Issues and Challenges in School Improvement: International Perspectives PG (10353.1)

School improvement is the most important aim of many school reforms around the world. High performing schooling systems such as Finland and East Asian countries place sustainable school improvement at the core of their education policies (Sahlberg, 2011). Then, how and what have these countries done for school improvement? What school improvement initiatives (e.g., leadership and teaching practices) have been shown to influence better learning for students? How do we know how good (or effective) our schools are? This unit seeks to answer these questions by addressing a series of key issues and challenges in school improvement internationally. Specifically, the unit focuses on discussing the aims of school improvement in the context of school reforms, effective school leadership, teacher professional community, measuring schooling outcomes in the era of accountability, diverse populations and school improvement, and best practices in school improvement. The unit uses a growing body of research literature from various societal contexts, including Australia, USA, UK, Finland, Hong Kong, and South Korea, to name a few.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Develop understandings of key issues and challenges in school improvement, drawn from selected schooling systems;
2. Gain awareness of the changing contexts in school improvement internationally, and
3. Develop critical perspectives in evaluating contemporary policies and practices relating to school improvement.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development

Skills development

Welcome to this unit. I am looking forward to meeting you and exploring the concepts, policies, practices, and issues of “School Improvement” together. I am excited to have such a richly diverse group of students and know that the variety of perspectives will add greatly to your experience and learning over the coming semester. The unit is delivered across 7 weeks with significant learning engagement (i.e., workshops and tutorials) and aims to bring together theoretical and research knowledge with understandings of how policy and reform impact school improvement practices across a range of settings. 

Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.