The National MA Education (Wales): Leadership is a truly transformative and sector leading programme for educational professionals in Wales, from early career teachers to senior leaders with an interest in leadership.
The educational landscape in Wales is changing rapidly. Teaching not only requires the mastery of a complex set of skills to guide, motivate, and facilitate student learning, but also the ability to enquire into professional practice in order to improve it.
The National MA Education (Wales): Leadership programme – which has been collaboratively developed by seven universities in Wales, through direct engagement with a variety of key stakeholders including Welsh Government – will ensure that all education professionals in Wales have the same high-quality opportunity to enhance their leadership and professional knowledge, engage with research, and improve their professional practice.
Students will choose two from three specialist Modules, and will also take modules in
- Advanced Research and Enquiry Skills
- Dissertation (Leadership)
Specialist modules:
- Leading Organisational Change
- Leading within and across Education Systems
- Leading and Managing Education Professionals
Assessments are all coursework assignments and will be submitted at the end of each module. Wherever possible, assignments have been designed to complement the working contexts and schedules of full-time teachers.
Leadership Pathway modules
Leading and Managing Educational Professionals
This module focuses on the models, approaches and practices required to effectively lead and manage education professionals. It explores the practices associated with leading and managing education professionals, in different education settings, by drawing explicitly upon the international evidence bases concerning system leadership, middle leadership, curriculum leadership, teacher leadership and leading professional learning. The module will consider theories of collaborative and distributed leadership in relation to leading and managing other professionals. It will also consider the relationship between local and national policy imperatives and the practice of leading and managing education professionals, particularly in relation to the realisation of system leadership in different countries and contexts.
Leading Organisational Change
This module will focus on the processes and practicalities of leading organisational change at the school and system level. It will explore key debates around theories of change and change management in relation to organizational improvement. This module will prepare students to critically examine the contribution of leadership in times of organisational change and uncertainty. It will equip them with the leadership knowledge and understanding to effectively lead and implement change within their context. The module will compare different approaches to organisational change both nationally and internationally, and the policy imperatives that influence such changes.
Leading Within and Across Education Systems
System leadership within and across educational organisations is increasingly important to build the necessary professional capital and professional capacity for improvement. There is international evidence that when properly deployed, system leaders/ship can be a positive force for change.
This module will focus on the leadership roles, functions, and responsibilities of those acting as system leaders, at different levels. The international evidence about system leaders/ship, however, consistently points to the need for clarity about:
- The definition, role, and functions of system leaders.
- The criteria for selection and the process of appointment.
- Core responsibilities and the expectations placed upon system leaders.
- The accountability structures and evaluative processes that surround their role as a system leader.
- Gauging the impact of system leaders/ship through agreed monitoring and evaluation processes.
Hence the 4 core strands of this module will cover the micro and macro aspects of leading within, across and between systems.