Leading in Early Childhood Education Centres in the Solomon Islands: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

This chapter explores the perception of head teachers and Early Childhood Education (ECE) Centre supervisors on the role of supervisors in leading ECE centres in Solomon Islands. It explores issues of policy emerging from the National ECE policy of the Solomon Islands pertaining to the power that ECE supervisors have to perform their duty, and their ability to set direction and control financial resource for the centre. The study was conducted with three head teachers and three ECE supervisors from five different schools in urban, semi-urban and rural settings using one-to-one interviews. The study reveals that the quality of service delivered in ECE is weak because of the limited power that supervisors have to perform their duty as overall decision-makers of ECE centres. This has affected their role as leaders, impeding their ability to direct the improvement of ECE centres and has restricted their ability to plan and collaborate with stakeholders in order to generate resources for sustaining the operation of centres. The way forward for Solomon Islands, according to this study, is to strengthen and empower supervisors’ leadership responsibilities through regulation via job description improvements under the National ECE policy and with the Teaching Service Handbook.