Distributed Pedagogical Leadership and Quality in Early Childhood Education

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is widely regarded as an essential right, with leadership playing a vital role in its delivery. Effective pedagogical leadership significantly enriches children’s learning, development, and overall well-being by nurturing collaborative settings and promoting shared decision-making processes. Limited research exists on particular leadership approaches, such as distributed pedagogical leadership (DPL), that contribute to quality improvement, despite the commonly recognised significance of distributed leadership in enhancing ECE quality. Thus, our study aimed to explore the connection between DPL and ECE quality in Finland. A sample of 453 staff members from 35 ECE centres in six municipalities around Finland responded to online surveys in 2019. The participants rated the DPL and ECE quality in their ECE centres. The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that distributed pedagogical leadership responsibilities and power relations were related to structural quality, such as the physical environment and human resources, whereas shared vision, distributed power relations, and distributed enactment of pedagogical development contributed to effect and process quality, such as child well-being and pedagogical activities. Distributed responsibilities were also related to intangible resources, and distributed enactment of pedagogical development was related to collaborative ECE planning. The findings imply that municipalities should prioritise investing in the establishment of a shared vision and strategy and the distributed enactment of pedagogical development as part of implementing DPL. Furthermore, because power and authority distribution are essential for pedagogical quality and child well-being, it is crucial to explore approaches to empower and include staff in decision making.