EDEM 606 (Fall '24)

About:

As the course is co-constructed, some of course content will be selected by the students during the first two classes ~ based on their leadership interests and/or research topic.

In order to support students’ theoretical understandings to perform deeper analysis in their practice, each week the instructor will cover a topic relevant to the leadership challenge(s) faced by the practioners.

Generally speaking, each week there will be approx. --> 20 - 25 pages of reading for the lecture and discussion portion of the class.

Course Content and Topics:

We will cover some of the following leadership issues during the semester. The students will pick between 6 to 8 of the following topics during the first class for possible class presentations and/or research papers:

1. Generative AI: Challenges and Opportunities *
2. Climate Change Education *
3. 21st-Century Learning (Existential Issues of Education)
4. New Pedagogies for Deep Learning
5. Curriculum change and leadership
6. Defining Student Success
7. Community Engagement and Student Engagement
8. Culture, Cultural Competence, and Leadership Abilities
9. Language Policy and Identity Issues
10. Social Justice in Education (definitions & approaches)
11. Building Consensus and Team Building
12. Education for Environmental Sustainability (Selwyn)
13. Indigenous Education
14. LGBTQ+ issues in schools
15. Technology and School leadership
16. Inclusion
17. Student Learning and leadership
18. Educational Policy and leadership
19. Any major leadership issue that needs to be dealt with at one's school or center

Instructional Method:

This course focuses on knowledge and research, aiming to give students a solid understanding of the Montreal/Quebec school context from a leadership perspective.

Starting from the fifth class, each session will typically be divided into two segments. These segments are designed to build knowledge, research skills, and critical analysis abilities:

Instructor-facilitated segment:
- Includes lectures, readings, discussions, case studies, and vignettes
Student-led seminars:
- Features guest lectures, videos, and learning activities

The student-led seminars will follow an "apprenticeship model." In this approach, the instructor will collaborate with students and provide feedback to ensure high-quality, relevant content on important issues. (For more details, please refer to the assignment section on the class website).

Evalution / Assignments (finalized during the first class)

Course Requirements during fall/ winter semesters

Perusall readings & annotations (25 marks)
Collaborative Work (30 marks):
- small gr. discussion (10 marks)
- self-eval (10 marks)
- Twitter (5 marks)
- mid-term case -study (10 marks)
  - usually class 6 ~ pick 2
Student-led seminar --> presentation/workshop on leadership issue (25 marks)
- presentation (20%)
- artifact (Adobe Express webpage --> 5%)
Final mini-reflection or bi-weekly blogs (20 marks)
- part 1 due Sept. 24 (5%)
- part 2 due one week after course ends (15%)
- see assignment page for blog details
This mark breakdown will be adjusted/changed depending on student background and expertise.

Assignment details: https://sites.google.com/mcgill.ca/edem606/assignments

Classroom Etiquette Statement

“In keeping with the professional culture of teaching and learning, the Faculty of Education community believes that our teaching and learning spaces should model such professional environments. As a community, we are committed to creating authentic opportunities where understanding of teaching and learning is co-constructed between instructors and students. In order for us to create these learning environments, we are expected to demonstrate awareness of, respect for, and commitment to the behaviours and actions of professionals. As members of the Faculty of Education community, we are expected to be accountable to ourselves and others and to be engaged, collegial and accessible. By doing so, we are more fully able to share together in the types of critical dialogue, creative thinking, and reflective practice expected of professionals.”

This course will use myCourses and Perusall for assignment submission and feedback.

I will engage in two rounds of course feedback before the final course evaluations. This will allow me to make adjustments to the course based on the students' needs. I will explain the feedback process in class.