Lecturer in Educational Leadership - School of Education

Position Details

School of Education

Department of Teacher Education

College of Social Sciences

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Lecturer in Educational Leadership Grade 8

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £40,792 to £48,677. With potential progression once in post to £54,765 a year

Full Time

Fixed term 01/09/2019 - 30/04/2020

Social Sciences at Birmingham

Background

Thank you for your interest in working in Social Sciences at Birmingham. The College is a welcoming and collegiate place to work, and it is also highly successful - with good student satisfaction, an excellent record on employability of our graduates, and a long and strong track record of thought-provoking research which impacts on all areas of society. Our influence on society dates back to the University's civic roots. A century ago we pioneered business and social work education. More recently, we founded the UK's first University secondary school and will continue to expand our global reach as we take pride in being at the very heart of the University's new campus in Dubai.

The College has an exciting and ambitious growth and diversification plan over the next 10 years. This includes investment in new academic posts (such as these ), leveraging external research income from government, business and philanthropic sources, extending our links with the city and the region, as well as improving the quality of the student experience on campus, overseas and through digital education.

The College is currently home to over 900 staff, including almost 500 academic staff. Our proportion of female professors and readers has grown in the last three years and we have staff from over 53 countries around the world. But we are committed to doing more to improve equality and diversity and make the College a place that better reflects our city and the wider community. We will do this drawing on the world-leading research carried out in the College on this area, including within centres and institutes such as the Centre for Research in Race and Education (CRRE) and the Department of Inclusion and Special Needs in the School of Education (DISN), the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) in the School of Social Policy, a strong research cluster on inclusivity in work based in the Birmingham Business School, and our work on gender and feminist theory in Government and Society.

We are happy to discuss flexible working and welcome applications for part-time work as part fulfilment of this full-time role. This is a two-term post in the first instance.

Role Summary

Department of Teacher Education

The Department of Teacher Education offers initial and continuing education to teachers throughout the West Midlands region. Our primary and secondary ITE programmes build on excellent partnership working with over 200 schools who host placements for our students, and whose mentors form a crucial part of our team. Strong academic specialisms in primary and secondary education support research-intensive teaching, recognised as outstanding in successive Ofsted inspections. Our MA Teaching Studies programme sees 100+ early career teachers returning each year to undertake a practice-based dissertation and we offer PGDipEd in Teaching Studies, aligned to the Early Career Framework, to support post-NQT teachers who return to enhance their understanding of curriculum, teaching and learning and educational partnerships.

We are now building on a well-established and highly respected MA School Improvement and Educational Leadership programme to offer our new MEd Educational Leadership Degree Apprenticeship (DA) which will launch in September 2019. The new degree apprenticeship in educational leadership has been developed with leaders from partner schools and with associate visiting lecturers and our leadership mentors, to combine world-leading research with outstanding professional practice. The MEd and MA educational leadership programmes are housed within a new Educational Leadership Academy, due to launch in September 2019, which advances research, professional learning and collaboration across the region. It focuses on leadership for school improvement and developing understanding of what works and what matters in education. With the Educational Leadership Academy, the MEd programme and with a new leadership pathway on the MA Education programme launching in September 2020 and the development of a new MBA, educational leadership at the University of Birmingham is going from strength to strength.

Our offer

We genuinely want colleagues who join us to be able to flourish and develop their academic career.

We start by supplementing an induction session which is run centrally by the University with a structured induction in the College, including offering you an induction buddy who you can ask all those questions you may not want to ask a line manager.

If you are a Lecturer on probation (usually a three year term) we will give you protected time and a reduced workload in the first couple of years so you can really establish your teaching career. You will also have an academic mentor who will meet regularly with you. We are happy to provide teaching fellows and other staff with a mentor if they feel it would be helpful.

We offer developmental programmes (including a series of seminars CoSS Essentials annually) to assist you develop your career further, and when the time is right, we offer support to assist you in formulating an application for promotion.

We also have excellent support for research, both pre and post-award, for developing publications for the Research Excellence Framework exercise and for impact development.

Social Sciences also has a staff-run Early Career Academic and Research Staff network which is run jointly with the College of Arts and Law and also hosts the WIN:WIN network - a bottom up initiative which has been in place since 2013 convened by and for academic staff which holds termly events. The University's Rainbow Network aims to provide a space for staff and PhD students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning, as well as friends and allies of these communities, to meet and develop contacts across campus, and we are leading work to develop a LGBTQ inclusive curriculum for our students.

We support flexible working, and offer enhanced maternity, parental and adoption leave and staff have access to two on-site nurseries, as well as a parent and carers network (amongst other network groups). The College has a nursing and quiet room located in the School of Education. On return from maternity leave we support female staff who can choose to drop teaching for a term in order to re-establish themselves in the workplace.

Our campus

Our beautiful campus is one of our greatest assets. Our 250-acres of parkland give the University an excellent work environment. Transport links are excellent, as we have our own train station on site and we are situated on a main route to the City centre.

Our city

Birmingham is a city on the up. It is one of the youngest cities in Europe and also one of the most diverse. It has coupled its proud heritage as the workshop of the world with a modern outlook.

Birmingham is a truly diverse city with a rich cultural mix which is reflected in its restaurants, shops and cultural activities. You can find more information on Birmingham's official visitor website.

Birmingham is within an hour's drive of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cotswolds. From Birmingham International Airport, more than 50 different airlines operate scheduled services to 100 destinations worldwide. The University has its own dedicated railway station, while 50 million passengers a year use Birmingham New Street Station, and the city will be a major hub for the high-speed rail network. London is 80 minutes away by shuttle service, with trains every 20 minutes.

Main duties and responsibilities

This post, which is for two terms in the first instance, will be attached to our Educational Leadership Master's programmes. Work will be agreed according to interest and strengths but you will have a keen interest in at least one of the following areas and be able contribute to a range of related teaching, marking and administration activity:

• Educational effectiveness and evaluation
• School improvement
• Research- and evidence-informed education
• Education policy
• Educational leadership and management

In addition, there will be opportunities for involvement in the development of our new team of school-based Senior Leaders who will act as Leadership Mentors on the programme. Teaching is likely to include a substantial contribution to: (a) the management, development (including programme/module review) and delivery of teaching and assessment; and (b) enhancement of the student experience or employability. The role will typically also involve developing and advising others, including: (a) providing expert advice to staff and students, (b) supervising and examining masters and PhD students, and (c) developing and advising others on learning and teaching tasks and methods.

Management and administration is likely to involve contributions at Departmental and School level, and/or making an important contribution to some managerial/leadership activities (e.g. working groups) within the University. This may include developing and making substantial contributions to knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, public engagement, widening participation, schools outreach, or similar activities at Department/School level or further within the University.

Learning and Teaching

Using a variety of methods in teaching and advising individuals and groups of undergraduates, postgraduates, or CPD students, including (as appropriate):

• Teaching and examining courses at a range of levels;
• Planning and reviewing your own teaching approaches and encouraging others to do the same;
• Developing programme proposals and making substantial contributions to the design of teaching programmes more widely;
• Where appropriate, undertaking and developing the full range of responsibilities in relation to supervision, marking and examining;
• Developing and advising others on learning and teaching tasks and methods;
• Developing and making substantial contributions to knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, public engagement activities or similar on own specialism that enhances the student experience or employability and which benefits the College and University;
• Devising and supervising projects, student dissertations and practical work.

Management/Administration

Contributing to Departmental/School administration, including:

• Contributing to the administration/management of research and/or teaching across the Department/School;
• Advising on personal development of colleagues and students;
• Making a major contribution to some administrative activities within the University (e.g. appeals panels, working groups);
• Managing enterprise, business development, and public engagement activities;
• Developing and making substantial contributions to knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, public engagement, widening participation, schools outreach.

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications and Experience Required

• A higher Degree relevant to the discipline area (usually PhD) or equivalent qualifications
• Normally, a higher degree relevant to the teaching area (usually PhD) or equivalent qualifications
• Extensive teaching experience and scholarship within subject specialism
• Extensive teaching and/or professional experience working with senior educational leaders
• Proven ability to devise, advise on and manage learning
• Skills in managing, motivating and mentoring others successfully at all levels

Teaching

• Ability to design, deliver, assess and revise teaching programmes
• Extensive experience and demonstrated success in developing appropriate approaches to learning and teaching, and advising colleagues
• Experience and success in knowledge transfer, enterprise and similar activity that enhances the student experience or employability

Management Administration

• Ability to contribute to School/Departmental management processes
• Ability to assess and organise resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes

Candidates are asked to upload a recent CV and to complete the online application form.

Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Frances Child ( f.child@bham.ac.uk ) or Dr Tom Perry ( t.w.perry@bham.ac.uk ) to discuss the post and to find out more about developments within Educational Leadership at the University of Birmingham.