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<p>Young children’s leadership is an under-researched area. This article reports how teachers of 4 and 5 year old children in New Zealand and Honduras conceptualise and encourage children’s leadership. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and observations of teaching practice. The findings suggest that there are differences between New Zealand and Honduran teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding children’s leadership. While teachers in New Zealand settings encouraged leadership by empowering children to assume leadership roles, teachers in the Honduran settings allocated leadership opportunities. In addition, New Zealand teachers viewed young leaders as sharing leadership and leading their learning, whereas Honduran teachers viewed them as influencing peers. These findings may encourage teachers to reflect on how their beliefs regarding children’s leadership guide their teaching practice.</p>
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Young children’s leadership is an under-researched area. This article reports how teachers of 4 and 5 year old children in New Zealand and Honduras conceptualise and encourage children’s leadership. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and observations of teaching practice. The findings suggest that there are differences between New Zealand and Honduran teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding children’s leadership. While teachers in New Zealand settings encouraged leadership by empowering children to assume leadership roles, teachers in the Honduran settings allocated leadership opportunities. In addition, New Zealand teachers viewed young leaders as sharing leadership and leading their learning, whereas Honduran teachers viewed them as influencing peers. These findings may encourage teachers to reflect on how their beliefs regarding children’s leadership guide their teaching practice.

Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding young children’s leadership: A comparison between New Zealand and Honduras

Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Young children’s leadership is an under-researched area. This article reports how teachers of 4 and 5 year old children in New Zealand and Honduras...

Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding young children’s leadership: A comparison between New Zealand and Honduras

Published Online: Apr 02, 2019

Page range: 57 - 69

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2018-006

Keywords
Children s leadership, teacher beliefs and practices, early childhood education

© 2018 Maria Auxiliadora Cerrato et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding young children’s leadership: A comparison between New Zealand and Honduras

Published Online: Apr 02, 2019

Page range: 57 - 69

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2018-006

KeywordsChildren s leadership, teacher beliefs and practices, early childhood education

© 2018 Maria Auxiliadora Cerrato et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Children s leadership, teacher beliefs and practices, early childhood education