A postgraduate course in Childhood and Youth and Education.

This course explores the external facing and strategic aspects of leadership and management in education, including the impact of environmental and internal organisational factors, leadership theories, perspectives and values, leading change strategy and collaboration and partnerships. E856 takes an experiential learning and reflective practitioner approach and helps you to examine current issues and concerns in your own practice settings and to be involved in peer collaborative learning. The course uses a blend of learning methods and includes a printed Reader containing material by major authors in the field and a DVD providing UK and international examples of leadership practice.

Register for the course

This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

This course enables you to explore current thinking on educational leadership and management, and encourages effective integration of theory and practice in developing your leadership skills. Designed to meet the professional development needs of teachers, middle and senior managers, and others working in educational and related organisations, the course will develop your understanding of educational leadership themes and concepts, as well as your skills of critical reflection, analysis and communication. You do not need to have a designated leadership post to benefit from E856.

E856 will enable you to develop your:

• knowledge and understanding of key themes and issues in educational leadership and management: theories, values, change and strategy, partnerships and collaboration
• understanding of the impact of changing contextual factors on educational organisations
• investigative understanding and skills
• ability to critically analyse and evaluate theoretical ideas and practice
• ability to reflect on and apply course ideas to your own practice both within your own organisation and with the community and other organisations and professionals with whom you work
• communication and team work skills.

Online group activities are an integral part of the course, closely linked to the assignments, enabling you to learn interactively, working with other students and your tutor. The audio-visual material is designed to extend your understanding of practice beyond your own personal setting, to help you draw on alternative contexts and perspectives to reflect on and develop your own practice, and develop your understanding of the importance and value of diversity and cross-cultural/national perspectives in educational leadership.

The assignments will enable you to apply what you learn to your own professional context. The end-of- module assignment (which takes the place of an examination) is a small scale leadership project that will both develop you as a leader and benefit your organisation.

E856 is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of practitioners both in the UK and more widely, from primary phase teachers through to college lecturers, heads of department, head teachers, those working in early years and youth work settings, and more specialised educational practitioners.

Vocational relevance

National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) applicants who hold the Master of Arts in Education (Leadership and Management) or the Master in Education (Leadership and Management) can use their prior learning in their NPQH application.

Entry

E856 can be studied on its own or as part of the Masters degree in Education (F01) , where it can count towards the leadership and management specialism.

You must hold a bachelors degree from a UK university or other recognised degree-awarding body, or a qualification at equivalent level.

A minimum score of 7 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is recommended for students for whom English is not a first language. Please see their website for details.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Qualifications

E856 is an optional module in our:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Education (C27)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Studies in Education (D52)
• MA in Childhood and Youth (F55)
• Masters degree in Education (F01)
• MA in Online and Distance Education (F10)

E856 is one of the modules you can select if you want to name your degree MA in Education (Leadership and Management) or Master of Education (Leadership and Management).

Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this module can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.

Excluded combinations

Sometimes you will not be able to count a module towards a qualification if you have already taken another module with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this module, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Module Regulations and the Student Regulations which are available on our Essential documents website.

If you have a disability

In this course you are expected to use a wide range of resources. Most of the study materials will be delivered as web pages, pdf files and web-based tools. Many tutorial and student-led discussions and activities will be carried out in text-based discussion forums online. To complement this interaction, some discussions and collaborative activities will take place as live events in our audio-conferencing environment, which combines voice, text and images.

We have tried to avoid using inaccessible resources, but some material that is core for the course may not be easily accessible if you use assistive technology. Some students may find the amount of reading from different sources challenging. In most cases there will be sufficient alternative activities and materials to enable you to complete assignments successfully. Where this is not the case, you will be given individual support by your tutor in collaboration with other University staff. Support for access to Library resources is available from the Library Helpdesk.

Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

Study materials

What's included

Study material and activities are provided online only by means of a dedicated website which also provides access to a range of electronic tools, including real time conferencing and online forums. All the online material is also supplied on DVD. You will be expected to search for other materials relevant to your assignments, and the course will provide you with help and guidance for your literature searching.

You will also be provided with access to Masters degree in Education qualification website, where additional guidance materials will be found.

Computing requirements

You will need a computer with internet access to study this course as it includes online activities, which you can access using a web browser.

• If you have purchased a new desktop or laptop computer since 2007 you should have no problems completing the online activities.
• If you’ve got a netbook, tablet or other mobile computing device check our Technical requirements section.
• If you use an Apple Mac you will need OS X 10.6 or later.

You can also visit the Technical requirements section for further computing information including the details of the support we provide.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

Your tutor will be responsible for assessing your assignments and providing detailed feedback on them. There are real time online tutorials, and further support is provided by online forums.

You will be expected to use the links on the E856 website to access articles and chapters relevant to your assignments and to use these and the University library’s electronic search facilities to search for other materials relevant to your assignments.

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details can be found in the facts box above.

You must use the online eTMA system to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and the end-of-module assessment.

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in October 2013. We expect it to be available once a year.

How to register

To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button.

Distance learning

The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high quality distance learning. Unlike other universities we are not campus based. You will study in a flexible way that works for you whether you’re at home, at work or on the move. As an OU student you’ll be supported throughout your studies – your tutor or study adviser will guide and advise you, offer detailed feedback on your assignments, and help with any study issues. Tuition might be in face-to-face groups, via online tutorials, or by phone.

For more information about distance learning at the OU read Study explained.

A taste of OU study

Your questions

Try our frequently asked questions.

Come and meet us at an event near you.

Or contact an adviser by Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90 +44(0) 845 366 60 35

Employers' questions

Contact Corporate Enquiries
Visit our website for employers or Email us

Get a prospectus

The University wishes to emphasise that, while every effort is made to regularly update this site, the material on it is subject to alteration or amendment in the light of changes in regulations or in policy or of financial or other necessity.