Module description
Using the concept of intersectionality this module will focus on how leadership is racialized and gendered and what this means for the often implicit ways in which the status quo is reproduced. Students will read theoretical and empirically grounded literature on gender, feminism, intersectionality, organisations, educational leadership, and policy and media analysis that will enhance their understanding of how power and inequality in educational organisations and structures is interconnected with gender, class and race.
This module will prepare students to become more thoughtful, critical and self-reflective teachers, educational managers, administrators and staff working in a wide range of educational and community organisations and/or policy-and media-related professions. The sessions will be held in a seminar-style, involving student-led group presentations and group discussions of assigned readings. Participants will be invited to reflect and connect their professional experience to relevant academic literature, media coverage, and class discussion.
Assessment details
- 20 minute Group presentation (worth 20% of the final mark)
- 4,000 word assignment (worth 80% of the final mark)
Educational aims & objectives
Using the concept of intersectionality this module will focus on how leadership in educational institutions is racialized and gendered and what this means for the often implicit ways in which the status quo is reproduced. We will grapple with questions such as: How do schools and other educational institutions include and exclude groups based on gender, race and class? What are the challenges and obstacles faced by women and sexual minorities in leadership positions? Where is power concentrated in educational organisations and at the workplace, and why? What forms can leadership take? The module will enhance students' understanding of how social relations of gender, race and class are constituted, reproduced and resisted within schools and universities, as well as other sites of learning and leadership, such as the workplace, civil society and social movements. Students will be introduced to theories of gender, leadership, organisations and intersectionality as analytic tools to examine social, economic, political and cultural patterns of inequality and power. We will further read literature on empirical research, policy and media analysis that will build students' research and methodological capabilities. Participants will be invited to reflect and connect their professional experience to relevant academic literature, media coverage, and class discussion.
This module aims to enable students to:
* Develop an understanding of theories of gender, intersectionality, leadership and organisations;
* Critically reflect on the ways in which gender constructions, roles and relations are shaped by various intersections, such as class and race, and affect forms of leadership;
* Bring a gender lens to a variety of societal topics and apply theories of gender and leadership to contemporary societal problems as well as their own experiences;
* Understand the importance of leadership in influencing the climate in educational institutions;
* Propose policy strategies related to gender and educational organisations;
* Develop a research agenda on gender, intersectionality, leadership and organisations.