EDU8312 Educators as Leaders: Emerging Perspectives

Contents

• Staffing
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

RATIONALE

Extensive research and scholarly inquiry has been conducted across the past forty years into the nature of educational leadership. Based upon this inquiry, particularly in European, American, and more recently, Australian settings, a range of significant implications for educational organisations can now be discussed. Additionally, the concept of "Educator as Leader" is acquiring increasingly sophisticated and defensible meanings. Underlying this course is a belief that Master of Education graduates aspire to positions where they will initiate and guide improvements in education. The course provides a grounding in leadership concepts and processes that are fundamental to enhanced educational improvement and that will enable graduates to pursue their leadership aspirations with confidence.

SYNOPSIS

The course explores 'leadership in education' from a range of theoretical perspectives, including corporate/strategic, transformational/visionary and critical/educative. As part of this exploration, the emergence of leadership frameworks in contemporary educational administration is traced through historical British and American influences. Educational leadership as a key dimension in the reform of educational workplaces, and in the successful implementation of self-managing educational institutions, is also a focus of the course. Of particular importance is the relevance of different theories of leadership to the work of classroom practitioners. The concept of 'teachers as leaders' and 'parallel leadership' that have been pioneered at the University of Southern Queensland are explored in detail in this course.

OBJECTIVES

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1.

formulate conclusions about effective leadership, taking into account theoretical models of leadership and the findings of the most recent research in education and other social systems (Essay 1)

2.

compare and contrast significant approaches to leadership in terms of their ideological underpinning, and their conceptions of educational effectiveness (Essay 2)

3.

generate a personal leadership framework that is derived from authoritative contemporary theories of leadership and that is clearly linked to significant workplace variables. (Essay 1)

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Crowther, F, Ferguson, M & Hann, L 2008, Developing teacher leaders: how teacher leadership enhances school success, 2nd edn, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

(Whether you are on, or off campus, the USQ Library is an excellent source of information http://www.usq.edu.au/library. The gateway to education resources is here ... http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/facultyguides/education/default.htm)

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To complete each of the assignments satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available for each assignment.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no examination in this course.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   There will be no Deferred or Supplementary examinations in this course.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm or in the current USQ Handbook.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

This version produced 17 May 2011.