Unit rationale, description and aim

As educational systems and schools are challenged to focus on increasing excellence and equity for all students, teacher leadership is a critical lever for improving schools and educational outcomes. Educational leaders, regardless of their roles, are tasked with the need to understand the complex contexts in which improvement and innovation are initiated, as well as the emotional and relational nature of change, in addition to its technical aspects.

This unit is uniquely placed within the course to support the leadership development of its participants and engage them to critically develop and apply leadership knowledge and skills beyond their classroom that are still relevant to their career stage and school context in an era of constant change. Pre-service teachers will develop knowledge about current theories and practices of leading improvement, innovation and change in education. They will develop and apply skills in building a case for change by critically analysing complex issues in authentic school contexts. They will apply this knowledge and skills to their own school environments in planning to lead and participate in efforts to drive improvement, innovation, and change that result in improved outcomes of education for all students within their context. This unit focuses on examining and critically reflecting on leading improvement, innovation and change as core features of the educational landscape and central to the work of educational leaders today.

2026 10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

EDLE605 Leading Educational Change , EDLE658 Leading Innovation

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Critically reflect on and challenge personal attit...

Learning Outcome 01

Critically reflect on and challenge personal attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, privileges, prejudices and stereotypes and determine practical implications for teaching and engaging professionally with students, parents/carers, colleagues, and other members of communities (APST 1.3, 3.7, 7.1, 7.3, 7.4)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC3

Synthesise a sophisticated understanding of the ro...

Learning Outcome 02

Synthesise a sophisticated understanding of the role of government, the education system, societal expectations, and school philosophies or mission statements in promoting or preventing equity and excellence in schools
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC4

Critically analyse contemporary evidence, both the...

Learning Outcome 03

Critically analyse contemporary evidence, both theoretical and practical, of the application of educational leadership approaches seeking to create improvements in schooling
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2

Critically evaluate complex challenges impacting s...

Learning Outcome 04

Critically evaluate complex challenges impacting schooling outcomes and potential solutions, extrapolating relevant theories and contemporary evidence, and implications for leadership practice (APST 1.3, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 6.1, 6.2)
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2

Content

Topics will include: 

  • Leadership and self-leadership
  • Defining teacher leadership
  • The philosophical foundations of leadership and how values reflected in these approaches impact on personal and professional life in educational communities
  • Practical experiences of analysing ethical and moral dilemmas for individuals and the implications of these experiences for their future as leaders of educational communities
  • Leadership that makes a difference: Contemporary research and theories on leading teaching and learning
  • Theories, models and frameworks of creativity, innovation and change
  • Leadership in adversity
  • The application of models, methods and approaches to leading improvement, innovation and change in educational settings

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment strategy centres around the practical application of knowledge of leadership to a school context. The assessments are designed to align with and create an authentic space for a teacher-focused model.

Pre-service teachers will be able to draw from their extensive, sustained professional experience in their placement school to provide the basis for critical analysis of the complexities and challenges that underpin adaptive change in education, and as the context for them to develop and implement an appropriately scaled proposal to support school improvement efforts. T

Assessment task 1 and 2 do not assume positional leadership or large-scale change initiatives, but rather, provides an opportunity to demonstrate teacher leadership in a manner that is appropriate to the level of experience of the participant in the course, whilst still providing an opportunity to demonstrate that they have developed in-depth knowledge of key principles of educational leadership and change. Both reflect the application of theoretical knowledge and insight to practical contexts to enhance educational outcome and efficiency. While the assessment task 1 case study assesses LO’s 1, 2 and 3, assessment task 2 creates a proposal for change and realises LO’s 3 and 4 where the focus is on linking theory to practical school-based context.

Minimum Achievement Standards

The assessment tasks and their weighting for this unit are designed to demonstrate the achievement of each learning outcome. To pass this unit, students are required to submit all assessment tasks, meet the learning outcomes of the unit and achieve a minimum overall passing grade of 50%.

Overview of assessments

Assessment Task 1: Case study Case study of a ...

Assessment Task 1: Case study

Case study of a leadership challenge in your context.   

With reference to theories and models of innovation and change, and the research into leadership of educational change and improvement critically analyse an educational improvement and/or innovation initiative from your professional context.

Critically examine and reflect on the values, principles, practices and processes of the leadership required to lead the educational change and the impact on practice within this case study

Weighting

50%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2
Graduate Capabilities GC3, GC4
Standards APST(GA)1.3, APST(GA)3.7, APST(GA)7.1, APST(GA)7.3, APST(GA)7.4

Assessment Task 2:  Proposal for chang...

Assessment Task 2:  Proposal for change

Develop, implement and evaluate a proposal to address the challenge specified in Assessment Task 1.

Alternatively, you can identify any other challenge for change in your work context and develop a proposal for change to address that independently from assignment 1. 

 Apply your knowledge of the theoretical, political and emotional dimensions of change and the research on educational leadership to create a small-scale proposal and plan to contribute leadership in your professional context that promotes positive educational change. 

The proposal and plan should include a rationale and case for change, a proposed approach to positively contribute towards the change, a critically reflection on the values, principles, practices and processes required of your leadership to effectively lead the change. The final part of the report will be an evaluation of the challenges and benefits of the project, including implications for longer term leadership development and activity.

Weighting

50%

Learning Outcomes LO3, LO4
Graduate Capabilities GC2
Standards APST(GA)1.3, APST(GA)3.1, APST(GA)3.3, APST(GA)3.4, APST(GA)3.5, APST(GA)6.1, APST(GA)6.2

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The learning and teaching strategy is informed by two key principles. The first is that conceptual understanding of change leadership in education is best developed by studying multiple illustrations of best practice and deriving critical insights regarding the complexity surrounding and often inhibiting school improvement efforts, as well as key levers to effectively lead change. In this unit, pre-service teachers will engage with, discuss, and distil key principles of change leadership in education from examining case studies and examples of real-world, school-based change leadership in a variety of educational contexts, focusing on schools and students impacted by educational disadvantage. The second principle channels Knowles’ andragogical principles arguing that adults learn best when they do so through experiential learning. Therefore, group discussions and directed learning will prioritise, alongside the reading of scholarly research, the exploration of school improvement opportunities in pre-service teachers' contexts, and the development of their proposal.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

3.1 Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.

3.3 Include a range of teaching strategies.

3.4 Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning.

3.5 Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.

3.7 Describe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.

6.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs.

6.2 Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers.

7.1 Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.

7.3 Understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers.

7.4 Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Branson, C. M., Marra, M., Franken, M. & Penney, D. (2018). Leadership in higher education from a transrelational perspective. Bloomsbury Academic. 

Bush, T. (2021). Assessing successful school leadership: What do we do? Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 49(5), 687-689. 

Dumas, C. & Beinecke, R. H. (2018). Change leadership in the 21st century. Journal of Organisational Change Management, 31(4), 867-876. 

Frost, D. (Ed.) (2017). Empowering teachers as agents of change: a non-positional approach to teacher leadership: University of Cambridge Press.  

Fullan, M. (2017). The new meaning of educational change. Teachers College Press. 

Hattie, J. (2015). High impact leadership. Educational Leadership, 72(5), 36-40.  

Hattie, J. (2023). Visible learning: The sequel. Routledge. 

Hodges, J. (2021). Managing and leading people through organisational change. 2nd edition. Online Resources. 

Kotter, J. P., Akhtar, V. & Gupta, G. (2021). Change: How organizations achieve hard-to-imagine results in uncertain and volatile times. Wiley.  

Schillinger, C. (2022). Dare to un-lead: The art of relational leadership in a fragmented world. Figure 1 Publishing. 

Slattery, M. (2024). Education strategy in a changing society. Routledge.  

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