Leading Change

EDU LCH101 01 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Leading Change is a Foundations offering that is designed to help students learn how to lead change in organizations, teams, and systems so that they can effect positive change in the larger education sector. This foundational experience will provide learning experiences, concepts, and tools about dynamic change-leadership approaches. A distinctive element of this course is the focus on teaming. Change efforts are rarely done by individual leaders who come in as heroes to “save” a school, venture, or system. Rather, leaders must work collaboratively, often in or through teams, to effect change. Therefore, teams and collaborative work are central to this Foundations course. Leading Change seeks to help students understand how to drive change at multiple levels – the micro or individual level, the meso or team level, the macro or organization level, and the meta or system level. Students will engage in varied activities to consider change at each of these levels. To examine issues at the meta and macro levels, students will engage in two case discussions that examine organizational and system-level change. To focus on change at the meso level, students will work in teams in a simulated team-based exercise, gaining feedback on their performance both as individuals and in teams. To explore the micro level, students will engage in a self-reflection exercise to consider areas for personal growth and development as change agents. The course ends with an action planning session to help students prepare to apply their learning to future coursework and the next stage of their careers