The Advanced Certificate in Education: Educational Management and Leadership Development as a qualification that supports sustainable development in the school context. Janis Wylie EMASA University of Cape Town July 2012

The ACE EMLD Qualification Aim To develop leadership & management competence for those in leadership positions & those aspiring to leadership positions Qualification An accredited career-related professional qualification consistent with the actual job profile Timeframe Part-time study period of two years Comprises of 10 Courses

Assumption ‘Transformational agenda’ of DoE implies that an individual in a leadership capacity in a school context can ‘change schools for the better’ (DoE, 2007)

School Improvement School improvement and change theory literature in the main stresses that it is the development of effective school leaders that brings about ‘the transformation of schools into continuous improvement’ (Fullan,2006: 7). This is based on producing more and better individuals as the route to changing the system. Fullan contends that 70% of success depends on simultaneously having a focus on changing individuals and the culture or system within the organisation.

Reports, such as The Rural Education Project(2010) and The Primary School Professional Learning Communities Project (2010) support this view Elmore(2004), Shulman & Shulman (2004),Supovitz, Sirinides and May (2010) Set up the choice of realist evaluation theory (Pawson and Tilley,1997)as the methodology for UCT research on ACE EMLD school change.

What influenced the UCT ACE EMLD Programme Design? Mentor and peer group support are factors in the ACE EMLD design which claims a contribution to the change in the school. Chapman and Allen (2006), Pecheone, Tyler and Ross (2006),Chapman & Fullan (2007), Katz & Earl (2010), Firestone & Pennell (1997) ‘Project work is a way of preparing students to take on their professional role in the world of work’ (Cooper and Von Kotze, 2009: 12).

What do we mean by competencies? PERSON KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION

The UCT ACE EMLD Programme Design 1.Contact Sessions: Lecturer/Peer learning 2.Mentor & Peer support 3.Assessment – Context related assignments – Work-based Projects – Portfolio of evidence – Site-Visits QUALIFICATION OF APPLIED COMPETENCY

Challenges Selection process Quality of leadership in place Equity Budget Academic qualification/practical implementation Choice of WBP’s Time with respect to individual development

What have we learned? Values of team and students Development of reflective practise at all levels Power of a positive role model Importance of context Students must focus on sphere of influence Differentiation with respect to assessment tasks

Research Question Are work-based projects initiated as part of an academic programme sustainable over time in a school context?

Origin of the question IF the ACE EMLD programme has specifically been tasked by the state (DoE, 2007) to improve the management and leadership potential of students from both a personal and professional perspective, with the aim of benefitting all school stakeholders THEN this anticipated enhanced management ability has an expectation to ultimately translate to an improvement in the performance of the learners

However..... there is no substantial evidence in support of such outcomes which is a serious situation in the light of the heavy weighting of the expectations and indicates a weakness that must be addressed work-based project reports and anecdotal evidence emanating from the schools following completion of the programme has not been tested in an empirical manner which a study will seek to rectify

The Realist Experimental Design (Pawson & Tilley, 1994: 300)

Research August 2012 The research will examine the sustainability of 2009 graduates’ work-based projects that emanated from course content in an academic programme in order to understand if the learning translates to a practise that contributes to change and sustainable development in a school context The study will have a benefit in contributing to the future delivery of the Advanced Certificate in Education: Education Management and Leadership Development academic programme within a higher education institution as well as providing information to assist students in achieving applied competency in the workplace. Furthermore it will seek to provide information on the university’s ability and role in transforming practices in the workplace through a project-based learning approach.

‘It should always be borne in mind that a school cannot be changed simply by training the principal. Unless there is a willingness among the staff and other stakeholders to engage in change and to improve the school, the position of the principal with creative new ideas could very much become that of a lone voice crying in the wilderness” (McFarlane, 2003:2).’