Possibilities and challenges in sustained capacity-building in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions: ECEC leaders’ perspectives.

Abstract

This paper investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions’ opportunities to build a learning organization and master future innovations by focusing on core components, implementation drivers, leadership, and collective collaborative systems.

The paper is based on results from semi-structured interviews with ten ECEC leaders from three different municipalities in Norway that had taken part in the Being Together (BT) innovation five years earlier.

Three areas were identified as crucial for the continuation of ECEC teachers’ capacity building: (1) a strong focus on implementation processes and sustainability; (2) transformational leadership; and (3) developing professional learning communities. Potential challenges to building capacity in ECEC institutions include the variety of educational backgrounds among ECEC staff members in Norway and too little time to create professional learning communities.