Teacher as an Informal Educational Leader. Leadership and Class Management Styles Preferred by Early Childhood Education Teachers in Mainstream and Integrated Schools – Research Report
Abstract
The teacher is an informal educational leader because his/her role is determined by the characteristics and effectiveness of actions. As leaders, teachers plan the learning process to unleash students’ potential; they also influence the shaping of peer relationships in the class. The aim of the research was to identify the leadership styles preferred by the surveyed early childhood education teachers and their determinants, as well as to examine the correlation between leadership and class management styles preferred by the surveyed teachers of mainstream and integrated schools.
The research results indicate that the surveyed early childhood education teachers strongly preferred the autocratic leadership style in which the teacher – the informal leader focuses primarily on the task and its verification, while the needs of students seem not important. Also, teachers of mainstream schools preferred a persuasive style of leading the class group, while teachers of integrated schools preferred a directing and participating style.
What is significant is that the surveyed teachers, regardless of seniority, level of professional advancement and type of school (mainstream and integrated), focused on the task, while the pupils’ needs were not considered in the process. However, it is rather interesting to reflect on the results indicating the fact that teachers who had not completed postgraduate studies, courses, workshops and training, preferred an integrated leadership style that was equally focused on tasks and persons, which was typical of teachers of integrated schools. In both groups of teachers, a statistically significant relationship was found between preferred leadership styles and the styles of managing a class.
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