Leadership in early childhood development centres: perceived experiences of four principals in a rural area.

Abstract

This dissertation reports on a study that explored the perceived leadership experiences of four principals overseeing Early Childhood Development centres in a rural setting in KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose was to comprehend the roles played by ECD principals and the leadership practices they employ in leading ECD centres in rural areas with few resources. The study also aimed to comprehend how rural environments affect the leadership practices of ECD principals. The study was properly situated within the interpretative paradigm, which sees reality as subjective and constructed from a person's personal perceived experiences. To comprehend participants' perceived experiences, the case study methodology was applied. Two techniques, namely semi-structured interviewing and document analysis, were used to generate the data. The interview sessions were recorded using a voice recorder. The process of generating data took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, and careful adherence to the Covid- 19 safety guidelines was ensured. The content analysis method was used to analyse the data generated through both interviews. It was discovered that the participating principals faced difficulties with a lack of funding, a lack of parental cooperation, and an inability to register their ECD centres. Apart, from this, the participating principals managed their resourced centres in large part through the use of servant leadership.