EDEM638-21S2 (D) Semester Two 2021 (Distance)

Teachers as Leaders

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 19 July 2021
End Date: Sunday, 14 November 2021
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 1 August 2021
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 1 October 2021

Description

This course is designed to encourage new and aspiring teacher leaders (within named roles or without) to explore and develop strategies for leading curriculum change. The course will involve critical reflection on teacher leadership models that create and sustain effective curriculum practices. The course will be presented in two sections: Leadership by teachers; and theories and approaches to leadership of change. The research component requires an analysis of a professional learning conversation to establish the current coaching and mentoring skillset.

Click here to find out why I should take this course

Testimonials From Past Students

“I liked that everything was up on the LEARN site and there was a suggested weekly outline but that you could follow at your own pace and get ahead or catch up as necessary” (2019 student)
“Analysing a coaching conversation I held with another teacher provided me with a useful tool I will apply in the future. After I videoed the conversation, we were both able to comment on what we both said and how it helped us focus on issues raised” (2019 student)

“This course not only stimulated my interest, but challenged me professionally. All learning was relevant to my context and much of it is being applied” (2018 student)

“Thanks for a well organised, stimulating and highly relevant course. I appreciated the prompt and very helpful responses to emails or phone calls” (2016 student)

“Adobe online sessions to discuss assignments and ask questions were valuable” (2016 student)

"I appreciated the valuable feedback given on the assignments and the assignment rubrics" (2015 student)

Learning Outcomes

Participants who have successfully completed this course will be able to:
1. Define the scope of leadership work by teachers.
2. Use knowledge of change theories and approaches in the literature as a framework for reviewing own leadership of change initiatives.
3. Identify strategies for working with colleagues of differing ages and stages of confidence and experience.
4. Formulate mentoring strategies for working with staff members to improve their curriculum knowledge and practices.
5. Undertake a small investigation of one’s own coaching and mentoring actions by taping an authentic professional learning conversation with a colleague and analysing the questioning and listening skill-set to note strengths and areas for future development.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Head of School

Restrictions

EDTL841

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Susan Lovett

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Assignment 1 30 Aug 2021 40%
Assignment 2 25 Oct 2021 50%
Assessed Forum Participation 10% There are two assessed forums. The intention is to respond to a specified reading noting key points and challenges for practice.


Assignment 1: 40%
The first assignment is a literature review addressing the question of how leadership by teachers improves student learning. The leadership context used for answering this question needs to relate to the course member’s own leadership experience. That leadership experience can be within a formal leadership role (e.g. curriculum leader, team leader, Head of Learning Area) or by seeing leadership by teachers as a more fluid activity, not necessarily tied to a formal leadership role because leadership is understood to occur in the flow of practice as influence occurs naturally around recognition that colleagues can influence each other’s practice. The review should conclude with a set of success criteria for showing how teacher leadership can be mobilised.

Assignment 2: 50%
The second assignment has two parts. The first is a review of theories and approaches to the leadership of change initiatives. The purpose is to recognize the complexities of working with colleagues to explore practice in ways which promote collegial relationships (learner to learner) and an explicit focus on learning. Change leadership theories then provide a lens to critically reflect on a recent example of change leadership in terms of the processes used and the extent to which they have enabled or hindered the success of the change initiative. Part two of the assignment provides an opportunity to have a focused learning conversation with a colleague for the purpose of analyzing one’s own language of coaching/mentoring so as to identify the current questioning and listening skill-set and how it could be further extended.

Assessed forum participation: 10%
There are two assessed forums. The intention is to respond to a specified reading noting key points and challenges for practice. Dialogue with other course members is structured in the forum’s second component where course members choose another course member’s response and then submit a response to them which includes a question to consider.

Textbooks / Resources

Course Readings are provided online.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,905.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Educational Studies and Leadership .

All EDEM638 Occurrences

  • EDEM638-21S2 (D) Semester Two 2021 (Distance)