Education professionals can enhance their leadership and coaching skills on this flexible online Master's course.

  • Challenge your understanding of leadership with our creative leadership module.
  • Develop the skills of effective mentoring and coaching.
  • This online course offers flexibility for both home and international students.

In this flexible online MA Education Leadership and Management course you’ll explore the opportunities and challenges that educational leaders face. You'll examine different styles of leadership and develop the skills to lead creatively in an educational setting.

This Master's in educational leadership is designed for those who are interested in becoming or are presently working as mid-level and senior managers and leaders in schools or other educational organisations, in a variety of global contexts.

In a globally connected and rapidly changing world, education offers each individual the best chance of navigating an unknown future. In this course you’ll explore the opportunities and challenges that educational leaders face as they are given greater autonomy to have a positive impact on pupils and learners.

This online course offers flexibility for home and international students and can be studied full-time or part-time.

 

What you'll learn

MA Education Leadership and Management (Online) is designed to improve your expertise as an educational leader. 

We’ll help you develop and improve your expertise as an educational leader through practice-based inquiry, in which you'll relate theory and research to professional practice. You’ll gain a critical understanding of the practices that characterise effective leadership and learn how to bring about change and improvement.

Taught sessions will provide an understanding of the ways in which leadership impacts the climate and culture of a school or educational setting.

You’ll gain a critical understanding of effective coaching and mentoring skills and how to bring about change and improvement in your workplace.

This is the structure for the one year, full-time study option.

Trimester one

In the first trimester, you’ll gain a broad understanding of the context in which educational leaders operate. You'll examine the place of education in contemporary societies and explore how educational reform is constructed and implemented to deliver social and economic change.

You'll also examine the way that creative leadership is played out within educational settings, focusing on what leaders do to engage followers in order to bring about change within an ethical framework. 

Trimester two

You’ll learn how to undertake research within educational settings. A range of different methodologies will be explored and we’ll support you to write a proposal for your own research project.

You'll also study another leadership module related to coaching and mentoring. In this module, you will develop your coaching and mentoring skills and reflect on the contribution they can make to the practice of leadership.

Trimester three

In your final trimester, you’ll write a dissertation on an aspect of educational leadership that particularly interests you. You’ll be supported by a tutor and benefit from one-to-one tutorials. You’ll also be able to attend optional research seminars.

For part-time study, you'll complete the same modules listed above over two years. Students will typically do 30 credits in each trimester, with the only exception to 'dissertation', which students complete over two trimesters in Year 2.

There are no written exams on this course; each module is assessed through coursework. This involves a variety of assessment tasks, e.g. an essay, recorded presentation, portfolio.

The 60 credit dissertation focuses on an area of educational leadership agreed with a tutor, who will support you through your chosen research project.

You’ll be taught through a combination of online activities through both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Our School of Education runs a series of online research seminars throughout the academic year where staff and postgraduate students present their research. You’ll be welcome to attend these seminars and there is the opportunity for you to talk about your own research interests within an informal and supportive setting.   

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our information on Your Learning and Teaching at BSU.

Opportunities

You’ll graduate with practical and theoretical knowledge, well-placed to apply for middle, senior or leadership roles in schools or other educational institutions. This could lead to job promotion or other work opportunities where you can demonstrate your leadership and management skills. 

Developing the skills of effective coaching and mentoring could create a long-term interest and a professional career in coaching.

The grounding in academic work provides a foundation for further research at PhD level (including Professional Doctorate) which could lead to employment in Higher Education.

Adobe Creative Campus

Develop a wealth of indispensable digital skills that you can take into your future career. One of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, we provide all Bath Spa students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite, giving you the tools to communicate creatively, whatever your course or chosen professional field.   

Facilities and resources

Your course will be delivered virtually, but you will still have access to our facilities, such as our Newton Park campus. In addition to ourVirtual Learning Environment, you'll also have access to the following:

  • Commons building, with its superb classroom facilities, social spaces, and specialist digital resources.
  • Our Library offers a wealth of learning resources including books, journals, DVDs and an extensive range of electronic services. Our Subject Librarian for Education provides subject-specific support, including help with research.
  • ASk (Academic Skills), which provides support for your academic work, including feedback on written drafts and other help with academic writing.
  • Thousands of business, design and tech courses online via LinkedIn Learning.

Research in the School of Education

We have a thriving research centre in the School of Education and our research is creative, participatory and interdisciplinary. We have particular strengths in social justice research, practice-relevant and practitioner-led research, and creative education research.

For more information on our research and for details on our monthly research seminars, visit our Research pages.

Interested in applying?

You’ll have an undergraduate degree and ideally, you’ll be working within an educational context . You'll have some professional experience of leadership, either formally or informally, to inform your academic study

You'll have a lower second-class honours (2:2) UK or above bachelor's degree from a recognised higher education institution or a relevant professional qualification. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) web page to learn more.

If English is not your first language, you'll need to provide evidence of proficiency in the English language. We're looking for a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component (Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).

Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.

You may be invited to attend a short interview with the course leader after submitting your application.

To prepare for the course we recommend you read:

  • Rethinking Educational Leadership: From Improvement To Transformation by John West-Burnham
  • The UK Government White Paper: Educational Excellence Everywhere

When to apply

Many of our postgraduate courses have a limited number of student spaces. To avoid the disappointment of the course being full, we recommend that you apply now.

Late applications (generally those made after 31 July) will only be considered if places remain on the course.

Need more information or still have questions? Contact us to discuss your situation.

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