Design and effects of an academic development programme on leadership for educational change

Abstract

This article describes and assesses the design and effects of one of the first academic development programmes on Leadership for Educational Change. The participants are senior academics, involved in leadership of teaching and learning. We report on an evaluation using a mixed-method approach employing a self-report questionnaire administered to former participants and interviews with heads of department, followed by a questionnaire. Both groups agreed on the programme impact. The main aspects contributing to these effects were the way the programme catered to participants’ needs as advanced learners by giving them influence on the content, and addressed their practice, the study tour abroad, and the opportunities for discussions with colleagues.

Keywords:

• academic development
• educational leadership
• design characteristics
• effect study
• mixed-method

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the reviewers and to Phil Race and Sally Brown for their useful comments on the text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.