MA in Catholic School Leadership: Principles and Practice
Aims and Learning Outcomes
Programme Aim: The aim is to provide a vocationally oriented programme of academic rigour, one that facilitates students in integrating a Catholic philosophy of education with the principles and practice of school leadership. Students should, as a result of following the programme, demonstrate greater confidence and competence in articulating and implementing the principal features of Catholic education in their work.
Programme Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the programme students should be able to:
- demonstrate familiarity with, and a capacity to comment critically on the relevance of, the essential guidance provided by the principal documents, at both national and international level, relating to Catholic education, in particular, that issued since the Second Vatican Council and up to the present day;
- integrate effectively a Catholic theological perspective with school leadership and management roles and responsibilities;
- contribute constructively to a critical dialogue with the living tradition of the church on issues relating to Catholic school and college management and to wider issues of educational policy in the UK context;
- carry out a spiritual leadership role within Catholic education;
- be able to reflect upon and write about educational concepts relevant to the tasks of leadership and management of schools and colleges;
- have developed critical and analytical skills, appropriate to MA level, which enable them to interpret the key texts and documentation commenting on or setting out pathways for educational leadership;
- review the operational effectiveness of current practices and policies in relation to the mission, curriculum, and community of Catholic schools and to design, carry out and evaluate action plans which contribute to Catholic school improvement;
- be able to identify and interrogate research findings and relate these to their own institutional practice;
- design and conduct an independent, self-reflexive, systematic and rigorous programme of research and investigation into an issue relevant to Catholic school leadership.
Underlying Perspective:
All modules seek to be rooted in, to be inspired by, to engage with and to exemplify the main teachings of the Church as these relate to education, those derived from Scripture, from tradition, especially the teaching of Vatican II and post-conciliar developments, with particular attention being given to the principles articulated by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the guidance provided, on their behalf, by the Catholic Education Service.
Work Pattern:
Each module represents a significant investment of time. In addition to attendance at taught sessions, time will need to be given to background reading, research, assignment writing etc. Most modules have 10 or 11 teaching sessions, plus tutorial support for students. A typical session, which is highly interactive, lasts 2.5 hours, with a break in the middle. All sessions take place outside of school teaching hours, either from 6.00 pm - 8.30 pm (which is the norm) or through intensive Saturday schools 10.00 am to 4 pm including lunch and the opportunity to spend time in the library. This part-time programme takes between two and five years. Students are usually expected to complete the programme in three years.
Assessment:
Professional/practical
(realism & effectiveness for school improvement: (a) context; (b) steps, activities/processes, with resource implications; (c) helping/hindering factors; (d) evaluation)
Academic
(reading, depth, critical analysis, methodology, coherent argument)
Communication
(signposting, structure, referencing, spelling, grammar, word limit)
Target Audience:
Teachers and others in the education service who have a special interest in, or responsibility for leadership and management in Catholic schools/colleges. Candidates should normally have completed at least three years of full-time or part-time equivalent teaching or work in a related field of education.
Modes of payment can be negotiated and spread across the period of study.
Programme Options:
Modules 1 to 4 are 30 credit modules.
- Postgraduate Certificate - 2 modules (module 1 and one other 30 credit module).
- Postgraduate Diploma - 1 to 4.
- MA Catholic School Leadership - All 5 modules
Features of the programme:
- Ongoing guidance and support for study skills continues throughout the programme, closely related to assignments for each course.
- Guided reading for sessions, with handout materials.
- Interactive lectures & presentations by tutor or visiting lecturer.
- Discussion - both plenary and in groups.
- Worksheets unpacking theory & relating this to practice - for both individual reflection and group work.
- Student in-class summaries of key articles, documents, chapters, materials.
- Student presentations on aspects of their experience, projects and problem areas.
- Frequent opportunities in class to practice small-scale writing exercises in response to course materials.
- Choice of assignments, all with a bearing on Catholic school leadership, most with a very close connection with current professional tasks.
- The deliberate nurturing of the group into a mutually supportive learning community, encouraging open discussion, with confidentiality preserved, networking outside the timetabled sessions, student reading and offering feedback to one another on drafts of writing, sharing plans, progress and difficulties.
- Close collaboration between tutors and students in identifying connections between course content and both secular (e.g. TTA/DfEE) and religious expectations (e.g. as outlined by CES/dioceses) of Catholic school leaders.
- Detailed feedback to students on their progress in addressing key criteria in assignments.
- Structured guidance for students in needs analysis, reviewing progress and setting targets.
- Students are formally consulted about all aspects of the programme, positive features and areas needing improvement, at the twice yearly Programme Board.
- Additional written guidance, about both the academic and the administrative aspects of the programme, is provided by the Programme Director from time to time, in the light of issues arising from student experience, tutors' perceptions, inspection comments, feedback from the External Examiner and quality assurance requirements.
