MGMT09031 2022 Leadership in Practice for Early Learning and Care Professionals

General Details

Full Title
Leadership in Practice for Early Learning and Care Professionals
Transcript Title
Leadership in Practice
Code
MGMT09031
Attendance
N/A %
Subject Area
MGMT - Management
Department
SOCS - Social Sciences
Level
09 - NFQ Level 9
Credit
10 - 10 Credits
Duration
Semester
Fee
Start Term
2022 - Full Academic Year 2022-23
End Term
9999 - The End of Time
Author(s)
Roisin McGlone, Breda McTaggart, Brenda Feeney, Ailise McDowell
Programme Membership
SG_HLEAD_O09 202200 Postgraduate Diploma in Arts in Leadership and Advocacy in the Early Years SG_HLEAD_M09 202200 Master of Arts in Leadership and Advocacy in the Early Years
Description

Developing strong, effective and ethical leadership for high quality and more equitable services for all children requires transformational leaders characterised as creative, interactive, visionary and empowering individuals.  The EU Quality Framework, First 5, OECD (2021) Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland: Review on Sector Quality , and Nurturing  Skills : The Workforce Development Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Aged Childcare 2022-2028 , and he National Action Plan for Childminding, collectively view leadership as an important component of a high-quality Early Learning and Care competent system.

This module will explore Early Learning and Care ( ELC) leadership concepts , strategies and styles in the contexts of key policy initiatives in national  contexts. It will equip learners to examine contemporary ELC issues, reflect on their own leadership influences and values , develop innovative  leadership practices which underpin children's rights, needs and potential that provide quality experiences for children in partnership with families.  

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;

1.

Critique the conceptualisation of professional leadership in the context of the evolving Early Childhood Care and Education sector, and evaluate the implications for practice from a variety of quality and theoretical perspectives. 

2.

Appraise Early Childhood Education and Care leadership theories and strategies and their potential application to their own ECEC organisation.

3.

Critically examine the relationship between professional leadership, quality, ethics and governance in an Early Childhood Education and Care context.

4.

Evaluate the challenges of current ECEC leadership practices of leading a competent system in developing a sustainable community of practice.

5.

Analyse the role of the Early Childhood Educator as a leader in planning and delivering high quality developmentally appropriate School Age Childcare in a range of diverse Early Learning and Care environments.

6.

Critically analyse the leadership role and identify a strategic local action plan required for the implementation of the National Action Plan For Childminding.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Students will engage  with programme material delivered by the lecturer in a 1.5 hour lecture each week and attend a mandatory 18 hour residential workshop for the module. 

A variety of teaching and learning approaches will be incorporated including small group work, role- play, case

studies, case-based problem solving, virtual learning environments, and guest lectures from stakeholders within and outside the ECCE sector, engaging in a leadership practice in a variety of contexts.

Accessible course material

Active Learning

Enquiry-based learning

Fieldtrips

Flipped classroom

Group work

Lectures

Modelling

Peer-review

Presentation

Problem Solving

Reflect

Research

Simulation

Tutorial

Use of Moodle as a repository

Module Assessment Strategies

The module aims at the integration of theoretical frameworks, policy and practice focusing on the learners reflection of their own leadership influences, values and competences. The assessment is focused on the analysis of a complex ELC case study and the identification of a Leadership strategy to address the issues. ( 50 %)

The learner will devise a leadership strategy to develop a School Age Childcare service,. ( 25%)

The learner will devise a leadership implementation plan for a local Childminding service. ( 25 %)

Case Studies

Projects 

Presentation 

Repeat Assessments

Repeat assessment will be based on the failed component of the module. 

Indicative Syllabus

LO1 Critically review contemporary ELC leadership issues in a national and international policy context.

 Learners will undertake a review of contemporary ELC leadership issues from a national and international policy and best practice models, examining their potential impact on a range of ELC agencies.  Learners will be expected to formulate a local leadership response to the issue outlining a strategic plan to address the relevant issue.

LO 2Explore ELC leadership theories and strategies and their potential application to their own ELC organisation.

 Learners will undertake a review of leadership and professional leadership practices both in public, private, ELC organisations. They will examine theories of leadership including, intentional, situational, contingency theory, adaptive theory, the authentic leader and identify their relevance to the contemporary ELC sector. Learners will reflect and examine their own leadership approach , how to implement a children’s rights perspective  and identify  any necessary changes to it.

LO 3 Critically appraise the relationship between professional leadership, quality, ethics and governance in an ELC context.

Responsive leadership requires an ability to keep abreast of new and emerging research. Learners will be encouraged to engage with thought leaders in various fields within ELC and beyond pertinent to leadership and related disciplines. Learners will be required to inform their research from key academic journals, reports, reviews, memos, and government briefings, and their own professional practice to identify key learnings

LO 4 Evaluate the challenges of current ECEC leadership practices of leading a competent system in developing a sustainable community of practice.

Learners will undertake desk-based and self-directed research, examining how and why others respond to the challenges of current ECEC leadership practices. They will explore national policy responses and formulate a localised sectoral response, using both supervision as a key leadership strategy,  the value of engaging in a community of practice model and the implications for practice and compliance with the Quality Regulatory Framework, First 5, Future Skills Workforce Development Plan and the Aistear/Siolta Practice Guide

.LO 5.Analyse the role of the Early Childhood Educator as leader in planning and delivering high quality developmentally appropriate School Age Childcare in a range of diverse Early Learning and Care environments.

 This module provides learners with the knowledge, values and competencies to design, develop and implement effective child centred School Age Childcare services addressing the 7 Guidelines outlined in the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services)(Registration of School Age Services) Regulations. Leading teams to create learning and development School Age environments where children will  develop their own unique interests and construct their own identities and understandings of the world. Building on previous modules completed as part of their undergraduate studies, students will facilitate children’s play, leisure and learning in School Age environments addressing  areas of Outdoor Play, Psychology, Relationships, Partnerships.

LO6 Critically analyse the leadership role and  identify a strategic local  action plan  required for the implementation of the National Action Plan For Childminding, 

There are multiple leadership roles emerging from the National Action Plan for Childminding focusing on the need to develop a registration system, establishes the requisite qualification requirements, devise and develop accredited training programmes and relevant quality standards that are coherent with those established for centre based provision but specifically appropriate to the childminding context. Learners will identify the key role of leadership in implementing the National Action Plan for Childminding and will be expected to formulate a local action plan to address this sector.

Coursework & Assessment Breakdown

Coursework & Continuous Assessment
100 %

Coursework Assessment

Title Type Form Percent Week Learning Outcomes Assessed
1 Project Coursework Assessment Assessment 25 % Week 11 5
2 Project Coursework Assessment Assessment 25 % Week 13 6
3 Case study Coursework Assessment Assessment 50 % Week 6 1,2,3,4

Distance Learning Mode Workload


Type Location Description Hours Frequency Avg Workload
Workshop / Seminar Flat Classroom Group work Residential 18 Once Per Semester 1.20
Independent Learning Not Specified Independent Learning 6 Weekly 6.00
Total Distance Learning Average Weekly Learner Contact Time 1.20 Hours

Online Learning Mode Workload


Type Location Description Hours Frequency Avg Workload
Lecture Lecture Theatre Lecture 1.5 Weekly 1.50
Total Online Learning Average Weekly Learner Contact Time 1.50 Hours

Required & Recommended Book List

Required Reading
2018-03-02 Early Childhood Education Management Routledge
ISBN 1138494100 ISBN-13 9781138494107

The Early Childhood Education sector around the world is constantly changing, whether because of the unprecedented demand for ECE services globally, accelerated social change, or the introduction of pedagogical and regulatory practices. Based upon empirical inquiry, Early Childhood Education Management examines the somewhat controversial concept of operating an early childhood service as a business. It challenges the assumption that an early childhood manager does not require specialist knowledge or skill and discusses which attributes an effective manager should possess. In this book, which brings together management theory and practice, Moloney and Pettersen address core issues at the heart of the management role, including the relationship between early childhood policy and broader legislative enactments, as well as issues related to the challenges and development of management skills. The book also draws upon real-life examples from practice in order to offer insight into some of the most common topics and challenges related to management practice in Early Childhood Education, such as business acumen and entrepreneurship, recruitment and selection, financial management and budgeting, supervision, mentoring, staff development, curriculum management, collaborative working, and change management. Written by leading academics with practice experience, the book should be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the field of education, specifically those working in early years and education policy and management. It should also be essential reading for managers working in Early Childhood settings.

Recommended Reading
2020-09-22 Inclusive Leadership Routledge
ISBN 1138326755 ISBN-13 9781138326750

In a time of increasing divisiveness in politics and society there is a desperate need for leaders to bring people together and leverage the power of diversity and inclusion. Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Diverse Lives, Workplaces, and Societies provides leaders with guidance and hands-on strategies for fostering inclusion and explains how and why it matters. Inclusive Leadership explores cutting-edge theory, research, practice, and experience on the pivotal role of leadership in promoting inclusion in diverse teams, organizations, and societies. Chapters are authored by leading scholars and practitioners in the fields of leadership, diversity, and inclusion. The book is solidly grounded in research on inclusive leadership development, diversity management, team effectiveness, organization development, and intergroup relations. Alongside the exhaustive scholarship are practical suggestions for making teams, groups, organizations, and the larger society more inclusive and, ultimately, more productive. Leaders and managers at all levels, HR professionals, and members of diverse teams will find Inclusive Leadership invaluable in becoming more effective at cultivating inclusive climates and realizing its many benefits-including innovation, enhanced team and organizational performance, and social justice. For more, visit: https: //inclusiveleader.com

Required Reading
2020-07-25 Leadership in Early Childhood Routledge
ISBN 9781000257731 ISBN-13 1000257738

'Essential reading and a powerful tool for emerging early childhood leaders.' - Catharine Hydon, Early Childhood Consultant With increasing community insistence for quality and accountability in early childhood education and care, there is a need for effective and professional leadership in these services. Leadership in Early Childhood is a practical resource for early childhood practitioners who want to understand how to create and sustain successful childcare and early education settings. Fully revised and updated, this fourth edition is divided into three sections: deconstructing leadership; leadership in practice; and special responsibilities of early childhood leaders. This edition also includes new case studies, an additional chapter summarising the key contributing factors to effective leadership and examples based on an extensive international study of early childhood leaders. Leadership in Early Childhood has been widely used in early childhood education programs and as a professional reference text and remains a valuable resource for both students and professionals.

Required Reading
2006 Leadership in Early Childhood
ISBN STANFORD:36105123382355

Sthe new edition of Jillian's book is timely and much needed by early years practitioners. We are in a time when early years provision is expanding rapidly and multi-agency working is increasing. The complexity of leading in early years services requires practitioners who are confident in their own role and able to work creatively with large multi agency teams. This book offers advice, support and most importantly encouragement to those who are taking on these challenging but immensely rewarding roles. Bernadette Duffy, Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre"This erudite, scholarly and comprehensive new work draws on aqualitative study to reflect the voices of early childhood practitioners froma number of countries whose words enrich and give life to the text. Thisnew edition is a must for those teaching, contemplating, engaged in, orstudying leadership and its attendant issues."Ann Langston, Manchester Metropolitan University"Rodd"s book is at once timely and empowering ..."Associate Professor Manjula Waniganayake, Macquarie UniversityWith community insistence on quality early childhood programs in a timeof increasing accountability, skilled leadership is essential in earlychildhood services. Leadership in Early Childhood is a practical resourcefor early childhood practitioners who want to understand how to createsuccessful childcare and early education settings.This third edition has been fully revised and reflects important changesaffecting leaders in early childhood: increasing flexibility required ofchildren"s services, working in multidisciplinary teams, and an increasingemphasis on the importance of early education. This edition also includesnew case studies and examples based on an extensive international studyof early childhood leaders.Leadership in Early Childhood has been widely used in early childhoodeducation services and as a professional reference and remains a valuableresource for both students and practitioners.

Required Reading
2019-06-29 Leadership in Early Education in Times of Change
ISBN 3847421999 ISBN-13 9783847421993

This collection brings together the latest work of researchers from Australia, Africa, Asia, and Europe focusing on early childhood leadership matters. It covers such aspects as professional education and development, identity, and leadership strategies, as well as governance and leadership under different frame conditions.

Recommended Reading
2021 Leadership, Gender and Ethics Routledge Studies in Leadershi
ISBN 1138492507 ISBN-13 9781138492509

This book has a clear concern to offer a distinctive way of studying leadership so that it might be practiced differently. It is distinctive in focusing on contemporary concerns about gender and ethics. More precisely, it examines the masculinity of leadership and how, through an embodied form of reasoning, it might be challenged or disrupted. A central argument of the book is that masculine leadership elevates rationality in ways that marginalize the body and feelings and often has the effect of sanctioning unethical behavior. In exploring this thesis, Leadership, Gender and Ethics: Embodied Reason in Challenging Masculinities provides an analysis of the comparatively neglected issues of identity/anxiety, power/resistance, diversity/gender, and the body/masculinities surrounding the concept and practice of leadership. It also illustrates the arguments of the book by examining leadership through an empirical examination of academic life, organization change and innovation, and the global financial crisis of 2008. In a postscript, it analyses some examples of masculine leadership in the global pandemic of 2020. This book will be of interest generally to researchers, academics and students in the field of leadership and management and will be of special interest to those who seek to understand the intersections between leadership and gender, ethics and embodied approaches. It will also appeal to those who seek to develop new ways of thinking and theorizing about leadership in terms of identities and insecurities, power and masculinity, ethics and the body. Its insights might not only change studies but also practices of leadership.

Required Reading
2012-10-18 Leadership: Contexts and Complexities in Early Childhood Education OUP Australia & New Zealand
ISBN 0195576136 ISBN-13 9780195576139

Leadership in Early Childhood is an essential resource that informs day-to-day pedagogy and management of early childhood organisations.

Required Reading
2021 Researching Leadership-as-practice
ISBN 0367321076 ISBN-13 9780367321079

One current challenge of conducting research from the leadership-as-practice perspective is a practical one: how to capture and analyse the elusive practice of leadership within the web of mundane organising processes. Although a number of researchers have attempted to address the issue, there is not yet a definitive 'how to' guide to making sense of the empirical manifestations of leadership practices. The book responds directly to this challenge and offers a theoretical framework and practical guidance to capturing, identifying and analysing evidence of leadership practice emergence; and provides implications of this approach for leadership academics and practitioners. The developed framework enables a method for understanding these leadership instances as they are enacted by individuals within and against the evolving activities of their day-to-day work. The framework is underpinned by cultural-historical activity theory and critical realism and it conceptualises leadership practice by placing agents' actions and interactions within the context of their relationships, objectives, experiences, material and non-material artefacts and wider organising processes and organisational structures; work that has not yet been undertaken in the field. It offers a strong theoretical foundation for further development of our understanding of leadership-as-practice, providing a methodological guidance for undertaking leadership-as-practice research, and enables a discussion on the variety of underlying processes and elements as they emerge from empirical observations. It will be of value to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of business and management with a particular interest in management theory, organisational studies, and leadership research.

Recommended Reading
2021 Service Leadership
ISBN 1032009578 ISBN-13 9781032009575

Service Leadership offers students, researchers, and leaders a leadership model originating in the service economy - but which is gaining ground in all sectors and industries - explained by experts that were key actors in that origination at DHL International. Designed for undergraduates and graduates but also useful for professionals in leadership positions, Hoshmand and Chung structure the book around the 3Cs of leadership in the service economy: Competence, character, and care. It shows how the integration of the 3Cs when applied in combination with each other creates an environment of trust within and outside the organization. Most importantly, it allows the reader to understand how a move from the manufacturing mind-set (hierarchical decision making) to a service mind-set (collective, qualitative, culturally sensitive) creates an ethical habitat and ecosystem that contributes to a firm's competitiveness and adds value to its brand image. Incorporating elements of leadership literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, and political science, including cases, and supported by a teaching manual and a full set of slides, this book is ideal core reading for students of service leadership and leadership in the service economy and valuable to those learning about leadership more broadly.

Required Reading
2019 Systems Leadership in Health and Social Care
ISBN 1138596833 ISBN-13 9781138596832

Most leadership development activity in health and social care has been intra-organisational or confined to a particular sector. However, there is increasing recognition of the need to move beyond simple collaboration and partnership and work towards different models of care which involve addressing the whole health and social care system. This is particularly important when addressing complex and 'wicked' problems in a time of resource scarcity. This book provides a much-needed guide for individuals, professionals, and organisations to making the shift towards working in radically different ways in this current climate. It provides a rationale for systems leadership, describing the basic underlying principles behind it and their origins, and explores the various aspects of it, with particular emphasis on the development of systems leaders in health and social care. It also captures good practice, which is illustrated by a number of case studies, and suggests further reading on the topic. Combining theory with practice, this book will be essential reading for those studying on programmes in public service, public policy, health and social care, as well as policymakers and professionals interested in honing best practice. s further reading on the topic. Combining theory with practice, this book will be essential reading for those studying on programmes in public service, public policy, health and social care, as well as policymakers and professionals interested in honing best practice.

Recommended Reading
2018-07-19 Women's Leadership Journeys Leadership: Research and Practice
ISBN 0815382030 ISBN-13 9780815382034

"Brings together research from women leaders in diverse sectors to provide insights form their leadership journeys"--

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