ECE leadership qualifications are to be offered in NZ.

Provided by the New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education early childhood teachers can now study for a Certificate in Leadership (Early Childhood Education) and the Diploma in Leadership (Early Childhood Education.  NZCECE is owned by ABC Learning Centres NZ Ltd and based in Christchurch.

Leadership qualifications for the childcare sector have been a long-time in coming.  At a 2009 ECE Leadership Day organised by the NZ Teachers Council early childhood policy authority Anne Meade said that "childcare has been doing a giant catch-up with playcentre and kindergarten".  Playcentre for example has had a model of emergent leadership.  "But what are the models in childcare?  There isn't a model".   

The NZ Qualifications Authority praises NZCECE for identifying a gap in the market for leadership qualifications:  "There was evidence that new graduates were often put in a leadership role at an early childhood centre soon after graduation, and that they lacked the life experience or knowledge to cope with this responsibility. Also, the group of students represented in the distance-diploma delivery were often more mature, had the necessary life skills and experience, but lacked any understanding of leadership theories" (p. 13, external review report).

NZCECE Programme Manager Debbie Ryder says a blended learning approach will be used in the leadership programmes that incorporates: online collaboration, face-to-face facilitation and applied work-place learning.

The leadership programmes are being offered part-time and are field based, so as to support and develop the leadership of participants within their early childhood education position.

The NZ Teachers Council director Peter Lind, in a 2009 report on "Conceptualising Leadership" called upon the early childhood sector to provide opportunities for teachers to further develop their leadership capability.

The NZCECE has responded to this call in providing leadership qualifications.

Some ways that early childhood services, proprietors, and management committees can respond are:

• discuss and clear up any confusion at your service in how  'management'  (which is about efficiently running a programme/ECE business) and 'leadership' is defined (which involves among other things encouraging the development of colleagues & leading changes and keeping innovation at the forefront)
• reviewing what is done internally within their service and groups to identify staff with leadership potential and to develop leaders
• support attendance of staff at leadership courses
• provide an internal leadership mentoring programme
• lobby the Government and Ministry of Education to develop and fund an ECE leadership strategic plan