Leading and Managing Education Change

Module title	Leading and Managing Education Change
Module code	EFPM008Z
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff	Dr Sarah Cole (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	12 weeks in one of term 1,2,3	12 weeks in one of term 1,2,3	12 weeks in one of term 1,2,3

Number students taking module (anticipated)	30

Module description

The purpose of the module is to enable you to develop your understanding of change in educational institutions and to develop your own potential to manage and lead such change within and between such institutions. This will involve an examination of those qualities, competencies and behaviours associated with performing leadership and management roles as well as a consideration of the moral, social, economic and political dimensions of such activities. You will be exposed to and study practices designed to develop their leadership and management skills including coaching and mentoring. There will be a particular focus upon the leadership of learning and the assorted technologies and techniques that seek to change and enhance learning outcomes and processes. These will include a critical evaluation of approaches to raise learner achievements and the associated use of data, target setting and learner/institutional monitoring. You will be asked to focus upon a particular means of supporting and facilitating change in an educational context and to critically examine its efficacy.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The principal aim of this module is to facilitate your critical examination of educational change theories and practices so you might develop your own leadership and management practices accordingly.

In this module you will examine key questions such as:

• How is educational change understood and theorised?

• What is the relationship between educational change and the practices of education leaders and managers?

• What are the qualities, competencies and behaviours associated with the leadership and management of educational change and how do they relate to the wider political, social, economic and moral climate?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. demonstrate a critical understanding of the leadership and management of education change
2. critically evaluate different theoretical perspectives on the leadership and management of education change
3. demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the relationship between education change processes and the wider climate within which these occur

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. critically reflect upon and evaluate your own interpretation of education change and its application to education settings with which you are familiar
5. critically consider the relationship between the management and leadership of education change and research and policy
6. critically evaluate research evidence related to the leadership and management of education change

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

7. synthesise and organise ideas to present a comprehensive argument
8. critically evaluate your own leadership and management practices in relation to facilitating education change
9. critically consider the application of theoretical ideas, policy positions and research implications to educational leadership practices
10. undertake both directed and independent study to recognise, justify and analyse key ideas in education change, leadership and management literature and relate these to research, theory, policy and practice

Syllabus plan

The content of the module may change to reflect emerging and developing theory, research, policy and practices in the field of education change, leadership and management. Nevertheless it will consider key ideas, theories, technologies, techniques and practices and content is likely to include:

• Managing and leading educational institutions. Exploring the relationship between theory and practice.

• Leading and managing change in different educational settings. The role of context

• Leadership and management practices and educational change

• The relationship between change leadership and management in educational institutions and the wider political, social economic and moral environment

• Monitoring and evaluating teaching and learning in educational institutions

• Coaching and mentoring and the facilitation of educational change

• Examining the qualities, competencies, practices and behaviour associated with the ‘successful’ leadership and management of education change.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
48	252	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities	48	12 x 4 hours per week of online seminars
Guided Independent Study	48	Preparatory work for taught seminars (including reading; research tasks; collaborative tasks)
Guided Independent Study	104	Completion of directed study tasks integral to the taught seminars.
Guided Independent Study	20	Completion of formative assignment tasks
Guided Independent Study	80	Completion of summative assignment tasks

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	1,500 words	1-7	Written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	90	4,000 words	1-9	Written and grade
Engagement Log	10	500 words	10	Written and grade

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay (4,000 words)	Essay (90%)	1-9	8 weeks
Engagement Log (500 words)	Completion and quality of engagement log (10%)	10	8 weeks

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Ball, S.J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity, Journal of Education Policy, 18, 215-228.

Ball, S. and Junemann, C. (2012). Networks, New Governance and Education. Policy Press.

Biesta, G.J.J. (2010). Good Education in an Age of Measurement. Paradigm Publishers.

Blackmore, J. and Sachs J. (2007) Performing and Reforming Leaders: Gender, Educational Restructuring and Organizational Change. State University of New York.

Fletcher, S.J., and Mullan, C.A. (2012). Mentoring and Coaching in Education. Sage.

Hall, D., Gunter, H., and Bragg, J. (2013). The strange case of the emergence of distributed leadership in schools in England, Educational Review, 65 (4), 467-487.

Hall, D., & McGinity, R. (2015). Conceptualizing teacher professional identity in neoliberal times: Resistance, compliance and reform. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 23 (88).

Hargreaves, A., Liebermann, A., Fullan, M., and Hopkins, D. (1998). International Handbook of Education Change. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Perryman, J., Ball, S., Maguire, M., and Braun, A. (2011). Life in the Pressure Cooker – School League Tables and English and Mathematics Teachers’ Responses to Accountability in a Results-Driven Era. British Journal of Educational Studies, 59 (2), pp. 179-195.

Waite, D. and Bogotch, I. (eds) (2017). The International Handbook of Educational Leadership. Wiley-Blackwell Publishers.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Module Dropbox for sharing resources and materials

Key words search

Leadership, policy, practice

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	Yes
Origin date	7/10/2017
Last revision date	01/04/2025