PhD in Education and Leadership Student Learning Outcomes

Mission 
     To cultivate inter-professional education leaders as scholarly practitioners in diverse, multi-
     modal contexts.
Vision
     An inter-professional scholar-practitioner community for the advancement of education and
     leadership. All stakeholders engage in collaborative inquiry on issues and questions related to
     what it means to educate and lead.
Values
     ● Experiential and self-directed learning
     ● Applied scholarly practice embedded in diverse contexts
     ● Community of inquiry
     ● Collaboration and advocacy

These competencies are integrated into the learning objectives of the PhDEL curriculum, and serve as the goals for student learning within the program.

Transformation Competencies

  • Achievement orientation demonstrated by a concern to surpass a standard of excellence, which may include striving for individual improvement, an objective measure such as results orientation on a specific problem or issue, outperforming others, or denoting innovation in the field.
  • Analytical thinking demonstrated by the ability to understand a situation, issue or problem by breaking it down into smaller pieces or tracing its implications in a step-wise manner, which requires the demonstration of organizational skills, accurately making systematic comparisons, setting priorities on a rational basis, and identifying time sequences, causal relationships, and scenario (if-then) analysis.
  • Community orientation demonstrated by the ability to align one’s own and the organization’s priorities with the values and needs of the community, including the cultural and ethnocentric values, and move population-based health and education forward in line with community needs and the national agenda.   
  • Information-seeking skills demonstrated by an underlying curiosity about people and issues, including the desire for knowledge and staying current with organizational, industry, political, and professional trends and developments. This includes demanding precise information, resolving discrepancies by questioning data and information, and scanning for potential opportunities or information with a future focus, as well as remaining current and seeking best practices in the field.
  • Innovative thinking demonstrated by the ability to apply complex concepts, develop creative solutions or use previous solutions in creative and adaptive ways for breakthrough thinking in the field.
  • Strategic orientation demonstrated by the ability to consider the business, demographic, ethno-cultural, political, and regulatory implications of decisions, and develop successful strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of the organization and the individual.

Execution Competencies

  • Accountability demonstrated by the ability to hold people accountable to standards of performance or ensure compliance for the long-term good of the organization.
  • Change leadership demonstrated by the ability to energize stakeholders and sustain their commitment to changes in goals, approaches, processes and strategies.
  • Collaboration demonstrated by the ability to work collaboratively with others, effectively be part of a team, without being in a leadership role, and constructively achieving a goal, as opposed to working separately or competitively. 
  • Communication skills demonstrated by the ability to speak and write in a clear, logical, and grammatically correct manner in formal and informal situations, to prepare cogent presentations, and to successfully lead and facilitate group activities.
  • Influence and impact demonstrated by the ability to persuade, convince, influence or sway individuals and groups to earn their support on a position, project, opinion or issue by using evidence-based practices.
  • Initiative demonstrated by the ability to identify a problem, obstacle or opportunity and take effective action. This means taking a proactive approach to address current as well as future problems and opportunities.
  • Organizational awareness demonstrated by the ability to understand and learn the formal and informal decision-making structures and power relationships in an organization. This includes the ability to identify organizational decision makers and those who influence them, and predict how events affect individuals and groups, and shape organizations.
  • Performance measurement demonstrated by the ability to understand and use statistical and financial methods and metrics to set goals and measure organizational performance with a commitment to and use of evidence-based practices.
  • Process management and organizational design techniques demonstrated by the ability to analyze, design or improve organizational processes, including the incorporation of quality management principles.
  • Project management demonstrated by the ability to plan, execute, and oversee a multi-year, large-scale project involving significant resources, scope, and impact.  

People Competencies

  • Interpersonal communication and understanding demonstrated by the ability to understand other people as well as accurately hear and understand unspoken communication or partially expressed thoughts, feelings, and concerns of others. This includes assessing the complexity and depth of understanding of others to incorporate cross-cultural sensitivity.
  • Professionalism consistently exhibited by the demonstration of ethical behavior, sound professional practices, social accountability, and community stewardship. This includes the desire to act in a way that is consistent with one’s values.
  • Relationship building demonstrated by the ability to establish, construct, and sustain professional contacts for the purpose of building networks of individuals with similar goals and that support similar interests.
  • Self-confidence demonstrated by a belief in one’s own ability to accomplish a task and select an effective approach to solve a problem. This includes confidence in one’s opinions and decisions, and the ability to achieve success in increasingly challenging circumstances.
  • Self-development demonstrated by the ability to have an accurate view of one’s own strengths and development needs, including the impact that one has on others. This includes a willingness to address needs through reflective, self-directed learning, and implementing new approaches.
  • Talent development demonstrated by the drive to build the breadth and depth of the organization’s human capability and professionalism, including supporting top-performing people and taking a personal interest in coaching and mentoring.
  • Team leadership demonstrated by the ability to see oneself as a leader, from forming and directing a team that possesses balanced capabilities to setting its mission, values, and norms; holding team members accountable individually and as a group to achieve results.