EDUC44060: To complete this component of the assignment you will need to identify: Critical Incident Assignment, UCD, Ireland

The assignment has two distinct components.

Component A 

To complete this component of the assignment you will need to identify a ‘critical incident’ in leadership in which you were a participant, notably one that enables you to interpret it in a substantive manner in light of core content from this module. The assignment then asks you to write a descriptive account of your chosen ‘critical incident’ in leadership in which you partook (500 words approx.). The account should be descriptive only and not interpretative.
Following this account, please write a reflective interpretation of this incident, bearing in mind the distinctions between being accountable and responsible, as well as the principles of deliberative leadership/ distributed leadership.

Component B
Having completed Component A, you will need a peer to complete the more substantial Component B of the assignment. There are three key stages to the associated collaborative element:

• First, at this stage you should share your written description of your critical incident with a colleague — the description only, and not your written reflective analysis on it just yet. Each of you will then write an interpretative/ reflective piece on the other’s incident, drawing on the deliberative leadership framework provided, while drawing on any other analytical tools you consider appropriate given the nature of the ‘incident’ (500 words approx.).
• Second, as you exchange your written reflections on your partner’s critical incident, you will also provide your own written reflective commentary on your own incident.
• Third, this will be followed by an extended conversation between you both, framed within understandings of principles of deliberative leadership and the values that underpin them, school culture, understandings of accountability and professional responsibility as well as trust and risk and continuing professional learning, of the personal in the professional. It is
  preferable to record this conversation so that you may quote selected extracts from your deliberative conversation as part of your analysis in the remainder of the assignment.

The conversation will be structured along the following lines. Taking each critical incident in turn, in the first instance, practice listening, acknowledging the other’s point of view, while they articulate their reflective interpretation of your ‘incident’. Differences in reflections will be explored with a view to arriving at a shared understanding of each incident, while reflecting on
what has had to be conceded to arrive at a ‘legitimate compromise’ in each incident. You will also discuss, as part of arriving at a shared understanding of each other’s incidents, what values were at stake in arriving at ‘legitimate compromise’ in the critical incidents, while identifying also what may be learned from each incident regarding the culture of the school context—what is revealed about interpersonal relationships, values, trust and risk, leadership
approaches/ practices. Throughout this conversation, you should also reflect on what is being learned about leading and managing an organisation from these incidents that might be useful in future instances, while also gaining insight into the nexus between leadership and organisational culture. Additionally, identify possible next steps that suggest themselves from your analysis that would be useful in furthering deliberative leadership in your school, while transforming the culture more characteristic of an organisation that caters for both the personal and the professional. In your final reflection, indicate how useful or otherwise you have found this assignment in comparison with previous assignments completed in the PDSL.