EUN683 School Counselling Leadership


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 Outline: Semester 2 2026, Online

Unit code:EUN683
Credit points:12
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.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.

Overview

This unit explores critical areas of school counselling, including mental health, trauma, and bullying, while prioritising counsellor well-being. It emphasises the importance of professional dialogue among school counsellors and encourages the sharing of research findings to shape the future of school counselling. Research skills will be developed, with a focus on practitioner-led approaches to equip you for communicating research outputs. This unit will support you in knowing how to lead in school counselling and contribute to the broader school counselling profession.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

  1. Design and implement practitioner-led inquiry in school counselling contexts.
  2. Synthesise scholarly literature related to school counselling theories and approaches.
  3. Produce professional research outputs to communicate research findings and propose future directions for school counselling.
  4. Analyse and interpret research data to address the research question.
  5. Apply ethical research principles and codes of conduct to engage with colleagues during research.

Content

This unit will cover the following:

  • School counselling areas of practice: mental health and well-being, trauma, case management, critical incidents, bullying/cyberbullying, and student protection
  • School counsellor well-being
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
  • Practitioner-led research approaches
  • Designing practitioner-led research
  • Research ethics and data storage
  • Writing professional research outputs

Learning Approaches

In this unit you will learn by engaging in the following:

  • lectures (live and recorded)
  • tutorials (online)
  • online learning materials
  • peer and group discussions

The unit adopts a focus on independent practitioner-led research.

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
  • collaboration with school counsellors working in practice
  • comments about summative assessment work included with your grade.

Assessment

Overview

In this unit there are two assessments:

1. Practitioner inquiry plan - This task connects school counselling areas of practice with research planning and literature review skills.

2. Practitioner inquiry project - This task brings together research methods and skills to conduct research and produce a practitioner report.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Practitioner inquiry plan

You will design and develop a practitioner inquiry project with a focus on how school counsellors lead areas of practice to optimise outcomes for children/students. You will identify a research topic and question, undertake a literature review and develop a plan that includes engaging in data collection.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Weight: 40
Length: 2000 words
Individual/Group: Individual
Due (indicative): Week 5
Related Unit learning outcomes: 1, 2

Assessment: Practitioner inquiry project

You will undertake your practitioner inquiry research (Assignment 1) and use this to answer your research question. You will then develop a practitioner report that explains your project including your research question, clearly articulates an argument and looks to future directions and implications for school counselling.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Weight: 60
Length: 3000 words
Individual/Group: Individual
Due (indicative): Week 13
Related Unit learning outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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. Resources will be available in the unit's Canvas site.

Risk Assessment Statement

During this unit, you will discuss sensitive topics with your peers that may have significant impact and meaning to you, your peers and/or your teaching team. The teaching team will aim to create a supportive and safe environment for all students enrolled in the unit. They will also support you to develop the appropriate skills to engage in these conversations in an appropriate and respectful manner to ensure a positive experience for all students. If you are concerned that the content of a unit may impact your completion of the course, please see the unit coordinator. You can also access free student counselling through QUT Counselling via the QUT Student Homepage.

Course Learning Outcomes

This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.

EU75 Master of Education (School Guidance and Counselling)

  1. Discuss, evaluate, and integrate advanced discipline-specific knowledge related to professional educational practice and research.
    Relates to: ULO2, Practitioner inquiry plan, Practitioner inquiry project
  2. Apply theories and research methods to ethically explore educational issues/phenomena and practices.
    Relates to: ULO1, ULO4, ULO5, Practitioner inquiry plan, Practitioner inquiry project
  3. 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: ULO3, Practitioner inquiry project