The development of preschool teachers’ leadership in relation to a clarified responsibility for teaching: A new institutionalisation in preschool

Since 2010, educational reforms in Sweden have introduced teaching in preschool as a new concept and clarified preschool teachers’ responsibility for leading teaching, alongside principals’ responsibility for creating enabling conditions for it. Despite this policy clarification, how leadership is interpreted and enacted in everyday preschool practice remains a complex and evolving issue. The article analyses how preschool teachers’ leadership develops in relation to this responsibility and how it contributes to the new institutionalisation of preschool as an educational institution. Drawing on new institutionalism and interviews with six preschool teachers, the findings show that preschool teachers’ leadership develops through systematic reflection, both individually and within professional networks. The results indicate movement from patterns associated with pre-institutionalisation towards semi-institutionalisation, where leadership becomes increasingly articulated and begins to gain legitimacy in everyday practice. These dynamics are visible in two domains: leadership in relation to children and leadership in relation to the work team. The study contributes to research on preschool teacher leadership in early childhood education by showing how leadership responsibilities introduced through policy become articulated and legitimised in everyday preschool practice.