Ethical Leadership in Early Years Education: Implications for Teacher Professional Ethics and the Learning Environment – A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The paper investigates ethical leadership in early years education and discusses the implication of it on the professional ethics of teachers and learning environment in Karachi, Pakistan, and specifically Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4 and 16. There was a qualitative research design based on an interpretive phenomenological approach. The semi-structured interviews with purposely selected school leaders and teachers of early years were used to collect data. The from their lived experiences, thematic analysis was used to discover common patterns and meanings of the experiences of the participants. The responses indicate ethical leadership to be a leadership based on integrity, justice, fairness, care, transparency, moral responsibility. The ethical leadership impacts teachers professional ethics mainly in terms of role modelling; and it helps in the development of safe, inclusive, and trust based learning environments. Other ethical issues of context also emerged, such as resource shortages and unclear policies. The paper emphasizes on the need to enhance ethical leadership among early years education towards promoting quality education (SDG-4) and responsible, credible institutions (SDG-16). The research gives contextual qualitative information on ethical leadership in early years education that is developed in a developing country.