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Theory strengthens the methodological and interpretive stance of a research study and is most fruitful when theoretical understandings are shared within collaborative research teams. This paper describes an approach to engaging productively with a theory, specifically the theory of practice architectures. Such engagement enabled the use of the theory for data gathering and analysis within an Australian mixed-methods research study – Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work. Within the study, the theory offered a substantive lens for exploring exemplary educator practices and the organisational arrangements within early childhood education (ECE) sites that made those practices possible. The ‘unpacking’ of the theory of practice architectures led to the development of a suite of resource materials. This paper acts as an invitation to interact with and think on a practice theory and provides insight into the positive transformation of educational practices for the benefit of individuals and society.

Effective leadership influences the process quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs and therefore the academic, health and socio-emotional outcomes for children. Yet, the cultivation of leadership is impacted by the complex nature of ECEC environments and the persistent challenges therein. Complex workforce issues, inadequate preparation for positional leadership roles and few opportunities for professional development for emerging leaders challenge the growth of effective leadership and the development of sustainable leadership for the ECEC profession. This commentary gives an insight into the challenges of leadership within ECEC and leader supply and suggests leadership emergence and enactment is potentially cultivated by broadening theoretical and pragmatic propositions. Complexity leadership theory within complex adaptive systems is presented as a framework for leadership cultivation within ECEC and opportunities for leadership development are highlighted.

This article reports on an Australian study of the emergence and development of leadership that supports children’s rights and their access to high-quality early childhood education (ECE). The qualitative study contributes to a growing body of research on ECE leadership practice; specifically, the area of site-based leadership cultivation and development. Complexity leadership theory was used to situate leadership within the Australian ECE context; accounting for the competing purposes of high-quality education programs and for the complex array of practices required for leadership to be effective. Additionally, the theory of practice architectures was employed as an analytical tool. The theory of practice architectures helped to identify socially-just leadership practices that uphold children’s rights, and to understand the organisational arrangements that enabled and constrained those practices within each site. Study findings illuminate how leadership can be cultivated and developed in ECE. As a result of the study, organisations are encouraged to create the cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements that shape leadership within ECE sites. The paper argues for the development of ECE leadership as a socially-just practice, that upholds the rights of children and their access to high-quality early childhood education.

Early childhood education (ECE) effects positive outcomes for children, but outcomes depend upon the quality of the program with which children engage. Program quality is positively influenced by effective leadership; yet we do not fully understand how effective leadership emerges and develops within ECE sites. This lack of knowledge potentially compromises the development of effective leadership and, subsequently, a child’s right to high-quality ECE. This paper, therefore, contributes to the field of research on ECE leadership development by describing a qualitative Australian study that investigated leadership cultivation. The mini-ethnographic case study examined the emergence and development of leadership in three high-quality, diversely governed ECE settings. Findings of the study suggest the practice of leading is foundational for positional leadership roles and is enabled by the practice architectures of an organization. Practice architectures comprise cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements. Arrangements, found within organizations, included cultures of trust, use of professional knowledge and language, collaborative development of philosophy, democratic allocation of resources, sharing of power and openness to activism, disruption and creativity. Such arrangements play an important role in the emergence and development of leading and therefore offer organizations alternative ways to consider leadership cultivation.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) - as with education more generally - should be a central plank of a suite of social policies designed to support more socially just societies. However, universal access to ECEC in itself, will not redress inequalities. This paper draws upon reports from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), and data from three doctoral studies nested within the Australian Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work research project, to argue for attention to the quality of the early childhood system and to consider the contribution that a deeply embedded socially just purpose makes to quality. Frühkindliche Bildung und Betreuung (FBBE) sollte - wie Bildung im Allgemeinen - ein zentraler Bestandteil einer Reihe von sozialpolitischen Maßnahmen sein, die darauf abzielen, eine sozial gerechtere Gesellschaft zu unterstützen. Allerdings wird ein allgemeiner Zugang zu frühkindlicher Bildung und Betreuung an sich keine Ungleichheiten beseitigen. Dieser Beitrag stützt sich auf Berichte der Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) sowie auf Daten aus drei Promotionsstudien, die im Rahmen des australischen Forschungsprojekts Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work durchgeführt wurden. Die Ergebnisse sind ein Plädoyer dafür, der Qualität des frühkindlichen Systems mehr Aufmerksamkeit zu schenken und den Beitrag zu würdigen, den eine tief verankerte Orientierung an sozialer Gerechtigkeit im Hinblick auf Qualität leistet.

There is a growing understanding, internationally, that effective leadership has an influence on the quality of early childhood education programs. The leadership research agenda has expanded accordingly but despite this expansion there is little empirical research on the emergence and development of leadership in early childhood education. The article focuses primarily on the methodological challenge of studying the phenomena of emerging and developing leadership. We describe the innovative methods for data generation that were used to address these challenges for an Australian study of leading within early childhood education sites. We explain in detail two of the methods—a field observation tool and the Dialogic Café. Some findings, that serve to highlight the benefits of the method, are shared. We conclude by advocating for the use of innovative methods to understand the phenomenon of emerging leadership and development in early childhood education sites.