Unit Outline

Expectations of leaders in educational and other settings can change significantly over the course of a career. In addition to understanding individual issues of changing professional identity, self-preparation, and role transition, leaders are required to engage with heightened responsibilities when government and institutional reforms of structure, culture and practice entail high stakes accountability through outcome-focused performance targeting. By the end of this unit, you will have developed advanced knowledge and skills in the connection between individual and systemic change in leadership practice through study of modules on: approaches to leadership, theories and styles of leadership, the practice of leadership; and the social dimension of leadership in educational and related work contexts. Part of the aims this unit is to enable you to have a better understanding of yourself as a leader and how to lead others.

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	Demonstrate an understanding of the theories, styles and practices of leadership
2	Critically reflect on the nature of leadership and its practice within educational and other organisational contexts.
3	Demonstrate your ability to use the literature to support the arguments that you make.
4	Apply new knowledge and understandings in a critically analytical way to practice

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	ESM709

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Updated readings, resources and activities

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:	Comparative Essay	Week 6	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Reflection	Week 13	10 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Reflective Case Study	Week 13	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Comparative Essay

Task Description:

Describe your professional work context in which you exercise leadership. Evaluate two different leadership models (e.g., Greenleaf’s servant leadership; Bass and Riggio’s transformational leadership theory) you might consider for this context and indicate the criteria on which you would use to determine which one might be most appropriate for this specific context.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 6 (04/Apr/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Description of professional work context	LO2
2	Knowledge, understanding and evaluation of leadership models/theories	LO1, LO3, LO4
3	Appropriateness and justification of leadership models/theories for the organisational context	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Presentation of ideas – follows specified genre / structure and APA convention for academic writing and referencing	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Reflection

Task Description:

This task requires you to complete two inter-related activities culminating in a final reflection. First, you are required to engage in the Discussion Forum questions that are set for each of the four modules in EDP715 by posting a comment to present your viewpoint, and/or responding to another’s comment in a constructive way. You are required to complete a minimum of 1 discussion forum posts per module (total 4 posts). The second task requires you to write a short reflective essay based on one discussion forum post written by a peer. Provide a rationale for choosing this particular discussion post and refer to at least two set readings (one can be your text) from EDP715 to support your rationale and reflection.

Task Length:

500 words (for reflective piece)

Due Date:

Week 13 (30/May/2025)

Weight:

10 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate relevant and constructive insights in response to discussion forum questions	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Provide a rationale for selecting a discussion post with reference to set readings from EDP715	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Presentation of ideas – follows specified genre/structure and APA convention for academic writing and referencing	LO1

Assessment Task 3: Reflective Case Study

Task Description:

Describe a specific illustration of ineffective leadership you have observed or experienced from your organisational context. Critically analyse the leadership practices of the leader and/or leadership variables involved in this leadership situation (supported by set readings and other literature). Propose and then justify a set of targeted recommendations on how this leadership situation could have been handled more effectively.

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 13 (30/May/2025)

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identification and articulation of situation, including context, actions and effects	LO1, LO2
2	Critical analysis and evaluation of leadership practices / variables against set readings and other literature in this context	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Proposal and justification of a set of targeted recommendations for improving the leadership situation with reference to literature	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Presentation of ideas – follows specified genre/structure and APA convention for academic writing and referencing	LO1

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.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.