The MES program offers a variety of elective courses in the fall and winter semesters. Below are descriptions of the courses we are planning to offer during the 2017-2018 academic year, pending sufficient enrollment. Please note:
- The courses are offered only once per academic year.
- Online registration is unavailable. If you are interested in being put on the list of interested students for one of these courses, please contact the MES Graduate Secretary at email@example.com or 780-492-0998.
EDU 597 Organizational Behaviour in Educational Settings
EDU 597 The Moral Character of Leadership
EDU 597 Differentiated Instruction
EDU 597 Values and Leadership
EDU 597 Understanding Professional Development for Teachers
EDU 597 Gender and Educational Leadership
Increase your understanding and raise awareness of cooperative practices in educational organizations.
Working from assigned readings and experiences in educational settings, students will analyze a variety of models and theories related to organizational behaviour, group dynamics, and personal efficacy in group settings. Students will explore the roles of teamwork in education through online dialogue, as well as gain skills in reflective practice.
Examine the concept of leadership in the educational context.
Two popular notions of educational leadership—headship and distributed or participatory leadership—will be examined within a larger cultural context. An existential framework will be provided for the purpose of clarifying leadership dynamics. The ideas presented will have relevance to leadership in general and are inclusive of either of the above stated models of leadership. Within this framework we will examine leadership relative to management, organizational and group dynamics, self-awareness and engagement in leadership processes, etc. Of special consideration will be the importance of balancing attention to matters of significance (experience, meaning, and values oriented activity) with strategic processes. A model of spirituality and values will be introduced as a means of encouraging self (leadership) and community development. The course will include asynchronous discourse and a number of synchronous webconferencing sessions.
Explore the rationale and philosophy of differentiated instruction.
Few educators would argue that learner needs are diverse, whether in a classroom of children or adults. Many of the ideas behind differentiated instruction have been around for years, but recently researchers have begun to put some structure around these notions. It is important that educators understand these ideas, or differentiation then just becomes a “bag of tricks” as opposed to a way of thinking about learners and planning for instruction. The course work will also go beyond the framework, however, as the understanding of the theory will also be applied to creating units that can be used in a classroom or an adult learning context.
Facilitate personal/leadership development through the examination of values related to educational leadership.
The focus of applied concern will be personal values, organizational values, and values pertaining to communities of practice. This course will study values as a key leadership concept; examine an exemplary values framework for the practice of leadership; do a personal values assessment leading to a personal vision statement; reflect on how our personal values “fit” in the workplace and communities of practice; and finally, strategize personal and leadership development with respect to revealed priority “vision” related values.
Study, plan, and critique professional development (PD) models for teachers.
Participants will be encouraged to think about PD in their own context, for example small/large schools, rural/urban communities, or specialized/generalist professional practice.
The course is organized into four modules: assessing needs for professional development; identifying suitable forms of professional development for specific contexts; and evaluating professional development for specific contexts; and evaluating professional development activities and programs.
Explore the ways in which concepts of gender, leadership, and organizations intersect in the practices of administrators in educational settings.
Using gender as an analytical perspective, we will consider how gender acts as a powerful but often invisible influence on how schools organize learning experiences, how decisions are made about who does what, how children and young people socialize, and how opportunities are shaped by gender. Untangling the effects of gender on educational practice often means rethinking not only our professional but also our personal practices; therefore we will explore the ways in which gender-based research challenges traditional theories about leadership in educational organizations and leads to a reconceptualization of bureaucracy, power and authority, concepts and locations of leadership, administrative styles and ethics, and current educational policies. We will consider questions like Why? Is this fair? Who benefits and who doesn't? What would happen if we chose other ways of organizing schooling that took gender into consideration? What would this mean for school administrators?