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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU
Effective leadership is vital for developing healthcare practices that effectively appreciate and respond to the needs of patients. This course reflects the importance of efficient and caring environments. It is tailored for healthcare practitioners and managers who wish to develop their leadership skills in order to make that kind of service a reality.
This course is designed to meet the needs of busy healthcare professionals by providing a work-based, blended learning approach with a range of interim awards to ensure that participants pursue and develop their own areas of professional and/or clinical interest. Students will learn how to facilitate successful collaboration within multi-professional practice settings, unleashing the full potential of each person. They will discover proven steps for sustaining an organisation that learns from and builds on its experience. You will be empowered to initiate these changes through project work, project reporting and enhanced presentation skills. Plus, you will practice techniques to deal effectively with conflict.
This truly innovative course develops the narrative of being, and becoming, the leader you desire to be. Our approach enables you to integrate learning into your leadership journey of transformation and realisation. The course is conceived as a collaborative research project, working with leaders to appreciate the nature of reflective leadership, especially within healthcare organisations.
Successive government papers emphasise that effective leadership is vital for the development of healthcare services. As such, you will be well placed for career developments concerned with leadership, management and advanced clinical roles where leadership is necessary.
During this course you will:
Areas of study you may cover on this course include:
(The course is tailor made to each individual leader through a work-based and reflective approach informed by theory-driven units leading to the MSc award.)
The assessment strategy for the programme has been developed to ensure: mapping against learning outcomes and University of Bedfordshire Level M descriptors; appropriate alignment with learning and teaching methods used; relevance and application to workplace based activity of participants; development of a wide range of clinical research skills and relevant transferable skills.
The assessment strategy is designed to incorporate both assessment of learning and assessment for learning elements.
Assessment methods include:
Reflective case studies illuminating the application of theoretical ideas within everyday practice
Research Proposal writing for dissertation [formative]
Critical Reviews of Literature and Systematic Reviews of Evidence [within dissertation]
Reflective narrative [portfolio]
Critique of research activity in chosen field [within all reflective case studies]
Project reports
Report presentation [formative]
The dissertation topic is prescribed `Realising a desirable vision of leadership as a lived reality - using guided reflection as a process of self-inquiry and transformation. The dissertation is presented as a narrative that marks the transformational journey of becoming a desirable leader together with an analysis of factors that have constrained this transformation. This approach to dissertation intends to enable the student to live and reflect on their emerging leadership on a daily basis. Through reflection, theory can be meaningfully assimilated into practice and the meaning of leadership distilled. It is acknowledged that desirable leadership is transformational yet organisational culture is generally regarded as transactional. Therefore the question is - `how can leaders realise transformational leadership within transactional culture?' An intriguing and immensely challenging question.
The programme aims to equip healthcare practitioners with the knowledge and skills to engage positively in a wide spectrum of academic activities. It will provide a firm foundation in the design, implementation and evaluation of research activity in care practice to ensure best practice, and higher education settings.
Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:-
adopt a critical, analytical and reflective stance towards your leadership practice;
construct a clear vision of personal and organisational leadership
reflect on and develop your leadership expertise from both a transactional and transformational perspective;
foster creative, ethical and culturally sensitive leadership practice.
lead practice development projects in line with 'best practice' and service development initiatives;
manage conflict from a transformational perspective;
lead the quality agenda to ensure best and ethical practice is known and realised and all staff can fulfil their professional potential;
realise and sustain the 'learning organisation' as a lived reality
realise a 'lived' sense of self as a leader;
be a wise, compassionate and mindful leader working towards shared success with colleagues and service users within organisational agendas.
Effective leadership is vital for developing health and care practice in response to effectively appreciating and responding to the needs of patients and service users within diverse and complex care situations. Leadership needs to be collaborative in working within multi-professional practice settings and able to unleash the full potential of each person. Such leadership is transformational in nature, and seeks to create and sustain an organisation that can learn from experience.
This programme is designed to meet these needs and those of busy healthcare professionals by adopting a work based blended learning approach, by offering a range of interim awards and ensuring opportunities to pursue and develop their own areas of professional and / or clinical interest.
The core learning strategy is guided reflection through communities of learning whereby students are guided to work in collaboration with peers and teachers through their experiences and project work.
Students are required to organize two conferences enabling development of team working skills.
There is no explicit assessment of team working.
Career:
The MSc is a gateway to promotion with organizations.
Further study:
Standard:
Standard entry requirements for UK students - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/ukugentryreqs
Students from the European Union - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/eu/guides
International students - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/international/apply
Additional:
A foundation degree will be of particular interest if you have completed a Modern Apprenticeship, vocational A levels, BTEC National or equivalent.
Foundation degrees are also particularly suitable if you want to qualify while working.
Many students studying for foundation degrees come to us through work-based routes so you can apply for a foundation degree even if you don’t have traditional academic qualifications.
We welcome applicants with relevant work experience.
We will consider you as an individual and take into account all elements of your application, not just your qualifications. We are looking for both breadth and depth in your current studies as well as enthusiasm for the subject you wish to study.
The general requirement is one of the following:
Postgraduate applications (MA/MSc) should be made direct to the University using the standard University application form. There are some exceptions, please see individual course descriptions for details.
As a general guide, to apply for a place on an undergraduate course (BA/BSc) at the University you need to have completed your high school education and have the required English qualification.
We have students from all the European Union member countries so we are quick to make decisions on most qualifications.
(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)
We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your application.
Please read the Direct application instructions before completing the course application form.
Application forms for accommodation in the student halls at Bedford campus and Luton campus are available in the Student life section
APL is available for international students applying for undergraduate (Bachelor degree) study. Please do not use this APL form to apply for postgraduate courses.
Use the APL form to tell us about any non-standard qualifications and/or work experience you have that you think should be taken into consideration with your application. `
The APL form should be submitted at the same time as the course application form.
We regret we are unable to process APL forms from students who have not submitted a formal course application form.
Return your completed application to:
University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk
The curriculum is delivered through a series of modules organised into a coherent core pathway: to enable leaders to realise effective leadership over two years. The curriculum is influenced by the ongoing collaborative research programme since 2002 when the Masters in clinical leadership commenced in its original guise.
The learning approach is based on the principles of work based learning, whereby you utilise your own everyday lived practice experiences as the basis for learning and fashion the programme to suit your particular learning needs. In this way, you tailor the programme to meet your agenda, although will be guided to know and explore what your agenda is within the wider community of inquiry nurtured throughout the programme.
The emphasis of learning is on active methods of learning, both individually and in groups. The approach will be predominantly through reflection, supported by teacher guidance, lectures on key topics and guided reading. The approach to learning acknowledges that students have diverse needs and interests. Hence you are guided to shape the module programme through identifying your own specific learning needs to meet through the module assignments.
Reflection is a systematic approach to learning through your everyday experiences with the aim of holding and resolving creative tension in doing so, you gain insights into self and practiced that are applied either deliberatively or subliminally to future practice within the reflexive spiral of being and becoming the leader you desire to be.
Insights are informed as appropriate by a critique of relevant literature. In this way theory and practice are juxtaposed and theory meaningfully assimilated within personal knowing, enabling practice to be appropriately informed by research and theory. Reflective practice is a practical approach to learning to enable practitioners to learn through their everyday lived experiences. Hence it is contextual, enabling practitioners to develop clinical judgment to apply theory and research into practice, appreciate and apply ethics within practice and generally become more mindful and self-aware as people caring for patients and clients.
Reflective practice has a strong academic base within the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, notably through the work of Professor Christopher Johns. As such, the proposed programme draws on and enhances this academic base and opens the possibility of collaborative research with practitioners undertaken the course through the project work in relation to such questions `What is effective leadership? `Can guided reflection facilitate leadership? `What factors constrain development of effective leadership and can these factors be overcome?
Student conferences
The programme has two student led conferences planned:
Leading through change
Leading to ensure quality
These conferences along with the module assignments are designed to enable leaders to develop project presentation skills both written and oral.
BREO
BREO@Beds is a web-based system for delivering support and enrichment for on campus learning at the University of Bedfordshire. It is not intended to replace your normal lectures and tutorials, but to provide you with online access to materials either before or after your lectures or indeed, both, depending on your lecturers' choices.
The modules
Leadership in organisations
The leader has a strong sense of self as a leader working with the organisation. Yet what is leadership and what makes an effective leader within health and social care organisations? To begin to answer these questions, the leader must develop a critical appreciation of the nature of leadership and of the organisation. In doing so the leader begins to appreciate and work towards resolving the creative tension between holding a vision of leadership and realising this vision as a lived reality.
It is proposed that the key leadership role is to create and sustain the learning organisation [Senge 1990].
Leading conflict
Conflict is a fact of everyday life. Hence, the way conflict is viewed and responded to is a critical aspect of leadership and management. The module holds the thesis that an effective leader / manager views conflict as a positive learning opportunity within the Learning Organisation and adopts a collaborative style of managing conflict.
Leading change
A key role of leadership is to create a practice environment to facilitate best practice and realise the goals that matter to us in terms of shared success. This requires a dynamic approach whereby change is lived by both leaders and followers as a positive everyday social process. It further requires leaders to develop project writing and presentation skills.
Alternative perspectives on leadership
Effective leaders have a strong and accurate sense of self as a leader, able to critique and contrast the leadership of others using appropriate leadership templates and contrast with their own emerging leadership profile.
Leading in a chaotic world
Chaos theory challenges traditional ideas about the nature of successful organisations, promoting a transformational rather than transactional style of leadership. Within current health care organisations transformational leadership can only work we embraced within a chaos paradigm. The question remains is transformational leadership possible within a transactional culture?
Ensuring quality
A key element of leadership is to ensure quality and effective practice. This necessarily requires both an understanding of what effective practice is and ways in which it can be achieved and monitored through a coherent clinical governance agenda that pays attention to both organisational and national initiatives and the way such agendas are interpreted and applied to ensure a creative learning environment within clinical practice whereby quality is lived.
Dissertation
The dissertation asks the leader to construct a reflexive narrative of being and becoming the leader he or she desires to be. The dissertation integrates the whole programme and ensures the programme is lived on an everyday basis [see section 8].
The programme consists of three levels; Certificate, Diploma, and Degree. The student can exit with an award at any level.
Certificate level
The certificate level is a generic programme shared across the range of professional health care practice. As such clinical leadership students are integrated with other students who do not have a specific emphasis on clinical leadership. However, that does not diminish the leadership focus in that each student fashions the programme around his or her practice to suit his or her specific learning objectives [written as a learning contract].
The certificate level consists of two single modules undertaken in the first semester and one double module undertaken in the second semester. The first two modules act as a foundation for your future studies.
Semester 2005 - 6 Semester 1 Semester 2
1
September 05 January 06 Leadership in organisations [15 credits]
Leading conflict [15 credits
2
February 06June 06
Leading change [30 credits]
Diploma level
The diploma level consists of 4 core modules [each 15 credits] specific to the clinical leadership programme. These modules have been designed to enable the student to explore a range of contemporary issues deemed essential to realising effective clinical leadership.
Year 2 Semester 1 Semester 2 September 08 - January 09
Alternative perspectives on leadership [15 credits]
Leading in a chaotic world [15 credits]
February 09 June 09
Ensuring quality [30 credits]
Degree level
You are required to undertake a dissertation module [60 academic credits]. Completion of the dissertation results in the award of a Masters Degree.
Communication
To help with the development of this you will:
Become increasingly mindful of self, how you pay attention to, process and respond to others. You will appreciate the pattern of relationships within the whole [culminating in the chaos theory module]. You will work with others in project conferences to ensure their success.
Information Literacy
To help with the development of this you will:
Explore and dialogue with sources of knowing in relation to your emerging leadership practice. Much of this literature is not specified, requiring you to identify and access information sources. This will be evidenced within your assignments.
Research and Evaluation
To help with the development of this you will:
Research yourself as a leader throughout the course yet focused within the dissertation. Every assignment is designed to support this process.
You, along with your colleagues, will formally present conference papers on change and quality, contributing to a boy of knowledge of these areas of leadership practice.
Creativity and Critical Thinking
To help with the development of this you will:
Engage in reflective practice as the primary learning strategy. From this perspective, practice is a creative narrative unfolding, nothing is taken for granted or accepted on face value.
