Delta: Management and Candidates Essay

Supplementary Handbook for tutors and candidates Introduction to Delta Module Three English Language Teaching Management (ELTM) may be regarded as commercially sensitive. Candidates may wish to anonymise the name of the selected language teaching operation in order to preserve confidentiality. Module Three (ELTM) is an alternative to the standard Module Three within the Delta course. It specifically aims to develop candidates’ knowledge of, and competence in: Candidates are advised to narrow down their selected ELTM specialism in order to research a specific aspect in appropriate depth; for example. Staff development within HRM, or Introducing a new course within academic management. a chosen ELT management specialism methods of situation analysis design of change proposals implementation of change proposals Overview of requirements Candidates’ work should demonstrate a sound grasp of general ELT management principles and how these relate to the work of an LTO, and specific principles related to their chosen ELT management specialism, as well as key principles of strategic management, organisational improvement and change management. To achieve these aims, candidates need to: †¢ research a chosen ELT Management specialism †¢ understand and use appropriate methods of situation analysis for the chosen specialism in a specified language teaching operation (LTO) †¢ design a change proposal to overcome issues identified in the analysis †¢ design an implementation plan for their change proposal †¢ synthesise all their learning into a project which can be coherently presented to a third party. Having considered the general principles and implications of the ELTM specialism and chosen topic area, candidates should carry out an independent situation analysis of the chosen specialism leading to the design of a change proposal relating to the area. Candidates should show how their proposal reflects the findings of the situation analysis and should consider how they would subsequently implement the proposed change bearing in mind the principles of change management. The full syllabus can be downloaded at http://www. cambridgeesol. org/exams/teac hing-awards/delta-modular. html The project will be reported in the form of an Extended Assignment (4,000-4,500 words, excluding appendices) and includes 5 parts: Module Three (ELTM) is assessed via an extended written assignment. Part Part 1 1,200 Situation analysis and commentary 1,000 Part 3 Proposal and justification 1,200 Part 4 Implementation 900 Part 5 academic management human resource management (HRM) customer service marketing Introduction: Review and key issues Part 2 Candidates must select one of the following specialisms:Length Conclusion 200 4,500 Candidates who select to do ELTM as their specialism for the Delta Module Three need to have access to a language teaching operation (LTO) e. g. a language school or institution. They also need to consider how they will have access to the data/information they will need in order to proceed with their proposal. For instance, if they are dealing with ‘Customer Service Management’, they will probably need to have access to customer feedback data, material which The total length may be between 4,000 and 4,500 words, but the proportion of words in each part should be approximately as indicated above, and must not exceed 4,500 in total. 1 Assignment outline and guidance for Candidates synthesised a number of different key sources, typically at least 5-6 in Part 1. †¢ Where two specialisms overlap, it is important that one specialism has the priority. So, for example, a candidate may choose Customer Service as a specialism and then design a proposal which includes some ideas related to Marketing. In this case Customer Service would be the specialism and this would be discussed in Part 1. †¢ See note on page 1 re advisability of narrowing down the selected ELTM specialism in order to research a specific aspect in appropriate depth. n? Part 1 Introduction Length: 1,200 words (plus or minus 10%) A brief rationale for choice of the ELTM specialism and review of the key issues. This will include a discriminating review of relevant literature and a consideration of general ELT management principles and how these relate to the work of an LTO, as well as specific principles related to their chosen ELT management specialism: academic management, human resource management, customer services or marketing). n? Part 2 Situation analysis and commentary Length: 1,000 words (plus or minus 10%) Guiding questions An explanation of how an aspect of the language teaching operation (LTO) was analysed, and how the results of this analysis were used to clarify the areas requiring attention in order to improve the current situation within the LTO. †¢ Why did you choose the ELTM option? Why did you choose this particular specialism? †¢ What theories and principles in the academic and professional ELT management literature have you found relevant, useful or  challenging? †¢ What ideas from observation and experience of LTOs have you drawn on? Guiding questions †¢ What is your educational context ? What are the main characteristics of the LTO, e. g. type of language teaching operation, size, purpose, local/national context etc.? †¢ How was the current situation analysed? What is the source of information? (e. g. was data collected by the LTO management or by yourself as part of your job? ) Why were these methods selected? (e. g. as part of institutional management routines, for compliance with accreditation requirements or as part of your own research? ) †¢ Who are the key stakeholders and what influence do they have? †¢ What were the results of the analysis of data? How did you use these results to clarify the focus of your proposal? Advice to candidates †¢ Candidates who choose this ELTM option should ideally have experience of working as an academic manager (such as programme manager, DoS/ADoS), or in a similar managerial role within an LTO. †¢ The context, background, problems, etc. of the specific LTO should not be discussed in Part 1. †¢ Candidates are expected to show understanding of the key issues related to ELTM and their chosen specialism using relevant terminology. †¢ Key issues should be critically discussed and supported with reference to reading and knowledge/experience gained from working in an LTO. †¢ It is recommended that candidates research their chosen specialism by doing relevant reading before planning/finalising Part 2 of the assignment. †¢ The review of the literature should go beyond simply finding one or two sources which describe the specialism, and should show that the candidate has read and Advice to candidates †¢ Candidates should briefly provide a reason for choosing this particular LTO, and give some brief information on their own role within it, if appropriate. †¢ Candidates need to provide a brief overview of the LTO but should avoid being overly descriptive. The purpose of Part 2 of the assignment is to analyse, not simply describe. 2 Guiding questions †¢ It is important that the analysis focuses in detail on a specific aspect of the working of the LTO in relation to the selected specialism rather than being a general analysis of the context. †¢ Candidates are expected to show awareness of principles of management data analysis (e. g. customer/stakeholder analysis). Terminology should be used and referenced to its sources. Understanding of these principles does not mean purely stating lists  of factors. Candidates need to show how awareness of these principles has influenced their choice of situation analysis procedures. †¢ Candidates are expected to choose appropriate tools/instruments to conduct their analysis. It is important to show which instruments have been used and why, and to provide examples of all instruments used in the appendix. Where many different instruments have been used, it is important to provide a summary of these in the appendix, preferably in a chart format for readers’ ease of access. †¢ It is also important to demonstrate clearly how analysis of these instruments has been conducted. Analysis of the tools used should be detailed and clearly indicate how priorities for improvement have been arrived at. A clear summary of the analysis, possibly in chart format in the appendix, should be provided, so as to show how the results have been synthesised. †¢ Candidates may make use of data which has already been gathered by others (within the LTO for example), but they would need to analyse or, if already analysed, critique this data themselves. †¢ The results of the analysis need to be highlighted here in Part 2 in brief, and then used to identify key priorities for improvement which feed into designing the  change proposal in Part 3. †¢ What priorities have you identified from the above situation analysis for improving the current situation in your educational context (LTO)? †¢ In what ways is your proposed change based on, or influenced by, your reading of relevant literature related to strategic management and organisational improvement? †¢ What are the institutional and educational aims and objectives you hope to achieve? How will the proposal improve the current situation in your LTO? †¢ What is the content of the proposed change? What are the expected outcomes? How will the proposal work in practice? †¢ What institutional requirements or other constraints have you taken into account? Advice to candidates †¢ It is essential that the change proposal is clearly influenced by the situation analysis from Part 2 of the assignment. †¢ Candidates are expected to show awareness of principles of strategic management and organisational improvement. Terminology should be used and referenced to its sources. Understanding of these principles does not mean purely stating lists of factors. Candidates need to show how awareness of these principles has influenced the design of the change proposal. †¢ The change proposal needs to clearly state the problems which are to be addressed and the aims and objectives of each component of the proposal. It should involve one specific focus rather than a range of smaller initiatives. †¢ The change proposal needs to be realistic and should acknowledge relevant institutional constraints, where appropriate. †¢ While tables or charts may be used to summarise the change proposal, sufficient prose is required to expand details and provide explanations. †¢ It is important for candidates to discuss their proposal from a management perspective and to avoid being too descriptive about the details of the proposed change (i. e.  if the topic is Introducing a new course, the focus should be on how this contributes strategically to the LTO rather than on curriculum theory). Part 3 Proposal and justification Length 1,200 words (plus or minus 10%) Discussion of the content and structure of the proposed changes in relation to the key issues and principles discussed in Part 1 and the priorities for improvement identified in the analysis in Part 2. 3 n? Part 4 Implementation intended outcomes and change management principles rather than simply describing the process. The link between the implementation plan and the change proposal is paramount. †¢ The implementation plan needs to be realistic and should acknowledge relevant institutional constraints where appropriate. †¢ It is important that candidates include some indication of how they intend to evaluate the outcomes of their implementation plan. Length: 900 words (plus or minus 10%) An explanation of how the proposed change will be implemented and why (with reference to the relevant literature) accompanied by a detailed action plan/operational plan, showing how the change will be put into practice. Guiding questions †¢ What approach to implementation will be used and why? How has your reading of  change management, decision-making, and/or project management influenced your choice of approach? †¢ What will be the impact of the proposed change on different stakeholders, internal and external? †¢ How exactly do you propose to implement your proposed change? †¢ How will people and resources be managed during the change process? †¢ In what ways, if any, are your choices of implementation constrained institutionally and contextually? †¢ How will you evaluate the outcomes of the implementation? n? Part 5 Conclusion Length: 200 words maximum Consideration of how the proposal is linked to the key issues outlined in the introduction. Guiding questions †¢ How has your proposal applied the principles you discussed in Part 1? †¢ What do you expect to be the benefits for the LTO of your proposal? †¢ What do you consider to be some of the limitations of your proposal? Advice to candidates †¢ In this section, candidates should summarise how the proposal and accompanying implementation plan will achieve the objectives identified for the LTO. †¢ This should not simply be a reiteration of everything that has been said in the assignment. Some indication should be given of the expected benefits of the proposal to the LTO and some of its limitations. †¢ It is important that all the parts of the assignment are linked and build on one another. Reference to the points made in the introduction are appropriate in this concluding section. †¢ Failure to include a conclusion will lead to the candidate losing marks for presentation and organisation. Advice to candidates †¢ Candidates are expected to show awareness of principles of change management, decision-making and/or project management. Terminology should be used and referenced to its sources. Understanding of these principles does not mean purely stating lists of factors. Candidates need to relate these factors to their choice of  implementation approach. †¢ The main emphasis in Part 4 of this assignment should be on outlining what will be done to implement the change proposal and how this will achieve the intended outcome. Change management principles should be used to justify the choices made rather than discussing these per se. †¢ It is important that candidates show, through use of a detailed operational/action plan, what actions need to be undertaken when, how and by whom in order to implement the proposed change, and that it is clear how each action leads to an intended outcome. †¢ Candidates must provide a clear rationale for their implementation plan in terms of 4 n? Appendices advised to develop and make explicit their approach to the module. It may be that a whole group chooses the same specialism, e. g. Human Resource Management’, in which case the same input can be provided for all candidates. If a range of specialisms is chosen, then input may be given by tutors with some expertise in the topic area. The purpose of appendices is to provide both supporting evidence and explanatory materials to help the reader make sense of the assignment. Appendices to be attached to main body of assignment †¢ Situation analysis results †¢ Implementation plan  Candidates may wish to register at a centre and receive individual advice and support. In this case, they should advise centres of their specialism, ensure that the centre where they are registered is able to provide this for the ELTM option and check the centre’s arrangements for this provision. Appendices to be attached as a separate document †¢ A completed sample of all analyses used Advice to candidates †¢ The summaries of the situation analysis results and the implementation plan should be attached as appendices to the main body of the assignment (and labelled Appendix 1: Situation Analysis Results; Appendix 2 Implementation Plan). †¢ All other appendices, e. g. samples of analysis instruments and other relevant documentation should be submitted as a separate document. †¢ Appendices should be numbered and included in the contents pages. They should also state what they contain, e. g. Appendix 3: Situation Analysis Instruments; Appendix 4: Suggested Marketing Brochure, etc. †¢ Candidates are not required to include copies of all completed instruments from all participants in the data analysis, but they should include single completed samples. Similarly, candidates are expected to include samples of any relevant documents which  support the change proposal. For the ELTM Extended Assignment, candidates need to have a breadth and depth of knowledge and awareness of issues related to ELT Management. For this reason, it is important that candidates read widely before starting the assignment. Candidates should also read and be familiar with the key principles and issues in the following areas: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ management data analysis strategic management and organisational improvement change management project management n? Choice of topic for the assignment The focus of the assignment will be on ELT Management. It is the prerogative of the centre to  decide if they are able/willing to supervise this ELTM option. Candidates will also need to have access to an LTO and data relating to the area chosen as a focus for the assignment so that Parts 2-4 of the assignment can be completed. They will need to consider their own role within the LTO carefully before choosing this ELTM option and before deciding on the specific focus of their specialism. Candidates’ status within an LTO determines their access to information and, for candidates already in a management role, the scope of their responsibilities and limits to their authority. For instance, even someone at middle management  level, such as an academic manager, (e. g. Director of Studies (DoS)), may have little or no influence over organisational structure or HRM policies, while the language teaching operation (LTO) itself Guidance for tutors and candidates General advice Candidates are not required to follow a course to prepare for the Delta Module Three ELTM Extended Assignment. However, candidates who do receive support from their centres will benefit from having a structured approach to their preparation for this assignment. Such support may be in the form of a course, individual/group tutorials, or online packages, and may be provided in parallel with, or separately from, Delta Modules One and Two. Where the ELTM Extended Assignment is supervised as part of a course, each centre is 5 may be constrained by compliance with accreditation or legislative requirements. †¢ Candidates should ensure that the file size does not exceed 10MB. It is especially important that the file containing appendices is not too large as this may cause problems for online uploading and downloading of assignments. Candidates must choose from the list of four specialisms provided. If a candidate wishes to focus on a specialist area not included in the list, the centre may contact the Cambridge ESOL Helpdesk for advice: ESOLHelpdesk@CambridgeESOL. org †¢ Candidates are expected to proof their assignments for presentation and language errors. †¢ The title page should contain details of centre and candidate number, ELTM specialism and topic chosen and the word count. †¢ A contents page listing headings/sub-headings and including page numbers should be provided immediately after the cover page. †¢ Pages should be numbered by using the ‘insert page number’ function in Word. †¢ A running footer should be inserted with candidate name and assignment title. †¢ Headings should be used for sections in the body of the assignment. Sub-headings should be used where appropriate for sub-sections. †¢ The word limit is very important as it provides a form of standardisation for the assignment. Candidates should therefore plan their assignment to cover the criteria within the word limit. Assignments which exceed the word limit will be penalised during marking. Assignments more than 100 words over-length will be returned to candidates unmarked. The Suggested word limits for each section will help candidates organise themselves accordingly. Candidates should use the ‘word count’ function in ‘Word’ (by highlighting all their text between the end of the contents  pages and the start of the bibliography section) to monitor the number of words, and they are advised to note that examiners will automatically check all word counts before marking. (The version of Word used to check the word count should be indicated with the word count on the front cover of the assignment. ) †¢ Footnotes should not be used at all for this assignment. All references and terminology are to be included in the text, and count towards the overall word limit. †¢ Summaries of key data, (e. g. charts which summarise the situation analysis results, overview of the implementation plan, etc. ) may be included  in the text itself for readers’ ease of reference, but further detail, (e. g. questionnaires, analysis of specific instruments used etc. ) should be put into the appendix. n? Staging and planning It is recommended that candidates be advised to address the various stages of the assignment separately, and that a study plan be drawn up so that candidates clearly carry out the necessary background work for each stage before moving on to the subsequent stage. Tutorials may be built into this planning to provide more structured guidance. n? Presentation of the assignment Advice to candidates †¢ The assignment is to be submitted electronically as two (and no more than two) documents with 2. 50 cm margins †¢ The first document should be submitted as a Word (. doc) document and entitled as follows: centre number_candidate number_surname_Delta3_ELTM_month year. doc e. g. 11111_001_smith_Delta3_ELTM_1211. doc The collation of situation analysis results and the implementation plan should be included as appendices in this document. This is to help markers locate essential information and to ensure that all original work is included in any plagiarism check. †¢ The second document may be submitted as a word document or as a pdf. It should be  entitled as follows; centre number_candidate number_surname_Delta3_appendices_ month year. doc or . pdf e. g. 11111_001_smith_Delta3_appendices_1211 .doc (. pdf) Samples of customer/stakeholder analysis instruments should be scanned electronically and included in the second document. 6 n? Reading, bibliography and referencing Edited book: Advice to candidates Bush, T. & Bell, L. (Eds. ) (2002). Educational Management: Principles and Practice. London: Paul Chapman. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Candidates should refer to an extensive range of reading resources. There should be explicit evidence of background reading in  all of the first four sections of the assignment. This will typically include four to six different sources for each section. Some sources may be referred to in more than one section of the assignment but overall reference should be made to at least 8-10 different sources. Candidates are expected to do appropriate research into: ELT Management and their chosen specialism; management data analysis, (e. g. customer/stakeholder analysis); strategic management; organisational improvement; change management and decision-making. Appropriate terminology should be used and sources referred to where necessary. These should be clearly referenced in the text, (e. g. White et al. 1991). If specific quotes are used, they should be referenced using author(s)’ surname(s), year of publication and page numbers quoted (e. g. Fullan 2001:98). Page numbers are not required if direct quotes are not used. The bibliography needs to be presented appropriately in alphabetical order of author’s surname (see examples below). Year of publication, city and publisher should be included. This should be presented after the body of the assignment and before the appendices, and should only include publications referred to in the text itself. The second line of each bibliography entry should be indented. Referencing should follow a recognised format throughout the assignment. It is recommended that this be done according to the APA Publication Manual, (5th ed. , 2001); for more information see www. apastyle. org. Examples of several references are given below. Section of edited book: Stoll, L. (2003). School culture and improvement. In M. Preedy, R. Glatter & C. Wise (Eds. ) Strategic Leadership and Educational Improvement (pp 92-108). London: Paul Chapman. Electronic source: British Educational Research Association. (1992). Ethical Guidelines. Retrieved 19 July, 2011, from: http://www. bera. ac. uk/guidelines. html Associations and corporate authors: American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed. ). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Note on plagiarism Plagiarised work will not be accepted. Candidates should be advised on what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. Centres should advise candidates that assignments are checked electronically for plagiarism and that plagiarism will be penalised. Plagiarism checks include checks against previously submitted assignments  as well as assignments or parts of assignments which include passages copied from online resources or books. Plagiarism includes: †¢ copying another’s language or ideas as if they were your own †¢ unauthorised collusion †¢ quoting directly without making it clear by standard referencing and the use of quotation marks and/or layout, (e. g. indented paragraphs) that you are doing so †¢ using text downloaded from the internet without referencing the source conventionally †¢ closely paraphrasing a text †¢ submitting work which has been undertaken wholly or in part by someone else. Single author book: Mintzberg, H. (2001). Strategic Safari. Eaglewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Centres should inform candidates that submission of assignments which have been plagiarised will lead to the candidate’s disqualification and a ban on re-entry of up to three years. Journal article: Srikathan, G. & Dalrymple, J. (2003). Developing alternative perspectives for quality in higher education. International Journal of Educational Management 17(3), 126-136. 7 Assessment Presentation and organisation – maximum 14 marks n? The Module Three ELTM Extended Assignment is assessed with reference to a detailed Mark Scheme which allocates marks for  the five assessment categories, each of which is divided into three sub-categories. The total number of marks available is 140, divided as follows: †¢ Academic writing, language and referencing †¢ Presentation, coherence and organisation †¢ Clarity of argument and quality of ideas n? Marking A Principal Examiner guides and monitors the marking process. The process begins with coordination procedures, whereby the Principal Examiner and a team of examiners establish a common standard of assessment through the selection and marking of sample assignments. These are chosen to represent a range of performance across the different ELTM specialisms selected for this assignment. During marking, each examiner is apportioned randomly chosen assignments. A rigorous process of coordination and checking is carried out before, during and after the marking process. Grasp of relevant issues for ELTM maximum 35 marks n? †¢ Review of the relevant general and ELT management literature †¢ Understanding of key issues in the chosen specialism †¢ Application of relevant management knowledge to practice and identification of key issues Situation analysis and commentary maximum 28 marks n? n? Grading †¢ Understanding and application of key principles of management data analysis †¢ Analysis of the instruments used and identification of areas for improvement †¢ Discussion and justification of prioritised areas for improvement in the LTO supported by the analysis Results are recorded as three passing grades (Pass with Distinction, Pass with Merit, Pass) and one failing grade (Fail). The marks required to obtain each grade are: Pass approximately 80 marks Pass with Merit approximately 100 marks Proposal and justification – maximum 35 marks Pass with Distinction approximately 120 marks †¢ Understanding and application of key principles of strategic management and organisational improvement †¢ Justification of the change proposal in terms of ELTM and identified requirements †¢ Specification of the change and its intended effects, and of managing institutional constraints At the end of the marking process, there is a grading meeting to check scores around the grade boundaries. The grade boundaries are set in a way that ensures that the level of knowledge required to obtain the three passing grades: n? n? †¢ is consistent with the grade descriptions on page 9 of this handbook †¢ is the same from one session to the next. Implementation – maximum 28 marks The following information is used in the grading: †¢ Understanding and application of key principles of change management and decision-making †¢ Justification of implementation procedures in terms of ELTM and identified needs †¢ Designing an implementation plan and thinking through its impact on stakeholders †¢ comparison with statistics from previous years’ examination performance and candidature †¢ recommendations of examiners, based on the performance of candidates. 8 Grade descriptions Pass with Distinction Excellent piece of work which shows a very high level of understanding, analysis and application, and which displays originality and critical insight. Very high standard in all of the following areas: †¢ Understanding of: the selected specialism; principles of situation analysis; principles of change management; principles of decision-making †¢ Analysis of key issues in the topic area and the LTO; justification of the change proposal and implementation plan †¢ Identification of key priorities for change; design of implementation plan †¢ Academic writing, presentation and organisation, clarity of argument and quality of ideas. Pass with Merit Very good piece of work which shows a high level of understanding, analysis and application, and which displays some originality and critical insight. High standard in most of the following areas, but with some room for improvement: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Understanding of: the selected specialism; principles of situation analysis; principles of change management; principles of decision-making Analysis of key issues in the topic area and the LTO; justification of the change proposal and implementation plan Identification of key priorities for change; design of implementation plan Academic writing, presentation and organisation, clarity of argument and quality of ideas. Pass Satisfactory piece of work which shows an acceptable level of understanding, analysis and application, and which meets the requirements of the assignment. Good standard in some areas, but some room for improvement in most of the following areas: †¢ Understanding of: the selected specialism; principles of situation analysis; principles of change management; principles of decision-making †¢ Analysis of key issues in the topic area and the LTO; justification of the change proposal and implementation plan †¢ Identification of key priorities for change; design of implementation plan †¢ Academic writing, presentation and organisation, clarity of argument and quality of ideas. Fail Inadequate piece of work which fails to show an acceptable level of understanding, analysis and application. Substantial room for improvement in some or all of the following areas: †¢ Understanding of: the selected specialism; principles of situation analysis; principles of change management; principles of decision-making †¢ Analysis of key issues in the topic area and the LTO; justification of the change proposal and implementation plan †¢ Identification of key priorities for change; design of implementation plan †¢ Academic writing, presentation and organisation, clarity of argument and quality of ideas. 9 Cambridge English Teaching Qualificationds Delta Supplementary Handbook for tutors and candidates Cambridge English Teaching Qualifications Teaching Qualifications University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations 1 Hills Road Cambridge CB1 2EU United Kingdom Tel: +44 1223 553997 Email: ESOLhelpdesk@CambridgeESOL. org www. CambridgeESOL. org  © UCLES 2011 | EMC/7861/1Y07