Master s Degree. Program in Educational Leadership. Master of Educational Management and Leadership. Quality is not accidental

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1 Master s Degree Program in Educational Leadership and available online Master of Educational Management and Leadership Quality is not accidental Jukka Alava, Professor Faculty of Education Institute of Educational Leadership Finland

2 EXPERIENCE THE PISA SUCCESS OF FINNISH EDUCATION According to the OECD PISA study on students academic achievements, Finland has been ranked a world leader in the past decade. Finland s transformation from a rural, agrarian and poor country to a prosperous nation and a world leader in education, technology and competitiveness has been largely achieved through quality education. You can now join the hundreds of teacher and school leaders participating in our courses and training programs. It is now very easy to choose and select your own courses of particular interest to you from a list of a total 600 lectures provided under our program. Both the Master and the Master s Degree Programs in Educational Leadership are now available either on campus in Finland or online using the most modern e-learning pedagogy. The programs are based on the proven Finnish experience in education and adapted to the global customers and customized to their needs in a multicultural setting. This booklet gives an overview of the Master of Educational Management and Leadership program. BLENDED LEARNING ONLINE APPLICATION The University of Jyväskylä and The Institute of Educational Leadership have prepared the distance learning - virtual, e-learning - version on the basis of the on-campus Master s Degree Program to be utilized online in the internet. The idea is based on careful study on international needs for such a program, analyzing the position of Finland and Jyväskylä as providers of such a program, and on utilizing the most recent knowledge in e-learning pedagogy. All the programs are offered on fee basis. The level of the fees depends on the content and the list of selected products, the level and intensity of collaboration, and on the number of students in each programme. Please contact us at leaders@iel.jyu.fi or your own university for the applicability of a special fee arrangement. 1 Programme for International Student Assessment

3 THE RATIONALE IN DISTANCE LEARNING AND VIRTUAL TECHNOLOGY The virtual application of the program is prepared on the campus of the University of Jyväskylä where all the lectures are video recorded and all other studies are transformed into a distance learning format. The lecturers consist of professors and experts from the University of Jyväskylä, principals who have earned their doctorate in the PhD program provided by the Institute, and of high caliber international visiting professors. The recorded lectures have been edited and formatted to fit the distance learning application. Each course in the program consists of several lectures, readings and assignments, and links to internet-based materials. For each cohort starting the program, an e-learning coordinator, supervising teacher, and a director in charge are assigned. The students always work in small groups of ca. 10 people and there will be specific interaction among these groups based on virtual pedagogy. The program will be constantly updated when new courses are introduced to the campus version of the program. The virtual program does not mean a 100% virtual application. Depending on the length of the purchased program, representatives from the University of Jyväskylä and other international faculty will visit the local sites 2-3 times a year and conduct an on-campus seminar/lecture in consult with the e-learning modules and courses. The pedagogical approach is thus blended and interactive learning. Photographer: Jari Kuskelin

4 INVEST IN YOUR LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL International research shows that a school leader can make a difference in student learning performance and outcomes in teachers professional development in building a learning community in creating an innovative school culture in enhancing the school s values and vision in parent and stakeholder relations Also, we know that an educational administrator is in a key position to create and implement new visions and strategies to entire educational systems ensure the future creation of the region/nation in question develop the leadership capacity of the local school leader The Master program is an excellent choice for any educational administrator and school leader to enhance their leadership capacity. INVEST IN SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT The school leader is thus also a change agent or an architect to the school organization. Today, the school leader needs a vast amount of new competencies in this demanding task. The school leader must be able to design the structural solutions for the school formulate the mission and the vision for the school use participative methods in doing the previous manage and lead change administer team and group dynamics utilize the potential of each employee in the school network with the stakeholders The Master program is also an excellent choice for the entire management team of the school in implementing school development.

5 INVEST IN CREATING TEACHER LEADERSHIP It is a known fact that one school leader cannot alone make the changes or developmental efforts needed in schools today. The entire school community needs to be included in the process. This is a call for wider participation, with the teachers playing a key role. It is about shared and participative leadership. It is about rethinking the teachers role: it is about teacher leadership. We do not mean establishing new hierarchical positions for new assistant principals, but we truly mean rethinking the role of teachers. In addition to the traditional work of doing the teaching in the class, the new role of the teacher includes more responsibility in various duties of the school, from participating in the strategic change processes of the school itself, and continuing to the countless everyday activities of the school. To look even further, it is also about student leadership and, finally, about creating a community of leaders on top of the community of learners. A selection of individual courses, sessions or lectures from the Master of Educational Management and Leadership program is an excellent choice for teachers professional development. INVEST IN NATION BUILDING All over the world, nations are struggling to create a better future for their citizens, families, organizations, NGOs and businesses. It is about nation building. In that task one point is vital. It is the development of the entire educational system of the nation including the administrative policies and structure, regional and local educational administration, school work and educational practices and, of course, securing good leadership at school level. It is the responsibility of the ministry of education and the school administrator to guarantee the sustainable development of both the educational administrative system of the nation, teaching proficiency of all school teachers, and quality of all school leaders. The University of Jyväskylä and the Institute of Educational Leadership with their extensive network of both Finnish and international collaborators are the most reliable partners in building and executing even the most demanding projects in nation building and future creation.

6 STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM AND STUDIES The entire virtual application of the Master of Educational Management and Leadership program consists of 14 compulsory courses, with altogether 40 ECTS and of a selection of 11 optional courses with altogether 25 ECTS. With additional studies, the Master thesis and possible local studies, the entire Master of Educational Management and Leadership program comprises 80 ECTS. The code ECTS stands for the European Credit Transfer System applied in all European Union countries. Each course of the program consists of 4-10 sessions, each of which represents approximately 3 hours of lectures in the campus program. Each session in the e-learning programme consists of 4-8 individual lectures lasting approximately minutes. The entire Master program thus has about 600 individual lectures and thus is one of the most comprehensive distance learning applications of any Master s level program in the world. In studying the program you have many options. In addition to studying the entire Master or Master s Degree Program, you can make your own choices by selecting just those courses and sessions you need. All the courses, sessions, and lectures are presented in our course catalogue. REQUIREMENTS The Master program is suitable for educational leaders with some experience. A prerequisite is at least a Bachelor s Degree. It is also recommendable that the applicant has at least three years of relevant work experience. PROGRAM FEES The Master of Educational Management and Leadership is a fee-based program. Please contact us for more information about fees: leaders@iel.jyu.fi. The fee does not include books and other study material and possible travel costs, if study visits or internships are included in the personal study plan of the student. Special fees may apply to students in alliance and partner universities and for members of a professional association: please contact us or your own university for their applicability.

7 WE OFFER: MASTER OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM Compulsory e-learning courses 40 ECTS EDLS110 Orientation to Studies, 1 ECTS EDLS210 Leadership in Education, 4 ECTS EDLS250 Collaborative Teacher Leadership, 3 ECTS EDLS310 Foundations of Pedagogical Leadership, 4 ECTS EDLS320 Ethical and Responsible Leadership, 3 ECTS EDLS410 Comparative and International Education, 4 ECTS (Finnish students) or EDLS420 Case Finland: PISA Results and Some Reasons Behind It, 4 ECTS (Int l students) EDLS510 Management Structures and Administration of Educational Reform, 4 ECTS EDLS720 Interpersonal Communication, 2 ECTS EDLS730 Intercultural Competence in Educational Leadership and Multicultural Teamwork, 2 ECTS EDLS750 Leadership in Organizational Learning, 3 ECTS EDLS810 Reframing Leadership, 3 ECTS EDLS820 Leadership for Strategic Learning, 4 ECTS EDLS840 Leading Change, 3 ECTS Master thesis 15 ECTS Optional/compensatory studies 25 ECTS Optional e-learning courses EDLS220 History and Development of Leadership in Educational Organizations, 3 ECTS EDLS520 School Superintendency, 4 ECTS EDLS540 Leadership of Quality Work, Evaluation and Counselling, 3 ECTS EDLS610 Research Methods, 5 ECTS EDLS740 Dimensions of Leadership Behaviour, 2 ECTS EDLS830 Leading Knowledge Creation in Education, 2 ECTS EDLS011 Organizational Theory and Analysis, 3 ECTS EDLS012 Leading Creativity and Innovation, 3 ECTS EDLS013 Advanced Organizational Communication and Information Based Leadership, 3 ECTS EDLS015 Education Reform in Africa, 2 ECTS EDLS018 Educational Leadership in South Africa, 2 ECTS Optional other studies EDLS025 Internship 2-10 ECTS EDLS Alliance universities courses 2-4 ECTS EDLS International conference participation 2-4 ECTS EDLS036 Literature 2-10 ECTS

8 COMPULSORY COURSES EDLS110 ORIENTATION TO STUDIES (1 ECTS) The orientation course leads the students to the objectives of the program, introduces its pedagogical foundations and provides a basis for developing competences in the program. First cohort , Photographer: Jari Kuskelin This introductory course familiarizes students with the learning environment and ICT systems of the program. This course is aimed at building the prerequisites for the studies. EDLS210 LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION (4 ECTS) This course focuses on different definitions and dimensions of leadership, core elements of organizational behaviour, organizational culture, and organizational change. The aim is to give perspective to the most important elements of leadership dimensions in educational organizations. Special attention is given to behaviour and interaction, to the role of an educational leader, to organizational culture, and to leadership for strategic learning. Jukka Alava, Professor

9 EDLS250 COLLABORATIVE TEACHER LEADERSHIP (3 ECTS) Jukka Alava, Professor The role of schooling and educating is taking an ever more important role in nation building and future creation. Traditionally, schools and educational administration systems have been rather hierarchical, bureaucratic and top-down entities. The old model has been heavily criticized and today we are building organizations that are more flexible, networkbased internally and externally, flat structured, and professionally oriented. Leading schools is dramatically changing from the old paradigm of top-down administration to school-based management and leadership. The concept of leadership is evolving from a one-leader paradigm towards collaboration, participation and teacher leadership. EDLS310 FOUNDATIONS OF PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP (4 ECTS) The goal of the course is to orient students to pedagogical leadership and to developing their own pedagogical leadership cultures. The students will familiarize themselves with the main learning theories and with curriculum work as a tool for pedagogical leadership. Through studying the relevant models concerning pedagogical leadership and sharing practical experience of the students, the aim is for the students to be able to build their own models for pedagogical leadership. During the course, discussions about the key questions of pedagogical leadership will be addressed: what it is, why it is important, what role context plays, how one builds and applies one s own model. Mika Risku, Researcher

10 EDLS320 ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP (3 ECTS) This course focuses on the core areas of leadership ethics, responsibility and professional identity. The goal of the course is to give participants instruments for them to develop as educational leaders. Problem solving and decision making become easier for those who fully understand their own leadership identity and its ethical foundations. The course also focuses the students on the relationship of responsible leadership and an ethics of care and caring, and how it materializes in creating an everyday quality social environment for learning for our students from diverse social backgrounds. Through studying relevant theory and practical models, and relating them to their personal leadership ethics and cultural context, the students will build practical models of ethical schools, to ensure effective learning results. Kaija Teikari, Lecturer EDLS410 COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (4 ECTS) Arild Tjeldvoll, Professor The purpose of the course is to introduce the field of comparative and international education and present recent education policy reforms in selected countries. Globalization itself seems to push for convergence of education policies worldwide. However, there are also important local legacies in terms of curriculum philosophy and culture for learning operations. These legacies are in different ways modifying the pace of convergence trends. Having the field of comparative and international education as backdrop, the course will concretize current policy trends by focusing on some selected country policies. Parallel to converging national policies, an increasing number of international schools is appearing around the world. Their curriculum and organization are analyzed as particular education effects of international education trends caused by globalization. The effects of internationalization on school leadership will be the focal point throughout the course.

11 EDLS420 CASE FINLAND: PISA RESULTS AND SOME REASONS BEHIND IT (4 ECTS) Vuorinen, Kuorelahti, Sarjala, Välijärvi, Rasku-Puttonen, Huttunen, Walker and Viiri. Finland has succeeded exceptionally well in the last three PISA assessments (2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009), which has resulted in a growing international interest in the educational system of Finland. With the assistance of various professors at the University of Jyväskylä and other experts, the students will explore the various reasons behind the success of Finland in PISA and discuss the possibilities/ impossibilities of applying these results to different countries and cultures. EDLS510 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES AND ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM (4 ECTS) The goal of the course is to detect the complex and multifaceted picture of the field where the school leader operates: local, regional, national and international structures, resources and challenges. The basic focus of the course is on exploring the theoretical and practical structure of educational administration in one municipality, one education provider, and analyze the possibilities and problems brought up to administrative and pedagogical authority and expertise. From this basis, we expand the illustration on the policies, cultures, and pressures to network that challenge the concept of school and education system to change, as well as the role of management in centralized and decentralized administration. Lea Kuusilehto, Researcher Photographer: Jari Kuskelin Special attention is given to the societal and sociological perspectives of the school system and educational policy.

12 EDLS720 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (2 ECTS) The course deals with aspects of intercultural communication and leadership with a special focus on interpersonal communication. The contents will comprise issues such as the development of relationships within multicultural contexts, stereotypes and other aspects of human behaviour that may affect interpersonal communication relationships in intercultural contexts. Lotta Kokkonen, Lecturer EDLS730 INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MULTICULTURAL TEAMWORK (2 ECTS) Liisa Salo-Lee, Professor The course deals with intercultural communication and leadership with a special focus on intercultural competence in the multicultural educational contexts. The aim of the course is to critically study existing approaches and models of intercultural competence and review them by incorporating new approaches, including the ethical dimension of communication. Measuring intercultural competence as well as training for effective intercultural interactions in professional contexts will also be discussed.

13 EDLS750 LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (3 ECTS) During the past several decades education systems have faced rapidly changing global economic and cultural conditions that are compelling district, municipal and federal leaders to ensure that all children learn. These shifts not only have increased the complexity of school and district work but also require leaders to gain new knowledge, evidence-based practical understandings, and skills of how to manage and improve schools and education systems. Although the value of middle management teams has been recognized in a wide variety of organizations, getting the most out of groups requires an understanding of how to staff, structure and manage them. Consequently, this course is designed to examine collaborative leadership roles of superintendents and principals in creating effective teams and building the organizations capacity to engage in continuous improvement efforts. Students will familiarize themselves with published articles in journals to identify theories and research findings on organizational learning, group dynamics, executive team leadership, team-building, teamwork, collaboration, teacher empowerment, distributed leadership and professional learning communities. Lars Björk, Professor EDLS810 REFRAMING LEADERSHIP (3 ECTS) Traditionally, leadership has been seen as a remedy to the problems the organization faces, and in doing so, it has very often been misunderstood. Several leadership models and frameworks do not take in to account that leadership is contextbound, situational, and often takes place in complex settings. To be successful and effective in leadership requires more in-depth approaches and thorough understanding than was possible with the one-sided approaches of leadership. The rationale of this course is in realizing that getting to know different perspectives and framework in studying organizations and leadership, will give us a more thorough understanding on organizational events. The goal of the course is to increase students ability to critically observe educational organizations and based on that analysis develop organizations and also their own leadership behaviour. Through deepening their theoretical understanding, students are more capable of exploring and evaluating real-life situations. Via critical observation of present organizational structures and management systems the students become capable of working as change agents in their own organizations. Learning and understanding will deepen through comparing the perspective attained through different frames of reference. The aim is to get a wide and well-grounded view of organizational phenomena and thus avoid narrow and stereotypical interpretations. Jukka Alava, Professor

14 EDLS820 LEADERSHIP FOR STRATEGIC LEARNING (4 ECTS) The focus of this course is to build an overarching perspective on strategic thinking in educational organizations. There is an important change in organization theory from strategic planning into strategic thinking, and this course gives perspectives to reorient the roles of educational organizations at school, district and national levels. The goal of this course is also to explore the special features of professional organizations, because educational organizations are in their very essence professional. The major changes that schools and other educational organizations undertake worldwide, call for leadership skills, professionalism, and organizational system-wide learning. The call to create communities of learners has increased. The aim of the course is thus to explore the core elements in organizational learning and in creating communities of learners, and to integrate individual learning into organizational change processes. By introducing the most recent research findings, the students are given possibilities to combine research to their real-life situations. Analyzing the notion of the cognitive trail, an organization s readiness for change is explored. Jukka Alava, Professor EDLS840 LEADING CHANGE (3 ECTS) One of the most common themes in educational organizations in most countries is change, but at the same time it is one of the least understood phenomena. The goal of this course is to construct, based on the intensive research on organizational change, a variety of approaches to change. Jukka Alava, Professor In this effort, emphasis is given to both organizational dynamics in change and elements of individual behaviour when facing change. In this respect, the key points are understanding change resistance, facing strong individual feelings, and understanding the power of emotions at workplace.

15 OPTIONAL STUDIES EDLS220 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (3 ECTS) This course gives an overview of leadership and management in educational organizations and institutions. The purpose is to apply general views of leadership to the school context and to give an introduction into different perspectives of educational leadership. Students are presumed to have a basic knowledge of different perspectives of leadership (see EDLS210). The course focuses on the historical development of school leadership. Special attention is given to different ways of conducting school leadership training in various countries. When participating in this course, students are expected to familiarize themselves with the school leadership training in their own (or neighbouring) country by writing a report on that. Kyösti Värri, Lecturer EDLS520 SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENCY (4 ECTS) Lars Björk, Professor The goal of this course is to examine the role of superintendents and directors/ceos in vocational education in the emerging social, economic, and political contexts that are changing the nature of schooling, altering how schools are viewed, and transforming how they are led. Special emphasis is upon the development and implementation of policy and team leadership for high performing educational systems. The aim is to examine with an international perspective the changing nature of the superintendency, work characteristics as well as management and leadership responsibilities including the superintendent as an educational, managerial, political leader and change agent. The four conceptions of the superintendency provide a framework for identifying and analyzing problems and discrimination among alternative courses of action.

16 EDLS540 LEADERSHIP OF QUALITY WORK, EVALUATION AND COUNSELLING (3 ECTS) Quality learning outcomes have always been in the interest of educational administration worldwide. Depending on different cultures and countries, there have been different paradigms behind the efforts to achieve them. This course examines how to lead schools and education policy within the framework of quality, accountability and effectiveness, and how quality is enhanced through the commitment to Education for All, effective guidance and counselling and support systems. The students will familiarize themselves with different aspects of school effectiveness research and different approaches to understanding and evaluating school quality. Alava, Sahlberg, Risku EDLS610 RESEARCH METHODS (5 ECTS) The aim of this course is both to clarify the purpose of doing research into educational leadership and to elaborate on the use of research results in school development. The goal of this course is to give the students such an understanding of the research process and research methods that they can independently do their Master thesis, and to use a research approach in their practical work. Special attention is given to identification of researchable problems in educational leadership and to formulating research questions. Key concepts and approaches in education and in human sciences are introduced. Students will familiarize themselves with published articles on research performed in educational administration and leadership, and critique them, so that they will learn to read and utilize academic research on the field. The course covers both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Will be tailor-made for each student

17 EDLS740 DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR (2 ECTS) The purpose of this course is to learn the development of the concept and research paradigms of organizational leadership. In particular, the course focuses on the main perspectives of effective leadership behaviour, ethics in leadership, and leadership and gender. Anna-Maija Lämsä, Professor EDLS830 LEADING KNOWLEDGE CREATION IN EDUCATION (2 ECTS) Jukka Alava, Professor Education is a question of the transfer of values from one individual to another, socialization and preparation for the future. Both the work community in an educational establishment and the surrounding society will expect the principal or management team to take responsibility for developing the knowledge base of the whole school community. The perception of true knowledge does in fact require all the members of the school community as well as the principal to possess an exceptional sensitivity for interpreting complex changes taking place in their operating environment, the skill of conducting valuebased discussions on developmental needs and the ability to adapt their own activities to the needs of the pupils. This means that essential knowledge in a school is inevitably associated with skills and systems at the individual, group and community levels. It is through revision of its knowledge base that a school can fulfill its debt of accountability to society at large and support the pupils learning and growth as moral, skilled and cultured human beings. Leading knowledge creation in education is linked with building multi-professionalism. This kind of competence can be seen as a wide knowledge-base and flexible ability to apply new knowledge. The goal of the course is to give the students a firm theoretical basis to analyze leading knowledge creation in education.

18 EDLS011 ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY AND ANALYSIS (3 ECTS) Jukka Alava, Professor The goal is to provide a wide perspective of different organization theories and insights into understanding organizations. The rationale of the course lies in the fact that organizational theories do not develop in a vacuum. They reflect what is going on in the world, nationally, internationally and filtered by the existing culture. The topics covered are 1) structure, operations, and development of organizations, 2) internal dynamics of organizations, 3) organizations and their environments, 4) different foundations of organization theory, 5) basics of organizational analysis. EDLS012 LEADING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION (3 ECTS) Today s organizations both in business and in education and in the public sector in general call for innovation and creativity. Creativity and innovation are vital in school, at the workplace, in research and in the arts. Research has shown that among thirty-three possible characteristics, organizational leaders chose creativity as the most important characteristic for leaders. The need for organizations to become more innovative has probably never been greater. Creativity is closely linked to learning, and continuous learning is one of our most important tasks. Organizational innovativeness, on the other hand, is linked to their very existence. In today s turbulent environment educational organizations need creativity and innovation to meet new challenges: to achieve continuous improvement through renewal, rapid development, and excellent educational service. Jukka Alava, Professor

19 EDLS013 ADVANCED ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION BASED LEADERSHIP (3 ECTS) The focus of this course is to explore communication as a means of strategic leadership. The contents include internal and external communication and planning and leading communication processes from the perspective of knowledge management and leadership. Jaakko Lehtonen, Professor EDLS015 EDUCATION REFORM IN AFRICA (2 ECTS) The purpose of the course is getting to know the Continent through perspectives varying from the Colonial rule and its educational legacy, to freedom and expansion of education post freedom. The course also explores the management challenges and opportunities plus progress and problems, which these backgrounds produce. Johan Beckmann, Professor EDLS018 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA (2 ECTS) The course is to introduce South Africa, its history, its recent reforms, its education system and their interconnectedness. The aim is to focus on the legal and policy reforms since 1980 and their influence on education, and the challenges South African educational reform deals with. Johan Beckmann, Professor

20 BASED IN FINLAND The Master program is based on the Finnish experience on education utilizing our wide international network. CONTACT INFORMATION Web address: For regional and national projects please contact Professor, PhD, Jukka Alava: For any other information please contact Project Director Päivi Kananen: Postal address: Department of Education Institute of Educational Leadership/MEd P.O. Box 35 (Agora, D310) FI University of Jyväskylä Finland