What is Shared Leadership in an Early Childhood Setting?

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What is Shared Leadership in an Early Childhood Setting?

Sep 19

Excellence Matters Blog Shared Leadership Early Childhood Education Professional Development

So you've heard the term Shared Leadership or read about it in some ACECQA publications.

Shared leadership is known by a number of names and in this article we'll be answering some FAQs for those who want to know more about the basics of this leadership approach.

What is shared leadership?

Shared leadership is known by a number of names including distributed leadership, democratic leadership, consultative leadership, participative leadership, facilitative leadership and inclusive leadership. These other names for shared leadership help us to understand the nature of shared leadership.

Shared leadership is a leadership strategy where the Director or Centre/Service Manager or head manager (we will use the term Manager for this article) shares the leadership with other people in their team, drawing upon their strengths and expertise.

The other team members take on some leadership roles and tasks that may have traditionally been included in the role of the Manager. It means that the Manager is not the only one responsible for best practice but this responsibility is shared between the team.

What are the benefits of shared leadership?

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Shared Leadership

ACECQA Information Sheet: Quality Area 7

It promotes a collaborative and trusting professional way of leading and working between educators, managers and other staff.
The many talents, skills, expertise, interests, perspectives and ideas of educators can be utilised and drawn upon for developing common goals, problem solving and finding solutions.
It can create a sense of belonging and inclusion for the early childhood team.
It can make the complex and often difficult role of a Manager more achievable with less likelihood of stress and burnout.
It allows educators and other staff to develop and use their own leadership skills either on an ongoing basis or for one-off projects or tasks.
It can create a more engaged and motivated team of professionals working together to provide high quality education and care.
It allows opportunity for emerging leaders to be trained and mentored in a supportive environment as they take on leading roles at the appropriate time.
It can aid in creating a team environment where a sense of shared purpose exists and is practiced.

What are some leadership roles that might be shared?

Although these will be different for each service, here are some examples for consideration:

Mentoring other educators
Self-assessing your service against the NQS
Supporting educators in the planning cycle
Ensuring learning is being guided by the EYLF
Establishing or reviewing routines and transitions
Observing and providing feedback on interactions between educators and children
Collaborating with other early childhood professionals or service providers
Reviewing or writing policies and procedures
Leading reflective discussions, learning circles or professional development sessions
Leading staff meetings
Implementing items from the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)

What else should I know about shared leadership?

Shared leadership is not a prescriptive strategy - it’s an approach to leadership and embraces a philosophy of inclusion and collaboration that can be applied in different ways in different services.
Shared leadership does not take away the need for a Manager or for the Manager to a skilled leader.
Although it may be somewhat obvious, shared leadership is not about delegating administrative tasks, it’s about actually sharing leadership responsibilities.
The shared leadership approach allows for anyone in the organisation to show leadership rather than limiting it to the Manager.
The Manager still has overall responsibility for keeping the team focused and on track in implementing best practice through the service’s policies, procedures, practice, values and philosophy.
Not all team members may be ready or willing to take on leadership roles, professional development and mentoring may be required.

Where can I learn more about shared leadership?

Information Sheet: ACECQA Quality Area 7 Educational Leadership and Team Building Information Sheet
Book: Leadership and Early Years Professionalism, Jennie Lindon and Lance Lindon, Hodder Education, 2012
Book: Early Childhood Professionals Leading Today and Tomorrrow, Manjula Waniganayake and Marjory Ebbeck, 2003

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