Unit rationale, description and aim
Effective leadership is fundamentally influenced by individual leaders’ self-knowledge and their interactions with others in organisations. In a dynamic, knowledge-based and increasingly depersonalised society, effective educational leadership based on trusting relationships has become more important than ever before.
This unit supports students to explore this dynamic in educational settings, by using philosophical and/or faith frameworks that clarify how values and ethics impact leadership behaviours, such as sense-making and framing, and decision-making.
The aim of this unit is to support students to reflect, explore and identify their own inner values and promote personal and professional growth through an experiential, reflective critique of personal and contemporary educational challenges.
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.
Explain the nexus between intra and interpersonal ...
Learning Outcome 01
Through reflexive strategies, appraise how their o...
Learning Outcome 02
Critique approaches and models for analysing moral...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically analyse the reciprocity between the lea...
Learning Outcome 04
Justify their leadership practice based on philoso...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- The philosophical foundations of leadership and how values reflected in these approaches impact on personal and professional life in educational communities
- Personal analysis and reflection on values, beliefs, motivations, and behaviours and the consequences of these for leadership in education. This will involve understanding theories, such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour / Reasoned Action and extending these understandings by critiquing contemporary fields in the reciprocity between the inner world of leaders with their educational communities
- Current theories of moral and ethical literacy and their relationship to educational leadership
- Development of a leadership platform based on philosophy and values that will assist with understanding and explaining the inter-relationship and connection between values, beliefs and ideology in educational leadership situations
- Practical experiences of analysing ethical and moral dilemmas for individuals and the implications of these experiences for their future as leaders of educational communities.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. Assessment tasks build on each other through a developmental and applied approach, provide students the opportunity to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes and professional standards and criteria consistent with University assessment requirements. This unit draws from a self-reflexive assessment strategy and is designed to enhance students’ understanding of self as a leader. Assessment 1 provides students with critical reflection on foundational concepts, literature, and their relationship to their educational practice. Students critically examine the contribution of beliefs, values, and ethics to their professional identity and practice. Throughout the unit, students are required to keep a reflective journal of their growing knowledge and understanding, although this is not submitted for grading. Assessment 2 uses a metacognitive strategy requiring students to evaluate their development of self throughout the unit. This is reflected in a digital presentation of an ethical dilemma. The assessment strategy used allows students to demonstrate their knowledge related to perspectives on leadership as a vocation and service in both a creative and practical manner. In order to pass this unit, students are required to successfully complete both assessment tasks regardless of their mode of enrolment.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Critical Analysis Critical ana...
Assessment Task 1: Critical Analysis
Critical analysis of the contribution that ethics, values, and faith make to personal and professional leadership behaviours.
50%
Assessment Task 2: Digital Presentation A digital...
Assessment Task 2: Digital Presentation
A digital presentation of a case study of an educational leadership ethical dilemma, including insights for personal leadership practice.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit may be offered in fully online, campus or multi-mode for the equivalence of 150 hours of study. The use of the Learning Management System will be integral to the unit in exploring concepts and testing understandings and propositions. Lectures and reading are presented to introduce key concepts and frameworks. Reflective writing is used to focus student learning on personal values, ethics, and professional practice. These insights are then applied to a series of case study dilemmas, complemented by online discussion/forums on related topics. Students will keep a reflective journal of their learning and personal leadership practices throughout the semester which forms the content for their final evaluative essay.
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - LEAD
On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards:
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARD FOR PRINCIPALS - PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES
In addition to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers this unit addresses the following Professional Practices: