Educational Leadership Program

Specifically for programme directors, master coordinators and bachelor coordinators working at Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University and Leiden University, Teaching and Learning Services offers the Leadership in Education Course. During this inspiring one-year course you will immerse yourself in educational and (educational) leadership themes, you will execute an innovation project within your own programme/faculty, and you will develop your own substantiated vision of teaching and providing leadership. 

Target group and required prior knowledge

The Leadership in Education Course is intended for employees with a coordinating duty in education, such as programme directors or education portfolio holders (including bachelor and master coordinators). You will be responsible for (part of) an education programme and you will guide a programme's educational policy, where you direct colleagues in performing educational or organisational tasks. You also have the ambition to immerse yourself in education innovation and educational leadership, and you want to work towards raising the quality of teaching. Furthermore you have broad experience in providing university education, and have at least one year's experience in coordinating and leadership duties.

Objectives/competences

At the end of the course the participants will be able to:

• Take relevant and current scientific insights into account while formulating one's own vision for (higher) education, substantiating it and presenting it in a convincing manner; 
• Take relevant and current scientific insights into account while formulating the profile of oneself as an educational leader, reflecting critically on one's own development and presenting oneself in the spirit of this profile; 
• Identify current educational issues and resolve and evaluate them in a systematic and substantiated way and reflect critically on the process followed; 
• Create support for educational innovations and provide leadership for the innovation process, taking into account different change strategies; 
• Formulate a good research question on the basis of an educational problem in the course; 
• Provide an active research-informed contribution within a group to the educational policy of the three LDE institutions; 
• Stimulate and support colleagues inside and outside the course actively in their professional development in terms of teaching and/or educational leadership. 

Contents and form

• The basis of the course is four thematic sessions of 24 hours each, with an overnight stay and four day-long sessions. During the sessions both educational themes, such as research-informed teaching and education innovation, and themes related to leadership, such as change management and educational policy, will be covered. 
• Alongside these educational and leadership themes, during the course you will work on an education innovation project, with an interdisciplinary character, in the practice of your own programme/faculty.
• In the course you will develop your own substantiated vision for the teaching in your own programme, as well as a substantiated vision of providing leadership in your own teaching environment.
• A study trip will form part of the trip. The most important objectives of this trip are community-forming and familiarisation with current educational innovations, for example in terms of online education.
• A final component of the course is working with other participants to formulate a response to a current policy issue in the LDE institutions.

Evaluation and certification

At the end of the Leadership in Education Course you will be assessed on all above mentioned aspects, including Attendance at all sessions and participation in the study trip (consultation for circumstances beyond control). The assessment occurs during an individual final interview with a member of the course's programme management, a member of the steering committee and at your own initiative, a representative of your faculty. You are required to submit items of proof for this in advance. In the case of a positive evaluation, you will receive a certificate of successful participation.

Language of instruction

For the 2024 course, the language of instruction in the program is Dutch, given the content and the personal connection between the participants during the meetings. English-speaking colleagues can participate and express themselves in English, but must be able to understand Dutch without any problems.

Registration/procedure

Deans/educational directors of the LDE institutions may nominate candidates for the Leadership in Education Course. A nomination consists of a motivation letter from the candidate, a brief description of an intended education innovation project and a teaching CV. We then conduct an intake interview with each candidate, aimed at finding a suitable match between the qualities of the participant on the one hand, and the characteristics and content of the course on the other. We record the outcomes of this interview, furnishing it with an advice. We present this to the course's steering committee, which will ultimately decide on the admission of the candidates. 
We offer the course once every two years in an LDE context (Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, TU Delft and Leiden University)