Program Overview

EDLE652 - Educational Leadership as Vocation and Service

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

Effective leadership is fundamentally influenced by individual leaders' self-knowledge and their interactions with others in organisations. In a dynamic, knowledge-based and increasingly depersonalised society, effective educational leadership based on trusting relationships has become more important than ever before.

This unit supports students to explore this dynamic in educational settings, by using philosophical and/or faith frameworks that clarify how values and ethics impact leadership behaviours, such as sense-making and framing, and decision-making.

The aim of this unit is to support students to reflect, explore and identify their own inner values and promote personal and professional growth through an experiential, reflective critique of personal and contemporary educational challenges.

Campus Offering

• ADL: Professional Term 2AF
• Melbourne: Semester 2, Multi-mode
• Online: Semester 1, Online Scheduled

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

• EDLE681 Leading Self, Leading Communities
• EDLE641 - Values and Leadership

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the following learning outcomes:

1. Explain the nexus between intra and interpersonal intelligence and leading self and leading communities (APST, 6.2 (Lead); APSP 3, 4, 5)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3
2. Through reflexive strategies, appraise how their own values and beliefs have been influenced by actions in their personal and professional lives (APST 6.2 (Lead); APSP 2, 4, 5)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2
3. Critique approaches and models for analysing moral and ethical dilemmas experienced in leading communities in educational contexts (APST 7.1 (Lead); APSP 3, 4, 5)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC5
4. Critically analyse the reciprocity between the leader's values with the community's values and its influence on decision making in educational experiences (APST 7.1 (Lead); APSP 1, 2, 4, 5)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC4
5. Justify their leadership practice based on philosophical, faith and/or professional values (APST 6.1(Lead); APSP 1, 3, 4, 5)
   • Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2

Unit Content

Topics will include:

• The philosophical foundations of leadership and how values reflected in these approaches impact on personal and professional life in educational communities
• Personal analysis and reflection on values, beliefs, motivations, and behaviours and the consequences of these for leadership in education
• Current theories of moral and ethical literacy and their relationship to educational leadership
• Development of a leadership platform based on philosophy and values that will assist with understanding and explaining the inter-relationship and connection between values, beliefs and ideology in educational leadership situations
• Practical experiences of analysing ethical and moral dilemmas for individuals and the implications of these experiences for their future as leaders of educational communities

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. Assessment tasks build on each other through a developmental and applied approach, provide students the opportunity to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes and professional standards and criteria consistent with University assessment requirements.

1. Assessment Task 1: Critical Analysis (50%)
   • Critical analysis of the contribution that ethics, values, and faith make to personal and professional leadership behaviours
   • Learning Outcomes: LO1, LO2
   • Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2
   • Standards: APST(Lead)6.2, APSP 2, APSP 3, APSP 4, APSP 5
2. Assessment Task 2: Digital Presentation (50%)
   • A digital presentation of a case study of an educational leadership ethical dilemma, including insights for personal leadership practice
   • Learning Outcomes: LO3, LO4, LO5
   • Graduate Capabilities: GC3, GC4, GC5
   • Standards: APST(Lead)6.1, APST(Lead)7.1, APSP 1, APSP 2, APSP 3, APSP 4, APSP 5

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

This unit may be offered in fully online, campus or multi-mode for the equivalence of 150 hours of study. The use of the Learning Management System will be integral to the unit in exploring concepts and testing understandings and propositions. Lectures and reading are presented to introduce key concepts and frameworks. Reflective writing is used to focus student learning on personal values, ethics, and professional practice. These insights are then applied to a series of case study dilemmas, complemented by online discussion/forums on related topics. Students will keep a reflective journal of their learning and personal leadership practices throughout the semester which forms the content for their final evaluative essay.

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Lead

In connection to the learning outcomes, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry-specific knowledge based on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Lead standards:

• APST(Lead)6.1: Relating to Use comprehensive knowledge of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to plan and lead the development of professional learning policies and programs that address the professional learning needs of colleagues and pre-service teachers
• APST(Lead)6.2: Relating to Initiate collaborative relationships to expand professional learning opportunities, engage in research, and provide quality opportunities and placements for pre-service teachers
• APST(Lead)7.1: Relating to Model exemplary ethical behaviour and exercise informed judgements in all professional dealings with students, colleagues and the community

Australian Professional Standard For Principals - Professional Practice

In connection to the learning outcomes, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry-specific knowledge based on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Professional Practice standards:

• APSP 1: Relating to Professional Practice: Leading teaching and learning
• APSP 2: Relating to Professional Practice: Developing self and others
• APSP 3: Relating to Professional Practice: Leading improvement, innovation and change
• APSP 4: Relating to Professional Practice: Leading the management of the school
• APSP 5: Relating to Professional Practice: Engaging and working with the community

Representative Texts and References

• Avolio, B. J., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2015). Authentic Leadership Theory, Research and Practice: Steps Taken and Steps that Remain. The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations , Ch.16, 331
• Begley, P. T. (2011). Leading with moral purpose: The place of ethics. In M. Preedy, N. Bennett & C. Wise (Eds.), Educational Leadership: Context, Strategy and Collaboration. Melbourne: Sage Publications Ltd
• Branson, C., & Gross, S. (Eds.) (2014). Ethical educational leadership , New York, NY: Routledge
• Khalifa, M. A., Khalil, D., Marsh, T. E. J., & Halloran, C. (2019). Toward an Indigenous, Decolonizing School Leadership: A Literature Review. Educational Administration Quarterly , 55(4), 571–614
• Neuhaus, M. (2020). What is self-leadership? Models, theory, and examples
• Schein, H., & Schein, P. A. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Son
• Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2021). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspective to complex dilemmas (5th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge
• Starratt, R.J. (2004). Ethical leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey –Bass
• Thiel, C., Bagdasarov, Z., Harkrider, L., Johnsons, J.F., & Mumford, M. (2012). Leader Ethical Decision-Making in Organizations: Strategies for Sensemaking. Journal of Business Ethics, 107 ,49-64

Locations

• ADL
• Melbourne
• Online

Credit Points

10

Year

2026