Module EDUC59230: Management, Leadership and Change in Educational Institutions

Department: Education

EDUC59230: Management, Leadership and Change in Educational Institutions

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To have critical understanding of management, leadership and change in the organisation of educational institutions.

Content

• The scale and number of educational reforms, together with the speed with which they have been introduced, have made the successful management of change the key task of professionals and institutions. It is no longer enough to respond to change of this significance by becoming marginally more efficient or effective. Instead, there will have to be a more radical response which will alter fundamentally the culture of educational institutions and the roles and responsibilities of all those working within them.
• This unit explores three large and inter-related themes; theories of change and its management in education; educational change at a national level; educational change at an institutional level. At each of these three levels, the emphasis is on a number of key authors and their critics so that the heart of the unit consists of controversy, dialogue and debate.
• If one were to try to characterize the closing years of the twentieth century and those opening the twenty first, the impact of rapid and universal change would feature highly. In all walks of life we see the raised profile of issues in management and the drive for quality as responses to change. This is not confined to the world of education but is ubiquitous and all-pervasive in a developed consumer society. Hence to confine oneself to the educational literature alone is to overlook some of the significant changes that are taking place in society, industry and the economy as well as in education. Changes in society have a significant impact on education. Education has to initiate and reflect changes in society and to prepare society's future citizens to become active members of changing societies. How this can be approached will be the main focus of this Unit.
• This Unit focuses on four main themes which capture both the far-reaching and deep-seated nature of change and the complexity of the change process itself within educational institutions:
• - Theme One: Macro-contexts of change
• - Theme Two: Modules of change and management in industry and their significance for education.
• - Theme Three: The nature and elements of change in educational institutions
• - Theme Four: Leading and managing change in educational institutions.
• The Unit will address the following issues:
• - Macro-contexts of educational change
• - Macro-politics and micro-politics in considering change
• - Management and leadership styles in the search for quality
• - Quality development in practice
• - Change and management in industry and their significance for education
• - Organizational health and its promotion
• - Conceptualising change
• - Planning, mapping and evaluating change and innovation
• - Barriers to and the facilitators of change
• - Teamwork and leadership in the management of change
• - Strategies and models of change

Learning Outcomes

• Critical understanding of the macro-contexts of change; models of change; nature and elements of change in educational institutions; leading and management of change.

• By the end of the module students will be able to:
• - Critically review some of the main theories of the management and leadership of change.
• - Analyse and evaluate the management and leadership of change in an institution with which they are familiar;
• - Critically reflect upon and challenge the relationship between theory and practice.

• Demonstrate the ability to research literature, including for example: searching, synthesising, summarising and critiquing literatures;
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate educational research;
• Use ICT when presenting assignments;
• Organise and plan;
• Formulate, analyse and solve problems;
• Learn independently.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Through lectures and seminar teaching supported by Study Guide resources. The Study Guide includes preparation for and follow up on teaching activities. This directed independent work is an important part of the module. Lectures enable the ideas of the module to be considered. Seminar work enables students to develop their understanding of the ideas and consider them in a range of professionally relevant contexts. Activities in seminars include a variety of active learning approaches including discussion, group work, presentations, question and answer sessions, individual tasks. A Bulletin Board on DUO enables staff and students to continue their interaction between teaching sessions. Preparation for the assignment involves students in wide reading and critical reflection on ideas of the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Verbal feedback is given to students' contribution during class teaching sessions. Staff can be contacted for individual help. Written formative feedback is provided for the academic outline of the assignment (as appropriate).

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University