MAN 3029 School Development II

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017
Norwegian version

MAN 3029 School Development II


Responsible for the course
Johan From

Department
Department of Communication and Culture

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
15

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
School Development II is the final program of the Master’s degree in Schoolleadership.

While the Master’s degree in School Leadership’s first year gives a broad overview and perspective of schools’ effectiveness, school management and strategies for school development, School Development I and II to a greater extent put focus on the pedagogical, institutional and social conditions for making a school in which pupils learn more. In these programmes the most important factors that impact the school’s quality are reviewed and discussed. School Development I focuses on the pedagogical and didactic conditions for schools’ effectiveness, while School Development II takes up the institutional and social conditions for the effectiveness of the school.

In this programme, both the organizational and social conditions for effective school development are taken up. Topics in focus are the school’s culture, cooperative relationships within and between schools, the school as an arena of learning and the society’s framework conditions for school development, accountability and technology. The programme includes a study period at UC Berkeley.


Learning outcome
The Norwegian school needs to improve and increase its contribution to pupils’ learning. Through this program, students receive a broad introduction to the most important topics with regard to the role effective schools can play in the education of its pupils. This will contribute to:

Strengthening the school’s ability to attain the goal of increasing pupils’ learning outcomes
Giving students an understanding of the possibilities for improving effectiveness in the educational sector
Strengthening the knowledge understanding and knowledge practice necessary for management of effective schools

Knowledge:
Students will acquire knowledge of how the school’s internal and external environments can be developed in order to create a school that increases pupils’ learning.
Students will acquire knowledge of how schools can expand their teaching capacity through the utilization of internal environments and external framework conditions.
Students will acquire knowledge of the challenges management faces in implementing the practical changes necessary to move in this direction.

Skills
Students will be able to evaluate and assess the worth of different initiatives, methods and measures that have been implemented in the school in order to improve the learning outcomes of pupils.
Students will be able to lead and plan changes in the present situation of the school in the direction of a more effective one.
Students will be able to initiate changes that move in this direction in a more effective fashion.

Attitudes/General skills:
Students will be able to put focus on pupils’ needs and demands with regard to learning outcomes as a central focus.
Students will be able to critically reflect on the situation in their own schools and in Norwegian schools in general.
Students will search progressively for new ways to develop their own schools.


    Prerequisites
    General admission requirements: 180 study points, 4 years’ working experience. See general admission requirements.

    Compulsory reading
    Books:
    Helmke, Andreas. 2013. Undervisningskvalitet og lærerprofessionalitet: diagnosticering, evaluering og udvikling af undervisningen. Frederikshavn: Dafolo. Kap. 4.2 – 4.10 og kap. 6
    Hopfenbeck, Therese Nerheim. 2014. Strategier for læring: om selvregulering, vurdering og god undervisning. Universitetsforlaget
    Håkansson, Jan og Daniel Sundberg. 2012. Utmärkt undervisning: Framgångsfaktorer i svensk och internationell belysning. Forfattarna och Natur & Kultur. Kap 2, 5 og 7
    Jacobsen, Dag Ingvar. 2012. Organisasjonsendringer og endringsledelse. 2. utg. Fagbokforlaget. Del III , 100 sider
    Muhammad. A. 2009. Transforming School Culture. How to Overcome Staff Division. Bloomington: Solution Press


    Collection of articles:
    Aktuelle artikler og utdrag kommer i tillegg til hver modul.

    Recommended reading
    Books:
    Hattie, John og Gregory C.R. Yates. 2014. Synlig læring: hvordan vi lærer. Cappelen Damm akademisk

    Course outline
    Strategic development of your own school
    Methodical systems
    Strategic theory
    Management of strategic processes in your own school

    Pupils’ learning support
    Teaching for increased learning
    Self-regulation
    Pupil’s involvement in their own learning

    Organizational conditions for increased learning’
    Recruitment
    Resource allocation
    Norms for learning

    Teaching support and teaching quality
    (takes place in California)
    Use of observation protocols
    The school leader’s social network
    Use of data for pupils’ learning
    The principal’s influence on pupils’ learning

    Pupil performance
    Presentation of action plans for increased learning in your own school

    Computer-based tools


    Learning process and workload
    The programme is carried out over four modules for a total of 75 hours. The scope of the counseling contribution will vary somewhat in the different Executive Master of Management Programs. Personal counseling will be provided, as well as counseling provided during the lectures. Generally speaking, students can expect consultative counseling as opposed to evaluative counseling. The counseling contribution is estimated at two hours per student taking the Master Programme as a standard program. In the concluding Master of Management programme, the counseling contribution is estimated at six hours in total, divided between written and oral feedback during the course of the programme.

    The program requires access to a PC/Mac. Software that converts html to pdf is also necessary. “It’s learning” is a central learning platform, and students will also bring into use other digital tools.


    Examination
    This is the final course in the Master of Management in School Leadership. Students write a project paper for 15 study points. This can be done individually or in groups of up to 2 students.
    Examination code(s)
    MAN 30291 – The project paper counts for 100% of the course grade for MAN 3029, 15 study points.

    Examination support materials


    Re-sit examination
    At the next ordinary course completion.

    Additional information
    Module 1: The school’s pedagogical working environment
    Responsible for the module: Professor Johan From, BI Norwegian Business School

    Assessment and pupils’ learning
    Pedagogical and didactic working forms that promote learning.
    Classroom management.

    Module 2: Study session at UC Berkeley, California
    Responsible for the module: Professor Johan From, BI Norwegian Business School

    Central topics in the area of school research

    Module 3: Recapitulation – strategic change of the school
    Responsible for the module: Professor Johan From, BI Norwegian Business School

    Supervision and control of pupils’ learning
    Management for increased effectiveness of the school

    What pedagogical and didactic working forms the school chooses and trains its teachers to master are expected to have a significant impact on pupils’ learning. These can be connected to different assumptions within the different subjects and to more general or universal pedagogical and didactic principals. The program puts focus on different sides of the topic by looking at what we know of the relationship between pupils’ learning and pedagogical and didactic ways of working.

    Assessment for learning currently has a major position in the development of the school and in effort put into improving the results of students. Here focus is on models for, and practical experience associated with, how the school can assure itself that the assessments being carried out of the pupils’ work contribute to learning. The session’s second major area of interest is how teachers, and not the least leaders, can maintain control of pupils’ learning. Different models of supervision and control are reviewed and discussed.

    The program goes through the content of, and research associated with, the management of classes. What characterizes class management for learning is a central focus. One discussion of particular interest is how a school’s management can put teachers in a position from which they can practice good class management. The “instructional leadership” perspective of management is discussed and analyzed in relation to what tasks management must carry out and roles they must play.

    The supervision and control of pupils’ learning is a central element of this program. One condition for proper follow up of pupils’ development and progress is knowing where they stand.
    What role tests and examinations have in this connection is looked into more closely. Is it such that tests in themselves lead to learning or should tests be more specifically tied into a broader logical pedagogical framework and follow up in order to have the desired effect?

    The program runs one of its modules at, and in close cooperation with, UC Berkeley, California. Here, researchers at UC Berkeley and Standford University present their ongoing research in areas covered by School Development I and School Development II. The consequences of management behavior is a central focus throughout the entire program.