PG Diploma in Educational Leadership

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