Course Resources Archive

Students taking the M.Ed in Educational Leadership are strongly advised to take this module.

The module aims to provide professionals with the theoretical and practical understandings which will enable them to distinguish between change and improvement. As a consequence, it is intended that both effort and resources will be more effectively optimised within the participants’ sphere of influence. A particular emphasis is placed upon the understanding of organisational cultures, life-cycles and stages of development and the significance of these for the strategies employed.

Note that this module is offered in three modes:

1. University campus based
2. As work based learning. This means that the vehicle for the development of leadership and capabilities is current activities, projects and other initiatives led by the participant or in which they have a key role. These must relate to the school improvement plan and to the participant’s own performance review objectives. The WBL route is an innovative approach that enables participants to demonstrate current competence and develop future capability. The WBL route is open only to groups of staff in the same school, or to staff groups from more than one school. It is taught entirely within the contracting institution (s). Work for this module is intended to result in impact at school and classroom level.
3. As intensive reading and oral examination only mode for candidates who can establish ‘Advanced Practitioner’ status

This module aims to provide teachers and leaders of educational institutions  with the critical understanding and skills to lead and manage improvement. It explores models of change and the role of change agents. The impact of the external educational environment and of individual institutional cultures, in creating barriers to change or opportunities to promote it, is also examined. Participants will evaluate their individual situations, and carry out a small scale change management activity.

On successful completion of this module, the student should have:

1. critical understanding of the processes of change leadership and management, from identification of need to successfully embedded new practice;
2. the ability to evaluate provision within their area of professional responsibility (e.g. in their classroom, department/faculty, or across the whole institution) and identify what change might be required within it;
3. critical understanding of how to provide support, challenge, information and development necessary to sustain the motivation of others and secure improvement;
4. analysed and drawn conclusions for future practice within their area of professional responsibility, including any relevant areas for their own personal development which have arisen;
5. developed further knowledge and understanding of research methods and tools appropriate to postgraduate enquiry and applied them to the leadership and management of change.
6. a critical understanding of the nature of research and research paradigms and an understanding of the nature and range of values that underpin research and associated issues.

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.