Program Overview

Postgraduate Program in School Leadership for Secondary Education

The Center for Andragogy at the University of Antwerp organizes a postgraduate program in school leadership for secondary education. The general objective of this program is to professionalize school leaders, enabling them to lead a school in a process of continuous, high-quality development with an impact on the classroom.

Program Structure

Each academic year consists of:

• 1 residential seminar of 2 days
• 8 to 9 separate course days
• 3 reflection group meetings
• 1 evaluation moment

Each lesson day includes 2 sessions: from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 13:45 to 16:00.

Objectives

The program focuses on the development of the participant:

• As a person who provides leadership
• As a leader who influences people within the professional context, applying current regulations
• As a leader of the school organization, applying current regulations
• As a leader of change processes

These competencies are developed in conjunction with a critically reflective, research-oriented attitude through the systematic development of policy-making capacity.

Program Goals

The program goals are formulated based on recent insights into school leadership and are aligned with the core profile of an educational leader. This translates into the following result areas and associated competencies:

• Result areas: leadership development, pedagogical project + school development, quality care, personnel policy, educational leadership, communication, consultation and cooperation with internal and external stakeholders, logistics and financial policy, education legislation and administration, and reflection.
• Competencies: forward-thinking, problem-solving, result-oriented, team leadership, dedication, organizational talent, persuasive power, relationship skills, flexibility, and learning ability.

Focus Areas

The program focuses on four domains:

• Domain 1: Leadership Development
  • Develops leadership competencies that provide insight into one's own functioning as a leader, allowing for the management of a team in a dedicated and high-quality manner, and making one aware of where and how one can make a difference in education.
• Domain 2: Human and Organization
  • Explores the organization through various policy domains, focusing on the educational core process that centralizes the learner in an evolving world.
  • Develops skills to build a strong educational professionalization policy and explores essential HR themes.
• Domain 3: School Development
  • Investigates the importance of a lived vision and provides tools to realize this, giving substance to concepts like school development, quality care, data use, strategic planning, and change management.
• Domain 4: Reflection
  • Teaches critical reflection on one's own school operation and functioning, with reflection being an essential part of each focus domain.

Evaluation and Certificate

To obtain the certificate of the postgraduate program in school leadership for secondary education, participants are evaluated at the end of each year. The program uses the principle of permanent evaluation, which includes:

• Sufficient attendance at course days, including the residential seminar
• Active participation in each course
• Active participation in reflection moments (intervision)
• Completion of an assignment for each training component that illustrates the translation to one's own school practice
• Active participation in the evaluation moment per training component

After the second year, and with sufficient attendance at the relevant course components, participants also receive the evaluator's certificate.

Lecturers

The program is taught by, among others, Koen Marichal, Peggy De Prins, Wouter Schelfhout, Pieter Sprangers, Kristin Vanlommel, Gilbert Deketelaere, Sara Bastiaensens, and staff from Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen. The academic responsible parties are Prof. dr. Luc Braeckmans, Prof. dr. Wouter Schelfhout, and Prof. dr. Jan Vanhoof.