Master of School Leadership

The Master in School Leadership is designed to develop the next generation of school leaders by fostering self knowledge and building the leadership skills required for senior appointments in schools and across the educational system. The course follows a multidisciplinary approach drawing on fields such as education, psychology, organisational behaviour and change management. The Master in School Leadership includes the completion of four compulsory subjects over a two year period. The focus of the course expands from an initial emphasis on leading self and others (subject 1), to leading teams (subject 2), to leading organisations and environments (subject 3) and, finally, to leading change (subject 4).

The last intake to this course was in 2012.

Students completing this course should be able to:

• Develop their leadership capabilities across all domains described in the Developmental Learning Framework for School Leaders and establish a personal plan to achieve target levels of development across the domains;
• Develop an understanding of the relationship between leadership, enhanced teacher capacity and school performance within the regional network collaborative model;
• Develop an understanding of the key features of school effectiveness and how to apply this in order to lead school improvement through the regional network structure;
• Develop the knowledge and skills required to maintain and enhance a performance and development culture that supports increased teacher effectiveness;
• Develop skills as system leaders, including within a network, and share their learning across the system.
• Develop an understanding of how to develop as an instructional leader including utilising the e5 Instructional Model.
• Develop skills in linking data use, policy development and decision making at the student, classroom, school, network and system level.

Students complete 4 compulsory subjects.

• A four year Education qualification OR a three year degree plus a diploma in Education, or equivalent
• and relevant teaching work experience

The Melbourne Graduate School of Education welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is University and Graduate School policy to take reasonable steps to enable the participation of students with disabilities, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student’s participation in the Graduate School’s programs.
The core participation requirements for study in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are:

In all courses

1. The ability to comprehend complex information related to education and the disciplines in which the student is teaching.
2. The ability to communicate clearly and independently in assessment tasks a knowledge of the content, principles and practices relating to education and other relevant disciplines.
3. Behavioural and social attributes that enable a student to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.
   
   In courses requiring students to undertake practicum placements
   
4. The ability to undertake professional practice placements independently, including:
   a. the ability based on personal maturity to establish a professional relationship with students and interact with them appropriately;
   b. the ability to communicate to students the subject matter being taught with clarity and in a way that is age-sensitive;
   c. the ability to model literacy and numeracy skills independently for students and in all their interactions meet community expectations of the literacy and numeracy skills teachers should have;
   d. the ability to demonstrate skilfully and safely activities required in particular discipline areas being taught (e.g. physical education activities, science laboratory techniques);
   e. the ability to create, monitor and maintain a safe physical environment, a stable and supportive psychological environment, and a productive learning environment in their classroom;
   f. the ability to establish effective relationships with all members of the school community, including colleagues, students, and caregivers;
   g. the ability based on mental and physical health to exercise sound judgment and respond promptly to the demands of classroom situations, and the personal resilience to cope and maintain their wellbeing under stress.

Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.

Graduates from this program are eligible to apply for entry to the Doctor of Education program or a PhD after completion of a 50-point Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Research, provided they meet the entry requirements and subject to achievement of an H2A GPA. Please note also that graduates of an undergraduate Honours degree may already be eligible for doctoral studies, subject to the same entry and achievement requirements.

The program is built on the premise that students coming into the program will have a firm foundation of disciplinary knowledge and analytical skills, and have considerable school teaching experience. The program will allow students to build their leadership skills such as creating visions, communication, problem solving, use of narratives, relationship management and appreciative inquiry. The program will allow students to build their scholarly skills such as analysis of school-level data, report writing, and critically evaluating school leadership research. Students' capacity for critical inquiry and professional reflection will be built through reflective assessment. A highly collaborative environment will enable students to develop skills for distributed leadership and collaborative leadership. Students will understand the policy landscape and the processes for making policy at school and system level, so that they can intervene and justify producing change. The leading change subject will help students to develop action-research skills in leading a school through change.