Exploring educational leadership: values, context and strategy

What you will study

The module is divided into five sections around the key concepts of context, values and strategy.

The first section provides an introduction to the module and information about the various strands of learning involved: developing perspectives on leadership, learning more about the ways in which leadership encompasses both theoretical and practical elements, emphasising the importance of reading critically, and understanding that on this module ‘educational leadership’ is broadly defined as such leadership is found in a wide range of professional contexts where training and ‘leading learning’ is involved.

The second section provides insight into the nature and importance of context in leadership. Drawing on a wide range of examples of leadership from both formal education and more general professional and training contexts and using sources from across the world, you will examine the ways in which the internal context of an organisation and the wider external context at local, regional and national levels can affect leadership approaches.

The third section focuses on values, including trust and social justice. You will consider the importance of power in relationships and critically examine how values-based leadership is treated in research readings. You will consider ethics in leadership, including ethical perspectives and some of the ethical dilemmas which emerge in leadership situations. You will continue to develop your own perspectives on leadership through this section, in terms of your own professional practice (or practice you are familiar with).

The fourth section of the module considers strategic leadership. You will examine theories which link leadership to significant embedded change at scale, considering what elements of leadership are important in such scenarios. You will consider the social dimensions of leadership and the way in which different leadership styles can influence change. You will also focus on ways in which technologies are increasingly important influences on leadership in terms of ‘digital strategies’ for change.

The final section focuses on the kinds of research skills which are appropriate to understanding the assumptions and the theories underpinning leadership research, to support your critique of leadership literature and, if appropriate, to prepare you for the final module in your masters qualification where you will plan or carry out a small-scale enquiry into a leadership topic relevant to you. This final section also provides the opportunity to review and critically reflect on the module as a whole, pulling together all of the strands that have been addressed and consolidating your understanding, your values, and your own professional learning.

As you progress through the module you will progressively take on greater responsibility for managing your own learning. Throughout, there is an expectation you will participate in both tutor group discussions and module forum discussions. The tutor group forums feed directly into the assignments.

Improvement in your leadership practice is an integral part of the module and the recording of your own professional development is an aspect that runs throughout. You will be guided in how you can recognise and capture these skills.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You’ll have a named tutor who will support your studies and mark and comment on your assignment work; you can also ask them for academic advice and guidance. You and your tutor will primarily communicate with each other through email and online tutorials. Tutorials are offered via online meeting rooms and support is also facilitated asynchronously in online tutor group forums and module forums. Tutors will also offer online sessions about aspects of the content of the module to the wider cohort of students on the module, which will be a good way to ‘meet’ other students and tutors. We will advertise the tutorials and wider online events before the module starts. Tutorials will be with your tutor, but some of the wider online events may be led by other academic staff associated with the module. We recommend you book online to attend tutorials and note the dates for the live online events.

Working with other students

There is no compulsory requirement for you to interact or collaborate with others in your tutor group, though there are clear advantages to doing so. Many students do this asynchronously through forums and social media, others choose to meet online. We know that the sharing of ideas and experiences with your peers increases understanding of the issues that are studied on this module and therefore there are some activities that benefit from working with other students.

Assessment

The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box.