The role of the Educational Leader

ACECQA’s National Education Leader, Rhonda Livingstone provides insight into National Quality Framework topics of interest.

The educational leader has an influential role in inspiring, motivating, affirming and also challenging or extending the practice and pedagogy of educators. It is a joint endeavour involving inquiry and reflection, which can significantly impact on the important work educators do with children and families.

With the introduction of the role, a number of myths have emerged. One of these is that the educational leader must complete all of the programming for all educators. This is a very narrow and prescriptive view of this important role.

The National Quality Standard (NQS) primarily deals with the role of the educational leader through Quality Area 7 – leadership and management. But neither the NQS nor the regulatory standards are prescriptive about the qualifications, experience, skills or role description for the person chosen to be the educational leader. There is a very good reason for this. The flexibility of these provisions allows approved providers to choose the best person in the service to take on this role.

When designating an educational leader, consideration needs to be given to whether the person is:

suitably qualified and experienced
willing to make time for the role and eager to learn more
approachable and well respected
knowledgeable about theories, pedagogy and the relevant learning frameworks
skilled at supporting educators of varying abilities and learning styles
knowledgeable about the NQS and related regulatory standards.

The most effective educational leader views their role as collegial. They seek to play an integral role in mentoring, guiding and supporting educators. Some roles of the educational leader include:

promoting understanding of the approved learning framework
keeping up to date with current research/resources and sharing these
exploring opportunities for professional development
helping educators to understand and implement policies and procedures
encouraging educators to reflect on their practice
discussing ways to demonstrate the service is meeting the standards.

If you have been chosen as the educational leader in your service, congratulations on being selected for this important role and enjoy this journey of learning and growing with your team.

The role of the Educational Leader

Further reading and resources

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