Rethinking Power in Sessional Kindergarten: Leadership in the Era of Centralised Management

Tammy Lawlor, VSKEA Founder

In sessional kindergarten, leadership has always been deeply relational, built through everyday interactions between teachers, educators, children, and families. But with the expansion of centralised Early Years Management (EYM) structures, the way power and decision making operate in our settings is shifting. Centralisation can bring important benefits, including shared resources, streamlined compliance, and system wide coordination. Yet it also redistributes where decisions are made and who gets to make them.

In many cases, authority is moving further away from the kindergarten room. Decisions about staffing, budgets, and priorities are increasingly determined at a central level. This can unintentionally reinforce a model of power over, where those closest to children and families have less influence over the conditions shaping their daily practice.

At the same time, educators continue to exercise power to, drawing on their professional knowledge, relationships, and responsiveness to children’s learning in context. The challenge is that this expertise is not always fully recognised or embedded in system level decision making. This raises important questions about how resources are distributed within centralised systems. When funding is pooled and managed at a distance, how visible are the benefits at the service level? To what extent do educators experience these arrangements as strengthening their capacity to teach and lead?

For some, there can be a perceived disconnect between system level investment, such as expanding administrative structures, and the immediate needs of teaching and learning environments. Whether or not this is the intention, it highlights a critical issue. Centralisation does not just redistribute funding, it redistributes power over priorities.

Even within individual services, we must also consider whose voices are heard. In sessional kindergarten, co educators, support staff, and early career teachers can be particularly vulnerable to being overlooked. When their insights are undervalued, we risk a form of epistemic injustice, where important knowledge about children, families, and local contexts is missed.

If centralised systems are to genuinely support high quality early childhood education, they must create space for power with, meaning authentic collaboration between management and educators on the ground. This is not simply about consultation, but about shared influence over decisions that matter.

Trust is central to this work. In sessional kindergarten, trust enables educators to navigate change, sustain strong relationships with families, and engage in meaningful collaboration. But trust is not automatic. It is built through transparency, respect, and the consistent inclusion of educators’ voices in decision making processes.

What might this look like in practice?

It means recognising that leadership is not confined to organisational charts, but lives within the kindergarten itself. It means creating genuine feedback loops where educators’ knowledge informs system decisions. It means ensuring that distributed leadership is not just a structure, but a lived and equitable experience.

As the sector continues to evolve, the question is not whether power will shift, but how. Will it become more centralised and distant, or more collaborative and connected?

For sessional kindergarten communities, the opportunity lies in advocating for leadership approaches that honour the expertise of educators, strengthen trust, and ensure that those closest to children remain central to the decisions that shape their learning.