Learning Activities may be undertaken online or at face-to-face on-campus sessions (although some activities have online components even if undertaken at an on-campus session). Students may choose to be assessed on the basis of their online or on-campus participation, and may choose different modes for different learning activities. Regardless of assessment choice, students are encouraged to participate in both modes if they wish and are in a position to do so.  More information on participation and selecting assessment modes for learning activities is provided in the Online Unit.

Each online learning activity forum will be "open" for contributions in iLearn for a limited period (see the Unit Schedule section).

The on-campus sessions will involve parallel if not identical discussion topics, but are designed to cover the same content as online discussions.

Assignment 1 is submitted online by completing all database fields for the selected video. The database is accessed from the online unit (iLearn). The state of your entry at the due date (end Week 5) will be taken as your submission for this assignment.

Assignment 2 is submitted as weekly entries in a personal online journal, accessed from the online unit (iLearn). The state of your journal at the due date (end Week 10) will be taken as your submission for this assignment. If you have exceeded the word limit by a substantial number of words you will be asked to select journal entries for assessment purposes.

Assignment 3 is submitted electronically via a link in the online unit. The Assignment should be saved in .doc, .docx or .rtf format and must include the assignment declaration. More information is available for enrolled students in the online unit.

Extension requests must be made in writing to the Unit Convenor, who may request documentation to substantiate the circumstances affecting your inability to submit work on time. If you experience substantial disruption to your studies (i.e. requiring alternative assessment or very late submission) you should follow the process outlined in the Disruption to Studies Policy. If you have a disability or experience ongoing circumstances that require reasonable adjustments to be made to any aspect of your participation, please let the Unit Convenor know, and contact the Campus Health and Well-being Service for advice and assistance.

Overview of Unit Delivery

The unit is organised in such a way as to enable you to learn through a combination of independent reading, collaborative learning activities and written assignments. The unit content is organised into three modules (see the Unit Schedule in the next section) covering, respectively, general introduction and readings, theoretical frameworks (historical, contemporary and emergent) and application of theory to practice. The modules encourage you to explore the unit content (based on readings and examples) in depth, to build analytical, critical and strategic thinking capabilities and to apply these both collaboratively and individually in reflecting on leadership practices and challenges in education. Collaborative learning includes participation in discussions, either online or in person at the three on-campus sessions.

All teaching and learning activities are accessed and managed through the online unit, accessed via iLearn at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/.

To complete the Unit requirements satisfactorily you must have regular and reliable access to the internet.

On-Campus Sessions

On-campus sessions will be held on the following dates. All Sessions are in Room E5A180, and run from 9.30am to 4.30pm, with a break for lunch.

Saturday 16 August 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 13 September 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturday 1 November 9.30am-4.30pm

Attendance at on-campus sessions is compulsory for internal students and optional (but very welcome) for external students.

Work requirements

The Unit has been designed as a 4 postgraduate credit point unit, requiring the equivalent of 15 weeks of work over one semester (including the mid-semester break). This means you should expect to spend an average of no less than 10 hours per week on your study in order to meet the requirements of the Unit.

Independent study is an important aspect of the unit, as this develops scholarship and depth of understanding.  Other learning activities in the unit (discussions and wiki collaboration) are designed to model the collaborative and collegial processes by which many of the objectives of educational leadership are met.

Textbooks and Readings

The required texts are as follows:

Dubrin, A. J., Dalglish, C. & Miller, P. (2006). Leadership - 2nd Asia-Pacific Edition. Queensland, Australia: Wiley and Sons.

Duignan, P. (2012). Educational Leadership - Together creating ethical learning environments. 2nd Edition. Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press.

These texts will be available from the Coop Bookshop on campus (Ph. 02 9850 7618, Email: macq@coop-bookshop.com.au). You can also order online from the Coop Bookshop website. http://www.coop-bookshop.com.au/bookshop

Other prescribed and recommended readings will be available electronically in the Library Reserve, accessed via MultiSearch.

Overview

This unit focuses on the nature of leadership and what it means to lead for learning in a variety of educational contexts including early childhood, primary, secondary, adult and higher education. We take a collaborative learning approach in order to share, explore, analyse and ultimately integrate concepts of leadership in education. The unit provides an opportunity for students to bring together theoretical approaches to the study of leadership with their diverse experiences of leadership in the educational workplace. Through this, we encourage reflection and discussion on the relationship between theory and practice with a view to building students' leadership capacity and effectiveness.

Aims and objectives

The overall objective of the unit, and indeed of the Educational Leadership and Higher Education Programs, is to enhance your capacity for, and practice of, leadership and management in educational contexts.

As your teachers, our aim is for all of us to share our various interests, experience and expertise in the exploration of the many aspects of educational leadership. Through working together, we hope that we can all develop our understanding of this very complex area of study, research and practice, and in so doing, enhance students' capacity for thoughtful, reflective and ethical leadership in their chosen area of education.

Modules

There are three Modules in the unit. These provide opportunities to:

• explore and critique individual and collective experience and understanding of leadership in educational settings;

• trace the development of theory and research relevant to the study and practice of educational leadership, including key theoretical paradigms and leadership research methodologies;

• build a deeper understanding and appreciation of recent developments in research, theory and practice of leadership for learning through a process of individual and collaborative scholarship and critical reflection; and

• apply a range of relevant theories and constructs to the analysis of leadership and management in an educational setting, and through this, develop and demonstrate the capacity to lead for learning in multifaceted and changing educational organisations.

Schedule of Activities and Assignment Tasks

A number of factors, in addition to our usual ongoing reflection on the unit's content and curriculum, have influenced our decision to make changes to the unit this year. These include:

This year most changes are around improving clarity of instructions and tasks. There has been little change to assignment tasks and only small changes to learning activities.

Although students found the wiki tool a little challenging to use in 2013, we have decided to retain it because it is our view that many of students have not yet realised its potential to frame the student as a co-creator or co-producer of curriculum artefacts, rather than as a passive consumer of information. We believe that it's important to expose our students to emerging technologies such as wikis, even if they are somewhat flawed. We want to equip our students to evaluate and lead the expansion of technology in teaching with full awareness of the experience of using them in that more active mode.

The substantive changes to the unit are as follows: