Leadership in Schools

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

170 hours

Admission to the Master of Teaching (Secondary) or Master of Teaching (Primary)

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Many teacher candidates have found that after a year or two teaching in schools they are taking on leadership roles. This elective provides you with a foundation and understanding to start taking on those leadership roles at all levels of school life.

The subject draws on both instructional leadership and positive psychology to first understand yourself and your role as a leader. Through participatory workshops you will learn how to use available data in schools to make informed decisions about programs you may want to implement, interact with people in leadership roles to gain insights and understanding about being a leader at all levels in schools and with insights from positive psychology learn what characteristics and strengths you can draw on to be a leader.

The subject is a workshop based approach to:

• Understand leadership and yourself as a leader
• Develop skills to undertake leadership roles in schools
• Use evidence to understand what is happening in schools and lead change

• Written piece: Reflecting on yourself and others as Authentic leaders (2000 words) due mid semester, 50%
• Presentation/report: Exploring leadership through group scenario presentations: 45 min group presentation (30 min presentation and 15 min Questions) 2,000 words equivalent. Due end semester, 50%

Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs/online classes) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject, teacher candidates will have the knowledge, skills and understanding to enable them to:

• Be skilled communicators who can effectively articulate and justify their practices as knowledgeable agents of changes.
• Understand the significance of developing their practice on the basis of research evidence;
• Work in teams with skills in cooperation, communication and negotiation;
• Be independent of mind, responsible, resilient, self-regulating.