1.Demonstrate systematic understanding of a range of management and leadership approaches and the importance of leadership, motivation and teamwork interpersonal skills, in achieving quality provision for children with the involvement of stakeholders

2. Communicate and analyse practical competence when working with, and managing children's learning environment, in an early year’s setting.

3. Critically reflect on the importance of effective communication when initiating change

Presentation documenting the process of instigating a small change within an early year’s environment, relating to pedagogy and critically evaluating its effect on the staff, children and parents/carers involved, making reference to leadership and management theory.

The presentation should include the rationale behind the change and the implications for the children, staff and parents/carers. Students will critically reflect upon the strategies and interpersonal skills used to communicate aspects of the change to colleagues, children and their parents/carers

(Weighting 100%) (LOs 1,2,3)

Formative Assessment: Opportunities to review a plan and a draft of the presentation with tutors will be made available at appropriate times during the module.

The aim of this module is to support student practitioners working within early years’ teams to reflect on their understanding of pedagogical leadership. They will evaluate the role of a pedagogical leader and examine how this can be developed further or improved through professional reflection and dialogue. Dilemmas and debates will be explored.

The module will introduce students to the main concepts of management theory and human and physical resources management. Students will link and critically evaluate general management theories, to the principles of leadership, team building, delegation and motivation. Financial and physical resources will be examined within the context and constraints of the early year’s setting. Students will consider the management of change and the major influences to bring this about.

What is effective pedagogical leadership?

A key element of the module is to enable you to link research in pedagogy with practice; the role of the reflective practitioner to support effective pedagogical leadership. This module helps you to evaluate the role of a pedagogical leader and examine how this can be developed further or improved through professional reflection and dialogue.

The teaching, learning and assessment strategy has been carefully developed for this module. It recognises you may bring practical experience and knowledge of specific contexts to share with others. This pool of practical experience will be used to promote discussion and debate, which will build upon existing knowledge to encourage reflection and critical thought. You will be an active participant in your learning and engage with online learning, some¿face to face¿content, group activities and individual tasks set.¿ You will be encouraged to be a critical thinker and apply your learning in an academic and professional context.¿ Some sessions require prior reading and independent research to inform the sessions.¿
A digitally enabled approach will be used to support both virtual and face to face opportunities.¿¿

University workshops will draw upon your experience and help you to interpret that experience in the light of current thinking on teaching, learning, assessment and schooling in relation to literacy and numeracy. You will also be asked to use the ideas explored in the sessions in planning your future work. You will also be asked to collaborate with others in preparing and presenting your work.¿¿

The methods are designed to provide practical contexts for the analysis of contemporary issues and problems of a practical nature. The following strategies will be adopted to ensure that you have a supportive teaching and learning environment, providing a range of learning opportunities¿¿

Work Related Learning – You will be required to reflect on values, practices, assumptions and work-place policies in your taught sessions. Work-based activities either as class based simulated tasks or in the workplace help students to establish connections between the workplace and issues raised by the programme.¿

Lectures - You will be given lectures which will provide theoretical underpinning on key educational concepts. These may take the form of face-to-face, digital or virtual sessions¿

Tutorials – You will be given the opportunity to discuss work-related and academic concerns in small group tutorials and/or individual tutorials. This will support the development of theoretical understanding.¿

Guided reading and supported self-study – You will be provided with booklists and reading tasks in order to enable you to engage with relevant and appropriate debates.¿

This module will also provide opportunities for you to:¿

Work¿with others¿

develop interpersonal skills¿

demonstrate the capacity to plan, share goals, and work as a member of a team¿

communicate and present oral and written arguments¿

Campbell,-Barr, V and Leeson, C (2016) Quality Leadership in the Early Years. London: Sage

Davis, G and Ryder, G (2016) Leading in Early Childhood London: Sage

O’Sullivan, J. and Sakr, M (2022) Social Leadership in Early Childhood: An introduction. London. Bloomsbury Academic.

Whalley, M.; John, K., Whitaker, P. and Klavins, E (2018) Democratising Leadership in The Early Years. A Systemic Approach. London. Routledge

Unless otherwise stated, all books are available online through Staffordshire University library website when logged in using your university username and password. If you have difficulty accessing these, please contact the University library. There is also an online reading list for each module on this course. To access this, go to http://staffs.rebuslist.com/ and then type in the module code in the search box. Do not worry if this list seems excessively long. You may wish to focus on texts which are most relevant to your education sector. This module covers a wide range of texts and you may find that you only need to read short sections of the texts listed (or from other texts that you may find in libraries or journals). Your tutor will also advise you on the relevant texts and sections of texts to read. Remember that it is important to show you have considered views from a wide range of sources. When referring to texts in your assignment, always use https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/refzone for guidance. There are many versions of Harvard referencing systems in use around the world, but for Staffordshire University, Refzone Harvard system is the only correct method to use.

Study skills:

For guidance on academic writing, remember that the Staffordshire University library holds a wealth of resources to support study skills at https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/study-skills. The study skills team can also provide 1 to 1 support

VLE Resources¿¿¿

Your University VLE will enable you to have access to course materials, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and reading lists.¿ Your VLE offers opportunities to engage in group work and independent learning¿by the use of¿such things as synchronous/asynchronous discussion boards, video links, blogs and wikis.