University College Cork

Educational Leadership

Course Outline
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, professional and pedagogical strengths and abilities to be an effective leader. Emphasis is placed on transformative leadership and team capacity-building.

Why Choose This Course
Course delivery over weekends means students do not need to commit to weekly attendance at College but attendace on the selected Saturdays is imperative.

Entry requirements

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. Example of the supplementary form which must be completed is displayed in this link: CKC18 Supp Form

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements available here.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country here.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants.

For more information please contact the International Office.

Duration

1 year part-time.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
This is a part-time programme is expected to run for 12 months from the date of first registration in early September for the programme and is open to Irish/EU students only as it is based part-time. We expect the first Saturday lecture will take place on 12th September 2020 but this will be confirmed at a later date. Please contact the School of Education to confirm the correct commencement date if you have not been informed of the commencement date.

The following details contained in this WEB link may be subject to some changes and will be updated accordingly. Prospective applicants can contact the School of Education, Job-Sharing Adminstrative Staff, to discuss the programme details at either of the following e-mail address: Ms. Anita Cronin a.cronin@ucc.ie or Ms. Claire Dooley c.dooley@ucc.ie : Telephone number : 353 (0)21 - 490 2467 Fax number 353 (0)21 - 4270291.

Number of credits

60 ECTS credits

Careers or further progression

Skills and Careers Information
The course is focused on leadership development and is aimed at those with some experience of leadership in an educational setting. This course will develop practices in individuals to contribute to career-long personal professional learning and development of others. It will focus on the followership/mentorship aspects of leadership.

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Connect with UCC News, Views and FAQs

School of Education : News Link: https://www.ucc.ie/en/education/news/

Further enquiries

Ms. Anita Cronin
e: a.cronin@ucc.ie
t: 353 (0)21 - 490 2467
http://www.ucc.ie/en/education/

Ms. Claire Dooley
e: c.dooley@ucc.ie
t: 353 (0)21 - 490 2467
http://www.ucc.ie/en/education/

Subjects taught

Students take 60 credits over the year:

ED6510 Organisational Management of the School (15 credits)
ED6511 Effective Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice (15 credits)
ED6512 Leading Learning and School Improvement (15 credits)
ED6513 Mentoring and Coaching Practicum in Educational Leadership (15 credits)

The focus is on effective 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 individuals 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.

Please click this link for further details contained in the UCC Postgraduate Calendar for information and descriptions of modules for the current academic year. PG Calendar

Link to University Postgraduate Academic Calendar for further details on the content and modules are available in Calendar - Book of Modules.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Comment

Course Practicalities
7th September 2020 is the start date for Semester 1 2020. We expect the first Saturday lecture will take place on 12th September 2020 but this will be confirmed at a later date. The programme will run over one academic year from September 2020 with four 15-credit modules held on a Saturday, each module taking place over two Saturdays. Modules will be delivered through a mixed mode of seminars, on-line discussion, self-study materials and work-based learning. Attendance is imperative on the applicable dates conveyed to students.

Assessment method

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

Application date

Applications for academic year 2020/2021 are open.

EU Applicants: UCC operates a rounds closing date system for the majority of postgraduate taught courses, which means offers are made four times a year on a rolling basis. Some courses have one specific closing date, please check your course prospectus page for this information.

The UCC rounds closing dates for postgraduate taught courses are below. Applicants are advised to apply as soon as possible.

Deadline for receipt of full applications:
For all completed applications received by January 10th 2020
Offers will be made by January 24th 2020

For all completed applications received by March 2nd 2020
Offers will be made by March 16th 2020

For all completed applications received by May 1st 2020
Offers will be made by May 15th 2020

For all completed applications received by July 1st 2020
Offer will be made by July 15th 2020

Late applications may be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for any courses that have remaining capacity.

Non-EU Closing Date: 15 June
Non-EU Applicants: Information for Non-EU applicants may be found on the International Office Website https://www.ucc.ie/en/international/