Module Specifications.
Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025
All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).
As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Date posted: September 2024
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Coursework Only Completion of an assignment |
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Description As part of recent reform efforts, in the context of PSDT, WSE, School Self Evaluation and School Improvement Plans under the new literacy and numeracy policy, increasing demands for internal and external accountability are evident within primary education in Ireland. While such demand have not, as yet, reached the same tempo as in other jurisdictions nevertheless, it is important and timely to scrutinise these developments critically, and to examine their implications for school leadership, as well as staff relations and continuing professional learning and the level of the school. The impact of accountability measures on the quality of teaching and learning will be assessed, and the potential impact on professional trust and professional relations, as well as with parents and the school community will be held up to critical scrutiny. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Gain an understanding of how the fields of school effectiveness and the allied field of school improvement research have evolved during the past 30 years, and how it has influenced and shaped our understandings of educational leadership and what is demanded within school contexts. 2. Explore and critique the criteria used to describe ‘effective/good’ schools and how such criteria are deployed in contexts of increased accountability. 3. Engage with a set of issues that are connected to the quality of teaching and learning in our schools – school cultures, teacher cultures, leadership style and type, internal and external review, school planning. 4. Examine critically the international trends in internal and external evaluation and how these trends have shape the current policy context in Ireland. 5. Gain insight into issues of accountability in education and analyse the impact that the neo-liberal agenda of performativity and accountability have made on both leadership and school communities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Leadership and Accountability• School Effectiveness Research Movement • Criteria used to describe effective schools • Perspectives on Evaluation and Accountability • Organisational Change • Purposeful Leadership • School Culture • Teacher Cultures • Emerging Irish School Evaluation Frameworks – e.g. WSE, SSE, WSEMLL • School Improvement • External Evaluation and Accountability • Internal School Review • Self improving schools | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Resources None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||