EUN605 Leadership in Early Childhood Education
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | EUN605 |
|---|---|
| Equivalent(s): | EUZ605 |
| Assumed Knowledge: | It is assumed that students understand educational practices in education settings and have practitioner experiences within a related education field or support profession. |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
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Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | EUN605 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | EUZ605 |
| Assumed Knowledge: | It is assumed that students understand educational practices in education settings and have practitioner experiences within a related education field or support profession. |
Overview
This unit explores leadership theory and practice, emphasising the importance of action research for leadership growth. You will learn how to lead quality improvement initiatives and engage in critical reflection to enhance your leadership capabilities. By deepening your understanding of leadership through theory, you will learn to effectively mentor and coach your peers, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and professional development within early childhood settings. Understanding leadership and developing coaching and mentoring skills are crucial for early childhood educators to foster a supportive and high-quality learning environment.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Synthesise research, concepts and theories of coaching and mentoring for leadership in early childhood settings.
- Reflect on your coaching and mentoring practices to improve professional knowledge and future practice.
- Design and implement practitioner inquiry research of coaching and mentoring in early childhood practice.
- Demonstrate coaching and mentoring skills to support and uplift colleague's professional practice.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Leadership theory and practice.
- Action research for growing leadership.
- Coaching and mentoring to grow leadership.
- Leading quality improvement.
- Leading through critical reflection.
- Deepening leadership understanding through theory.
Learning Approaches
In this unit you will learn through engaging in the following:
- tutorials (online and on-campus)
- online learning activities
- reflective journalling
- readings
- authentic assessment tasks in which you will apply scholarly knowledge to real world scenarios and in your own context.
This unit employs interactive and discussion-based learning, case study-based activities and critical reflection on the intersection of theory and experience.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- a range of formative exercises discussed and undertaken throughout the unit
- feedback from peers as you investigate and discuss issues raised throughout the unit
- self assessment through reflective practice
- consultation with other professionals
- comments about summative assessment work included with your grade
- general summative assessment feedback posted to the whole cohort via the unit Canvas site.
Assessment
Overview
There are two assessments in this unit.
1. Practitioner Inquiry Plan - this task draws on leadership theory and practice, emphasising the importance of action research for leadership growth. You will learn how to lead quality improvement initiatives to enhance your leadership capabilities.
2. Practitioner Inquiry Evaluation - this task connects leadership theory with practice and critical reflection to effectively mentor and coach your peers, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and professional development within early childhood settings. Understanding leadership and developing coaching and mentoring skills are crucial for early childhood educators to foster a supportive and high-quality learning environment.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan
You will design and develop a practitioner inquiry project, informed by action research, with a focus on how leaders in early childhood undertake coaching and mentoring practices. You will identify a research topic and question to better understand how educators work as leaders and how they draw on coaching and mentoring practices to provide quality education. You will undertake a literature review and develop a plan that includes engaging in a coaching and mentoring model in practice through action research.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation
You will implement a coaching and mentoring session with a professional colleague to undertake your practitioner inquiry (action research) project (Assignment 1). You will record this coaching and mentoring session and evaluate your practice to answer the research question. You will submit the recording and written evaluation.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There are no resources that are required to be purchased for this unit. Other resources will be available in the unit's Canvas site.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with the general conduct of this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.EU60 Graduate Certificate in Education
- Discuss and evaluate advanced discipline-specific knowledge related to professional educational practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan - Reflect on and reflexively analyse own practice to improve professional knowledge and practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Source and evaluate scholarly and professional literature and apply it to educational contexts and scenarios.
Relates to: ULO3, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Employ a range of communication modes to transmit knowledge, skills, and ideas to others.
Relates to: ULO4, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation
EU74 Master of Education
- Discuss, evaluate, and integrate advanced discipline-specific knowledge related to professional educational practice and research.
Relates to: ULO1, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan - Reflect on and reflexively analyse own practice, integrating theoretical frameworks to improve professional knowledge and practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Apply theories and research methods to ethically explore educational issues/phenomena and practices.
Relates to: ULO3, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Employ a range of communication modes to transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences in professional and scholarly contexts.
Relates to: ULO4, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Online
| Unit code: | EUN605 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | EUZ605 |
| Assumed Knowledge: | It is assumed that students understand educational practices in education settings and have practitioner experiences within a related education field or support profession. |
Overview
This unit explores leadership theory and practice, emphasising the importance of action research for leadership growth. You will learn how to lead quality improvement initiatives and engage in critical reflection to enhance your leadership capabilities. By deepening your understanding of leadership through theory, you will learn to effectively mentor and coach your peers, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and professional development within early childhood settings. Understanding leadership and developing coaching and mentoring skills are crucial for early childhood educators to foster a supportive and high-quality learning environment.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Synthesise research, concepts and theories of coaching and mentoring for leadership in early childhood settings.
- Reflect on your coaching and mentoring practices to improve professional knowledge and future practice.
- Design and implement practitioner inquiry research of coaching and mentoring in early childhood practice.
- Demonstrate coaching and mentoring skills to support and uplift colleague's professional practice.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Leadership theory and practice.
- Action research for growing leadership.
- Coaching and mentoring to grow leadership.
- Leading quality improvement.
- Leading through critical reflection.
- Deepening leadership understanding through theory.
Learning Approaches
In this unit you will learn through engaging in the following:
- tutorials (online and on-campus)
- online learning activities
- reflective journalling
- readings
- authentic assessment tasks in which you will apply scholarly knowledge to real world scenarios and in your own context.
This unit employs interactive and discussion-based learning, case study-based activities and critical reflection on the intersection of theory and experience.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- a range of formative exercises discussed and undertaken throughout the unit
- feedback from peers as you investigate and discuss issues raised throughout the unit
- self assessment through reflective practice
- consultation with other professionals
- comments about summative assessment work included with your grade
- general summative assessment feedback posted to the whole cohort via the unit Canvas site.
Assessment
Overview
There are two assessments in this unit.
1. Practitioner Inquiry Plan - this task draws on leadership theory and practice, emphasising the importance of action research for leadership growth. You will learn how to lead quality improvement initiatives to enhance your leadership capabilities.
2. Practitioner Inquiry Evaluation - this task connects leadership theory with practice and critical reflection to effectively mentor and coach your peers, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and professional development within early childhood settings. Understanding leadership and developing coaching and mentoring skills are crucial for early childhood educators to foster a supportive and high-quality learning environment.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan
You will design and develop a practitioner inquiry project, informed by action research, with a focus on how leaders in early childhood undertake coaching and mentoring practices. You will identify a research topic and question to better understand how educators work as leaders and how they draw on coaching and mentoring practices to provide quality education. You will undertake a literature review and develop a plan that includes engaging in a coaching and mentoring model in practice through action research.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation
You will implement a coaching and mentoring session with a professional colleague to undertake your practitioner inquiry (action research) project (Assignment 1). You will record this coaching and mentoring session and evaluate your practice to answer the research question. You will submit the recording and written evaluation.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There are no resources that are required to be purchased for this unit. Other resources will be available in the unit's Canvas site.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with the general conduct of this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.EU60 Graduate Certificate in Education
- Discuss and evaluate advanced discipline-specific knowledge related to professional educational practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan - Reflect on and reflexively analyse own practice to improve professional knowledge and practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Source and evaluate scholarly and professional literature and apply it to educational contexts and scenarios.
Relates to: ULO3, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Employ a range of communication modes to transmit knowledge, skills, and ideas to others.
Relates to: ULO4, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation
EU74 Master of Education
- Discuss, evaluate, and integrate advanced discipline-specific knowledge related to professional educational practice and research.
Relates to: ULO1, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan - Reflect on and reflexively analyse own practice, integrating theoretical frameworks to improve professional knowledge and practice.
Relates to: ULO2, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Apply theories and research methods to ethically explore educational issues/phenomena and practices.
Relates to: ULO3, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Plan, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation - Employ a range of communication modes to transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences in professional and scholarly contexts.
Relates to: ULO4, Practitioner Inquiry (Action Research) Evaluation