Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership (PGDL)
postgraduate diploma
Online / Live, Online / Asynchronous, Face-to-Face, Assignments, Practical
August 2024
2 Semesters
CAA Level 8 Diploma
English, Arabic
The Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership, developed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, is distinguished by its use of groundbreaking research on educational leadership. This program features innovative teaching methods, specialized content, and access to unique resources. Participants benefit from exclusive opportunities to engage in research projects, enhancing their leadership skills and impact in educational settings.
The goals of this program are to build capacity through knowledge, skills, and dispositions in key areas. The program focuses on instructional leadership to increase teachers' capacity to raise learning outcomes, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation to ensure effective initiative development and follow-through, and budget management to create "win-win" situations for all stakeholders, staff, and students while maximizing school resources. It aims to enhance personnel leadership, shaping all school staff into high-performing, committed community members, and community organizing, bringing together stakeholders, parents, local businesses and institutions, and other relevant organizations to collectively identify and solve challenges. Additionally, the program focuses on student support management to ensure that no child or youth will "fall through the cracks" at a candidate’s school.
(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.
This two-semester program level-8 CAA accredited program is designed for current or aspiring educational leaders, focusing on instructional leadership, school operational management, school improvement, and strategic leadership. With an intensive and guided practicum, the program aims to equip leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to drive school and educational system improvements. Completers will be prepared to take on leadership roles and implement effective strategies for school enhancement.
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
