[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-46498-en":3,"doc-seo-46498-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},46498,1099513958607,"Jiven","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002390cf8733938c?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778829742770036399",8,"Research & Report","Leadership Tasks in Early Childhood Education in Finland, Japan, and Singapore","Leadership research in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is emerging, drawing on school and business leadership concepts while recognizing that context and mission shape leadership tasks and responsibilities. A cross-cultural study collected questionnaire data in Finland, Japan, and Singapore from 2012 to 2014, involving 100 participants per country and using content analysis. Results show similar core tasks across settings, with pedagogical leadership and human resource management ranked highest, though task implementation differs by cultural context.","Journal of Research in Childhood Education  \nISSN: 0256-8543 (Print) 2150-2641 (Online) Journal homepage: [http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujrc20](http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujrc20)  \nLeadership Tasks in Early Childhood Education in Finland, Japan, and Singapore  \nEeva Hujala, Mervi Eskelinen, Soili Keskinen, Christine Chen, Chika Inoue, Mariko Matsumoto & Masahiro Kawase  \nTo cite this article: Eeva Hujala, Mervi Eskelinen, Soili Keskinen, Christine Chen, Chika Inoue, Mariko Matsumoto & Masahiro Kawase (2016) Leadership Tasks in Early Childhood Education in Finland, Japan, and Singapore, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 30:3, 406-421, DOI: 10. 1080/02568543 .2016.1179551  \nTo link to this article: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2016.1179551](http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2016.1179551)  \n Published online: 24 Jun 2016.  \n\n|  Submit your article to this journal  |\n| --- |\n|  Article views: 169 |\n|  View related articles  |\n|  View Crossmark data |\n\nFull Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujrc20](http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujrc20)  \nDownload by: [University of Sydney Library] Date: 06 November 2016, At: 10:53  \nLeadership Tasks in Early Childhood Education in Finland, Japan, and Singapore  \nEeva Hujalaa, Mervi Eskelinena, Soili Keskinenb, Christine Chenc, Chika Inoued, Mariko Matsumotoe, and Masahiro Kawasef  \naUniversity of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; bUniversity of Turku, Turku, Finland; cAssociation for Early Childhood Educators, Singapore; dTokoha University Junior College, Shizuoka, Japan; e Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan; fKinjo Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan  \nABSTRACT  \nLeadership research in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a relatively new undertaking. It combines leadership concepts from school research as well as from business. There are common aspects in the leadership profession, but the context and the mission define the content of leadership tasks and responsibilities. Data in this cross-cultural study were collected in Finland, Japan, and Singapore from 2012 to 2014. Questionnaires were used as the data collection method and content analysis as the method to explore how leadership tasks define leadership in the different countries. The project included 100 participants in each country. Analysis in this article focuses on leadership tasks in ECEC settings in Finland, Japan, and Singapore. The study revealed that the tasks of ECEC leaders in all three countries are similar—the two most important leadership tasks are pedagogical leadership and human resource management—though implementation of tasks varied based on cultural context. In practice, leaders in Finland spend most of their time inline with the two issues considered most important, leaders in Japan spend their time on service and human resource management, and leaders in Singapore spend their time on pedagogical leadership and service management.  \nARTICLE HISTORY  \nReceived 30 March 2015 Accepted 8 July 2015  \nKEYWORDS  \nCross-cultural study; early childhood education; leadership  \nThis article contributes to the debate on leadership in early childhood education and care (ECEC) . It has a twofold aim: (1) to make sense of the leadership in ECEC in the framework of recent international research and (2) to describe the forms it is taking in the everyday lives of ECEC leaders in Finland, Japan, and Singapore. Recent research is systematically analyzed to uncover the tasks of ECEC leaders. Cross-national study opens possibilities for reflective practices in one’s own country in relation to others.  \nThe theoretical framework for this study is based on contextuality, which is defined as how the context shapes the leadership discourse and leadership culture (Akselin, 2013; Hujala, 2002, 2004; Nivala, 1999). The contextual leadership approach provides the framework for leading practices in the ECEC envi","cbCaiv1nTa7GID2x","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv1nTa7GID2x","pdf",1340514,4,1,17,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Article aims and contribution\n# Theoretical framework and contextual leadership approach\n# Study design and data collection\n# Contexts of the study\n## Finland\n## Japan\n## Singapore","[{\"question\":\"What is the focus of leadership research in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in this study?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines leadership tasks and responsibilities in ECEC, explaining how context and mission determine the content of leadership practice.\"},{\"question\":\"How were data collected and analyzed across Finland, Japan, and Singapore?\",\"answer\":\"Questionnaires were used for data collection, and content analysis was applied to explore how leadership tasks define leadership in each country. Data were gathered from 2012 to 2014 with 100 participants per country.\"},{\"question\":\"Which leadership tasks are most important, and how do they differ in practice across the three countries?\",\"answer\":\"Across all three countries, pedagogical leadership and human resource management are the two most important tasks, although leaders’ implementation patterns vary by cultural context: Finland emphasizes the top two issues, Japan emphasizes service and human resource management, and Singapore emphasizes pedagogical leadership and service management.\"}]",1783544835,43,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"leadership-tasks-in-early-childhood-education-in-finland-japan-and-singapore","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/leadership-tasks-in-early-childhood-education-in-finland-japan-and-singapore/46498/",{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-14","2026-07-08",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the focus of leadership research in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in this study?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The study examines leadership tasks and responsibilities in ECEC, explaining how context and mission determine the content of leadership practice.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How were data collected and analyzed across Finland, Japan, and Singapore?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Questionnaires were used for data collection, and content analysis was applied to explore how leadership tasks define leadership in each country. Data were gathered from 2012 to 2014 with 100 participants per country.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"Which leadership tasks are most important, and how do they differ in practice across the three countries?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Across all three countries, pedagogical leadership and human resource management are the two most important tasks, although leaders’ implementation patterns vary by cultural context: Finland emphasizes the top two issues, Japan emphasizes service and human resource management, and Singapore emphasizes pedagogical leadership and service management.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]