Practice leadership in the early years : becoming, being and developing as a leader / Mark Hadfield, Michael Jopling and Martin Needham.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Section One -- 1. The nature of leadership in the Early Years -- 2. Practice leadership -- 3. Developing practice leaders and leadership capacity -- -- Section Two -- 4. Practice leadership in action -- 5. Four practice leadership case studies -- -- Section Three -- 6. Getting beneath the surface of improving quality -- 7. Where to start in your setting -- Postscript: The future of practice leadership -- -- Appendix 1. Case study settings -- Appendix 2. Sustained shared thinking interactions.

"This book focuses on the leadership of practice and, in particular, how to bring about changes which improve practice. It draws on research into a group of early years leaders which followed them for almost three years as they attempted to improve provision in their settings as 'change agents' and 'leaders of practice'. Through exploring their successes and failures, the book builds a picture of what it takes to lead improvements in practice. This book develops four principles of practice that many leaders adopt as they innovate. These principles provide basic guidance about how to bring about improvements in practice and are derived from the real-life attempts of both inexperienced and established leaders to improve the quality of provision. With its strong research methodology and skilled analysis, this book provides an excellent insight into the challenges of leadership for quality provision in early years settings. If you are working as a leader in the early years sector, or aspire to a leadership role in the early years, this book is inspiring and essential reading."--Publisher's website.