Master of Education in Educational Leadership (M.Ed. Educational Leadership)
Online / Live, Online / Asynchronous, Face-to-Face, Assignments, Practical
August 2024
4 semesters (or 2 semesters if PGDL was previously completed)
CAA Level 9 Degree
English, Arabic
The Master of Education in Educational Leadership, created by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, stands out through its integration of cutting-edge research on educational leadership. This program offers innovative teaching methods, specialized content, and faculty expertise. Participants gain access to unique resources and exclusive opportunities for internships and research projects, equipping them to lead effectively and drive educational excellence. The qualification is recognized as a global standard for the principalship, ensuring completers are prepared to meet international leadership demands.
The goals of this program are to build capacity through advanced knowledge, skills, and dispositions in critical areas of educational leadership. The program emphasizes instructional leadership to increase teachers' capacity to raise learning outcomes, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation to ensure the development and follow-through of effective initiatives, and budget management to create "win-win" situations for all stakeholders, staff, and students while maximizing the value of school resources. It aims to develop personnel leadership to shape all school staff into high-performing, committed community members and foster community organizing to unite stakeholders, parents, local businesses and institutions, and other relevant organizations in identifying and solving challenges. Furthermore, the program focuses on student support management to ensure that no child or youth "falls through the cracks" at a candidate’s school. An additional emphasis on action research at the school level equips completers with the skills to systematically investigate challenges, offer solutions, monitor results, and provide high-quality reporting, empowering educational leaders to create inclusive and supportive learning environments.
(1) Implement effective practices in instructional leadership, staff coaching, and school management.
(2) Analyze and effectively act upon critical, managerial, and transformational issues in school management and leadership, such that the leader has the ability to prioritize initiatives, balance a multitude of competing needs and interests, and strategically plan.
(3) Apply expert knowledge in school operations according to international best practice and national strategy, such that stakeholders, budgets, personnel, and assets all working together to achieve common educational, employability, and national goals.
(4) Apply principles of safe, ethical, and welcoming school environments for stakeholders, students, staff.
(5) Articulate and implement best practices for developing and maintaining productive and respectful relationships between stakeholders, staff, parents, community members, and students.
(6) Utilize data, quantitative and qualitative, to assess school performance across a wide range of indicators, identify needs, and evaluate solutions for strategic implementation.
(7) Implement large-scale and complex student learning outcome improvements across schools.
(8) Implement best practices for coaching junior school leaders in their professional development, mentoring them to high standards and performance.
Building on the PGDL, this level-9 CAA accredited program emphasizes advanced leadership skills, strategic planning, and research-based practices in educational leadership. The program can be taken as a two-semester addition to the PGDL, or it can be taken on its own as a two-year (four semester) program. The first year curriculum is the PGDL. The second year focuses on research methods, as well as an “action research” thesis. Completers will be prepared to take on senior leadership roles within educational institutions, implement strategic changes, and contribute to the advancement of educational systems. This comprehensive program ensures that graduates can lead effectively and foster positive educational outcomes.
Per credit hour in an academic course (total 18 credit hours): 45 hours of directed learning, divided between face-to-face instruction (18%), online/live instruction (36%), online/asynchronous instruction (46%); plus assignments completed individually. Practicum and thesis are more independently-managed by the candidate, however, there is instructor guidance and mentoring, with occassional meetings, both online and face-to-face.
"Possess an earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. Have attained a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) or equivalent. Language proficiency for the English track: Score of at least TOEFL 79 iBT, 6.0 IELTS Academic, or EmSAT 1400 or equivalent. Language proficiency for the Arabic track: Arabic EmSAT score of at least 1100 + English 4.5 IELTS."
University City, Sharjah
United Arab Emirates
