Kindergarten teachers’ leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic: from uncertainty to practices of care and concern

ABSTRACT

This study sheds light on the professional leadership attitudes of kindergarten teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on their managerial practices in these times of chaos and crisis, and their presence as a type of pillar of stability. The main research question examines the leadership characteristics of these educational leaders, based on two main theoretical frames: the adaptive leadership style and the ethics of caring. The study population included 64 kindergarten teachers who had worked in Israel in different managerial and educational roles (kindergarten manager, full-time kindergarten teacher, and supplementary part-time kindergarten teacher) in the early childhood educational system during the pandemic. The research tool was an online questionnaire. The main finding of the study is that the participants conducted their leadership through augmented practices, as presented in the unique model that we developed specifically based on self-report analyses. Our findings indicate that the most dominant practice is the concern and caring practice. The Augmented Leadership Model also reflects the participants’ perception of their role as stable leaders, mostly towards their team, the parents, and the children. The main conclusion is that the leadership of kindergarten teachers has become a strong anchor of stability during this time of uncertainty.

KEYWORDS:

• Israel
• educational leadership
• concern and caring
• early childhood
• kindergarten teachers
• crisis
• Covid-19

The Covid-19 crisis influenced all levels of education and all types of educators around the globe. Such drastic disruption and challenges are worthy of research, specifically in relation to the management and leadership of early childhood educators. While this topic has been researched in part,¹ it is still not exhaustive, especially in the Israeli context.

Over the past few decades, kindergarten teachers have been perceived as expert educational leaders in both managerial and pedagogical fields. Over time, the terms kindergarten teacher or nursery manager have been replaced with early childhood educational leader, both in academia and within the organisational setting.² A range of factors have led to changes in the role of kindergarten teachers that now focuses on balancing between pedagogical tasks, teaching and learning, implementing novel technologies, and staying up to date with the latest research studies – and between managerial tasks that include working with multidisciplinary teams (such as assistants, counsellors, paramedical staff, psychologists, local authorities, and supervisors), and building relationships with the parents and the community.³ Today, it seems that nursery managers distinguish between administrative practices and leadership ones, as seen in their relationships with both their teams and the parents. In recent years, a more participative form of leadership can be seen in educational systems, especially in early childhood education. This is based on teamwork, quality communications, and working towards educational goals and principles that guide the work in the kindergarten.⁴

Even prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, studies showed a need for further research into leadership practices in early childhood education.⁵ Yet the crisis heightened this need. As such, this article attempts to provide an augmented model about the leadership of kindergarten teachers as they deal in a reality that is filled with disruption, challenges, and uncertainty. The main theories that assist in the analysis of the phenomena studied in this article and that are relevant to this topic include Adaptive Leadership⁶ and Ethics of Concern and Caring.⁷

Literature review

Educational leadership in times of a crises

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the educational systems for about 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries around the world.⁸ Educational leaders found themselves functioning in unfamiliar and uncertain settings,⁹ while having to preserve and enhance feelings of meaning and certainty that create strength and that help overcome crises in an optimal manner.¹⁰ In all institutions, educational leaders have become a central and meaningful pillar of stability in a very unsteady world. Yet to do so, they have been forced to deal with new and very different leadership and managerial processes.¹¹ The pace of life and changes in light of the pandemic have required leaders to take significant adaptive measures, to help themselves and their communities adapt to the new and unusual reality. Adaptive processes in the workplace require direction by leaders who define processes and indicate what has changed – based on renewed thinking about how the organisation can and should adjust and thrive in its new setting of uncertainty.¹²

Adaptive leadership during crises

Leadership during a crisis may face a number of major challenges, such as systemic loss of flexibility and failure to deal with the threat or respond to it effectively. The ability to function during the crisis may be diminished.¹³ Moreover, leadership during crisis requires the enabling of others to lead as a team. This means, ‘deepening’ the organisational leadership, delegating authority, and overseeing the use of human resources. Moreover, it must enable the continuation of the organisation’s activities, maintain a positive mood, and offer tools for decision-making.

In times of crises, the leader becomes an active partner with followers. This type of leader has the ability to empower followers, allows them freedom of thought and action, and enables them to be co-leaders or ‘first among equals’ under certain conditions.¹⁴ Similar approaches appear in Harris’ Decentralisation and Deep Leadership.¹⁵ While these are recommended approaches for leadership at all times, they are especially important during emergencies. Leaders with experience in crisis management may use the emergency to leverage change and create a new reality that will benefit the followers.¹⁶ Leaders have an essential influence on their employees, and their roles are considered most effective in assuring professional success in today’s dynamic work environment.¹⁷

Dwivedi et al. claim that autonomy should play a role in decision-making and create a balance between change and stability.¹⁸ The pandemic had an impact on agility and adaptively, which can be complementary approaches. Yet in some cases, agility may be in conflict with adaptability, and with centralised and decentralised decision-making. In times of crises and emergency, the common leadership style is adaptive leadership.¹⁹ Adaptive leadership is defined as the ability to adjust to a unique situation, that requires fast responses and that differs from usual response tools or repertoires. Such a practical framework assists people and organisations adjust to and thrive within challenging settings during times of crises, especially in complex circumstances that require fast adaptation yet that lack authority.²⁰

Adaptive leadership is based on assumptions of broad systemic thinking. The leader motivates processes that many people are partner to, based on understandings and actions within a defined and concrete space.²¹ Moreover, adaptive leadership is aimed at helping systems adjust to changes in the environment and become more relevant. The values of adaptive leadership become more apparent in realities such as the Covid-19 crisis.²² Studies show that this pandemic has significantly influenced the adaptive approach, in relation to how leaders and organisations deal with different processes that were forced upon them in this sudden time of uncertainty.²³

An additional leadership practice that is interwoven with others and thrives in times of crises is one that creates a climate of concern and care. This is a most relevant practice in educational institutions that are led by female leaders, with many of their practical skills being in line with the concern and caring theory.²⁴ Leaders in educational institutions who express their concern for others, based on social and moral attitudes, place the value of concern higher up the ladder of the organisation’s educational values. Indeed, concern for others is perceived as an educational objective that should be promoted, for the benefit of both the individual and society at large. Leadership skills that are based on caring are especially important in times of crises and challenges.²⁵

The kindergarten teachers’ leadership during the pandemic

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic rendered educators dealing with completely new and uncertain circumstances, in relation to teaching-learning, management, and leadership. The pandemic had a social and emotional impact on young children. For example, the first lockdown in Israel, that enforced the closure of all educational institutions, with children and parents spending extended periods of time together at home instead. This created a new reality in relation to the daily routines and activities of families, including distance learning via digital devices. During this time, kindergarten teachers began meeting with the children remotely via Zoom, in cooperation with the parents who had to be involved in these teaching-learning processes.²⁶ As such, kindergarten teachers found themselves constantly having to deal with numerous complex challenges.²⁷

Studies indicate additional aspects that impact the leadership of kindergarten teachers. For example, their familial and emotional circumstances, which may affect their functioning and pose additional difficulties – as well as the demanding task of their balancing between their home, personal space, and professional role.²⁸ The personality of the pre-school teacher is an additional factor that impacts their functioning during times of crises and that could affect the renewed shaping of the power relations within the kindergarten.²⁹

Studies on kindergarten teachers’ leadership styles and characteristics during the pandemic claim that the Covid-19 outbreak significantly changed two main dimensions in the work of early childhood educators. First, their pedagogical-education work, that entailed an immediate transition to distance learning via technological means that in most cases had not previously been used by them.³⁰ This led to teachers having to deal with new technological challenges, with little to no advanced training.³¹ Next, their managerial style of the kindergarten and their team, and their conduct with the parents, also greatly changed. Kindergarten teachers began implementing new teaching styles that suited the new reality, based on skills that they had previously acquired, such as during their studies.³² In addition, a significant increase was seen in the degree of responsibility that they expressed towards the children, the team, the community, and society – as part of the change that took place in relation to their perceived role as leaders during the crisis. This was in addition to their having to deal with new challenges relating to decreasing learning gaps that stemmed from distance learning, lockdowns, and isolations.³³

Methodology

Research objective

The aim of this study was to examine and analyse the leadership of the pre-school teacher during the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, its research question was: How does the pre-school teacher characterise her professional leadership when managing the kindergarten during the pandemic?

Research methodology

The study employed a mixed method research. The chosen methodology was based on an approach that encourages reflection and that enables observations of existing paradigms from a new and different perspective.³⁴ The quantitative research tool included a questionnaire for gathering and analysing data through a range of statistical tests; the qualitative analyses were based on categorical content analysis.³⁵ Both researchers read the participants’ answers to the open-ended question in the questionnaire – individually and repeatedly. Content analysis was then carried out to form new categories of meaning based on the participants’ input. Next, the two researchers compared the findings of their content analysis until they reached full agreement regarding the themes that had emerged.

Research population

A total of 64 participants completed the research questionnaire. These included 62 women (96.9%) and two men (3.1%). All participants were kindergarten teachers in three different roles, including supplementary kindergarten teachers, kindergarten managers, and kindergarten cluster leaders as seen in Appendix A1 and Appendix A2.

Research tool

The questionnaire was based on a reliable scale for measuring the self-evaluation of adaptive leadership.³⁶ For this study, the tool was adapted to suit the research population, i.e. early childhood educators. The items on the questionnaire enabled the participants’ self-reporting of how they perceived their leadership during the pandemic.

The questionnaire comprised three sections: (1) Socio-demographic data; (2) A total of 19 items to be ranked on a Likert-like scale, from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much so). These items were divided into four dimensions: relationships, concern and caring, leadership qualities (personal and functional), and dealing with change; and (3) The written completion of a given sentence, to depict the authentic voice of the participants.

Following the adjustments, the questionnaire was validated by three lecturers who are experts in the field of content (with PhDs in education), then further validated by a fourth content expert (with a PhD in early childhood education). The questionnaire, combined with support from the literature, enhances the validity and reliability for examining the researched phenomenon and can be used for reciprocal verification.³⁷

Research procedure

The questionnaire was distributed during July-September 2021 in one stage, through Google Drive, to a sample of convenience of about 500 B.Ed. graduates and retrained academics in early childhood education in two colleges of education in Israel – via a computerised data system. The response rate was 13.3%.

Data analysis

Data analysis was conducted using the IB SPSS v.25 software package. First, we calculated the theoretical statistical measures and tested the reliability of the questionnaire. Next, to examine the research question, we conducted one-way ANOVA tests.

Findings

Qualitative questionnaire

Table 1 presents the participants’ responses to the 19 items in the questionnaire. The items from the quantitative questionnaire were grouped into the following four content categories of research variables: relationships, concern and caring, leadership qualities, and dealing with change. Table 2 presents the main indexes of leadership qualities implemented by the kindergarten teachers in their work.

Table 1. Research items, mean scores, and standard deviations (N = 64).

Item	Mean	SD
The kindergarten manager allows the team freedom of choice and broad scope of action	4.34	.65
The kindergarten manager is considerate of the children, their parents, and the team	4.87	.34
The kindergarten manager creates a relationship of mutual trust between herself and the team	4.84	.41
The kindergarten manager leads processes of learning and teaching	4.72	.52
The kindergarten manager shares the challenges and dilemmas that she faces with the team and parents	3.77	.94
Through her actions, the kindergarten manager conveys concern and caring towards the team and the children	4.80	.41
The kindergarten manager leads processes for developing an optimal educational climate in the kindergarten	4.88	.33
The kindergarten manager is a leading character who guides the parents and the team during times of uncertainty	4.75	.51
The kindergarten manager is not afraid of challenges during times of uncertainty	3.59	.99
The kindergarten manager has leadership capabilities	4.53	.73
The kindergarten manager functions well under pressure	4.38	.70
The kindergarten manager sets an example for the children, the team, and the parents	4.80	.44
The kindergarten manager is confident	4.44	.75
The kindergarten manager exhibits agility and functions in extreme conditions	4.55	.71
The kindergarten manager has the desire and ability to impact others	4.48	.62
The change that the entire team and the kindergarten manager underwent during the period of uncertainty was significant and challenging	4.19	.80
To what degree was the change expressed in the team management and leadership?	3.80	1.01
To what degree was there a change in the decision-making processes during the pandemic?	3.87	1.02
To what degree was there a change in the use of teaching approaches/technological means?	4.34	.96

Table 2. Main indexes of the leadership qualities implemented by the kindergarten teachers in their work.

Measure	No.	Min.	Max.	Mean	SD	A
Relationships	5	3.60	5.00	4.46	.39	.616
Concern and caring	3	4.00	5.00	4.80	.34	.728
Leadership qualities	7	3.14	5.00	4.43	.47	.792
Dealing with change	4	1.25	5.00	4.05	.72	.758

Research measures include mean, SD, and reliability

In the study, the internal reliability of the research variables was high, as seen in the alpha-Cronbach (α) result, indicating high stability and consistency in the participants’ responses to each item. To examine relationships and affiliations between the four research dimensions, Pearson tests were conducted. The findings are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Pearson correlation between research measures (N = 64).

Measure	1	2	3
Relationships	–
Concern and caring	.651**	–
Leadership qualities	.507**	.558**	–
Dealing with change	.019	.234	.242

**p < 0.01

As seen in Table 3, significant positive correlations of medium strength were seen between leadership qualities and relationships/concern and caring, whereby the greater the participant’s leadership qualities, the greater her concern and caring, and the better her relationship with her team. Further enhancing this finding is the significant positive correlation, also of medium strength, between concern and caring and leadership qualities, whereby the greater the manager’s concern and caring, the greater the expression of her leadership qualities. No other significant correlations were found; specifically, no correlation was found between leadership qualities and dealing with change.

Additional correlations were examined between the age of the kindergarten teachers and the number of managerial years through additional Pearson tests. The findings are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Pearson correlations between research measures and age/managerial seniority (N = 64).

Age	Years Managing the Kindergarten	Measures
.089	.064	Relationships
.120	.076	Concern and caring
.197	.184	Leadership qualities
.117	.122	Dealing with change

No correlations were seen between the age of kindergarten teachers and the number of years managing the kindergarten, and between their relationships with their teams, their degree of concern and caring, exhibited leadership qualities, and their ability to deal with difficulties.

To examine the differences in the research variables (four indexes) regarding the participants’ various roles, ANOVA tests were conducted. Table 5 presents the average rating of each categories according to the participants’ position (i.e. kindergarten manager, full-time kindergarten teacher, supplementary part-time kindergarten teacher.

Table 5. Differences in research measures by role and ANOVA (N = 64).

	Regular Kindergarten Teachers (N = 23)		Supplementary Kindergarten Teachers (N = 11)		Kindergarten Managers (N = 30)
Measure	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	F
Relationships	4.41	.44	4.38	.42	4.53	.34	0.92
Concern and caring	4.81	.33	4.61	.49	4.87	.25	2.66^
Leadership qualities	4.37	.59	4.17	.55	4.57	.27	3.30**
Dealing with change	4.04	.63	4.05	.61	4.06	.84	0.00

^p < 0.1 **p < 0.01

Our findings show that kindergarten managers rated their leadership qualities significantly higher (4.57) than supplementary kindergarten teachers (4.17), and kindergarten teachers (4.37), [F_(2,61) = 3.30, p < 0.05]. Moreover, the concern and caring index was rated significantly higher (with a 10% significance) by kindergarten managers (4.87) and kindergarten teachers (4.81), compared to supplementary kindergarten teachers (4.61), [F_(2,61) = 2.66, p < 0.1]. All variables, as examined by α Cronbach, were high – a finding that depicts high stability and consistency in the participants’ answers for all items examined.

Qualitative findings

Content analysis was conducted for the one open-ended question in the questionnaire that sought to examine how participants perceived their role during the Covid-19 crisis. In this question, participants were asked to complete the following sentence: ‘A kindergarten teacher who leads her team during times of crises and uncertainty is a leader that ______________________’. This question was answered by 51 of the 64 participants. The findings are presented in Table 6.

Table 6. Content analysis of responses to the open question (N = 51).

Content Category	Sub-Category	No. of Appearances	No. of Items per Category
Leadership capabilities, stability, and managerial confidence	Instils feelings of safety/courage/mental resilience/ability to function under pressure/calmness/self-confidence	14	30
	Can be counted on/serves as a moral compass for others/instils stability	4
	Ability to lead/aware of her importance as manager	5
	Thinks before she acts/harnesses her team, the parents, and the municipality/delegates authority	4
	Creative/not fixated/curious/investigative/asks questions	3
Practices of concern and caring	Sees others/is understanding/containing/listens/ enables/sensitive towards others/ desire to be there for others/considerate	15	28
	Caring	5
	Kindness	4
	Quality/loyal to herself and to her team/meaningful	4
Practices of agility in response to uncertainty and challenging circumstances	Agility/agile thinking	13	20
	Ability to deal with changing circumstances/adaptive/realistic/deals with challenges as they arise/understands what is going on/open/willing to accept change/ability to accept the new circumstances and the changes they entail	7

Three main categories were found, ranked by the number of items that were seen in the analysis – from the leadership perception to the operational perception – demonstrating the concrete role of the early childhood educator. These categories include: (1) leadership capabilities, stability, and managerial confidence (30 items); (2) practices of concern and caring (28 items); and (3) practices of agility in response to uncertainty and challenging circumstances (20 items). Our analysis presents augmented perceptions of the role, based on agile leadership and management, and that has adapted to the challenges of a period that is abundant with frequent changes and vast uncertainty. This section revealed the augmented perceptions of the leadership role during the crisis.

Discussion and conclusions

This study examined the leadership characteristics of kindergarten teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic, as perceived by the teachers themselves. The quantitative findings indicate that these educators applied an adaptive leadership approach. The findings also indicate that their leadership qualities were characterised mainly by practices of concern and caring, as seen in their everyday work. The practical expression of our findings is that the more the manager perceived her leadership abilities and strength, the more she combined practices of concern and care, and nurtured her relationship with her team. In turn, these relationships created and enabled more cohesive reciprocal relationships with all parties involved.

Analysis of our findings and their inter-relations present a clear picture of the perceived role of the kindergarten manager, exhibited through aspects of professionalism and leadership. It seems that kindergarten teachers have adapted to the numerous changes dictated by the outcomes of the pandemic, and have adopted a combined managerial style, based on participative leadership practices and on adaptive leadership. As such, they implement practices of concern and care, as seen through their participative thought processes, attentiveness to distress, containment, and enhanced cooperation with the team and the parents – as a means of dealing with the challenges that stem from the pandemic crisis. The perception of their role changed in light of this new and uncertain reality, transitioning from a manager who focused mainly on educational-pedagogical aspects with the children at the centre of her focus,³⁸ to an educational-adaptive leader with concern and caring practices – as predominantly demonstrated during this complex time of crisis.

This study’s findings depict a network of augmented practices, as seen in Figure 1. This figure demonstrates the complexity of the leadership and role of the kindergarten teachers during the pandemic: their dynamic multidimensional ability, anchors of stability in a ‘sea of uncertainty’. The figure also presents certain missions conducted in the kindergarten that occur through reciprocity and cooperation processes with the educational team, while the manager manoeuvres between the different types of tasks – educational and managerial-organisational.³⁹

Figure 1. The kindergarten teacher’s leadership – augmented practices model.

This model is in line with the theories presented in this study. Early childhood education leadership during the Covid-19 crisis conveys practices of adaptive leadership and agile leadership – two leadership styles that thrived during this new and complex reality. The role of these managers is to lead the system, while helping it adapt to changes and become relevant.⁴⁰ An additional leadership style that has thrived during the crisis is leadership that is based on concern and caring.⁴¹

The findings of this study indicate that kindergarten teachers express concern towards others as a leadership style that enables them to continue with their regular daily routine while adapting to new requirements and conditions. These findings are supported by theories that describe the role of the kindergarten teacher when dealing with changes, by using practices of concern and care.⁴²

The personal responses of the kindergarten teachers who participated in this study enabled to ‘open a door’ to a world that is usually closed to ‘outsiders’. This enabled a close glance at participants’ work as they were dealing with challenges that had been imposed upon them due to the Covid-19 crisis. In fact, the kindergarten teachers felt that they were of value when asked to participate in this study. It seems that they were in need of moral support from the general public, as well as from the media.

This study could help raise the status of kindergarten teachers and their significant work in times of uncertainty. Moreover, the findings might contribute to improving the training processes for kindergarten teachers in colleges of education, as a greater emphasis should be placed on courses that focus on the role of the kindergarten teacher as a leader in both routine and emergency times.

Study limitations

The challenging era of the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult to engage kindergarten teachers in the study and receive completed questionnaires from them. As such, the response rate was rather low. Moreover, this is a pioneering study that needs to be further examined in a wider context, in different sectors in the multicultural society in Israel and perhaps even in other countries around the world.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Tel Hai Academic College.

Notes on contributors

Yonit Nissim

Yonit Nissim is Head of the Education and Learning Department, Tel-Hai Academic College, Israel.

Aviva Avidan

Aviva Avidan is a lecturer and researcher at Ramat-Gan Academic College, Israel.

Notes

1. Aizenberg and Zilka, “Preservice Kindergarten Teachers”; Bussey, Robertson and Moore, “Back to Day One”; Wakayama, “Early Childhood Education”; and Yang and Zhang, “An Ecological Investigation.”

_2. Rodd, Leadership in Early Childhood; and Rodd, Leadership in Early Childhood.

3. Avidan, “Examining the Characteristics”; and Mevorach, “Towards Leadership in Early Childhood.”

4. Rodd, Leadership in Early Childhood.

5. Chan, “Leading Today’s Kindergartens”; Cheung, “Teachers’ Perceptions”; and Siraj-Blatchford, Clarke, and Needham, The Team Around the Child.

6. Northouse, Leadership.

7. Munshi, “A Study”‏; and Tan, “The Interpretation.”

8. United Nations, “Policy Brief.”

9. Nissim and Simon, “During the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

10. Leibushor and Shif, The Manager.

11. Kaden, “COVID-19 School Closure-Related Changes.”

12. Heifetz, Grashow and Linsky, “Leadership”; Heifetz, Linsky and Grashow, The Practice; and Northouse, Leadership.

13. Janis, Crucial Decisions.

14. Avolio, Full Leadership Development.

15. Harris and Chapman, “Leadership.”

16. Tsur, Political Rhetoric.

17. Al-Ghazali, “Transformational Leadership.”

18. Dwivedi et al., “Impact of COVID-19.”

19. Heifetz, Grashow and Linsky, “Leadership.”

20. Linsky and Heifetz, Leadership on the Line.

21. See note 19 above.

22. Nissim and Simon, “Flattening the Hierarchy Curve”.

23. Laur et al., “Building Health Services”; Netolicky, “School Leadership”; and Yuanlu et al., “Educational Leadership.”

24. Gilligan, In a Different Voice; and Noddings, “Morality.”

25. Avidan, “Thoughts and Reflections”; and Kurland, “Educational Leadership.”

26. State Comptroller of Israel, “Special Report.”

27. Ministry of Education, “Daily Conduct in Kindergartens.”

28. Hong and Zhang, “Dual Stressors.”

29. Atiles et al., “International Responses.”

30. Friedman, “Being a Teacher”; and Shpeizer, “Education.”

31. Gilat, Boterno and Tal, “Mothers”; and Korat et al., “Parents.”

32. Stoiljković, “The Impact.”

33. Maphosa and Dube, “Local Language Numeracy”; and Timmons et al., “The Impacts.”

34. LaBoskey and Richert, “Identifying Good Student”; and Wong et al., “The Roles.”

35. Cavanagh, “Content Analysis.”

36. Raei, “Development.”

37. Heale and Forbes, “Understanding Triangulation in Research.”

38. Avidan, “Examining the Characteristics.”

39. Hard, “Leadership”; and Siraj-Blatchford et al., The Team Around the Child.

40. Nissim and Simon “During the Covid-19 Pandemic”; and Nissim and Simon, “Flattening.”

41. See note 24 above.

42. Stoiljković, “The Impact”; and Timmons et al., “The Impacts.”

Appendices

Appendix A1. Descriptive data of the kindergarten managers.

Name of interviewee (initial)	Age	Position	No. of years in position	Comments
A	30	Manager of a pre-nursery school	6
M	32	Manager of a special education compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds)	7
D	42	Manager of a compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds) and leading kindergarten teacher	8
K	44	Manager of a compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds)	15	Social worker who retrained as kindergarten teacher
Y	45	Manager of a pre-nursery school	10	Owned a private kindergarten for 10 years before working for the Ministry of Education
S	48	Manager of a compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds)	22
G	50	Manager of a compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds) and leading kindergarten teacher	22
R	51	Manager of a regular, secular, kibbutz pre-nursery school	23
V	52	Manager of a compulsory nursery school (for 5-year-olds)	25	Was a supplementary kindergarten teacher for many years prior to managing a compulsory nursery school
H	56	Manager of a pre-nursery school	20	Held a bachelor’s degree is fashion design prior to retraining as a kindergarten teacher

Appendix A2.

Distribution of demographic variables of all participants (N = 64).

	N	%	Min.	Max.	Mean	SD
Gender
Male	2	3.1
Female	62	96.9
Years in kindergarten management			22	37	35.75	13.35
Age group
25–30	4	6.3
30–35	12	18.8
35–40	12	18.8
40–45	11	17.2
45–50	8	12.5
50–55	13	20.3
55–60	4	6.3