Browsing by Subject "johtajuus"

The purpose of this study was to research how the leadership of kindergarten leaders is correlated to the quality of early childhood education. The correlation between leadership and early childhood education quality was studied from the perspective of personnel and parents. In addition this paper studied how parents and personnel experience the quality of early childhood education. In addition, the correlation between personnel’s as well as parents’ views about leadership and to their understanding of early childhood education quality was studied. It is important to study the correlation between early childhood education leadership and quality because leadership styles affects early childhood education quality (Vlasov ym., 2018, 46). The aim of this study is to find out what leadership factors are correlated to early childhood education. Once you have found the leadership factors, you are able to develop these forward. Research data was collected in 2019 from one early childhood education area in Helsinki. The data was collected by electronic questionnaire from early childhood education personnel (N = 14) and parents (N = 36). The questionnaire had allegations about early childhood education quality and leadership. Personnel’s and parents’ views of the early childhood education quality were studied by descriptive analysis. The correlations between personnel’s and parents’ assessments on leadership and their understanding of the early childhood education quality were investigated by non-parametric Kendall´s tau-b correlation test. For the analysis, sums of variables were created from the claim categories of the questionnaire. There were eight sums of variables on both personnel’s and parents’ questionnaires. Seven of the sums of variables included early childhood education quality claims and one sum of variables included the leadership claims. The personnel´s and parents’ answers implied that the quality of early childhood is positive. The respondent group gave especially high points to the claims that child’s early childhood education curriculum was being fulfilled and that personnel and parents had discussed child’s growth, teaching and care. Kindergarten’s leader’s leadership correlated with early childhood education´s functionality of the premises, versatility, safety and with the premises enabling time to be alone as well as group to operate. In addition, when leadership was seen as high-quality, personnel were more professionally skilled and engaged to work. By taking the findings into account, kindergarten leaders should acknowledge that by their own leadership abilities they might affect the quality of early childhood education.

This is a qualitative study researching the current state of early childhood education. The purpose of the study was to find out what kinds of things kindergarten teachers are hoping to change regarding the distribution of work between kindergarten teachers and kindergarten's nursemaids in day-care centers, and how kindergarten teachers wish the director would act regarding these issues. This study was part of the research project "Transition from the education to the profession and staying at work in the kindergarten teacher career" conducted by the teacher training college of the University of Helsinki. The data was collected using an electronic questionnaire and the study involved 490 kindergarten teachers from five counties in the metropolitan Helsinki area. This study focuses specifically on two open questions and total of the answers was 399. The data is analyzed through a content analysis. The theoretical background of the study is focused on the organisation of the distribution of work and leadership in day-care centers. Previous studies have shown that unclarity on the key tasks of the director in the field of early childhood education has affected confusion and excessive liberties in defining both the directors' and the kindergarten teachers' work descriptions. (Hujala 2005; Halttunen 2000; Nivala 1999) In addition, previous studies have shown that the growing work distribution trend in the day-care centers where everyone does everything has negatively affected the pedagogical level of staff, and kindergarten teachers have lost their position in the field of early childhood education. (Hujala 1998; Kinos 2008; Onnismaa & Kalliala 2010). The results showed that kindergarten teachers wish for a clearer definition of their tasks. They also hope better organization of work and usage of working time. Kindergarten teachers wish that directors would be involved in the distribution of work in the day-care centers. They also wish that the expertise of different professional groups would be recognized in the process. The results showed that many kindergarten teachers need the director to support the formation of a clear division of labor and its implementation in day-care centers. The results provide information on what issues the kindergarten teachers think should be payed attention to in day-care center leadership, and how they would want to change the distribution of work in day-care centers.

The purpose of this research was to study early childhood education meetings from the perspective of leadership and group processes. The research also clarified what factors leaders combined together with good meeting. The subject of this research is valid and current because there is no previous research from this specific area. Groupwork forms an essential part of working in early childhood education. It is important to see how leaders can make use of the information about group processes. Organizational research have shown that for example using facilitation can accomplish good outcomes. The aim of this research is to give an information to early childhood leaders on how they can plan even better meetings and use the time best way possible. The research was carried out as a case study. The research sample was six early childhood education leaders from the same city in the Helsinki metropolitan area. They were chosen in random. The leaders were interviewed by using a half structured interview. Interviews took place in the summer 2021. The interview material was then transcripted. The research methodology used was theory-driven content analysis. According to this research the most important meaning of the meetings is pedagogical development. Meetings offer employees a chance to impact their work and share professional knowledge. Good meeting is a combination of inner and outer factors. Inner factors were communication, participation and autonomy. Atmosphere and structure were the outer factors which made communication and participation possible. Leaders planned topics of the meetings but not how those contents should be processed. Group work was guided by using some methods like small group discussions or by leading the conversation into specific direction. Leaders also utilized different roles and leading styles. Some of the results can be identified as facilitation. For example giving responsibility to the employees and encouraging them to come up with the answers by themselves. By utilizing group processes and ways to lead the group, leaders can make a solid ground for learning and self-oriented community in early childhood education. This could partially be the answer to the challenge that most of the leaders in this research mentioned; there is not enough time for the meetings and professional dialog in early childhood education.

The increase in changes and demands related to the management of the education sector during the last decades has clearly correlated with an increased workload for the principal's profession. The work is diversified and fragmented into a wide range of areas. With this, it has become clear that the principal is not able to lead an educational institution alone and management practices have had to be developed in such a way that they better serve the needs of educational institutions and communities. The aim of this study has been to find out how the principals experience and understand the concept of shared leadership in practice and what kind of shared leadership models they have in use in educational institutions, as well as what possible obstacles they see to the implementation of shared leadership in the school. There are some similar studies on principals' views on shared leadership. In general, principals' perceptions of shared leadership are mainly related to the division and delegation of work tasks. However, according to the theoretical background, the deeper idea of shared leadership is related to interactive leadership. Previous studies have found that principals' views on shared leadership as delegation become stronger when interaction decreases in leadership situations. Correspondingly, when the view of shared leadership as delegation decreases, the view of shared leadership as interaction in situations becomes stronger. In a broader sense, management is an interpersonal activity that arises in interaction between individuals. This is how management develops and takes shape during the interaction, and the parties can influence its development. In this study, the research method was qualitative, and the material of the thesis consisted of interviews with seven principals. The data was collected with a semi-structured thematic interview and analyzed with a theory-driven content analysis. The results section of the thesis is based on the theme classifications created in the analysis. As a conclusion of the results of the study, it could be stated that the principals felt that shared leadership was mainly about dividing and delegating tasks, although shared leadership structures aimed at both formal and informal interaction were in use in all schools. All principals considered interactive management to be important and desirable. The principals also strongly connected trust and sharing of expertise and know-how to shared management. Team organization models were used the most as models of shared leadership, of which management teams were used in all schools, in some schools various development teams and grade level groups were used. Six of the organizations that participated in the study used an assistant principal or a vice principal system. The principals saw factors related to the working culture as obstacles to the implementation of shared management, such as not getting used to the operating model of shared management, resource, and human factors, as well as the increase in the workload of the employees and thus the deterioration of work well-being.

Objectives. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the Innovative School model, which takes a holistic view of school development factors. The purpose of the study was to find out what kind of experiences the school staff have with working in an innovative school and to what extent the school studied represented the dimensions of the innovative school. The study looked at the school staff's experiences and perceptions of the role of the innovative school, orchestration of school activities and cooperation networks. The aim of the study is to increase understanding of the policies that have been developed in the school to support school development and the learning of 21st century skills, and to form a coherent picture of the school culture. Methods. The study is a qualitative case study, which research material consisted of nine semi-structured thematic interviews. The research context was a school, which has been a learning center and development community for many years. The research participants worked in different positions at the school. The research material was analyzed with theory-guided approach using the ATLAS.ti software as a technical aid. Results and Conclusions. According to the results, the main task of the school was to teach students 21st century skills. Team teaching and different learning environments supported this goal. Another task of the school was to build partnership with the parents. School development was identified as important for the school's operations. A significant part of the development took place in the school’s daily operational processes. The results show that the school's practices were based on a collaborative, team-based, way of working. School leadership was based on distributed leadership and the results highlighted the positive experiences associated with it, such as participation in decision-making. The results show that parents and other stakeholders were key part of the collaborative networks. However, the results indicated that not all opportunities for out-of-school stakeholders had yet been identified. This was a topic that requires development. Relying on community resources advances the development of the school. Individuals have different knowledge, ideas and expertise that can evolve by working together.

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.