Case-based leadership learning: how to improve work-related stress in early childhood education centre directors

Jul 8, 2026

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The article investigates how a case method can promote leadership learning and help early childhood education (ECE) centre directors cope with work-related stress. An exploratory qualitative study analyzes 57 centre directors’ course evaluations from the National Leadership Program collected through an online survey conducted between 2020 and 2021. Findings show that the case method supports coping through social comparison and sharing experiences, group discussions for problem solving, and a learning community that provides social support while linking practical coping tools. The results suggest case-based learning builds both individual coping strategies and collaborative learning communities, addressing a gap in research on ECE leadership education programmes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

Abstract

Introduction

Background and research gap

Aim and research question

Keywords

Teachers and Teaching theory and practice ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: [https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ctat20](https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ctat20) Case-based leadership learning: how to improve work-related stress in early childhood education centre directors Marit Bøe, Elsa Kristiansen & Kristin Rydjord Tholin To cite this article: Marit Bøe, Elsa Kristiansen & Kristin Rydjord Tholin (2022): Case-based leadership learning: how to improve work-related stress in early childhood education centre directors, Teachers and Teaching, DOI: 10. 1080/13540602 .2022.2155808 To link to this article: [https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2155808](https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2155808) Published online: 14 Dec 2022. | Submit your article to this journal | | --- | | View related articles | | View Crossmark data | Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ctat20](https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ctat20) Case-based leadership learning: how to improve work-related stress in early childhood education centre directors Marit Bøe a, Elsa Kristiansen b and Kristin Rydjord Tholinc a Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Notodden, Norway; bSchool of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, Norway; cFaculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Horten, Norway ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to investigate how case method can promote leadership learning and coping with stress. An exploratory qualitative investigation was undertaken to study 57 early childhood education centre directors` course evaluations from the National Leadership Program through an online survey done between 2020 and 2021. With respect to the centre director’s reported experiences, our findings revealed that the case method offers promising learning opportunities for how to cope with work stress through four key themes: social comparison and sharing experiences from real-life cases, group discussions for problem solving, and a learning community for social support and linking practical (coping) tools. A variety of coping strategies with a focus on problem solving, in addition to support for each other (emotional support) and sharing information (informational support), were promoted. This implies that case method can support individual ways of coping with stress as well as create learning communities. The study adds to the limited research on ECE leadership education programmes by providing a new insight into how the case method can foster learning communities where participants can develop strategies to cope with work stress and thereby increase their well-being. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 11 August 2021 Accepted 1 December 2022 KEYWORDS Early childhood centre directors; case method; leadership education; workrelated stress; coping; qualitative research Introduction Despite extensive research demonstrating early childhood education (ECE) centre directors work-related stress (Douglass, 2019; Elomaa et al., 2020; Kristiansen et al., 2021; OECD, 2019, 2020), few studies have discussed how leadership programmes should address these challenges and prepare the students for their work life. The study by Elomaa et al. (2020) highlights the potential of leadership programmes, as their study revealed that ECE centre directors learned strategies for coping with work-related stress after engaging ina leadership programme. These findings resemble what we know from how school principals cope with stress; however, it remains unclear how these strategies were developed (Kaufman, 2019) . Thus, we introduced the case method in the National Leadership Program for ECE centre directors in Norway in response to identified stressors and lack CONTACT Marit Bøe [Marit.boe@usn.no](Marit.boe@usn.no) Facult

FAQs

What is the main goal of the study?

To examine how the case method can foster leadership learning and improve early childhood education centre directors’ coping with work-related stress.

How was the research conducted?

An exploratory qualitative investigation used online survey data from 57 ECE centre directors’ course evaluations in Norway collected between 2020 and 2021.

What four themes does the study identify regarding coping with stress?

Social comparison and sharing real-life experiences, group discussions for problem solving, and a learning community that offers social support and connects participants to practical coping tools.

Jul 8, 2026

Upload by Jiven