2023

Heikkinen, Kirsi-Marja Elina; Fonsén, Elina; Heikonen, Lauri; Ahtiainen, Raisa; Tamir, Emanuel; Strehmel, Petra

The exceptional circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 caused unexpected challenges for the leaders in Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres. The range of measures implemented for preventing the infection from spreading reduced opportunities for face-to-face communication and changed the form of professional cooperation. All that has affected the working conditions and work well-being of the leaders. In this article we examine the ECE centre leadersʼ experiences regarding stress, their coping strategies and coping resources according to the Lazarus & Folkman (1984) stress model during the COVID-19-pandemic in Finland, Germany and Israel. The aim is to understand leadersʼ work performance in a crisis situation in these three different societies and to provide information that support leadership in practice as well as the future training of leaders to make them more prepared to lead rapid changes. Further, the findings aim at supporting ECE centres in becoming more resilient to face the challenges of post covid time and future crises (e.g., climate change). This article examines the topic from the perspective of case studies from three countries and combines these findings with differences and similarities as lessons learned. The data are ECE centre leadersʼ interviews from Finland (N=23), Germany (N=35) and Israel (N=19). The data were analyzed by employing the Lazarus and Folkmanʼs (1984) model of stress and coping. The findings indicate that communication and emotional support of colleagues and superiors are essential in supporting the well-being of ECE professionals.