The four main aims of the dissertation were:
• To investigate how distributed pedagogical leadership can be conceptual-ised in the contexts of ECE.
• To examine how the enactment of ECE leadership responsibilities, espe-cially pedagogical leadership, is perceived by different stakeholders involved in leadership roles in municipalities.
• To gain a holistic understanding of the perceptions of leadership enactment held by different ECE stakeholders.
• To analyse the leadership perceptions of different stakeholders in order to identify the main constructions of ECE leadership within the theoretical frame of distributed pedagogical leadership.
The research aims were addressed through the five articles completed for the study.
Each article formed an independent study each having its own research questions.
The research questions of the articles highlighted the main aims of the dissertation from different perspectives of ECE leadership (Table 1).
The connections between the research aims and article-related research ques-tions are presented in Table 1. The first research aim was investigated through the literature review Articles 1 and 2. The three following research aims were investi-gated though the research findings Articles 3, 4, and 5. The articles and the syn-thesis of the results gained from the research articles in this dissertation provided answers for the following research aims.
The first research aim was to investigate how distributed pedagogical leader-ship can be conceptualised in the contexts of ECE. This involved writing two literature review articles which addressed the relevant studies of distributed lead-ership in the educational sector and examined its applications for leading ECE pedagogy. The theoretical underpinnings of the study conceptualised distributed pedagogical leadership based on the findings of the literature review articles. The three research articles were based on the data collected for the study in addressing the specific research aims and questions investigated in this dissertation.
The selection of the aims of the three research articles presented in Table 1 was guided by the research process and the theory of distributed pedagogical leader-ship examined in the literature review Articles 1 and 2. That is, the results gained from studies completed informed the focus of the research articles that followed.
Similarly, the research questions presented in the articles were derived in the first place from the theory, but they evolved during the research process. They were modified according to the notions that arose during the completion of the analy-sis within a particular research study. Data from four to seven municipalities were selected for the research articles from the 10 municipalities involved in the study.
The analysis procedures were similar between the research articles.
Much of the literature on distributed leadership to date focuses on school-based leadership. As research on distributed leadership is evolving in ECE but is as yet undeveloped, the literature review Article 1 sought applicable studies com-pleted in educational settings. By examining this work, the paper explored the definition and meaning of distributed leadership as conceptualised by theorists and researchers interested in school education. This discussion was then extended to ECE leadership literature where the discussions on distributed leadership are now being affirmed. The aim here was to seek to understand the relevance and significance of distributed leadership within the contexts of ECE, and consider implementation challenges that flow on from applying theory into ECE practice and research.
The literature review Article 2 aimed to emphasise the unique characteristics of ECE pedagogy, pedagogical leadership, and their connections with
distrib-Table 1: Research aims and the research questions related to articles
To examine how the enactment of ECE leadership responsibilities, especially pedagogical leadership, is perceived by different stakeholders involved in leadership roles in municipalities.
To gain a holistic understanding of the perceptions of leadership enactment held by different ECE stakeholders.
To analyse the leadership perceptions of different stakeholders in order to identify the main constructions of ECE leadership within the theoretical frame of distributed pedagogical leadership.
Articles
Literature reviews:
Articles 1 and 2
(Please see the list of the articles at the beginning)
Research findings:
Articles 3, 4, and 5
Research questions presented in the articles
Article 1
To establish a new research agenda on distributed leadership by linking early childhood and school leadership research.
Explore theoretical bases of distributed leadership by underpinning leadership research that has adopted a distributed leadership framework in general, and within early childhood organisations in particular.
Article 2
What are the theoretical applications of pedagogical leadership in early childhood education?
What are the challenges of conceptualising pedagogy and pedagogical leadership?
Can early childhood leaders implement pedagogical leadership in distributed ways?
Article 3
How do the administrative ECE leaders in municipalities, directors, and teachers in ECE centres perceive leadership responsibilities?
Article 4
How do ECE leaders, centre directors, and ECE teachers perceive the enactment of pedagogical leadership?
Article 5
How do the members of municipal committees and municipal ECE leaders perceive the core purpose of ECE as a base of leadership? How do the members of municipal committees and municipal ECE leaders perceive ECE leadership?
uted leadership in early childhood education. The reasoning for writing Article 2 comes from the distributed leadership theory, which is focused on educational aspects of leadership, and from the research process. It was shown in the research findings study of Article 3 that distributed leadership was closely connected to the enactment of pedagogical leadership in the perceptions of the participants of the study. The literature review Article 2 was closely linked with the research findings Article 4 and assisted in framing and focusing the analysis in the research findings Article 4. The literature review Article 2 aimed at conceptualising pedagogical leadership within the contexts of ECE and examined its theoretical links with distributed leadership. The study was aimed at identifying the significance and challenges that lie ahead in undertaking future research on pedagogical leadership from the perspectives of distributed leadership in ECE. In addition, this paper sought to provide conceptual clarity to the meaning and relevance of pedagogy to leadership.
The core understanding of distributed pedagogical leadership and the core elements of it were formulated in the synthesis of the findings of the two litera-ture review articles. The core understanding of leadership and the core elements were used as a theoretical frame in the analysis of the research findings articles.
The relationship between the literature review articles and the research findings articles completed for the dissertation was two-fold. Firstly, the knowledge gained through conceptualisation of distributed pedagogical leadership in ECE in the literature reviews was used in formulating the key understanding of the studied phenomenon as a base for the planning and completion of the research findings articles. The prior theoretical understanding of the research object assisted in as-similating the focus of the analysis and directing the relevant aspects towards par-ticipants’ discussions. In turn, the results of the research findings articles assisted in evaluating the literature reviewed in terms of adapting to the knowledge from previous theorising and research in the particular contexts of Finnish ECE. The theoretical underpinnings presented in the dissertation were thus partly the result of this bipolar adaptive process between theory and research.
The main aims related to the research findings Articles 3, 4, and 5 were firstly to examine how the enactment of ECE leadership responsibilities, especially ped-agogical leadership, was perceived by different stakeholders involved in leadership roles in municipalities; secondly, to gain a holistic understanding of the percep-tions of leadership enactment held by different ECE stakeholders; and finally, to analyse the leadership perceptions of different stakeholders in order to identify the main constructions of ECE leadership within the theoretical frame of distributed pedagogical leadership.
The research findings articles addressed these research aims from diverse per-spectives. The research process started with the research findings Article 3, which was aimed at providing an understanding of the perceptions of leadership
respon-sibilities by ECE leaders, centre directors, and teachers. This article provided an overview of the perceptions of ECE stakeholders towards the enactment of lead-ership responsibilities. The research findings Article 4 provided a more focused understanding of the perceptions of enactment of pedagogical leadership. The re-search findings Article 5 provided the perspectives of municipal macro level lead-ers towards leadlead-ership thus allowing a holistic undlead-erstanding of leadlead-ership enact-ment by multi-voiced leadership discussions undertaken by diverse stakeholders.
The research findings Article 3 was particularly interested in studying the enactment of leadership responsibilities as perceived by the stakeholders involved in ECE leadership in seven Finnish municipalities. In the research process of the dissertation, this particular research article was foundational as it constructed an understanding of leadership enactment in relation to a whole set of ECE leader-ship responsibilities. This perspective is congruent with the traditional and con-temporary ECE leadership theorising and research (Hujala, 2002; Hujala & Es-kelinen, 2013) in setting up the leadership responsibilities as a main focus of the analysis. This research article identified the key leadership responsibilities and the enactment of them as perceived by a selected set of ECE stakeholders, comprising ECE leaders, centre directors, and teachers. The municipalities were selected for the study according to their representativeness of a variety of locations and sizes within the municipalities of Finland.
The research findings Article 4 was aimed at deepening the analysis and the results that emerged from the research study of Article 3, focusing on studying the enactment of pedagogical leadership as perceived by the stakeholders. This study was considered to be significant because it was found in the research study of Article 3 that pedagogical leadership was perceived to be the most impor-tant leadership responsibility related to the distributed leadership by all studied groups, being the ECE leaders, centre directors, and teachers. The emphasis on pedagogical leadership as a focus of this study in particular and in the disserta-tion in general, was partly a result of the research process as described above and partly driven from the theory of ECE leadership and distributed leadership. The scope of contemporary theorising and research of ECE leadership and distributed leadership is focused on educational, pedagogical, and instructional aspects of leaders’ work. Six municipalities were selected for the research findings Article 4 according to their representativeness of a variety of locations and sizes of the municipalities of Finland.
Research findings Article 5 examined the perceptions of the two groups of macro level ECE stakeholders located within Finnish municipalities, ECE lead-ers and the memblead-ers of municipal committees, about ECE leadlead-ership operating within their local communities. The study investigated how the core purpose of ECE as a base for leadership was perceived by the two stakeholder groups in four municipalities. This research article was selected for the dissertation as a result of
the research findings Articles 3 and 4 which indicated the significance of macro level leaders in the functioning of ECE leadership.
The results of the completed research articles enabled this study to analyse and synthesise the leadership perceptions of different stakeholders to identify the main constructions of ECE leadership within the theoretical frame of distributed pedagogical leadership. This analysis enabled this study to comment critically on the functioning of ECE leadership in studied municipalities and to suggest devel-opmental implications for policy and practice.