Leadership and management are central to the sustainability, accountability and transformation of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) systems. In this course, you will critically examine contemporary leadership theory, service governance structures, regulatory compliance, workforce sustainability and system-level reform within Australian and international ECEC contexts. 

You will engage in research on distributed leadership, ethical decision-making, organisational culture, risk governance and quality improvement. The course situates leadership as relational, political and strategic, requiring sophisticated judgement in complex and unpredictable professional environments. 

Through critical analysis, policy interrogation and strategic planning, you will develop the capacity to lead organisational change, evaluate governance frameworks and design improvement strategies aligned with the National Quality Standard (NQS), Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF v2.0) and broader policy landscapes. 

As part of this course, you will undertake a 20-day Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placement in an approved early childhood education and care setting, sourced by the School of Education. This professional experience will enable you to apply leadership, governance and quality improvement concepts in real-world contexts while engaging in structured reflection and supervision with both RMIT academic staff and workplace mentors, who will assess you during your placement.

This is a core course in the Master of Teaching Practice (Early Childhood) program designed to prepare you for senior leadership and governance responsibilities in early childhood education.