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ERIC Number: EJ1373517
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0313-7155
EISSN: EISSN-1837-6290
Leading for Quality in Western Australian Early Childhood Services: An Emerging Framework
Cross, Emma; Dobson, Madeleine; Walker, Rebecca; Lowe, Geoff
Issues in Educational Research, v32 n4 p1321-1341 2022
All Australian children and their families have an equal right to access quality early years education. To achieve this, rationalisation of the Australian early childhood (EC) sector in 2007 saw the introduction of mandated governing frameworks, including the National Quality Framework (NQF), designed to regulate and assure quality practices across the sector. Understanding what quality is and how it is demonstrated in EC services is critical to young children's learning and development. However, issues engrained within the sector exacerbate challenges in leading, achieving, and planning for quality improvements. This research analysed Western Australia's NQF service ratings across geographic locations and governance of organisational structures for the most recent publicly available figures. It became clear that Quality Areas One (educational program and practice) and Seven (governance and leadership) held the greatest number of Working Towards ratings, with particular attention drawn to regional EC services. Given the link between programs and leadership, this research makes recommendations for improving EC service leadership and quality through enhanced professional learning and clarification of the early childhood educational leader (ECEL) role. This article proposes an emerging framework of leadership that emphasises the impact of leadership on quality ratings.
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.iier.org.au/iier.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A