The study of leadership in an international kindergarten in Hong Kong

Abstract

This dissertation presents the findings for the study of leadership in the international section of a kindergarten in Hong Kong. The study focused on the leadership characteristics of the international head teacher (IHT) of the kindergarten. Self-perceptions from the leader (IHT) about leadership and school culture were obtained; perceptions on leadership and school culture from teachers were also obtained. The literature on early childhood leadership revealed a lack of quality research studies focusing on leadership in the early childhood context. This study attempts to add to the leadership studies in the field. It used a qualitative research design; semi-structured interviews and informal observations were conducted for analysis, documents and artifacts were also gathered for triangulation and analysis. Direct quotes gathered from interviews were analysed to demonstrate leadership and school culture perspectives. Results found the international head teacher (IHT) possessed successful leadership characteristics consistent with transformational leadership, teacher perceptions on leadership and school culture were consistent with those of the leader, it was found that the IHT has skills and abilities to manipulate the variables from the school climate to create a positive school culture of pride leading to success and high teacher satisfaction. Her vision is key in facilitating the school culture and organizational environment in this study, a leadership system was formulated based on result of the analysis. The lack of leadership training in the early education field was discussed, future direction towards investigating early childhood community leadership was believed to be promising and warrants for more studies.