Education Policy, Leadership and Professional Learning

Course (3 credits/ course) Description
Education Policy Studies: Approaches, Analyses, and Implications This course is intended for those who need to deal with various policy initiatives day to day (e.g., teachers, panel heads), those who want to learn more about education policy process as they are new to the field, and/or those who want to develop professional/academic careers in relation to policies. It helps students understand the political nature of policy processes and the different approaches to policy study, as well as analyse the policy process throughout its ‘cycle’. Finally, students will have the opportunity to rethink the role of education policy in a society. Thus, it will help participants respond to and appropriate policies in an informed way, in line with their own career goals and ethical stances. Students who choose policy studies as their research area may use this course to build the foundation for their doctoral project.
Problem-based Approaches to School Improvement Teacher education is the starting point for quality education. Quality teachers are essential to enable children, our future social vanguards, to embrace the challenges of tomorrow. Global determinants of “quality education” are changing rapidly. Shifting notions of teacher professionalism puts priority on critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Teachers are expected to adopt a problem-based approach to their own teaching practice, set goals for their own learning, and initiate school improvement. This course supports course participants with the skills to adapt research trends in teacher and school development from global to local contexts. Course participants are expected to be proactive in engaging problem-based research, which supports inquiry-based practices in (1) professional-based problem finding and problem solving; (2) making multiple-frameworks relevant to practice; (3) reflective evaluation of proposed change. Course participants will find this course useful in developing the skills to improve teaching and learning through problem-solving and critical thinking. Course participants are encouraged to approach this course with ideas about how practice can be improved rigorously, ethically, and from a global perspective.
Leading for Educational Change and Innovation The role of educational leaders has become more challenging than ever in the era of global educational reform and increasing accountability. To enact the changing roles of educational leaders in turbulent times, this course provides an opportunity for students to develop a critical and reflective understanding of educational change and innovation in the international, regional and local contexts. It is designed to prepare current and future educational leaders for today’s and tomorrow’s organizations across all educational sectors. This course comprises three major themes, namely, leadership theories for change and innovation; leadership competences for educational change and innovation; and contextualizing theories/models in practice. Students will be encouraged to examine leadership and management theories and theoretical models for change and innovation, identify major contextual and ethical issues on leadership implementation, and explore educational leaders’ competences for leading change and innovation. Students will have an opportunity to explore an area of interest and contextualize leadership through undertaking a small-scale practitioner research inquiry, leading to evidence-based innovation and scholarly knowledge enhancement. 
Building Teacher Capacity Building teacher capacity is crucial to the quality of education. This course provides a scholarly basis of the work of teacher educators, mentors, and leaders of teacher learning and professional development providers. It prepares students with conceptual perspectives to examine policies, processes and practices in building the capacity of teachers in different phases of teacher development: (1) initial teacher education of prospective teachers; (2) induction of beginning teachers; and (3) in-service teachers’ lifelong learning. The course acquaints students with knowledge and insights into research trends and issues related to building the capacity of teachers in face of the challenges of the 21st century in local and international contexts.
Educational Leadership: Theory, Research, and Practice This course is to help experienced professionals to gain high levels of practical as well as theoretical understanding of educational leadership research. This course explores underlying theories, impactful research and core practices in the field of educational leadership. This course is organized under the dominant categories of who, what, and how of educational leadership. Specifically, the question ‘who’ concerns the different levels of leaders in the education sector; ‘what’ explores the major leadership styles prevalent at different historical stages and ‘how’ refers to the core leadership practices. Participants will be guided to employ an analytical and critical perspectives to understand prevalent approaches used in educational leadership research. This course will better equip participants with advanced skills and knowledge necessary for evaluating as well as conducting theoretical inquiry and research in the area of educational leadership.
Intercultural Policy and Practice in a Diverse, Global World Research shows that positive intercultural relations have clear benefits for: student achievement, school completion and progression to teritiary education; social and mental health; teachers’ well-being; and community cohesion. This course will provide an indepth knowledge of the theories and issues related to interculturality and intercultural education. It will examine the latest global, regional and local policies and support measures to build positive intercultural relations in schools and communities. Case studies from international contexts will be used to illustrate intercultural education in practice, and their relevance to the local conditions will be evaluated.