Evidencing leadership and management challenges in early childhood in Australia

The Australian early childhood system is complex and constantly changing and poses challenges to centre director/managers. A major challenge is the difficulty in meeting the responsibilities of leading and managing both organisational and pedagogical goals within the legal and educational frameworks of the system. Preparing educators for a complex and changing role may also present challenges for both initial teacher education and postgraduate professional learning. Concern continues in the sector that such challenges lead to turnover in the role, affecting the quality of programmes provided for children. A national online questionnaire collected quantitative data from director/managers working in centre-based early childhood services in order to gain an understanding of the breadth and scope of the current challenges they experience. The findings from the research reported here suggest challenges are experienced in the organisational leadership domain with managing staff a particular concern.