Research topic/aim

In recent years, preschools in so-called ‘particularly vulnerable areas’ near large cities in Sweden have been hit hard by several crises, mainly the pandemic and its aftermath, but also by shootings and car fires due to gang crimes and other violent events in their vicinity. False information spread through the media, conspiracy theories and distrust of authorities has also become more prevalent and affects the trust in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and in the preschools. Leading and maintaining the preschool as a safe and secure place for all children during societal crises is part of the leadership role of the preschool manager. This entails vulnerable positions, rapid and difficult decision-making involving both the children and the staff, and a striving to maintain the preschool as a well-established social function. The purpose of the paper-presentation is to examine and discuss the vulnerability experienced by preschool managers when dealing with social crises in particularly vulnerable areas.

Theoretical framework

We are interested in how the managers, through their leadership, involve emotions and social engagement to build relations, trust, security and collaborations with the teachers, children and their families. Inspired by Judith Butler (2016), we examine how the philosophical concept of precarity, as a social condition characterised by simultaneous maintenance and resistance to social norms and strong power structures, can be understood in relation to preschool managers’ leadership in crisis situations.

Methodological design

The empirical data consists of 11 in-depth-interviews with preschool managers working in particularly vulnerable areas near Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg in Sweden. The interviews show examples of the managers’ leadership in national and local crises, their long-term preparedness for the future and how they have connected and cooperated with local collaborators in the municipality. In the analysis of the interviews, we investigate how precarity is folded into the preschool managers’ narratives about their everyday relational work, in accordance with the norms that operate in the managers’ everyday lives and in their different leadership positions.

Expected conclusions/findings

With the support of previous research on leadership in crisis, and Butler’s philosophical thinking, we explore how vulnerability can be understood as an aspect of leadership and as a way of creating strong interpersonal relationships and sustainable collectives within and around the preschool.

Relevance to Nordic educational research

Preschool services constitute an important part of national emergency preparations for social crises. The preschool should be a safe place for children during a crisis or war, when guardians are obliged to do their civil duties. The contribution of this paper is knowledge about crisis-leadership in the context of preschool which can impact Nordic educational reserch, the management education and municipal praxis.