Course specification for EDU8601

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EDU8601 Advanced Studies in Professional Practice

Semester 1, 2020 Online
Short Description: Adv Studies in Prof Practice
Units : 2
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Education
Student contribution band : National Priority - Teaching
ASCED code : 070303 - Education Studies
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Rationale

Organisations, including those engaged in education, are changing in response to post-corporate and other influences. The nature and effectiveness of responses varies but leadership is a consistent factor in organisational success. This course sets the scene and begins the process of doctoral study that will equip graduates to lead research-informed organisational change in the context of their professional practice as educators. Students will engage in a balance of personal and collaborative inquiry informed by relevant theory and directed toward their own professional contexts.

Synopsis

The course begins with an analysis of the challenges created for educational organisations by the emergence of post-corporate influences. Possible responses to these influences are explored and assessed. The role of leadership in generating constructive organisational responses to post-corporate challenges is analysed. Four leadership approaches are emphasised: transformational leadership; strategic leadership, educative leadership and organisation-wide leadership. Students are facilitated to engage with others in understanding the essence of the challenges in their workplaces and, using authentic data, develop a contextually defensible response to an identified challenge.

Objectives

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. critically evaluate developments in theory and policy influencing leadership of change in diverse educational contexts (Discussion Forum; Major Paper);
  2. articulate a personal leadership philosophy by applying relevant theory to their own professional practice (Discussion Forum; Major Paper);
  3. formulate conclusions about key challenges facing educational organisations and the interactions of these challenges with the practice of educational leadership (Critical Review; Discussion Forum; Major Paper);
  4. communicate competently with appropriate use of language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (Critical Review; Discussion Forum; Major Paper).

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Postcorporate influences on educational organisations 20.00
2. Professional leadership concepts: organisation-wide leadership processes
  • transformational, educative and strategic approaches: educators as leaders (organisation-wide)
30.00
3. Organisational challenges, use of data and related leadership concepts to address an identified challenge 30.00
4. Selecting and using forms of academic writing and communication appropriate for different audiences 20.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=EDU8601)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Crowther, F & Associates 2011, From school improvement to sustained capacity: the parallel leadership pathway, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, California.
Limerick, D, Cunnington, B & Crowther, F 2002, Managing the new organisation, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, New South Wales.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Owens, RC & Valesky, TC 2015, Organizational behaviour in education: leadership and school reform, 11th edn, Pearson, Boston, Massachusetts.
Whether you are on, or off campus, the USQ Library is an excellent source of information .

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 130.00
Independent ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 200.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
CRITICAL REVIEW 10 10 16 Mar 2020
DISCUSSION FORUM 20 20 18 May 2020
MAJOR PAPER 70 70 17 Jun 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to participate appropriately in all activities including discussion fora scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To complete each of the assessment items satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination in this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Not applicable.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at .

Other requirements

  1. Students will require access to e-mail and Internet access to UConnect for this course.

Date printed 19 June 2020