Unit Outline

This unit explores ideas, practices and concepts of leadership and advocacy in early childhood education. Topics include research examples of practices that foster collaborative, effective leadership, constructive management strategies and considered ways to promote advocacy in early childhood. Students will have opportunities to refine their curriculum leadership, including how best to support staff in the development of collaborative approaches to pedagogy, curriculum and to building relationships with families.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

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


1	evaluate contemporary literature and research about ways that different leadership models can and should impact on learning in early childhood settings.
2	critique ways to address leadership challenges concerning staff in early childhood contexts.
3	discuss different issues relating to advocacy in early childhood.
4	incorporate a range of perspectives, synthesise information and reference according to the APA style of formatting.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	ESM782

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Discussion Board/Padlet Entries	Week 5	10 %	LO1, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Essay - A Critical Examination of Leadership Styles	Week 7	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Early Childhood Leadership - Job Application	Week 12	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Discussion Board/Padlet Entries

Task Description:

During the first weeks of the semester, you are required to complete 4 compulsory discussion/Padlet entries. You will need to refer to the weekly content, including weekly readings, as part of the assessment. This requirement applies to the first four weeks of the unit.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 2.1

Task Length:

Approximately 60 minutes total (1000 words equivalent)

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Responses reflect an analysis of course materials from weeks 1-4	LO1, LO3
2	Communicate effectively using written and visual communication of appropriate standard	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Essay - A Critical Examination of Leadership Styles

Task Description:

Using an essay approach, critically examine a range of leadership styles discussed throughout this unit, and respond to the following
question: What do you see as the elements of leadership that a successful leader needs to exhibit and how can these skills be reflected within your early childhood context?

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 6.2

Task Length:

1300 words

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Analyse elements of leadership, specifically in relation to effective and collaborative leadership in early childhood settings, with examples to demonstrate a critical understanding of leadership	LO1
2	Identify and critically discuss effective and sustainable leadership strategies and communication skills that you would need to aspire to and/or employ to be an outstanding early childhood leader	LO2
3	Communicate academic language, using relevant, current, and scholarly literature and accurate APA referencing conventions	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Early Childhood Leadership - Job Application

Task Description:

You are applying for a position as a Director of a Child Care and Education Centre or Director/Leader of a Kindergarten or AST3 (Early Childhood) in a school setting.

In your portfolio you will discuss how you would initiate and develop a culture of collaboration with staff, families and relevant community members who, in the past, have been hesitant or reluctant to participate and how this vision will be implemented into
the context.

In your response, consider the following - effective leadership strategies, ethical practices, governance, participatory involvement and shared decision making, team building, conflict resolution, leading partnerships and advocacy.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 6.1, 7.3

Task Length:

1600 words equivalent

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Depth of knowledge in relation to essential characteristics for decision making from an effective leadership perspective	LO1
2	Critical analysis of how to build productive teams and avoid and/or resolve conflict in early childhood contexts	LO2
3	Depth of reflection in addressing ways to create strong partnerships with families and advocacy for engaging communities	LO3
4	Academic presentation and writing, and referencing according to APA style formatting	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Davis, K., Krieg, S., & Smith, K. (2015). Leading otherwise: using a feminist-poststructuralist and postcolonial lens to create alternative spaces for early childhood educational leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 18(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2014.943296
Cooper, M. (2023). Teachers grappling with a teacher-leader identity: complexities and tensions in early childhood education. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 26(1), 54-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2020.1744733
Omdal, H., & Roland, P. (2020). Possibilities and challenges in sustained capacity-building in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions: ECEC leaders’ perspectives. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(4), 568-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2020.1783929
Klevering, N., & McNae, R. (2019). Making sense of leadership in early childhood education: Tensions and complexities between concepts and practices. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 33, 5-17. https://doi.org/10.21307/jelpp-2018-002
Aubrey, C. A. (2019). What early childhood leadership for what kind of world? Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 20(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949119828145
Nxumalo, F., & Villanueva, M. (2020). (Re)storying Water Decolonial pedagogies of Relational Affect with Young Children. In B. Dernikos, N. Lesko, S. McCall, & A. Niccolini (Eds.), Mapping the Affective Turn in Education. Routledge.
Poelina, A., Wooltorton, S., Blaise, M., Aniere, C. L., Horwitz, P., White, P. J., & Muecke, S. (2022). Regeneration Time: Ancient Wisdom for Planetary Wellbeing. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 38(3-4), 397-414.
Blaise, M., & Hamm, C. (2022). Lively Emu dialogues: activating feminist common worlding pedagogies. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 30(4), 473-489. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2020.1817137
Somerville, M. J., & McGavock, T. (2022). Learning Planetary Literacies Through Multiple Bushfire Deaths and Hope Through Recovery and Regeneration. In M. Häggström & C. Schmidt (Eds.), Relational and Critical Perspectives on Education for Sustainable Development: Belonging and Sensing in a Vanishing World (pp. 113-127). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84510-0_8
Nelson, N., Hodgins, B. D., & Danis, I. (2019). New Obligations and Shared Vulnerabilities: Reimagining Sustainability for Live-Able Worlds. In Nordina: Nordic Studies in Science Education (Vol. 15): University of Oslo.

Reading Lists provide direct access to all material on unit reading lists in one place. This includes eReadings and items in Reserve. You can access the Reading List for this unit from the link in MyLO, or by going to the Reading Lists page on the University Library website.