EDAC319 - Leadership for Inclusion 2

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

EDAC318 Leadership for Inclusion 1

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit builds on concepts of change management and leadership developed in EDAC318 Leadership for Inclusion 1 to develop specific knowledge and skills of leadership.

This unit develops students' ability to meet the overall course outcome of being able to be effective change agents to influence structural change and advocate on behalf of marginalised people. In this unit students will develop knowledge and skills to enable them to manage complex situations. They will be called upon to demonstrate leadership and manage change. Concepts and practices for effective advocacy and legal and practice issues related to rights and duty of care will be explored. Students will develop professional communication skills and decision making skills to manage changing and complex professional practices situations.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Identify and engage in appropriate advocacy practices (GA4, GA5, GA9)

LO2 - Be able to make effective decisions within frameworks of rights and duty of care (GA4, GA5, GA6)

LO3 - Communicate and engage professionally to empower, mentor, support, counsel (GA4, GA9)

LO4 - Analyse contexts/situations and develop effective professional responses (GA4, GA6)

LO5 - Implement strategies to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of professional practice (GA4, GA6).

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include: 

• Advocacy, power and empowerment  
• Substitute decision making 
• Rights and duty of care 
• Communication for mentoring, partnership and leadership 
• Conflict management 
• Identifying and managing opportunities 
• Managing spheres of influence and control 
• Evaluation of outcomes 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

150 hours in total with a normal expectation of 36 hours of directed study and the total contact hours should not exceed 36 hours. Directed study might include lectures, tutorials, webinars, podcasts etc. The balance of the hours then becomes private study.

The teaching and learning organisation may take a number of forms, depending on specific course/subject requirements at the time of delivery, this may include a combination of face to face and/or online learning delivered on a weekly or intensive schedule. Tutorials and/or synchronous learning will enable students to participate in cooperative and supportive learning opportunities. All learning modes will be delivered and/or supported by a range of resources and activities on ACU’s technology learning platform (LEO).

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessments in this unit aim to deepen students understanding of how to become effective change agents to influence structural change and advocate on behalf of marginalised people. Assessment task one requires students to write a discussion paper based on a case study to examine the rights, duty of care, empowerment and authority and control and to demonstrate their understanding of advocacy practices (LO1, 2). Task two requires students to reflect on their communication skills and write a report discussing the importance of active listening and counselling skills to critique the importance of effective decision making and the role of mentoring and support in a leadership position (LO3). The final assessment requires students to analyse a case study to identify issues and situations which arise and how to implement strategies to evaluate their professional practice (LO 4, 5).  

These assessments provide a platform for students to think critically and reflectively in all tasks to deepen their own understanding and become aware of effective leaders build capacity in their staff while creating a deeper understanding of the role of advocacy and the importance of building strong communication skills. 

Assessment Tasks 

The assessment tasks and their weighting for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. In order to pass this unit, students are required to submit and participate in all assessment tasks.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Atherton, H., & Crickmore, D. (2011). Learning disabilities: Towards inclusion (6th ed.). London: Elsevier Health Sciences UK.

Callus, A. (2013). Becoming self-advocates: People with intellectual disability seeking a voice. Bern: Peter Lang AG.

Heymann, J., Stein, M.A., & Moreno, G. (2014). Disability and equity at work. New York: Oxford University Press.

Keith, H., & Keith K.D. (2013). Intellectual disability: Ethics, dehumanization and a new moral community. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Mental Health Coordinating Council (2011) NSW mental health rights manual Lilyfield, NSW: Mental Health Coordinating Council.

Pless, N.M., & Maak, T. (2012). Responsible leadership. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Shriberg, D., & Shriberg, A. (2011). Practicing leadership: principles and applications (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.

Quinn, J., & Haynes, A. (2010). Continuum studies in educational research: Learning communities and imagined social capital: Learning to belong. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Sabatello, M., & Schulze, M. (Eds) (2013). Pennsylvania studies in human rights: Human rights and disability advocacy. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. 

Schonert-Reichl K.A., & Roeser, R.W. (2016). Handbook of mindfulness in education: Integrating theory and research into practice. New York: Springer New York.