A Balancing Act: Navigating Policy as Street-Level Bureaucrats. A Study of Pedagogical Leadership in Early Childhood Education in Norway

Abstract

This article focuses on pedagogical leaders’ challenges and tensions in their everyday work in early childhood education (ECE) in Norway. It investigates the relationship between policies and regulations formulated in the Framework Plan for Kindergarten (FPK) (Ministry of Education and Research, 2017) and their leadership enactment and practices in Norway’s ECE settings. Drawing on Lipsky’s (2010) street-level bureaucrats (SLB) theoretical framework, it analyses how ECE pedagogical leaders interpret and implement educational policies. The qualitative methods of this study include semi-structured interviews with twenty pedagogical leaders and four kindergarten managers and participatory observation in four ECEs. The article explores and discusses the following research questions: How do pedagogical leaders in early childhood education experience and navigate policy and regulations at work? What tensions and challenges may arise in these processes? Findings reveal the complexity of their role in navigating policy and regulations. The analysis finds three main challenges and tensions: (1) balancing compliance and autonomy, (2) stakeholders’ demands and professional judgment, and (3) navigating limited resources and workload. In line with research in the ECE field (see, e.g. Børhaug & Bøe, 2014, 2022), the findings argue that the tensions and challenges of ECE pedagogical leaders may lead to a simplification of their work, decreased critical thinking, and less knowledge development, potentially impacting pedagogical quality.