Leading otherwise: using a feminist-poststructuralist and postcolonial lens to create alternative spaces for early childhood educational leaders

Abstract

The recognition of the importance of quality programmes and services for very young children is evident in the political agendas of many countries around the world. This focus has been accompanied by increasing recognition that effective leadership in early childhood programmes makes a positive difference to the outcomes for children, families and communities. Research into early childhood leadership, however, has not kept pace with the changes that are occurring within the field. In this paper, we argue that characteristics of the field including the feminized nature of the field, diverse settings, staffing, policies and purposes of early childhood education require a different conceptual framework than what currently exists. Because we live and work within highly gendered and raced discourses, it is difficult to find a space to reflect on the meaning(s) of leadership for contemporary early childhood educators that is not informed by existing (and often Western masculine) knowledge(s) about who a leader is and what a leader does. This paper draws from the work done by feminist poststucturalist and postcolonial theorists and seeks to further discuss how dominant constructions of educational leadership can be troubled and reconceptualised in ECE contexts.

Acknowledgements

This article was developed through exploring how to theorize leadership in early childhood while undertaking the development of Design and Delivery of a Professional Development Programme in Educational Leadership for Early Childhood Professionals. This programme was funded by the Early Childhood Strategy Division of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, under the auspices of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership. The authors would like to thank the reviewers of the article for their thoughtful, critical and constructive feedback. These reviews helped steer and extend our thinking in important ways.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karina Davis

Karina Davis is the Head of Department of NMIT’s Education department and Head of Program of the Bachelor of Education (Early Years) suite of programmes at NMIT, HE Education, 77-91 St Georges Rd, Preston, Victoria 3072, Australia. Email: [email protected]. Her teaching, research and leadership work focus on exploring how, when working within critically collaborative communities, it is possible to work towards building more equitable and socially just experiences within educational contexts for children, families and educators in the field.

Susan Krieg

Susan Krieg is an associate professor and program coordinator of the Early Childhood programmes at School of Education, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia. Email: [email protected]. Her educational leadership, research and teaching within the university context focus on social justice and repositioning children in the learning process as a way of achieving more equitable outcomes in early childhood education.

Kylie Smith

Kylie Smith is a senior lecturer and research fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) at the University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Email: [email protected]. Her research examines how theory and practice can challenge the operation of equity in the early childhood classroom and she has worked with children, parents and teachers to build safe and respectful communities.