Leadership for quality early childhood education and care

This literature review examines how leadership in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings affects the quality of interactions and relationships between staff and children. Process quality—meaning positive interactions and relationships—is shown to be a strong predictor of children's learning, development and well-being. The review identifies key areas where leadership support is needed, including recruitment, preparation, professional development, and staff working conditions. The research suggests that improving leadership in ECEC settings is central to sustaining quality and supporting child development.

Key points

• Process quality (interactions and relationships in ECEC settings) is a strong predictor of children's learning, development and well-being
• Leadership plays a central role in improving and sustaining process quality in ECEC settings
• The review examines functions, roles and structures of ECEC leadership
• Factors that support or hinder leadership effectiveness are identified
• Supports needed include leadership recruitment, preparation, professional development, credentialing, compensation, and job design

Limitations

This is a literature review rather than a primary research study, so it does not present new empirical data or evaluation of specific interventions. The document does not specify which countries were included in the review or provide details on the strength of evidence from individual studies.