Have you wanted to study and upskill but haven’t had the time or inclination to commit to a three-year or four-year degree? Whether you want to reach career goals, grow your work responsibilities or simply upskill, you can’t go wrong with micro-credentials or short courses. Why not consider one of Excelsia College’s eight short courses? The courses include areas such as counselling, education, disability, aged care, song writing, Christian leadership and social science.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Classroom and Curriculum Innovation helps teachers to meet the increasingly diverse needs of students and find opportunities for pedagogical and curriculum innovation. Upon completion of the course, graduates can become future education leaders, promoting positive change in their skills and classrooms. They can use this course to enter postgraduate studies such as Excelsia’s Master of Education (Primary) or Master of Education (Secondary). The short course can be completed within six months of full-time online study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Counselling provides a taster to students considering whether to continue further studies in counselling, developing core counselling skills, and covering ethics of counselling and how relational dynamics function in personal and professional contexts. Educators, nurses, those involved in ministry and other care-based professions may also find this counselling knowledge helpful in extending their current relational skill set. The short course can be completed within six months of full-time study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Disability provides students with contemporary case-management and person-centered approaches to service delivery, framed within the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) practice standards and quality indicators. Relevant prior knowledge is required including subjects of psychology, social work, education and health sciences. The short course can be completed online within six months of full-time or one year of part-time study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Aged Care addresses the demand for the industry and the need for high quality leaders and managers within residential and community-based agencies. By 2060, the number of Australians over the age of 75 is estimated to rise to four million. Prior knowledge for this course is required, including degrees that cover subjects in human services, psychology, social work, or education. This short course can be completed online within six months of full-time or one year of part-time study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies allows students to explore the foundations of education, the function of schools and schooling and responsibilities of classroom teachers. It’s a helpful overview of education, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and diverse classrooms and whilst it doesn’t qualify graduates to teach, it can lead to further studies in the Master of Teaching program. This short course can be completed within six months of full-time study.

 

The Undergraduate Certificate in Song Writing helps students with a singer/worship or songwriter background broaden their technical skills and theoretical knowledge and graduate from the course with a high quality, self-recorded demo of original songs. This course can be completed within six months of full-time study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Christian Leadership is a blend of business, theology, and professional leadership from a Christian world view. Studying at a College that is grounded in Christian values sets Excelsia apart from secular universities and colleges that provide generic leadership and care-based courses. This short course can be completed within six months of full-time or one year of part-time study.

 

The Graduate Certificate in Social Science can be used as a bridging course to the Master of Social Work (Qualifying) program, provided students have at least six months of full-time studies in social and behavioural sciences areas. Students are introduced to sociological and psychological theories, social and political institutions in Australia, and critical thinking and reflection in social work. This short course can be completed within six months of full-time study.

 

If you’re interested in undertaking a short course at Excelsia College to develop in your career or challenge yourself, why not enquire with us today? Visit https://excelsia.edu.au/

Professional Courses | Music

Our Professional Development courses in music leverage the resources of creative and performing arts school and are delivered by instructors that are eager to share their real-world professional practices. Our tuition is designed to give students skills that will instantly translate into positive results in the real world.
They are delivered online mainly. Minimum English language required.

Small Ensemble | MUBC217

Course fee: $1,371 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Face-to-face delivery on campus

Small Ensemble II MUBC218

Course fee: $1,371 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Face-to-face delivery on campus

Small Ensemble III MUBC319

Course fee: $1,371 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Face-to-face delivery on campus

Small Ensemble IV MUBC320

Course fee: $1,371 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Face-to-face delivery on campus

Overview for Small Ensemble Units

Course Overview

The series of small ensemble units is designed to maximise skill outcomes in all aspects of small ensemble performance skills in a choice of classical, vocal, jazz, rock, world music, contemporary and worship ensembles.

The units consist of weekly two-hour tutorials with an ensemble tutor to inform and develop ensemble skills, including intonation, balance, sympathetic expression, ensemble co-ordination and performance etiquette. Ensembles are performed at the end of the course in an evening performance held at the college or at a venue in Sydney.

Key Learning Outcomes

Select, rehearse, arrange and perform repertoire in small groups.

Teaching Method

Practical immersive workshops.

Professional Courses | Ethical Leadership

Christian Leadership INT501

Course fee: $2,000 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Online delivery
Course Overview

This course develops the individual’s leadership skills grounded in Christian values with particular attention to the distinctive features of Christian leadership, such as servant-hearted motivation and pastoral concern in team and client relations. Building on the Biblical foundations of dignity, respect, equality and strengthening the group, this course equips the participant to implement their personal faith and values in work practice, in volunteer roles, and in leadership positions in Christian organisations.  It will help the leader or executive align their leadership style and goals with their Christian values.

This course will develop the skills necessary for emerging and rising leaders in Christian schools, lay ministry leadership, and for theologically-trained staff who want to build their interpersonal and organisational leadership tools; and for leaders in Christian and ethical not-for-profit sector businesses who would like to bring their Christian identity to bear in the workplace and project management.

There are numerous generalised business leadership and educational leadership qualifications available but little that caters specifically to the Christian whose values define their interaction with people in a distinctive and important core way. This course explores the reconciliation of servant-hearted leadership and Biblical attitudes in our ambitious career-oriented world; ways to deliver instructions, advice and news to staff or clients in a respectful positive manner; tools to galvanise and unify your work team; and how to lead humbly and productively.

The course examines practical methods to model Christian values and ethics in positions of leadership — e.g. equity, fairness, dignity and value of individuals, and unity of thinking. We look at Biblical foundations for relationships, including relationships that involve power differentials; resilience (coping, forgiving, renewal and growth through change); ethical practice and justice; celebrating successes and gratitude; ethical design strategies for projects or business and holistic decision-making tools; wise stewardship of resources including finance, material resources, and especially people-management; and resisting idolatrous external pressures and common trappings.

Key Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate communication skills that transfer complex knowledge or sensitive issues via written or verbal modalities at a high professional level.

Display skills to analyse and synthesise knowledge from the primary source material and literature in order to provide practical solutions to complex problems in the context of ethical, contemporary social and future work decisions.

Demonstrate knowledge and its expert application including independent discernment in a range of specialised contexts; exemplifying an understanding of the human relationship to God, and Christian framework for conduct, attitudes towards others, and human worth.

Acquisition of tools for ethical and value-driven decision-making, and project design.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading, class interaction and activities, scenario-based analysis and projects including written work and research. This unit may include online presentation and interactive learning strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the Integrative Studies program.

Professional Courses | Education

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Our Professional Development courses in education leverage the resources of Education school and are delivered by instructors that are eager to share their real-world professional practices. Our tuition is designed to give students skills that will instantly translate into positive results in the real world.
They are delivered online mainly. Minimum English language required.

Leading Professional Learning Communities EDM502

Course fee: $2,166 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Schools are hubs of learning where all participants continue to grow and learn. This unit explores the construct of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and Lave & Wenger’s classic theory of communities. The characteristics of a PLC are defined and students reflect on the roles of member citizens in engaging, imagining and supporting. PLCs are seen as an evolving, context-specific process rather than a model for mass application. Students have opportunity to reflect on professional learning communities within their own work or school and apply theories to their current practice.

Key Learning Outcomes

Identify and apply Biblical principles of leadership to the educational arena of the 21st century.

Apply current research as it relates to the roles of committee members and the effectiveness of the team and identify; and describe behaviour traits and communication styles of team/committee members.

Analyse and describe how the factors of the stages of team development, roles and relationships of team members and models of decision making impact the establishment of and effectiveness of a Professional Learning Community and the development of student leadership.

Use principles of communication and conflict resolution to build consensus.

Analyse and describe theories of reciprocal accountability and professional development in a Professional Learning Community.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Curriculum Leadership for Rigour and Relevance EDM503

Course fee: $2,166 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Our nation has an Australian Curriculum and the core principles of our curriculum are based on the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008). These documents commit Australians to a world class curriculum that promotes excellence and equity where all learning citizens are active, confident and successful.

Key Learning Outcomes

Identify 21st century knowledge and skills as these represent the global perspective, designing or adapting K-12 curriculum frameworks to ensure that students can demonstrate 21st century knowledge and skills as readiness for both college and the workplace.

Address rigour and relevance in their curriculum and pedagogical knowledge to create learning opportunities.

Extend awareness of ways in which P-12 curriculum can become more rigorous and relevant by adapting for higher order thinking skills and assisting others in this as a Teacher Leader.

Explore the ways in which educators can extend Jesus’ teachings into 21st century learning environments.

Review and refine personal or professional mission or philosophy statements based on information from the curriculum course.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Leading Classroom Pedagogies: Instruction & Inquiry for Engagement EDM505

Course fee: $2,166 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Pedagogy is a popular and misunderstood term in education. In this unit educators are given the opportunity to evaluate pedagogical practices and their own personal pedagogies in the context of the Australian curriculum and its mandated pedagogical requirements. Direct instruction, the flipped classroom and inquiry learning theories and practices are defined and described. Students connect digital technology as a form of social media, research and a multimedia teaching tool for 21st Century learning with pedagogy.

Key Learning Outcomes

Recognise the skills necessary to collaborate as a team member.

Define pedagogy, gain understanding of a range of pedagogical approaches and evaluate them in an Australian context.

Identify the guiding principles of direct instruction, enquiry and engagement in teaching and learning, including evidence based research into student engagement.

Evaluate, as a Teacher Leader, how professional learning is enhanced and can occur in a variety of ways using social media.

Support Professional Learning Community performance by planning resources that improve achievement as a Teacher Leader.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Leading Data-Based Change Management EDM506

Course fee: $2,166 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Research and data are dynamic tools for improving schools and student outcomes. The utilisation of student achievement data and systematic research in educational contexts is standard practice in schools for improving student outcomes and systems of operation. In this unit, data-based decision-making and research-based practice are critiqued and examined using theory to clarify what it means to use data or to make research-informed choices.

Key Learning Outcomes

Identify, explain and communicate the value and danger of data in a range of contexts including individual context, school, national and global contexts in an era of accountability and transparency.

Critically reflect on a positivist research-based understanding of data in the curriculum and its use for students in Assessment for Learning.

Evidence the development of skills in using data for individual and whole school reporting and assessing student knowledge in literacy and numeracy.

Demonstrate understanding of the role of positivist action research in data collection and use in schools and classrooms.

Demonstrate that they can understand the differences in sociological advantage in their approaches to the use of data, and that they can communicate their own data philosophy towards personalised learning and communities of practice from a faith-based perspective.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Effective Leadership and Management EDM507

Course fee: $2,000 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Leadership and management are defined as distinct and interrelating concepts. This unit explores the history and theory of leadership, from factory models such as Ford and Taylor through leadership styles, gender, power, emotions, metaphors of leadership and complexity leadership theory, spiritual leadership and sustainable leadership practices. Students are invited to explore the key characteristics of Christian leadership. Management principles and metaphors are also explored, and students have the opportunity to develop their own metaphors and modes of leadership and management based on professional experience and worldview perspective. Leadership and management are further connected to vision and mission statements and ethos.

Key Learning Outcomes

Identify, explain and communicate philosophical questions, domains and issues including faith-based issues as they relate to school leadership.

Evaluate and assess organisational culture and the impact of diversity while incorporating leadership and organisational theory as applied to building leadership.

Cultivate commitment to and ownership of the school’s instructional vision, mission, values, and organisational goals, and develop ways to ensure all key decisions are aligned to the vision, and aimed towards improving teacher effectiveness and student achievement.

Establish programs and leadership practices to support teachers by providing prompt, high-quality feedback aimed at improving student outcomes within the context of continual school improvement as a Teacher Leader.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Creativity and Innovation for Leadership EDM508

Course fee: $2,166 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Creativity and Innovation are core skills for 21st century entrepreneurial leaders as they create opportunities to shape school cultures, strategic planning and curriculum innovation. Lateral thinking can shape pedagogical approaches, leadership and management practices and learning cultures in active ways. Creativity and a distinctive style can redefine situations, decision making, learning and curriculum choice and school cultures. Leadership in creativity and innovation is defined through enabling. In this unit, models of creativity and innovation and their theories and theorists are explored, and the opportunity to reflect on the nature of creativity and Christianity is offered. The role of deep reflection to enable creativity and innovation is applied.

Key Learning Outcomes

Learning occurs through prescribed reading, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work and peer review. This unit includes online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies (e.g. study guides, quizzes, websites, podcasts, discussions and online forums).

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Business.

Understand and describe the core principles of Creativity and Innovation as applied to Christian Education.

Demonstrate understanding of theories and models that impact the practice of Creativity and Innovation as a Teacher Leader.

Articulate the nature and role of Creativity and Innovation in the context of a changing educational milieu (noting spiritual, social, cultural, economic factors).

Demonstrate the application of Creative and Innovative Teacher Leadership skills with respect to a range of contemporary educational problems and scenarios.

Create a Creativity and Innovation framework to use with others in their role as a Teacher Leader.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Teaching Students with Diverse Abilities EDSF504

Course fee: $2,104 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

This course provides a basic understanding of the current philosophies and practices relevant to including and serving prior to school and school students with diverse abilities within the regular classroom.

This unit will equip Initial Teacher Education students with the skills, understandings, and attitudinal base to encourage effective learning for all children – irrespective of their ability or needs. The unit emphasises the provision of opportunities to develop strategies that have high utility in classrooms, thus enabling all students to access the curriculum. National and State policies and practices supporting inclusion will be examined, as will the nature and place of support services within the class, school, prior to school settings and community.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Assessment and Reporting EDSF508

Course fee: $2,104 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

This course examines the nature, purposes, scope and strategies of assessment and reporting. Modes of assessing and reporting are presented and evaluated with respect to their coherence with a student-centred philosophy of teaching and learning.

Issues relating to validity, reliability and equity are explored, including the increasing use of ICT, the role of judgement in relation to standards, and using assessment to support indigenous education. Teacher education students will explore the use of standardised and other testing modes undertaken by the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA), and the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA).

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Education.

Professional Courses | Counselling

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Our Professional Development courses in Counselling leverage the resources of Counselling school and are delivered by instructors that are eager to share their real-world professional practices. Our tuition is designed to give students skills that will instantly translate into positive results in the real world.
They are delivered online mainly. Minimum English language required.

Counselling Theories & Models | COM562

Course fee: $2,600 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: February | Online delivery

Course Overview

Counselling practice is shaped by understandings of human nature and functioning that may be idiosyncratic, partial and ad hoc; or shared, more-or-less comprehensive, and rigorous. If untested idiosyncratic theories are allowed to shape professional practice, that practice is likely to be deficient (because it is not fully informed) and/or unethical (because it is insufficient to achieve the best interests of the client). Hence it is critical that counselling practice is underpinned by well-attested, rigorous counselling theories, and that the relevance of using such counselling theories in interactions with clients is made clear to counselling students.

This unit introduces students to both historical and contemporary theoretical frameworks that inform counselling practice, assisting students to use theory when working with specific clients with specific conditions/issues. Students will explore:

  • the nature and function of theories and models within counselling practice;
  • the benefits of theories for counselling work;
  • implications of using idiosyncratic versus rigorous theories for work with counselling clients;
  • the content and objectives of historical theories, and contemporary expressions of historical theories, that have informed counselling practice;
  • implications of different theoretical emphases (eg. on affect, cognition, behaviour, the body, unconscious/conscious factors, or relationships) for client care;
  • the nature and objectives of theoretical integration, including the challenge of integrating differing assumptions and objectives; and
  • the process of developing a case formulation based on relevant theoretical frameworks in order to explain the client’s current conditions or issues and suggest appropriate modes of client care.

At the conclusion of the unit students will understand how to appropriately and effectively select and

deploy relevant counselling theories and models in the context of providing care to specific clients.

Key Learning Outcomes

Articulate the importance of understanding counselling in the context of evidenced based, ethical and spiritually sensitive theoretical frameworks.

Using major theories of counselling, reflect with insight on their own personal and interpersonal learning history, and develop reasoned and appropriate frameworks for positive counselling.

Demonstrate an understanding of the key tenets and philosophical/research bases of major counselling theories, and their contribution to understanding a client’s affect, cognition, behaviour, biological state, unconscious/conscious factors, and relationships.

Integrate presented client data with selected theories to conceptualise client cases from a number of theoretical perspectives and to construct appropriate treatment plans.

Articulate the impact of culture, spirituality and values on the development of counselling theory and practice.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Counselling.

Approaches to Mental Health | COM564

Course fee: $2.600 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: February | Face to face delivery

Course Overview

According to current data, each year approximately one in every five Australians will experience a mental illness, with mental illnesses the third leading cause of disability burden in Australia. Affected individuals turn to health care services to help them cope with the range of challenges associated with a mental health episode and/or managing the ongoing effects of mental illness.

While formal assessment and diagnosis is the domain of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, counsellors can play an integral role in the ongoing monitoring and management of clients diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and a range of other mental-health conditions.

In order to provide effective client care, and to collaboratively engage with other health care professionals involved in client care, it is important counsellors have a clear understanding and appreciation of the range of mental health issues experienced at any time by a proportion of the Australian population. Employing a bio-psycho-social-spiritual framework and associated approaches, this unit will introduce students to the aetiology, diagnostic presentation, assessment and evidence-based interventions for a range mental health issues. In the process of understanding and applying the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model, the unit also will challenge students to reflect on their personal assumptions relating to mental illness, including assumptions about the relationship between spirituality and mental illness. Finally, the unit considers how stress and vulnerability predispose some individuals to mental health episodes, and the role of social and family contexts in the onset of mental-health disorders and their management.

Key Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate a clear appreciation of a range of mental health conditions, issues and lifestyle factors presenting in the counselling setting.

Evidence a coherent and accurate application of mental health knowledge to the assessment, treatment and management of client presentations.

Recognise clinical co-morbidity in the counselling setting and articulate an understanding of the management of co-morbid clinical issues.

Display a capacity to appropriately educate clients concerning their mental health issues, and to work collaboratively with other relevant healthcare professionals involved in the care of clients.

Apply knowledge of contemporary mental health research to clinical practice.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Counselling.

Ethical Issues and Practice | COM568

Course fee: $2.600 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: August | Online delivery

Course Overview

Counsellors are in a unique, influential and privileged position in the lives of their clients who are often vulnerable and unprotected. It is therefore critical that counsellors: (a) understand the extent of their ethical responsibilities to their clients, and (b) be cognisant of the moral and ethical theories that undergird ethical codes of practice informing and guiding daily counselling practice.

Concurrently counsellors are required to: (i) be aware of, and abide by, all regulatory codes and Australian legislative requirements that govern the Health sector; (ii) reflect upon, understand and incorporate professional values and ethical principles into their professional decision-making processes; (iii) embrace a cross-cultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of clients within their diverse social and cultural contexts; (iv) consider the advantages and responsibilities arising from membership with relevant professional associations (eg. the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia); and (v) be aware of, and thoughtful about, how their personal moral stance and ethical framework informs and influences their professional practice. This unit aims to comprehensively equip counselling students to understand and comply with the requirements and expectations associated with being a professional counsellor practising in Australia. Through a range of diverse in-class activities and assessment tasks students will develop both the understanding and capacity to make informed and competent ethical and legal clinical decisions, thereby enabling them to manage the complexities of mental health practice.

Key Learning Outcomes

Recognise the significance of ethics within counselling practice, underpinned by an understanding of moral theory and ethical principles and responsibilities.

Demonstrate an understanding of the legal requirements and ethical obligations of professional counselling practice, including a counsellor’s responsibility as a mandatory reporter in relation to working with minors.

Identify the origins of their current moral and ethical stance and accompanying set of values, understanding how their responses to ethically complex situations are informed and influenced by their personal morality and value system.

Identify ethical and legal issues arising within the counselling space that warrant resolution.

Utilise a decision-making framework for resolving ethical dilemmas arising in counselling practice, with reference to relevant counselling codes of ethics.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Counselling.

Professional Courses | Business

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Our Professional Development courses in business leverage the resources of business school and are delivered by instructors that are eager to share their real-world professional practices. Our tuition is designed to give students skills that will instantly translate into positive results in the real world.
These courses are primarily delivered online. Minimum English language required. Applicants for whom English is not their first language must provide certified documentary evidence that their secondary schooling, or tertiary studies of at least one year, were conducted in the English language; or evidence of English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS overall score of 6.0 with no band less than 6.0. 

Organisational Behaviour & Leadership BUS501

Course fee: $2,030 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Organisational behaviour is the study of how people as individuals and in aggregate determine the character, dynamic and effectiveness of an organisation. This unit is designed to provide students with an in-depth introduction to the broad range of theory, research, and practice in organisational behaviour. The unit aims not only to provide a better understanding of how individuals, teams, and organisations function, but to elucidate the role of leaders in organisations, the role that individual personality and motivation play in organisational structure, and how group and team dynamics shape organisational goal outcomes and individual performance.

The unit begins with a discussion of research-based models of organisational behaviour, in particular, the organisational citizenship behaviour model proffered by Robbins and Judge, and then considers various aspects of organisational culture, structure and communication, and their impact on individual and collective goals, productivity, and achievement and ability to respond appropriately and effectively to planned and unplanned change.

Key Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate a critical understanding of organisational behaviour.

Demonstrate an ability to synthesise and apply knowledge and understanding of contemporary theories and research on organisational behaviour to the analysis of case study and research data.

Demonstrate an ability to research in depth an element of organisational behaviour, and present a coherent argument in essay form.

Integrate biblical frameworks into a contemporary understanding of leadership and organisational behaviour.

Apply knowledge in a critical evaluation of the organisation in light of a specific element of organisational behaviour, within an overview of organisational behaviour theory.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work and peer review. This course may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies (e.g. study guides, quizzes, websites, podcasts, discussions and online forums).  

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, students must pass all assessments and ensure they adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the School of Business.

Professional Ethics BUS508

Course fee: $2,030 | Course length: 13 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul | Face-to-face delivery on campus
Course Overview

In some ways, the term ‘business ethics’ is an inadequate concept for an interdisciplinary field covering a vast range of normative issues in commerce, governance, leadership and management. The term lends itself most directly to a core set of questions about how individuals in the business world ought to behave, or what principles they might appeal to in order to negotiate moral dilemmas in some aspect of commercial or organisational life. But if we consider the array of ethical issues addressed by people engaged in all forms of commercial activity, be they professionals or tradespeople, merchants or board directors, they almost invariably reduce to matters of individual motives, behaviour and forms of decision-making contextualised by layers of expectations and practices involving organisational, cultural and/or legal norms. Traditionally, the term ‘professional ethics’ was restricted to members of specific ‘professions’, so called largely because of defined codes of conduct considered definitive of the practices which defined them. More recently, the term has acquired a broader meaning, referring to a high level of general ethical awareness and practice that is not confined to any code of conduct. In this unit, business ethics will be discussed in terms of a ‘higher’ standard of professionalism, according to which the Socratic and Christian emphasis on self-management determines the way in which one manages and deals with others.

The perspective of this unit is that ethics is neither optional nor purely personal in a business context, since it lies at the heart of all decision making. Interestingly, in the world of commerce, we tend not to talk of ‘business morality’, but, rather, of ‘business ethics’. This is because, like all other forms of human activity, our commercial transactions have numerous codes of behaviour, numerous moral codes. Indeed, when attached to socially enforced sanctions and limitations, these moral codes become legal codes. As will be discussed throughout this unit, the issue, on most occasions, is not the presence or absence of such codes, but, critically, the awareness of the significance of such codes, their intention, and, especially, a willingness to abide by them. In other words, business ethics is about our understanding of, and commitment to, our values in commercial contexts.

Where appropriate this unit is supplemented by Biblical, ethical, philosophical, and social scientific materials and perspectives. These material­s and perspectives are intended to enhance, not detract from, contemporary understandings of business contexts, practices, and environments. Where such materials and perspectives are deployed, linkages to relevant business understandings will be made explicit.

Key Learning Outcomes

Analyse and critique key theories of ethics as they apply to a business environment.

Identify, describe and analyse ethical issues and recommend solutions within realworld business and complex professional constraints.

Demonstrate an understanding of ethical dilemmas in a pluralist society, and how ethical solutions from a Christian worldview are distinct in a business environment.

Develop and justify ethical solutions from a Christian worldview to real world business ethical dilemmas, thereby demonstrating an ability to integrate biblical principles in real world ethical business solutions.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Business.

Organisational Learning & Chance BUS510

Course fee: $2,030 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Business activity is inextricably linked to the contexts in which it operates – political, legal, social, cultural, technological, and environmental– and, implicitly, the long-term viability or sustainability of those contexts. Recognition of this linkage, and acknowledgement of a vested interest in the sustainability of the contexts in which businesses operate, is the cornerstone of what has come to be known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or simply Corporate Responsibility. Broadly, CSR is the moral and practical obligation of market participants– producers, as well as suppliers, investors, consumers and mediators– to consider the effect of their actions on collective or system-level outcomes and to regulate their behaviour to promote systemic sustainability. Sustainability is broadly defined as strategy that promotes the satisfaction of needs in the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This unit discusses the debates, policies and strategies concerning CSR in terms of sustainable development, and the role of large and small-to-medium enterprises, consumers and other stakeholders in promoting sustainable business practices. Particular attention is given to the relationship between globalisation and environmental sustainability, and the emergence of social reporting, accounting and investment initiatives as part of a focused CSR agenda aimed at achieving realistic and significant long-term sustainability outcomes.

Where appropriate this unit is supplemented by Biblical, ethical, philosophical and social scientific materials and perspectives. These materials and perspectives are intended to enhance, not detract from, contemporary understandings of business contexts, practices and environments. Where such materials and perspectives are deployed, linkages to relevant business understandings will be made explicit.

Key Learning Outcomes

Critically analyse and critique the major theories of organisational learning.

Critically analyse and explain the dynamics of strategic organisational change.

Critically review and evaluate the reasons for different approaches to change and apply this understanding to volatile or novel organisational contexts.

Critically analyse and critique common perspectives on the role of, and relationship between, individuals, teams and leaders in the change process.

Integrate biblical frameworks into a contemporary understanding of organisational learning and change.

Integrate the concepts of organisational learning, strategic and innovative change management with leadership theory and practice.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work and peer review. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies (e.g. study guides, quizzes, websites, podcasts, discussions and online forums).

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Business.

Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability BUS513

Course fee: $2,030 | Course length: 12 weeks | Intake: Feb, Jul, Sep | Online delivery
Course Overview

Theories of organisational learning address the processes which lead to (or prevent) changes in organisational knowledge, as well as the effects of learning and knowledge on behaviours and organisational outcomes. Organisations are shaped by complex learning processes which combine current experiences with lessons learned in the past. From an organisational change perspective, organisational learning is an organisation-wide continuous set of processes that enhances the collective ability to perceive, comprehend, and respond to internal and external events. The strategic link between organisational learning theory and organisational change is that, to be competitive in a changing environment, organisations must adapt to survive and prosper, and that adaptive change is a consequence of organisational learning.

In terms of organisational leadership, organisational learning is about the astuteness of the organisation’s leadership, and the honesty, capability and curiosity of its members in uncovering problems or areas of improvement that may engender competitive advantage, assessing the risks and trade-offs of possible action, and making and implementing decisions to bring about positive change.

The focus of this unit is primarily on organisational change – incremental and modular change (organisation development) and fundamental organisation-wide strategic change (transformation) – and change agency, in particular, change leadership. The unit examines the theory and practice of organisational change and organisational learning and considers how these theories and practices converge to advocate, design and implement development and transformation. Peter Senge’s ‘Learning Organization’ model will be discussed at length, as a central theory integrating organisational learning, change and leadership.

Where appropriate this unit is supplemented by Biblical, ethical, philosophical, and social scientific materials and perspectives. These materials and perspectives are intended to enhance, not detract from, contemporary understandings of business contexts, practices, and environments. Where such materials and perspectives are deployed, linkages to relevant business understandings will be made explicit.

Key Learning Outcomes

Analyse and assess the responsibilities of businesses to their stakeholders and the societies in which they operate and which represent part of their supply chains.

Demonstrate an advanced, critical appreciation of the concept of globalisation and its economic, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Evaluate and explain the relevance and efficacy of corporate responsibility reporting and corporate responsibility strategies and practices in promoting and enacting sustainability.

Critically evaluate the major theories and models of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in terms of their agendas, effectiveness and long-term viability.

Critically analyse and evaluate organisational corporate social responsibility commitments from a corporate governance perspective and socially responsible investment strategies and policies.

Demonstrate awareness of the ethical aspects of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, in particular their exploitation for marketing, branding and political purposes.

Apply and integrate the learnings from the MBA Program into a well-reasoned, ethically aware, practicable and relevant project outline to investigate and/or analyse some aspect of an organisation’s product, service, process or program.

Teaching Method

Learning occurs through prescribed reading and research, class discussions and activities, case study analysis, project work, written work and research. This unit may include online presentation using a range of content-based and interactive learning materials, objects and strategies. The unit is supported at every offering by access to an online lecturer and to the resources and student support services of the College.

Formal assessment is a mandatory part of this course. In order to successfully complete the course, you must pass all assessments and ensure you adhere to the relevant due dates. Details of the specific assessment requirements can be found by contacting the school of Business.