified by pseudonym

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico [grant number 11160639].

Notes on contributors

Paula Guerra

Paula Guerra is a faculty member of the Graduate School of Education at Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, and a researcher of the Research Centre for Socio-Educational Transformation. PhD in Education Sciences from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her research focuses on teachers' professional development and learning, early childhood education, collaboration and professionalism, and reflective practice.

Ximena Poblete

Ximena Poblete is a Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Education at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, and an Associate Researcher at the Centro de Estudios Primera Infancia (CEPI) - Chile. PhD in Education from University College London. Her research focuses on early childhood education and care, teachers' professional identity, and gender.

Mery Rodriguez

Mery Rodriguez is Associate researcher at the Teaching Development Department of the University of the Americas (Chile). PhD in Education Sciences from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her research focuses on education on gender and sexualities, diversities, educational ethnographies, interculturality in education, and reflective practice.

Daniela Figueroa

Daniela Figueroa is a faculty member of the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Family at the University Finis Terrae, where she teaches undergraduate students of ECE. She is an early childhood educator from the University of Chile and PhD in Education from the UCL Institute of Education, London. Her research focus is on Professional Learning Communities of teachers and ECE leadership.