A framework of understanding preschool educational leadership of religious sisters in Vietnam

This study focused on exploring the perspectives of religious sisters about leadership in the field of early childhood education (ECE) in Vietnan. It is an important issue because it will help those concerned to gain a better understanding of how religious sisters - principals perceive educational leadership as leaders in this area of education. For this reason, a qualitative, multiple-case study was conducted in which six purposefully selected religious sisters who are principals of six selected preschools in Ho Chi Minh City were interviewed. Data were collected using semi-structured, open-ended interview protocols.The study found that religious sisters – preschool principals define educational leadership based on their leadership style, leadership experiences, charism of the congregation, mission of the congregation, the management style of their Order who set good example as their role model from their religious congregation, anchored on moral, ethical and religious values and virtues and guidelines of Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Traning (MOET) on how to establish and manage the preschools. In particular, the educational leadership is defined: (1) educational leadership is a gift of God it is a call within a call. Leaders are as God\u27s servant, God\u27s shepherds, the face of God\u27s mercy, and love builders who continue God\u27s mission in the world (2) it is the principal\u27s responsibility to help people develop to improve their lives and thus provide high quality human resources for the Church and Vietnam society (3) the preschool principals characteristics (4) the preschool principals competency in leading the school and developing people (5) the principals social skills in communicating and interacting with people by building relationships, collaborating, managing conflict, communicating, fostering harmony, and being service-oriented (6) the preschool principals strategy in setting goals and expectations for the school based on the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) requirements, the congregation\u27s spirit which comes from the process of shared vision, consensus about the goals, setting strategy, and monitoring the goals (7) the preschool principals strategy in promoting teacher development via formal learning and informal learning (8) the preschool principal\u27s strategy in teacher evaluation based on MOETs evaluation standards, classroom observation, classroom walkthrough, and the children\u27s holistic development (9) the preschool principals strategy in managing resources with an emphasis on proper of all.A new framework of educational leadership in ECE in Vietnam was created from the findings. This framework may prove useful as a basis for further research on leadership in ECE and as a guide for those actually engaged in leading preschools and other school systems