Browsing by Author "Nikula, Venla"

A prerequisite for high-quality early childhood eduction is high-quality early chidhood leadership. There is no formal qualification training for becoming a leader of an early childhood education unit, which is why the researchers have been worried about the unbalance between the level of education and the demands of the job. Starting a new job is burdensome, but how to tackle the challenges that a new leader of the early childhood education unit could come across without any training for the job. The purpose of this study is to provide a general overview of starting as a novice leader of an early childhood education unit, and also to examine the received and required forms of support in the induction phase (of the career). In the field of early childhood education, the induction phase has been researched mainly by teachers’ point of vies; the studies concerning the leaders of the early childhood education units are few. Therefore, this study tries to describe and identify the subject as well as to awaken the interest for further investigation of the subject. This study is a qualitative case study that examined the induction phase and perceived support of the careers of early childhood unit leaders using a narrative research approach. The research material was collected as individual case reports and semi-structured thematic interviews. The interviews were conducted as telephone interviews. The research material consisted of five telephone interviews with the leader of early childhood education unit, which were conducted in the spring of 2020. The material was analyzed using narrative content analysis and theory-driven content analysis. According to the research results, the leaders of the early childhood education units explained that they had generally done well in the induction phase of their careers. Self-initiative and activity in applying for support were seen as a prerequisite for success at work. Leaders said they had generally received support, but had to be active in advancing it. The issues that leaders said they received support included training, various forms of mentoring, other actors in the work community and experience. In particular, training seems to be strongly linked to working as a unit leader. Leaders who had applied for leadership-related studies on their own initiative found the studies as a strong form of support, while leaders who had not attended leadership-related studies longed for them. Based on this results, it would be necessary to consider the training or coaching of unit leaders. The positivity of the results is contradictory with the discussion on the media which is why it is important to look critically at the image constructed by the media.