Leadership and Management: Analysis of Shared Vision in Pre-schools

Introduction

Around the world, education systems have recently become preoccupied with school leadership. Internationally, the improvement of leadership capacity is considered to be a major priority (Barber et al, 2010 p 5). The search for more effective mechanisms for change management has led to the promotion of leadership as a stimulus for workforce engagement with the improved agenda (Gunter, 2012).

The focus on Preschool leadership has also come under similar scrutiny. The CCEA published the first version of the Preschool Curriculum Guidelines (1997) document. With the expectation that settings use this guidance to create and develop high quality learning experiences for children. Nursery schools and voluntary/ private settings receiving funding for the final pre-school year undergo the same measures for quality assurance as schools. The Education and Training Inspectorate have introduced a number of frameworks to help improve the quality and standards of Early Years Education including; Every school a good school (2009), Together Towards Improvement (2003) and most recently Inspection and Self-Evaluation Framework (2010). This has led to a move towards a proportionate, risk-based approach to inspection, drawing on performance indicators and ongoing monitoring to determine the frequency of inspection.

Consequently, this rise funding and inspections has led to improved standards overall, Preschools cannot afford to be conventional and rigid and impervious to change (Anz n.d). Competition between preschools and nurseries is central in today’s educational landscape (Zensky, Shaman & Shapire, 2002). This growing competition compelled us as a Preschool setting to embrace the change and strive for high levels of capacity for sustained improvement. This requires the recognition, that in order to remain competitive and raise organisational standards, a move towards the notion and a general acceptance that ‘people not capital add a competitive edge’ (The Sunday Times, 17th November 1996). As a whole the understanding of the organisations has changed fundamentally from seeing ourselves as concrete entities to viewing ourselves as a community of meaning.

An old Chinese proverb describes how A journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step. This is certainly true of an organisation which is perusing excellence. Standing up and talking about the destination is not enough. It is vital for all to attend the journey. Within my research I will critically analyse the tensions, challenges and opportunities presented to leadership teams as they effectively travel along the journey of becoming an organisation embracing change.

Leadership and shared vision in Pre-schools

The terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably especially within early years. Rost (1991) highlights there are substantial differences between the them. While it can be difficult to separate the two, Bennis and Nanus (1990) makes the distinction very clear, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are the people who do the right things” (Pg.221). Yet, Tamken et al (2010) contends it is not leadership or management, instead it is a deep rooted, indefatigable, confident understanding that it is both. Outstanding leaders act as if these are one and the same, the means to make a difference. Hall (1996) concludes the notion of management without leadership as unethical and leadership without management as irresponsible.

Research by Waniganaayake (2006) indicates the quality of early years provision is directly linked to the quality of leadership and management of early years setting. This places greater emphasis on accountability and the achievement of excellence has draws attention to the pressing need for skilled and effective managers and leaders (Siraj-Blatchford and Manni 2006). Traditionally, Penn (2000) contended that recruitment into early years was aimed towards women with low academic achievements which relied heavily on their personal experiences of looking after children rather than towards inspiring naturally born leaders. With new indicators that the quality of early years relies on the effectiveness of its leaders means there needs to be a critical mass of early years staff who are able to undertake leadership roles (McGillivary. 2008). Therefore there is a demand for some early years professionals to challenge and look beyond theories that emphasise leaders are born with traits and that only those that processed them could successfully lead (Bass, 1990;Jago,1982).