Quality and Leadership in the Early Years

Verity Campbell-Barr is a lecturer in early childhood studies at Plymouth University, undertaking a Marie Curie European Research Fellowship (funded by the European Commission) in the Department of Child Education at the Faculty of Child and Adult Education, University of Debrecen, Hungary. Her research interests center on the quality of early childhood services, with her fellowship focusing on the knowledge, skills and attitudes required of the early childhood education, and care workforce. She has a background in researching the provision of early childhood services and policy developments in early childhood education and care.

Dr Caroline Leeson is Associate Professor in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University. She has particular interests in the welfare of looked after children, children's centre leadership and reflective practice and enjoys working with students towards their goal of being strong advocates for young children and their families. Her research interests are in social justice; children with a parent in prison; children who go missing and/or are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and the involvement of children in decision making processes. She is also active in researching the articulation of leadership in early years settings. Before working in higher education she worked as a social worker in child protection, fostering and adoption and was the leader of a family centre for a period of time. This experience proved particularly profound as she learnt the importance of communication, collaboration and the joy of spending time in the home corner making stone soup.

Do you need good leaders to achieve good quality or does good quality create good leadership?

Quality is a term frequently used to describe early years provision without any further explanation of exactly what this 'quality provision' looks like or how it can be achieved.

This book not only unpicks what is meant by the term 'quality' in England, across the UK, and beyond, but it does so in the context of how to lead in order to develop and achieve quality.  In exploring quality and leadership and the ways in which both terms have been conceptualised from a range of different perspectives you will be able to find a meaning that is right for you and your practice. 

With chapters covering:

·         The global interest in quality

·         The broad nature of early childhood leadership

·         Reflective evaluation and practice

Do you need good leaders to achieve good quality or does good quality create good leadership? This book explores the meanings and understandings of quality and leadership that are present in early years services and how to lead in order to develop and achieve quality in your early years setting.