Effective Leadership and Management in the Early Years

192 Pages·2006·0.85 MB·english

by  Janet Moyles

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Effective Leadership & Management o Janet Moyles
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in the Early Years e
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‘Effective Leadership and f
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There has recently been an unprecedented focus on t
early years care and education, particularly on the Years ... is the best analysis iv
impact of the various adults who work and play with of leadership and e
children in the birth to five/six-years age range. Staff in
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early years settings have had to adapt to many changes e
and demands, locally and nationally, and none more so come across. It is a highly a
than those who suddenly find themselves in a practical tool and a d
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leadership and management role in increasingly
resource that will enable r
complex small early years businesses and settings, often s
without formal training or qualifications. early years practitioners at h
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The book is unique in providing not only a thorough different stages of p

analysis of the leader and manager’s role and presenting professional development a
it as a typology, but also in offering a clear and in-depth n
Effective
to explore, understand,
view of that role. It also presents ways in which the d
leaders and managers can undertake self-evaluation or rate and develop their M
work alongside a peer to understand their own
leadership and a
strengths and challenges more readily.
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management expertise.’ Leadership
The book conceptualises effective leadership and a and
management as a tree, with the four key ‘branches’ of Jillian Rodd, Educational and g
effective leadership and management defined as: Developmental Psychologist e
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◗Leadership Qualities
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◗Management Skills n
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◗Professional Attributes
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◗Personal Characteristics and Attitudes
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Effective Leadership and Management in the Early Yearsis an essential tool for all those h
who lead and manage within early years settings, which they can use for evaluating e
their effectiveness.
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Janet Moylesis an early years writer and educational consultant based in Leicester, Early Years
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UK. Formerly Professor of Early Childhood Education and Research at Anglia Ruskin l
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University, she is author of several books and articles about early years education
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including the best-selling Just Playing?, The Excellence of Playand Beginning Teaching:
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Beginning Learning(all Open University Press).
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Cover design Hybert Design •www.hybertdesign.com
www.openup.co.uk
Effective Leadership
and Management in
the Early Years

Effective Leadership
and Management in
the Early Years
Janet Moyles
Open University Press
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
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email: [email protected]
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Firstpublished 2006
Copyright #JanetMoyles 2006
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ISBN: 13: 9780335221 011 (pb) 9780335 221028 (hb)
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Contents
Charts vi
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Background research and howELMSevolved 7
2 ELMSas a typology and anevaluationtool 14
3 TheLeadership Qualities branch 28
4 TheManagementSkillsbranch 68
5 TheProfessionalSkills and Attributes branch 100
6 ThePersonal Characteristics and Attitudes branch 124
7 UsingELMS –drawing it alltogether 160
References 163
Index 169
Charts
Leadership Stem 1.1 32
Leadership Stem 1.2 36
Leadership Stem 1.3 38
Leadership Stem 1.4 42
Leadership Stem 1.5 46
Leadership Stem 1.6 50
Leadership Stem 1.7 54
Leadership Stem 1.8 58
Leadership Stem 1.9 62
Leadership Stem 1.10 66
ManagementStem 2.1 70
ManagementStem 2.2 74
ManagementStem 2.3 78
ManagementStem 2.4 80
ManagementStem 2.5 82
ManagementStem 2.6 86
ManagementStem 2.7 88
ManagementStem 2.8 92
ManagementStem 2.9 94
ManagementStem 2.10 96
Professional Stem 3.1 102
Professional Stem 3.2 104
Professional Stem 3.3 108
Professional Stem 3.4 112
Professional Stem 3.5 120
Personal Stem 4.1 128
Personal Stem 4.2 132
Personal Stem 4.3 134
Personal Stem 4.4 136
Personal Stem 4.5 138
Personal Stem 4.6 144
Personal Stem 4.7 148
Personal Stem 4.8 150
Personal Stem 4.9 156
Acknowledgements
There were many people involved in the creation of the original ELMES (EY) materials.
Particular thanks go to Richard Yates for his outstanding work on the research element of
theprojectandmuchofthereportwritingup.SpecialthanksalsogotoMaxineLevywho
workedtirelesslyonkeepingthoseinvolvedintheprojectinformedandsupported,andto
Douglas Stuartwhoadded hisinvaluable knowledgefrom timetotime.
The European Social Fund, Essex County Council and Southend Borough Council all
contributedfinancialsupporttotheproject,withoutwhichitwouldneverhavehappened.
Particular thanks go to Aimi MacCormac, Julie Bravery and Diana Batemen for their con-
fidenceintheoutcomes.AngliaRuskinUniversityalsoprovidedsupportfortheproject,as
did Cambridgeshirelocal education authority.
Dr Siaˆn Adams and Helen Broomby served as consultants to the project and brought
extremely valuable knowledge of early years leadership and management to bear on the
ongoingprogressandultimatefindingsoftheresearch.Inthelatterstagesofthewritingof
this book, Jillian Rodd and Liz Brooker offered very useful commentary and advice which
was welcome.
After an initial trawl of the (limited) literature on early years leadership and manage-
ment and delving more deeplyinto overallleadership andmanagement theories, thecon-
tinuous involvement of a number of practising leaders and managers was invaluable in
ensuring that the final version of ELMS was accessible and comprehensible to all those
leadingandmanagingthefullrangeofearlyyearssettings.Inalphabeticalordertheywere:
Amber Abbs, Diane Allmark, Ann Barker, Jackie Deacon, Kay Dimelow, Catherine House,
Sally Rodricks, AnnieTann, JennyWoodford and AngieWright.

Introduction
About ELMS – the Effective Leadership and
Management Scheme for the Early Years
Therehasbeenanunprecedentedfocusrecentlyontheearlyyearsofchildren’slivesandthe
impactofthevariousadultswhoworkandplaywithchildreninthebirthto5–6yearsage
range. Staff in early years settings have had to adapt to many changes and demands from
local authorities and national government, none more so than those who suddenly found
themselvesinaleadershipandmanagementroleinincreasinglycomplexsmallearlyyears
businesses and settings often without formal training or qualifications. For example, con-
sider the playgroup leader, a mother of young children, who suddenly found herself re-
sponsible for, amongst other things, sums of government money for 3- and 4-year-olds,
accountability for paperwork returns in relation to these children, having to justify the
educational experiences provided for these children, and ensuring that staff within the
settingreceivedopportunitiesforprofessionaldevelopment.Inaddition,competitionfrom
otherprovidersintheareameantthatshealsoneededtolearnhowtomarketthesettingto
its best possible advantage and learn to communicate effectively with parents in a new
leadership capacityand also toworkinpartnership witha newmanaging body.
Until recently, little training was offered to those who lead and manage early years
settings,anditiscredittoallinvolvedthatmanyofthesepeoplehaveworkedreallyhardto
enhancetheirownskillswithwhateverresources(albeitlimited)wereavailableatthetime,
oftenagainstaraftofpressures.AsEbbeckandWaninganayake(2002)suggest,‘therearefew
publicly acknowledged leaders and no set of common expectations for leaders in early
childhood’.Yetthereissignificantevidencefromseveralresearchandtheoreticalsourcesto
suggest that the quality of a setting can depend heavily upon the quality, skills and effec-
tiveness of those in charge. For example, Solley (2003), in a paper given at the Institute of
Education, asserted that enthusiasm, passion, inspiration and advocacy rate as the great
strengths of a leader. In the EffectiveProvision of Pre-School Education project(Sylva et al.
2004),itwasfoundthatthehigherthequalificationsofmanagers,thehigherthequalityof
children’scurriculumexperiences,themoreeffectivetheprogrammestructureandthebetter
the relations with, and between, staff and parents (Taggart et al. 2000). The importance of
leadersandmanagerscannotbeunderestimated.
TheEffectiveLeadershipandManagementScheme(ELMS)isjustwhatthetitlesuggests
– a tool for all those who lead and manage early years settings which they can use for
evaluating their effectiveness in the role of leader/manager. Its purpose is to ensure that
children and practitioners in those settings receive the best possible experiences and di-
rection in their work and play and that parents and carers can have confidence in the
particular settingattendedbytheir children.
ThedevelopmentofELMSinvolvedarangeofleadersandmanagersworkingalongside
researchersandconsultantstoinvestigatetogetherthecomponentsofeffective earlyyears
leadership and management. This resultant publication is unique not only in providing a
thoroughanalysisoftheleader’s/manager’sroleandpresentingitasatypology,butalsoin
offeringaclear,in-depthviewofthatrolethroughasystematicreviewoftheliteratureand
consultationwithexperts.Italsopresentswaysinwhichtheleader/managercanundertake
self-evaluation or work alongside a peer to understand their own strengths and challenges