Recognizing the importance of leadership in determining the quality of early care and education programs, the International Leadership Project (ILP) was initiated in 1996 to develop an understanding of cross-cultural perspectives on leadership, to develop a conceptual framework of leadership, and to develop cross-cultural methodologies for examining leadership. This volume is based on papers presented at a 1997 meeting in Finland of the project's international research group and focuses on theoretical and methodological perspectives in researching leadership. Following an introduction and background to ILP (Eeva Hujala and Anna-Maija Puroilla), the chapters are: (1) "Problems and Challenges in Cross-Cultural Research" (Eeva Hujala); (2) "Cross-Cultural Methodologies in Early Childhood Education" (Manjula Waniganayake); (3) "Theoretical Perspectives on Educational Leadership" (Veijo Nivala); (4) "Contextual and Situational Perspectives on Leadership in Early Education Centres" (Kirsti Karila); (5) "Action Research in Early Childhood Settings throughout the World" (Jillian Rodd); (6) "Two Conceptions of Action Research: A Continuation of Traditional Social Research and a New, Critical Social Science" (Jouni Peltonen and Terhi Halonen); (7) "Leadership in Early Childhood in Australia: A National Review" (Manjula Waniganayake); (8) "An International Study of Leadership in Early Childhood: The Australian Perspective" (Manjula Waniganayake, Terry Nienhuys, Anthoula Kapsalakis, and Romana Morda); (9) "Leadership in Early Childhood in England: A National Review" (Jillian Rodd); (10) "Towards Understanding Leadership in the Context of Finnish Early Childhood" (Eeva Hujala, Kirsti Karila, Veijo Nivala, Anna-Maija Puroila); (11) "Peculiarities of Early Education Leadership in Russia (the Republic of Karelia)" (Olga Melnik and Olga Sizova); and (12) "Surveying Leadership in United States Early Care and Education: A Knowledge Base and Typology of Activity" (Catherine Rosemary, Kathleen Roskos, Christina Owendoff, and Colleen Olson). Each chapter contains references. (KB)