Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

As an early childhood teacher insights into leadership and management provides opportunities to understand and build on strong relationships with other staff, and also children, families and the community. Knowledge about types of leadership, particularly leadership styles and approaches, provides a framework for working collaboratively and optimally with other people. Additionally understandings of how management structures impact on programs and service provision provides windows into how and why some organisations function in particular ways. These leadership and management insights in turn, enable you to participate effectively as part of a team of staff and to influence and lead decisions about what happens in early childhood settings for children, families, staff and the community.
Your existing skills will be consolidated and expanded drawing upon leadership and management theories from contemporary research and literature.This will equip you to adopt leadership roles and participate effectively in managerial decisions when required. The acquisition of leadership and management skills is also based on your being able to manage yourself (personally and professionally), your work with others (adults as well as children), and your organisation (all aspects of the environment, internal and external to your setting). Social justice, ethics, and equity are incorporated because these concepts are integral to successfully leading and managing early childhood services.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to provide you with the opportunity to develop leadership and management skills by engaging with theories and strategies for managing self, others, and organisations.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Describe and analyse the essential aspects of being a successful leader in early childhood settings which incorporate the principles of working in a team.. [QCT Standard 9]
2. Demonstrate knowledge of organisational systems and structures that support the development of professional teams and sound and ethical management of early childhood services in selected settings. [QCT Standard 9]
3. Identify appropriate management strategies including conflict resolution and problem solving techniques for successfully working in early childhood contexts. [QCT Standard 9]
4. Identify effective strategies for developing and implementing policies that guide the roles and responsibilities of professional teams. [QCT Standard 9]
5. Provide evidence of attaining acceptable standards of academic, professional and personal spoken and written English language literacies relating to this unit. [QCT Standard 2]

Content

This unit will cover the following topics: organisational structures; successful leadership; management strategies; professional development; and policies development..

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit will be studied through guided readings, personal research and writing, and collaborative learning activities. Weekly lectures and tutorials for internal students and internet resources for external students, will promote discussion, questions and problem-solving. You can make contact with the lecturer using telephone, fax and e-mail. You will be required to build on your information literacy and communication technology skills to resource and apply knowledge introduced in the unit.

Assessment

Assessment in this unit is both formative and summative. Formative assessment is provided through feedback in tutorial sessions and/or e-mail and online discussions and through written comments on assignment work. There are two summative pieces of assessment in this unit.

Assessment name: Project (research)
Description: Case study. You will research and present an analytical case study that describes and analyses the structure, leadership, management and policy processes of a selected early childhood context.
Length: 2000 words
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3 & 4
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid-Semester

Assessment name: Project (applied)
Description: Applied leadership and management task. You will have a choice of topics from which you will undertake a specific leadership and management task.
Length: 2000 words
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3 & 4
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End-Semester

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Set Text
Waniganayake, M., Cheeseman, S., Fenech, M., Hadley, F., & Shepherd, W. (2012). Leadership: Contexts and complexities in early childhood education. South Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press.

Recommended Texts
Bredeson, P. V. (2003). Designs for Learning: A new architecture for professional development in schools. California: Corwin Press.
Rodd, J. (2013). Leadership in early childhood: Pathways to professionalism (4^th ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

References
Aubrey, C. (2007). Leading and managing in the early years. London: Sage.
Marotz, L. R., & Lawson, A. (2007). Motivational leadership in early childhood education. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.
Miller, L., & Cable, C. (Eds.). (2011). Professionalization, leadership and management in the early years. London: SAGE.
Reinhartz, J., & Beach, D. (2004). Educational leadership: Changing schools, changing roles. Boston: Pearson.
Sarra, C. (2011). Strong and smart. Towards a pedagogy of emancipation: Education for first peoples. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
Sinclair, A. (2007). Leadership for the disillusioned: Moving beyond the myths and heroes to leading that liberates. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.

Risk assessment statement

There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with the general conduct of this unit. Workplace health and safety protocols in relation to computer use will apply.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 15-Feb-2013