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This study aims to explore what causes stress to day care center directors and what their coping strategies are. In addition, the study examined the extent to which directors experience work-related stress and burnout, and the factors associated with their work-related stress, engagement and recovery from work.

A mixed method approach was used.

The results showed that the main sources of directors' stress were connected to leading oneself, leading others, managing change and lack of social support. Moreover, the main coping strategies with stress were leading oneself, social support and leading others. In addition, both pre- and in-service leadership training played a significant role in the experience of stress. The nature of factors causing stress and coping strategies with stress may imply that directors need further support in self-management and developing their internal competences.

The present study has limitations that need to be considered when making generalizations. First, a small sample size limits the generalization of the findings. Second, the study relied solely on one source of information, i.e. directors' self-reports. Third, data were collected only at one time point at the end of the year when stress levels might have accumulated. Finally, the study has been done in the Finnish educational context where day care center directors' job description varies depending on municipality.

The findings provide important information about the causes of directors' work-related stress as well as their coping strategies and about factors that might be related to those.

Because directors' stress impact on children’s development and well-being through teachers' well-being, it is crucial to pay attention on directors' well-being and provide more support for them.

The current study is among the few ones focusing on the stress of directors at early childhood education (ECE) settings.

Quality educational leadership preparation has positive influences on practices of graduates. In the Finnish decentralized education system, little is yet known about the sources of principals’ practices. This research explores the sources of principals’ self- assessed leadership practices in Central Finland and identifies areas for more emphasis. Respondents were selected by purposive sampling. This multiple case study employed eight semi-structured individual interviews as means of data collection. Inductive content analysis was performed. From the findings, besides personal experiences, knowledge from course, and field work, leadership and networking are also major sources of principals' practices. Training positively enhances the practices of principals as they engage in more collaboration and trust. Notwithstanding, professional development is essential for principals to stay relevant to the contemporary world of today and to be confident to face future challenges. Methods of course delivery, management of human and financial resources, as well as creating and sustaining local and international collaborations with other training institutions should be prioritized to improve on training.

In Finland there is still much to be done to promote integrated information literacy in higher education. Teamwork between teachers and libraries is well developed in some universities but many are only just beginning to realize what libraries can do for them. Academic libraries have provided user education since the 1950s, but they still have to prove themselves to teaching staff in universities. The Finnish virtual university portal is in the process of integrating library services into their portal, but many negotiations remain before mutual goals are achieved. This article gives an overview of these changes and other information literacy activities in Finnish academic libraries.