ERIC Number: EJ1404466
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0965-0792
EISSN: EISSN-1747-5074
Leading Change of Practice: A Study of Challenges and Possibilities from the Position of Preschool Management
Anne Harju
Educational Action Research, v31 n5 p881-893 2023
This article explores the conditions required for preschool managers to support change through research aimed at developing educational practice. It examines factors that enable and constrain support of change and the arrangements that can be identified in relation to these factors. The results suggest that arrangements that support a more technical and accountable form of practice constrain managers' capacity to support research aiming to change practice. However, the findings also show that managers do have possibilities to support such research. One key factor is whether the research is in line with their goals and efforts. Another is whether they have trust in the researchers and the educators implementing the change. The results also indicate that one way for leaders to enable change is by creating meaningful spaces for sharing experiences and developing practices. This involves the reframing of leadership practices into a more democratic and collaborative approach, and implies that cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements are needed to support such approach. Hence, for research projects aimed at changing educational practice, it is necessary to identify the specific arrangements connected to that practice. This is especially important in times when practice-based research is promoted as a way to attain educational goals.
Descriptors: Preschool Education, School Administration, Educational Development, Foreign Countries, Educational Change, Action Research, Educational Research, Evidence Based Practice
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A