Course details

The Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership is a one-year, part-time postgraduate course which supports the professional growth of current and aspiring leaders in education, enabling them to contribute effectively to the improvement of practice in their own professional settings and the wider professional community.  It will enable participants to develop the means of using critical reflection to enhance their own and others’ professional practice. The course responds to the need for an updated conception of leadership and mentoring in education. Leaders in organisations need to be able to motivate, coach and mentor staff in rapidly changing environments with limited resources -  a theme increasingly emphasised by the Teaching Council of Ireland. In this course students will learn about a variety of leadership styles as well as how to identify and develop personal and professional strengths and abilities to be an effective leader. Emphasis is placed on transformative leadership and team capacity-building.

Course Details

Students take 60 credits over the year:

  • ED6510 Schools as Organisations (1): Policy, Planning and Review (15 credits)
  • ED6511 Transformative Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice (15 credits)
  • ED6512 Schools as Organisations (2): Leading School Improvement (15 credits)
  • ED6513 Mentoring and Coaching Practicum in Educational Leadership (15 credits)

The focus on transformative leadership and schools as organisations explores and extends knowledge and understanding of discourses related to leadership at all levels. These three modules are designed to support the development of leadership and management practices in inpiduals in order to contribute to career-long professional learning and school improvement.

The coaching and mentoring component focuses on supporting the professional learning and growth of colleagues; developing the knowledge, understanding and skills required to use a coaching and mentoring approach to developing capacity and capability in others; and, to evaluate impact on professional learning.

Detailed Entry Requirements

Candidates must have:

  • An honours primary degree and three years or more relevant professional experience in education or cognate field. Relevant professional experience, equivalent to five full years, may be considered as an honours equivalent.
  • It is desirable that candidates also have the following:
  • Gained some professional experience of educational leadership;
  • A clear sense of professional purpose (demonstrated via a 750 word statement of purpose submitted with the application - ckc18 Supplementary Form Questions : CKC18 (SF Am) (81kB)CKC18 Supp Form (61kB)

Application Procedure

The programme will run over one academic year with four 15-credit modules run at weekends, each module taking place over two weekends.  Modules will be delivered through a mixed mode of seminars, online tutorials, self-study materials and work-based learning.

Assessment

Assessment will be continuous over the course: three modules will be assessed with small in-class assignments during the module and larger projects following conclusion of each module. The Mentoring and Coaching module will be assessed on the basis of a professional practice portfolio developed over the course of the programme

Updated on 08 November, 2015

About University College Cork

UCC was established in 1845 as one of three Queen’s Colleges - at Cork, Galway and Belfast. These new colleges theyre established in the reign of Queen Victoria, and named after her.

Queen's College, Cork (QCC) was established to provide access to higher education in the Irish province of Munster. Cork was chosen for the new college due to its place at the centre of transatlantic trade at the time and the presence of existing educational initiatives such as the Royal Cork Institution and a number of private medical schools.

The site chosen for the new college was dramatic and picturesque, on the edge of a limestone bluff overlooking the River Lee. It is associated with the educational activities of a local early Christian saint, Finbarr. It is believed that his monastery and school stood nearby, and his legend inspired UCC’s motto: ‘Where Finbarr Taught, let Munster Learn.’

On 7 November 1849, QCC opened its doors to a small group of students (only 115 students in that first session, 1849-1850) after a glittering inaugural ceremony in the Aula Maxima (Great Hall), which is still the symbolic and ceremonial heart of the University.

The limestone buildings of the Main Quadrangle (as it is now known) are built in a style inspired by the great universities of the Middle Ages, and theyre designed by the gifted architectural partnership of Thomas Deane and Benjamin Woodward. The iconic image of UCC, it is set in landscaped gardens and surrounds the green lawn known to all as the Quad.

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