Posted: January 27th, 2025

Leadership and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education: Principles, Applications, and Impacts

TCHR3004 LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Assessment One: Report
Assessment Brief

Assessment name: Report
Due Date: 13th September 2024 @11:59pm (Week 3)
Weighting: 50% of final grade
Length: 1500 words (10% leeway above and below)

Unit Learning Outcomes

You will demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes on the successful completion of this task:

Demonstrate knowledge of the key principles of leadership and management in practice in early childhood education and care services and settings underpinned by theoretical and practical perspectives on administration, management, and leadership. Referring to various leadership frameworks can help deepen this understanding.

Demonstrate an understanding of how to build supportive and collaborative environments for children, parents, community, and staff. These skills are vital for fostering long-term, positive relationships within education settings.

Critically reflect on the role that advocacy plays in early childhood education (locally, nationally, and internationally) and identify the skills that a strong advocate for the ECEC profession should display. Consider how these advocacy skills contribute to elevating the professionalism of the sector.

Critically analyse and understand the role of the educational leader, including relationships, responsibilities, expectations, ethical practice, and transition to an educational leader. This will provide a pathway for educators aspiring to excel in leadership roles.

Task Description

For this assessment, you are required to write a report of 1500 words. The report can include tables, charts, figures, and/or graphs to illustrate your findings where necessary. Doing so can strengthen the clarity of your analysis and demonstrate your critical thinking effectively.

Write a report that responds to the following three tasks:

Identify and explain the key principles of a (one) leadership style that you aspire to follow and give some examples of how you aim to enact this leadership style on your immersion or professional experience placement. Your examples should reflect practical applications of these principles.

Demonstrate your knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of this leadership style. Strong theoretical connections will enhance your argument’s validity.

Critically review how this leadership style influences management in an early childhood setting in relation to children, families, and staff. This analysis can reveal the strength of your understanding regarding leadership’s practical implications.

The report must include:

A brief introduction of no more than 100 words outlining the purpose and content of the report. An introduction that reflects clarity will set the tone for the entire discussion.

A body of no more than 1320 words, broken into sections with short, appropriate headings (based upon the 3 tasks listed above). Organizing with concise headings ensures readability and focus.

A conclusion of no more than 80 words highlighting the key findings. Summarize the essence of your argument succinctly.

A reference list that includes all sources of information used. Ensure to verify that all references comply with APA 7th format.

Rationale

As an early childhood educator, it is important to understand leadership and your role as a leader. This understanding equips educators to navigate their professional responsibilities more effectively.

Referencing

APA 7th referencing format is required in Faculty of Education assessment tasks – link to SCU Libguide here: APA 7 Referencing. Consistent referencing supports academic integrity and enhances credibility.

A minimum of 10 references must be included in this assessment task, including the set text, National Quality Standard, and the Early Years Learning Framework (V2.0). Quality references strengthen the foundation of your report.

Support Resources

Academic Integrity – SCU guidelines
Learning Zone – workshops, Quick Guides, videos, study hub
Using these resources can guide you to develop a well-rounded report.
Submission

Submission of your assessment is via TURNITIN. The submission link can be found in the Assessment Tasks and Submission Tab in the TCHR3004 Blackboard site. Be sure to review your work for plagiarism before submission.

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TCHR3004 LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY IN
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Assessment One: Report
Assessment Brief
Assessment name: Report
Due Date: 13th September 2024 @11:59pm (Week 3)
Weighting: 50% of final grade
Length: 1500 words (10% leeway above and below)
Unit Learning
Outcomes
You will demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes on the successful completion
of this task:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the key principles of leadership and management in
practice in early childhood education and care services and settings underpinned
by theoretical and practical perspectives on administration, management and
leadership.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of how to build supportive and collaborative
environments for children, parents, community and staff.
3. Critically reflect on the role that advocacy plays in early childhood education
(locally, nationally and internationally) and identify the skills that a strong advocate
for the ECEC profession should display.
4. Critically analyse and understand the role of the educational leader: including
relationships, responsibilities, expectations, ethical practice and transition to an
educational leader.
Task Description: For this assessment, you are required to write a report of 1500 words. The report can
include tables, charts, figures, and/or graphs to illustrate your findings where necessary.
Write a report that responds to the following three tasks.
1. Identify and explain the key principles of a (one) leadership style that you aspire to follow
and give some examples of how you aim to enact this leadership style on your immersion
or professional experience placement.
2. Demonstrate your knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of this leadership style.
3. Critically review how this leadership style influences management in an early childhood
setting in relation to children, families and staff.
The report must include:
1. A brief introduction of no more than 100 words outlining the purpose and content
if the report.
2. A body of no more than 1320 words and broken into sections with short,
appropriate headings (based upon the 3 tasks listed above).
3. A conclusion of no more than 80 words, highlighting the key findings.
4. A reference list that includes all sources of information used.
Rationale As an early childhood educator, it is important you have an understanding about leadership
and your role as a leader.
Referencing APA 7th referencing format is required in Faculty of Education assessment tasks – link to
SCU Libguide here: APA 7 Referencing.
A minimum of 10 references must be included in this assessment task, including the set
text, National Quality Standard and the Early Years Learning Framework (V2.0).
Support Resources Academic Integrity – SCU guidelines
Learning Zone – workshops, Quick Guides, videos, study hub
Submission Submission of your assessment is via TURNITIN. The submission link can be found in
the Assessment Tasks and Submission Tab in the TCHR3004 Blackboard site.
Please note:
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Assessment One: Report

Student’s Name
Course Department, University
Course Code: Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Due Date
 
Assessment One: Report
A leadership style is a leader’s approach to directing, motivating, and managing their team. It is influenced by factors such as the leader’s personality and values, leadership skills, and past experiences (Dubrin, 2022). The focus of this report is the democratic leadership style, its principles, its theoretical foundations, and its application in an early childhood education setting. The purpose is to identify how leadership can be advanced to affect positive change by adopting a democratic approach to professional and immersion topics, especially in early childhood education.
Key Principles of Democratic Leadership
One of the most effective types of leadership that can be utilised in organisational management is the democratic or participative leadership style. This leadership approach is named after the word ‘democracy,’ which means ‘run by the people’ (NSLS, 2024). Democratic leaders value openness in decision-making and strive to obtain information from various sources. Hence, the group of people working under such leaders usually demonstrates increased levels of inventiveness and creative thinking. Decision-makers with this style often push for opportunities for collaboration, facilitate group idea generation, or seek input from the entire group (NSLS, 2024). The leaders value other people’s perspectives and solicit feedback as well. They could pose open-ended questions to get input on anything or present their solution to the group as a test of an idea, then ask what the group thinks.
Those who have this style of leadership are inevitably to value cooperation since it is among their priorities. They will work to find ways to seek and provide support to their employees and influence others to think the same (Woods, 2021). This means that leaders who employ this approach will offer their employees guidance and support during a project and possibly check up on them to see if there is anything that may prevent them from completing the task. They give their team the opportunity to exercise discretion in how they approach tasks. This can be achieved by delegating decision-making to their team or relying on them to assume the mantle of leadership whenever they deem it necessary (Woods, 2021). While they do not influence the decision-making process directly, these leaders are held accountable for the team’s performance so they can establish rules or norms.
In an immersion or professional placement, enacting democratic leadership can be achieved through several practical steps. I aim to involve all teaching staff in curriculum planning sessions, encouraging them to share ideas and contribute to the development of learning activities. Establishing psychological safety and establishing basic ground rules, for instance, can be phase one. The development of ideas could be phase two. Phase three can involve reducing the available possibilities. Making the ultimate choice and creating the execution strategy might be step four. This strategy makes use of the team’s varied areas of expertise while also guaranteeing that the curriculum is interesting and well-rounded for the kids.
Theoretical Underpinnings of Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership is among the theoretical leadership styles that have evolved from several theories in management and psychology in the twentieth century. This style of leadership can be traced back to Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist, who began research into this style in the 1930s. In this study, there were autocratic, democratic, and Laissez-faire leadership styles, and the authors argued that by utilising the democratic leadership style, better outcomes will be achieved together with high morale among the group (Lewin, 1944). The work done by Lewin provided the right context for research on the positive impact of decision-making and problem-solving within a group, one of the democracies in leadership. This research not only demonstrated the validity of the positive aspects of promoting democratic leadership but also changed the paradigm of managerial thinking during this research as more authoritative solutions were prioritised during the period under investigation.
Extending Lewin’s work, an organisational psychologist, Rensis Likert, formulated his management systems theory in the 1960s. Likert proposed four systems of management, and one of them, known as ‘participative-group’ or System 4, is very similar to the democratic leadership approach (Gutterman, 2023). This system was characterised by high levels of trust, communication, and decision-making that involved subordinates. According to Likert’s works, organisations that implemented System 4 were characterised by higher productivity and employee satisfaction. This work served to substantiate democratic leadership practices as ideal in organisational settings, giving further backing to the theoretical explorations of this leadership style (Gutterman, 2023). Likert’s contributions are applicable to contexts of early childcare and education services, which require positive working relationships within the organisation and with their clients, the children.
Another important development of leadership theory that added more depth to Democratic Leadership was Theory X and Theory Y, developed by Douglas McGregor based on his book “The Human Side of Enterprise,” published in 1960 (McGregor). This perspective is rather different from the more autocratic Theory X, which presupposes that people are inherently unmotivated and rebellious. Based on McGregor’s Theory Y, the actions of a democratic leader, which include delegating power to the subordinates and engaging them in the decision-making process (McGregor), are supported. In terms of the ECE, McGregor’s Theory Y underscores the belief of the administration that employees are self-motivated to make a positive difference by providing quality care and education and will go the extra mile in the interest of the organisation.
Critical Review of Democratic Leadership in Early Childhood Settings
Regarding children, democratic leadership could improve the quality of care and education that children receive. The democratic leadership approach in early childhood settings aligns well with several quality areas outlined in the National Quality Standard (ACECQA, 2018). For instance, Quality Area 7: Governance and Leadership emphasises the importance of effective leadership and management of the service that promotes a positive organisational culture and builds a professional learning community. When teachers are empowered to participate in curriculum formulation, their choices will be informed by the need to foster activities that would suit the young children in their care (AGDE, 2022). Further, the use of openness as a core aspect of democratic leadership contributes to a responsible caregiving practice where educators can speak about observations and concerns about particular children’s learning and development (Douglass, 2019). If a leader does not offer the necessary assistance and provide guidance in areas where educators are inexperienced or unwilling to assume more obligations, the quality of care might suffer.
Democratic leadership can enhance the relationships between the families and the centre as it encourages parents to participate and share their opinions in different activities. For example, democratic leaders can establish parent-teacher associations, surveys, or consultative sessions on centre policies. It generates improved chances for parental satisfaction and participation since families have the opportunity to be heard regarding their child’s education (AGDE, 2022). Additionally, since organisational democracy fosters the information and communication flow, nature can lead to more efficiency in the delivery of information regarding the children’s progress and needs in both centre and home environments (Rodd, 2013). At the same time, the concept of the application of democratic leadership in the sense of engaging families may be an issue, especially in cultures that are diverse in their approach to leadership and decision-making. In this respect, some families may wish the centre leadership to be more authoritarian on some of the issues, perceiving extended consultation as a sign of difficulty or lack of sufficiently competent knowledge.
For this leadership style, the values of teachers are involved, and this entails a sense of ownership and commitment to the task, hence minimising staff turnover – a major issue in the teaching sector. Such decision-making empowers staff, enables leaders to leverage the different skills, knowledge, and creativity of actors across the centre, and fosters more efficient problem-solving as well as new solutions and approaches to the implementation of centre practices (Rodd, 2013). It can also promote a culture of consultation and improvement that allows the staff members to share their ideas as well as engage in critical evaluation of practices (Barblett, 2017). However, some educators may find this shift in responsibility taxing, and the pressure to participate in decision-making processes may prove challenging at times, especially if they have been working under a highly autocratic system.
Conclusion
Democratic leaders place a strong focus on collaboration, support a range of opinions, and facilitate discussions that enable multiple group members to participate in decision-making. Originally grounded on the theories of Lewin, Likert, and McGregor, democratic leadership has grown into a strong approach within educational management. When implemented in ECC, the program could also lead to increased interaction and interest of children, stronger parent-teacher collaboration, and improved staff morale and development. However, the idea of promoting democracy in leadership is not without drawbacks. It involves managing multiple interests and priorities, timely decision-making, and compliance with the rules and norms. However, it can be stated that with the proper approach applied, democratic leadership may bring improvements in the creativity, adaptability, and quality of early childhood programs.

References
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA] (2018). National Quality Standards. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard.
AGDE. (2022) Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia (V2.0).
Barblett, K., (2017). The role of practitioners in children’s learning and development in the early years. Keynote Presentation Child Australia Conference, Darwin, October 2017.
Douglass, A. (2019). Leadership for Quality Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Education Working Paper No. 211. OECD https://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP%282019%2919docLanguage=En
Dubrin, A. (2022). Leadership Research Findings, Practice, & Skills. Cengage Learning.
Gutterman, A. S. (2023). (PDF) leadership styles. researchgate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373630463_Leadership_Styles
Lewin, K. (1944). Dynamics of group action. Educational Leadership. 1, 195-200.
McGregor, D. (n.d.). The human side of Enterprise. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Motivation/McGregor_The_Human_Side_of_Enterprise.pdf
NSLS, T. (2024). Key characteristics of Democratic leadership. https://www.nsls.org/blog/key-characteristics-of-democratic-leadership
Rodd, J. (2013). Leadership in Early Childhood. Allen & Unwin.
Woods, P. A. (2021). Democratic Leadership. Herts. https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2299/23539/Democratic_Leadership_revised_final_Jan2019.pdf?sequence=1`

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