...a major contribution to the limited literature and research on leadership in childhood education.' - Professor Tony Bush, Editor of Educational Management, Administration and Leadership.

Introduction: Theorizing Leadership in Early ChildhoodThe Early Childhood Leaders' Agenda Context What Do We Know Already? What Leadership Research Applies? What Do We Need to Know? Leadership in English Early Childhood Education and Care Introduction Our Objectives What We Asked Our Early Childhood Professionals about Leadership What We Found Out What We Made of the Findings Practitioners' Understandings of Early Childhood Leadership Introduction Characteristics of the Leaders and Staff That We Talked to Definitions and Perceptions of Leadership Roles, Responsibilities and Functions of Leaders Decision-Making Internal and External Influences on Leadership Training Leadership in a Changing World Early Childhood Leaders' Work Introduction A Typical Day Roles, Responsibilities and Functions Decision-Making Influences on Leadership Training Collective Views on the Video Highlights 'I Don't Like the Idea of Making a Profit... Exploiting Those on Low Wages'Introduction Early Childhood Education and Care Policy Early Childhood Profession and Workplace Issues Making a Profit: The Role of the Private Sector Preschool Care and Education plc?Journeys into Leadership Introduction A journey? Career Paths of Early Childhood Leaders Support through the Career Cycle Mentoring as a Leadership Strategy Introduction Learning from Experience The Nature of Mentoring Establishing Appropriate Ground Rules What Does Learning from Day-to-Day Experience Really Mean? A Framework for Staff Development Mentoring for the Leader Future Possibilities The Challenge of Leading Multi-Agency Teams Introduction Challenges to Collaboration Questions to Ask What Do We know about Effective Multi-Agency Working? Models of Multi-Agency Working Organization of Professional Groups Views on Multi-Agency Working from Four Integrated Centres What we found out A closer look at the challenges of multi-agency working Case Studies Leadership by the Many Leading in a Time of Change Introduction A Need for Interprofessional Education Staff Resistance to Change A Model for Improving the Early Childhood Integrated Centre Understanding Change Reflective Practice and Action LearningIntroduction Reflective Process of Progressive Problem-Solving Planning an Action Research Cycle with Integrated Centre Leaders Doing Action Research in the Early Childhood Field ConclusionsReflections Revisiting Our Initial Objectives Conclusions