Unit information: Leading & Managing Change in 2021/22

Unit name	Leading & Managing Change
Unit code	EDUCM0018
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Sands
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None.
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Education
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will seek to enhance participants’ understanding of the nature of educational organisations at all levels and their leadership and management in the context of global, national and local change. Following a review of contemporary organisation theories, leadership theories and associated research, the unit will focus on issues such as organisational cultures, how leaders learn and what they do, decision-making, strategic management, issues of organisational power and politics, and the leadership and management of change. These topics will be considered in the context of local, national and global policy and participants will be invited to reflect on specific management and leadership issues in the organisations with which they are familiar.

Specific aims are:

• To understand the key characteristics of contemporary educational organisations.
• To understand the complexities of leadership in contemporary educational organisations.
• To assess the significance of contemporary theory and research for understanding specific educational organisations and their cultures.
• To critically consider theory, research and professional knowledge about the management of educational change.
• To evaluate factors that impact on the management of change at institutional, local, national and global levels.
• To explore the extent to which concepts and ideas highlighted in the research and theoretical literature can be applied in different educational contexts and different political and cultural settings.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit each participant will demonstrate:

• a firm conceptual grasp of contemporary theories of organisation, leadership, and the processes of strategic and change management;
• ability to build on this foundation through independently sourcing information from a range of diverse information sources
• ability to evaluate the scope and applicability of theories of organisation, management and leadership for understanding for a wide range of educational organisations and within the contemporary policy context;
• independently sourcing, managing and critiquing a range of texts related to leadership and management, including through use of digital and web-based tools; and
• ability to build and clearly articulate in a written assignment a coherent and convincing argument relating to one specific aspect or example of the application of theories and concepts covered in the unit.

Teaching Information

This unit will be taught using a blended approach consisting of a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities including seminars, lectures, reading and discussions.

Assessment Information

Summative assessment: Summative assessment for the unit will be on the basis of a 4,000 word assignment which will assess students critical understanding of the literature and their ability to apply the concepts and theories explored to their own professional practice.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EDUCM0018).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.