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.

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.

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.

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.

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.