The main aim of this course is to enable participants both to develop and demonstrate their understanding of the principles of educational leadership:

To explore the nature of leadership
To develop participants’ awareness of their middle leadership skills and potential

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course participants will demonstrate:

knowledge and understanding of:

    •       the nature of leadership in educational settings and the role of values

            •           middle  leadership

            •           the contested nature of the role of the middle leader

            •           professional learning and their development as a middle leader

            •           self evaluation for development

skill in

    •       gathering evidence including feedback to make an informed self evaluation

            •           identifying their leadership skills within their current role

            •           evaluating and critically reflecting on their leadership practice

            •           identifying and justifying their professional development needs in relation to leadership

            •           reflecting critically upon a range of theoretical perspectives on leadership

            •           making more informed and effective decisions in their practice in leadership

            •           presenting the outcomes of a self evaluation

Course Descriptor

Course title: Developing as a Leader

Course code:EDUA11263

Credit level: SCQF level 11

Credit point: 20 Postgraduate Credits

Special arrangements:    Applicants need to be familiar with the use of IT

Teaching mode:    On-line

Delivery period:    Semester One

Indicative content
Professional responsibilities - exploring professional values, issues of professionalism, management and leadership, evidence informed practice, networked professionals
Personal leadership - new notions of professionalism, exploring own professional values, professionalism for the 21st Century
Introduction to leadership - leadership styles and qualities, models and theories of leadership,
Middle leadership - issues and possibilities, the development of expertise and the development of practice
Self-study- understanding self, values, beliefs and assumptions, managing personal change, self analysis and personal learning, seeking feedback
Judging effectiveness - obtaining and using feedback, presenting findings and a coherent analysis, reflecting on outcomes and identifying targets, planning leadership, impact, development opportunities
Use reading as a critical lens to self evaluate practice and development.

Course Assessment

(See section on Assignment for more details)
Throughout this course, students will be supported through a range of learning activities to articulate their learning which will in turn inform their final assignments.

Assignment task
The assessment for course will take the form of a self-study into practice, with the primary focus:
“Being and Becoming a leader: What kind of leader am I and why?”
You may choose to focus on one specific issue relating to yourself as a leader and your own professional context as appropriate.

As part of course 1 you will engage in a self-study enquiry within your own professional context. The purpose of doing this self-study is to allow you the opportunity to ‘step back’ and explore your own beliefs, assumptions and values about leadership and interrogate yourself as a leader. It is about you reflecting critically on who you are as a leader and drawing on a range of sources to critically analyse, reflect upon and discuss how and why you operate in the ways you do.

The assessment task for Course 1 will be equivalent to a 4000 word written report of your self-study and should include as appendices any relevant analysed evidence. It will be a critical and analytical discussion of yourself as a leader, your current leadership role and experience and your future aspirations/next steps for your professional learning. This will include a critical exploration of the key issues within the literature and policy discourse and draw upon theories of leadership. It will also involve you in gathering and analysing relevant data to interrogate self and practice.


Assessment Performance Criteria

Demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles underpinning leadership and management in schools drawing on relevant literature
Demonstrate a critical understanding of key implications for the development of leadership practice in an educational context drawing on relevant practice and experience
Plan, gather, select and justify appropriate evidence including feedback from significant colleagues to support self evaluation of own leadership skills
Conduct a rigorous self-evaluation of own leadership skills drawing on relevant literature
From the review of self-evaluation, identify and justify targets for own development in leadership
Present work with a clear, coherent and accessible structure with conventions fully adhered.

Readings

Core Reading
Briggs Ann RJ and Coleman M, 2007 Second Edition, Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management Sage, London
Wallace, M. & Wray, A. (2011) (2nd Edition) Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (SAGE, London)
Indicative Reading
Burton, N. and Brundrett, M. (2005) Leading the Curriculum in the Primary School. London: Paul Chapman. Bush, T. (2003) Theories of Educational Leadership and Management, London: Sage, 3rd Edition.
Bush, T. and Middlewood,D. [2005] Leading and Managing People in Education. London: Sage.
Day, C., Hall, C. and Whitaker, P. (1998) Developing Leadership in Primary Schools. London: Paul Chapman.
Glatter, R. (2009) 'Wisdom and bus schedules: developing school leadership', School Leadership & Management, 29: 3, 225 — 237 From http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a912935296 [NO Access 14-3-11]
Gleeson, D. and Knights, D. (2008) Reluctant leaders: an analysis of middle managers' perceptions of leadership in further education in England. Leadership, Vol. 4 (No. 1). pp. 49-72. From wrap.warwick.ac.uk/160/
Gronn, P. (2000) Distributed Properties: A new architecture for leadership in Educational Management, Administration and Leadership, 28: 317-338.
HMIe (2007) Leadership for Learning: The Challenges of Leading in a Time of Change, Edinburgh, The Stationary Office.
Hobbs, K. [2006] Rethinking middle leadership roles in secondary schools: This report examines how schools have shifted the focus of middle leaders from management to leadership. Nottingham:NCSL
Hopkins, D (n.d.) Instructional Leadership and School Improvement. Nottingham: NCSL.
Jarvis, A. (2008) Leadership lost: a case study in three selective secondary schools. Management in Education, 22 (1), 24-30.
Northouse, P.G. (2009) An Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, Thousand Oaks, California; Sage.
Northouse, P. G. [2010] Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, Sage.
Race, P. (2006) Evidencing Reflection: Putting the ‘W’ into reflection. Escalate: Higher Education Academy.
Rhodes, C. and Brundrett, M. (2008) What Makes My School A Good Training Ground For Leadership Development? The perceptions of heads, middle leaders and classroom techers from 70 contextually different primary and secondary schools in England. Management in Education, 22 (1), 18-23.
Ribbins, P. (2003) A Life in Design: A school subject leader’s story. Keynote paper presented at the BELMAS national conference. Milton Keynes, October.
Wallace, M. (1989) ‘Towards a Collegiate Approach to Curriculum Management in Primary and Middle Schools’, in M. Preedy (ed.), Approaches to Curriculum Management. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Wallace, M. and Poulson, L. (2003) (eds.) Learning to Read Critically: Educational leadership and management, London: Sage.
e-Books
Books either ordered or already available as ebooks for MSc Educational Leaderhip students

Bridget Somekh, Allan Feldman, Peter Posch, Herbert Altrichter Teachers investigate their work :an introduction to action research across the professions 2008    2nd    9780415377942 London :Routledge
Bridget Somekh, Susan E. Noffke The Sage handbook of educational action research 2009 9781412947084    Los Angeles ;London :SAGE
Caldwell, Brian Re-imagining educational leadership 2006     9781412934701 SAGE Publications
Christopher Day and Kenneth Leithwood Successful principal leadership in time of change an international perspective 2007    volume 5    9781402055164 Dordrecht :Springer,c2007
Cohen, Louis Research methods in education    2007    6th 9780203029053    London :Routledge
Collard, John Leadership, gender and culture in education :male and female perspectives 2005     9780335214402 Berkshire :Open University Press
Davies, Brent Developing sustainable leadership 2007     9781412923965    London :Paul Chapman
Fink, Dean, Leadership for mortals developing and sustaining leaders of learning 2005 9781847877659 London :Paul Chapman
Gamage, David Thenuwara Professional development for leaders and managers of self-governing schools    2006     9781402049293    Dordrecht :Springer
Gewirtz, Sharon Changing teacher professionalism :international trends, challenges and ways forward 2009     9780415467780 London :Routledge
Groundwater-Smith, Susan Teacher professional learning in an age of compliance :mind the gap 2009     9781402094163    [Dordrecht] :Springer
Harris, Alma Improving schools through teacher leadership 2005     9780335208821 Maidenhead :Open University Press
Harris, Alma (ed) Distributed leadership different perspectives 2009    volume 7 9781402097379 [Dordrecht] :Springer
Harris, Belinda M Supporting the emotional work of school leaders 2007     9781848605299 London :P. Chapman
Hayes, D. et al Teachers & schooling making a differenceproductive pedagogies, assessment and performance 2006     9781741154863 Crows Nest, NSW :Allen & Unwin
Hoyle, Eric Educational leadership :ambiguity, professionals and managerialism 2005 9780761967422 Sage Publications
Koshy, Valsa Action research for improving practice :a practical guide 2005 9781848600812    London :Paul Chapman
Lingard, Bob; Ranson, Stewart; Nixon, Jon Transforming learning in schools and communities :the remaking of education for a cosmopolitan society 2008     9781441125934 New York :Continuum
MacBeath, J and Dempster, N (ed) Connecting leadership and learning :principles for practice 2009     9780203894644    London ;New York :Routledge
Murphy, Danny Professional school leadership :dealing with dilemmas 2007 9781903765753    Edinburgh :Dunedin Academic Press
Pat Sikes, Anthony Potts Researching education from the inside :investigations from within 2008     9780415435949    London ;New York :Routledge
Paul McIntosh Action research and reflective practice :creative and visual methods to facilitate reflection and learning 2010     9780415469029 London :Routledge
Gronn, Peter The new work of educational leaders :changing leadership practice in an era of school reform 2003    abridged edition    0761947493    London :P. Chapman
Stephan Gerhard Huber, Rc Saravanabhavan and Sigrid Hader-Popp School leadership international perspectives 2009    Volume 10    9789048135011    Dordrecht ;London :Springer
Street, Hilary Temperley, Julie Improving schools through collaborative enquiry 2005 0826470580    London :Continuum
Thomson, Pat School leadership :heads on the block? 2009     9780415430753    London ; New York : Routledge
Tomlinson, Harry Educational leadership personal growth for professional development 2004     9781847877192.    London :SAGE
Tomlinson, Harry Women's experiences in leadership in K-16 science education communities, becoming and being 9789048122394 Dordrecht : Springer
Tomlinson, Harry School leadership international perspectives 2009     9789048135011 Dordrecht ;London :Springer
Wallace, M. & Wray, A Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates 2011    2nd 9781849205627    SAGE, London