Unit name | Future Leaders in Contexts of Change (Teach First) |
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Unit code | EDUCM0031 |
Credit points | 30 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
Unit director | Professor. Justin Dillon |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
EDUCM0026, EDUCM0027 and EDUCM0028 |
Co-requisites |
Independent Self Study (Teach First) |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit will seek to extend participants’ understanding of the nature of leadership within the classroom to include the challenges and opportunities of leadership in educational organisations at all levels and in the context of institutional, local, national and global changes. Following a review of contemporary organisational and leadership theories, and associated research, the unit will focus on topics 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 institutional, local, national and global policy and participants will be invited to reflect upon specific management and leadership issues in organisations with which they are familiar.
The aims of this unit are to enable participants to:
Research Methods Training will enable participants to:
Upon completion of the unit participants will have:
Specific research methods outcomes are that participants will have:
Given the nature of the programme, with participants dispersed around regional schools and working on a full time teaching timetable, the teaching will be delivered through a mixture of workshop days, on-line synchronous discussion groups, tutor directed activities and asynchronous on-line tutorials. Each participant will have access to both joint unit resources and a ‘personal learning space’ which they will be able to adapt to their own needs and to facilitate learning.
Typically this will be the format of delivery: 3 x 7 hour one day sessions at University of Bristol (21 hours) 1 x 2 hours, 4x1.5 hours, and 2 x 1 hour synchronous electronic meetings (10 hours) 269 hours of independent self study.
Oral Presentation and supporting 2,000-word written description, of a contemporary challenge for aspiring educational leaders situated in the participant’s own professional context. It will be marked on a Pass/Fail scale.
Successful completion of the oral presentation and supporting written description is necessary for the participant to progress to the 4,000-word assignment.
Following formative feedback on the oral and written presentation, from both tutors and peers, this work will then be written up in a 4,000-word assignment which draws on an appropriate range of the theoretical and research literature to reflect on the arguments. This will be marked on a literal five point scale (A-E), the grade of which will constitute the final unit grade.
All formal marking will be the responsibility of staff working within the Graduate School and, as such, will conform to our generic M-level criteria and marking scales.
Key texts for this unit can be found among the international research journals found in the Graduate School of Education Library, including the on-line journals. In particular:
Bush, T. (2011) Theories of Educational Leadership and Management (4th Edition), London: Paul Chapman
Hoyle, E. and Wallace, M. (2005) Educational Leadership: ambiguity, professionals and managerialism, London: Sage
Harris, A (2012) Leading System Wide Improvement; International Journal of Leadership in Education 15.3: 395-401
Day, C., Sammons, P., Leithwood, K., Hopkins, D., Gu, Q., Brown E., Ahtaridou, E. (2011) Successful School Leadership: Linking with Learning and Achievement, Oxford: OUP
Wrigley, T., Thomson, P., Lingard, B. (2012) Changing Schools: alternative ways to make a world of difference, London: Routledge
Carter-Wall, C. and Whitfield, G. (2012) The Role of Aspirations, Attitudes and Behaviour in Closing the Educational Attainment Gap, London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Other books will be recommended when the leadership approaches have been decided on.