EDPROFST 782 : Educational Change

Education and Social Work

2024 Semester Two (1245) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Critically examines the purposes and processes of educational change, including a reflection on practices that promote successful outcomes for change initiatives. Processes of educational change in both New Zealand and international contexts will be studied and critiqued from individual, organisational and systemic perspectives. Focuses on leadership practices that have the potential to promote change for improvement.

Course Overview

Educational change may be a given, but understanding how to make it effective for everyone involved is an important and valuable skill for educational leaders in today's complex, unpredictable and changing world. People who work in the areas of learning, teaching, educational leadership and change are often dedicated to changing people's lives and improving education. Doing this in ways that are sustaining, effective and meet the needs of our most vulnerable students is critical.

The course is designed to engage you with theoretical ideas, research and practice that increases your understanding of how to create, and support, effective educational change. But we’re not interested in just any kind of change; we focus on change that improves valued outcomes for our learners, creates a positive environment for students and staff, is culturally responsive and sustaining, and responds to the immediate and complex challenges we face in the world. Areas of study we may cover include understanding the important role that young people have as partners in change, responding to people’s emotions when they are engaged in change, and exploring the power of organisational culture in supporting effective change.  We hope this course is both enjoyable and helpful to you, and look forward to working together.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Identify theories of change that support educational improvement (Capability 1, 2, 3 and 4)
  2. Understand the importance of responding to the views of young people in educational change (Capability 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8)
  3. Recognise the role of emotion in change (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  4. Use theories of effective educational change to critique practice (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8)
  5. Develop analytical skills to critically examine processes that promote and hinder change for improvement (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)
  6. Communicate knowledge about effective processes of educational change with others (Capability 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Literature Review 45% Individual Coursework
Case Studies 45% Individual Coursework
Collaborative Annotations 10% Individual Coursework
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Literature Review
Case Studies
Collaborative Annotations

To pass this course, you need to submit all assessments and achieve at least 50% for the course overall.
The assignments for this course require you to analyse your current or recent work as an educational leader/teacher.


Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 30-point course, and on average, students are expected to spend up to 25 hours per week, although there may be peaks and troughs in workload from week to week. Full participation in and completion of all online and in-person events aids success.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience or Online

This course is offered in two delivery modes:

Campus Experience

Students are expected to prepare for the on-campus experience by engaging with the course learning material on the CANVAS learning software. Weekly CANVAS modules contain learning resources, readings and interactive activities constituting essential learning. While students can undertake the completion of modules to suit their lifestyle and responsibilities, completing a module a week best supports success.
The on-campus experience is a bi-weekly 3-hour class focusing on gaining a deeper grasp of educational change concepts and how they can be applied in context. These interactive on-campus classes are not recorded, so in-person attendance is needed to learn from these.
The course runs on the University's semester timetable, with semester breaks aligned with school holidays.
 

Online

Course learning material is provided on CANVAS. Weekly CANVAS modules contain learning resources, readings and interactive activities constituting essential learning. While students can undertake the completion of modules to suit their lifestyle and responsibilities, completing a module a week best supports success.
An additional synchronous weekly one-hour discussion and drop-in sessions will be held. Attendance at these events is optional. Where appropriate, aspects of these synchronous sessions will be recorded for students to watch later. 

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Most course readings are provided through the university library.  However, throughout this course, we will also utilise the following texts (which are also used for EDPROFST 738)

Le Fevre, D., Timperley, H., Twyford, K., & Ell, F. (2020). Leading powerful professional learning: Responding to complexity with adaptive expertise. Corwin.

Timperley, H., Ell, F., Le Fevre, D., & Twyford, K. (2020). Leading professional learning: Practical strategies for impact in schools. Australian Council for Educational Research.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Changes have been made to this course in response to student feedback.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.