The part-time MSc in Systems Learning and Leadership will start from November and is designed to help leaders identify and develop their personal learning power, harness collective intelligence, understand systems and facilitate inquiry-based learning in their organisation as a vehicle for organisational change.

The programme is aimed at leaders and aspiring leaders in the private, public and third sector as well as in education. These may be chief executives, assistant directors, senior managers, head teachers, principals and other members of leadership teams. It gives individuals the opportunity to grow, stretch and learn, academically and professionally; develops flexible, resilient and confident leadership; and equips people to lead change and create powerful work-based learning opportunities for their teams and organisations.

Programme Director, Dr Ruth.Deakin-Crick, said: ‘This highly engaging and practical programme is “inquiry-led”, so instead of starting with a theory and trying to apply it to their work, students take a real-life problem from the workplace and use the course to explore it. Anyone who wants to develop themselves and powerful new approaches to work-based learning in their organisations will benefit from this programme.’

Students who complete the first three units – Learning Power, Enquiry-based Learning and Organisational Leadership – gain a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Leadership.  Three further units cover Complex Systems, Collective Intelligence and Educational Enquiry. Six completed units result in a Postgraduate Diploma in Learning and Leadership. Students who also complete a dissertation achieve an MSc in Systems Learning and Leadership. Each unit, which can be taken alone, costs £500. Participation dates for the coming year are Fridays and Saturdays, 26/27 November 2010, 18/19 February 2011 and 8/9April 2011. Applications can be made online.

For more information, please contact ruth.deakin-crick@bristol.ac.uk.