from npqh to mba

Why integrate?
The professional reflection inherent in the NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship) complements the academic reflection expected from the MBA (Master of Business Administration) in Educational Management in such a way as to allow the school leader to gain a greater insight and understanding of the role of headship. By widening and deepening the management perception of the Head, the MBA encourages a more strategic view of the issues that school leaders need to address in order to effect sustainable school improvement. While the operational focus of the NPQH might have a more immediate effect, the MBA can provide a launch pad for long term professional development towards the aim of being a reflective leader.

While the more traditional approaches towards the qualification of MBA are perceived by some to have drawbacks - the time taken to attend fully taught courses or the potential isolation of distance learning - a third route has emerged from the strengths of both.

An approach based upon supported distance learning with the initial boost of an intensive taught element has been developed to meet the needs of headteachers whose most precious commodity is time.

A 'semi-taught' distance learning mode of delivery has been offered by the EMDU (The Educational Management Development Unit) for some time now, but 2001 sees the first time that the MBA has been offered specifically to headteachers and senior school managers to convert their NPQH (through allowable exemptions) into an MBA through attendance at a conference.

The organisation
The conference (first one in June 2000) is constructed around 5, two-hour taught sessions, delivered during a day and a half at an appropriate conference venue. This allows the attendees to receive focused inputs from specialists in the field aimed directly at meeting their learning needs within the scope of the MBA field of study. The first of these conferences takes the theme of performance management and examines management aspects of motivating and nurturing staff to improve learning and teaching. Students attending the programme then return to their schools to work with their nominated supervisor, via email, to research means of improving the effectiveness and deployment of staff in their schools. The outcomes of this research are then reported in the form of a management assignment, which, if successful, will warrant the award of an Advanced Certificate in Educational Management. This module equivalent (plus NPQH) completes the syllabus content part of the Masters.

Progression
Students will then have the option to continue their studies to complete and gain the MBA through the production of a management project. The subject of this project, which again will be supported either by attendance at an additional conference or through distance learning materials, designed with educational managers specifically in mind, will be by determined by negotiation with the academic supervisor. The overriding aim is to ensure that the management focus of the study addresses a particular need, identified by the school, and also develops the leadership skills of the student.

The research project, (of about 20,000 words), should explore the local and national context in which the school manager is operating in order to specify a clear purpose and derive a set of research questions to provide a focus. The student will then be directed towards appropriate reading from which they will be able to construct a sound conceptual framework on which to base their own empirical approach. The ability to search out further, more contextually specific sources will be encouraged and actively supported by both the supervising tutor and the distance learning library facilities of the University.

Where research tools need to be developed the close contact between student and tutor, through electronic means of communication, will be invaluable. Further reflection and analysis of the research findings, in light of the theoretical perspectives, will enable the school leader to make and effectively justify recommendations for improvements to governing bodies or senior management teams.

The whole approach of this conference delivery of the MBA is to provide the headteacher with the support and theoretical foundations to strengthen their analytical decision-making skills. By tailoring the academic inputs to meet the particular needs of senior managers in schools in an environment conducive to effective learning within time-constrained work schedules, the MBA can become an achievable reality for them. As so many in commerce and industry have already discovered, the question is not 'Can I afford to do it?', but 'Can I afford not to do it?'. As one headteacher said, rather enigmatically, on receiving the award "the MBA ? it make you think".

The conference design has the flexibility to meet the specific learning needs of particular groups of senior school managers - all that's needed is the vision ? and the venue!

? 2000 Optimus Publishing Limited
To order your sample copy of Headship Matters go to: www.optimuspub.co.uk