Announcements

Please Download the Welcome Notes

Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy

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Online Sessions' Link

To connect to the online sessions of this study programme please click on this link. You will be asked to register your attendance for each session you join, if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.

Meeting ID: 826 4024 4891
Passcode: 981424

Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes

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Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

LectureDateTimePresentationNotes (If Any)Session Recording
Lecture 0128 April 202316:30 to 19:30hrsPresentation 01Request
Lecture 0207 March 202316:30 to 19:30hrsPresentation 02Request
Lecture 0314 March 202316:30 to 19:30hrsPresentation 03Castells A Network Theory of Power - 2011Request
Lecture 0421 March 202316:30 to 19:30hrsPresentation 04Request
Lecture 0528 March 202316:30 to 19:30hrsPresentation 05School Development Plan
Knowing Our Schools
Standards Nazzjonali għall-Kwalità fl-Edukazzjon
dqse.gov.mt		Request

Lecturer 

Dr Ian Mifsud

 

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading

 

Lecture 1 - Middle Leadership and distributed leadership

Lecture Summary

The award’s intended knowledge, competences and skills will be elicited from core theory and shared practice. In an effort to facilitate a more authentic understanding, the trainer will introduce himself, overtly exposing his baggage and positioning. Once the tone and basic ground rules for an expected safe and respectful climate during sessions, have been set, participants will be encouraged to make themselves known to each other fostering the initiation of establishing relationships and a necessary degree of trust. The discussion will then proceed onto to the notion of leadership in general and its manifestation in the educational field, acknowledging the variety of structural models within which local educators operate. Participants will be guided to bring forth the applied concept of middle leadership as part of the wider context as displayed in local State, Church and Independent schools. Theoretical underpinnings, particularly on different leadership styles will then inform the discussion on distributed leadership.

 

Core Reading List

  • Bush, T. (2020) Theories of Educational Leadership and Management, 5th Edition. London: Sage.
  • Harris, A. (2008) Distributed school leadership: Developing tomorrow’s leaders. London: Routledge.

Supplementary Reading List

  • Lussier, R. N. (2003) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development, 2nd Canada: Thomson Learning.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2006) The Principalship, A Reflective Practice Perspective, 5th Boston: Pearson.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005) Leadership, What’s in it for Schools. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

 

Lecture 2 - Middle Leaders facilitate the work of senior leaders through teamwork

Lecture Summary

 

The concept of schooling and the way it has been and generally continues to be organised will be discussed focussing on the purpose of such institutions and whose interests are being served. This will proceed with an exposition of stakeholder theories. Acknowledging the different forms and extent of impact by formal education in schools on various stakeholder groups, will help participants better appreciate the need of recognising and being responsive to each group’s, possibly every individual’s legitimate interests. Once this case for interdependence and non-exclusive legitimacy has been made, the need for adequate teamwork will emerge and be presented in its intricate forms.

 

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Sultana, R. G. (1991) Themes in Education, a Maltese Reader. Malta: Gutenberg.
  • Lussier, R. N. (2003) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development, 2nd Canada: Thomson Learning.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2006) The Principalship, A Reflective Practice Perspective, 5th Boston: Pearson.

 

Lecture 3 - Challenges in implementing teamwork

Lecture Summary

The complexity of schools will be further portrayed as organisations that welcome diverse communities varying in size, but which are nonetheless significantly large. Apart from what will have been discussed in the lecture 2, participants will revise group dynamics and how these are overtly or covertly exhibited in our daily interactions at school and possibly beyond. The concept of power, particularly of networked power as further developed in contemporary society will be presented as offering challenges that may be transformed into opportunities if recognised and wisely embraced.

 

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Harris, A. et al. (2003) Effective Leadership for School Improvement. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Harris, A. (2006) School Improvement, What’s in it for Schools?. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Stoll, L. & Fink, D. (2003) Changing Our Schools. Oxford: Open University Press.

 

Lecture 4 - Middle Leadership and improvement in school leadership

Lecture Summaries

Participants will be encouraged to look into a theoretical framework of quality. This will first be exposed as sitting on a continuum which at one extreme considers quality as a fixed standard, whilst on the other, it is seen as relevant to itself. A more organic, possibly more realistic, albeit more complex, understanding of quality will also be presented. In all iterations of and perspectives on quality, is the notion of improvement which becomes the non-static pursuit of its achievement. School improvement and school leadership will be linked to discuss concrete manners with which middle leadership may assist in this ongoing process.

 

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Mifsud, I. (2020) Notions of Quality Education Through an Educational Policy: The Reflexive Case Study of a Collegial School Network in Malta. Lincoln, UK: University of Lincoln.
  • Harris, A. et al. (2003) Effective Leadership for School Improvement. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Harris, A. (2006) School Improvement, What’s in it for Schools?. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Stoll, L. & Fink, D. (2003) Changing Our Schools. Oxford: Open University Press.
  • Lussier, R. N. (2003) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development, 2nd Canada: Thomson Learning.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2006) The Principalship, A Reflective Practice Perspective, 5th Boston: Pearson.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005) Leadership, What’s in it for Schools. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

 

Lecture 5 - Middle Leadership and Values

Lecture Summary

After having discussed different aspects of leadership within compulsory education, particularly referencing to the local context, participants will be led to reflect on the individual’s essence and how, in its indivisibility from the person, this transpires in our thoughts, words and actions. Just like individuals, organisations also have, known or unknown, core values guiding their operations or in the case of schools, service provision. Participants will be stimulated to deeply reflect on their own values and discuss how these may align or collide with the organisations’ missions. Whilst upholding the importance of mastering the necessary skills and competences, including technical knowledge, during the final encounter for this award, model leaders will be presented with the intent to elucidate the importance of value-laden leadership, which often comes at a self-sacrificing cost.

Core Reading List

Supplementary Reading List

  • Mifsud, I. (2020) Notions of Quality Education Through an Educational Policy: The Reflexive Case Study of a Collegial School Network in Malta. Lincoln, UK: University of Lincoln.
  • Harris, A. et al. (2003) Effective Leadership for School Improvement. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Harris, A. (2006) School Improvement, What’s in it for Schools?. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Stoll, L. & Fink, D. (2003) Changing Our Schools. Oxford: Open University Press.
  • Lussier, R. N. (2003) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development, 2nd Canada: Thomson Learning.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2006) The Principalship, A Reflective Practice Perspective, 5th Boston: Pearson.
  • Sergiovanni, T. J. (2005) Leadership, What’s in it for Schools. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
  • Sultana, R. G. (1991) Themes in Education, a Maltese Reader. Malta: Gutenberg.

 

Methods of Assessment

1 Assignment of 1,700 words. 100% of final score

Assignment

You have to choose 1 out of the 3 questions which are available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignment should be submitted by not later than Tuesday 25 April 2023. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form through 21 Academy's plagiarism software turnitin. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form and upload assignments in pdf format. Do not scan assignment but convert/save it directly to pdf. We ask you to keep the similarity percentage very low and definitely below 20%. You should  review and rephrase any assignments which show more than 20% similarity. Any assignments submitted above 20% similarity will not be scored and considered as failed.

Assignment Submission Form

Please read further below in how you are expected to plan, design and submit your assignment and how your assignment will be assessed.

 

Assignments

If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded.

 

Referencing Style

Your assignments, presentations and reflective noted should be referenced using the Harvard Referencing style. Please follow this video to understand this referencing style.  Harvard Referencing Style.

 

Submitting Assignments - turnitin

The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".

At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through turnitin - submitting a paper

To understand the similarity report generated by turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report