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Corrosion of copper in contact with bentonite and deliquescence salts from bentonite under DGR-relevant conditions
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Building a Culture of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice at a Community College
Get PDFOver the past number of years, it has become apparent that Canada is facing a significant skilled labour shortage. As the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, the pressure to train and hire skilled trades workers has only increased; in order to fill the growing labour gap, intentional measures are needed to attract and retain a more diverse group of students. This organizational improvement plan aims to capitalize on a recent strategic plan and its central commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice. Through a case study focused on balanced enrolment by gender in trades training, this document considers a number of potential solutions before focusing on policies and practices related to recruitment, application, and admission of women into two trades programs. Principles of transformational leadership and transformative leadership theory are entwined with a change roadmap and a change process of appreciative inquiry to create a matrix for change at College on the Water (a pseudonym). A project community map is created and key responsibilities are outlined, as are the critical elements of a communication plan. Lessons learned from this case study can be applied to other programs that are inequitable in representation, whether by gender, socioeconomic status, race, or other differentiation. The immediate goal is to ameliorate an imbalance in student enrolment, and the larger goal is to help the institution’s social justice focus and responsibilities progress. To this end, a global benchmarking tool will be used to measure the institution’s current state and to set a pathway for a better future
Developing Indigenous Cultural Safety in a Post-Secondary Context
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Anti-Indigenous racism has become entrenched throughout Canada’s higher education system. Anti-Indigenous racism is most commonly evident in higher education in the form of covert systemic organizational practices and policies, and to a lesser degree it emerges as overt individual racism. The barriers and obstacles that systemic racism presents in higher education, combined with the intergenerational impacts of colonization on Indigenous communities, has resulted in a system where Indigenous students are less likely to transition to post-secondary education and less likely to persist towards credential completion. The purpose of this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is to identify transformative strategies which can be implemented to increase Indigenous cultural safety and decrease the harm caused by anti-Indigenous racism within the Faculty of Health and Human Services (FHHS) at a rural BC college. This OIP is framed by the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), Indigenous Cultural Safety, and transformative learning theory. This OIP recommends utilizing both transformative and adaptive leadership approaches to address this complex, adaptive, Problem of Practice (PoP), as both of these leadership approaches are both consistent with CRT principles. Furthermore, this OIP recommends that the first 24 months be focused on increasing knowledge for FHHS member regarding how Indigenous Cultural Safety can be enacted to build the confidence and racial stamina of faculty and staff to engage in meaningful conversations about race, racism, and white privilege both inside and outside of the classroom
Supporting Curriculum Leadership Capacity Development at a Ministry of Education
Get PDFThe objective of this organizational improvement plan (OIP) is to assist one Canadian ministry of education close the gap between its curriculum leaders’ roles and capacities. Tasked with leading curriculum reform projects, they are asking the ministry for help. By further supporting their continued education in the areas of curriculum theory, critical education studies, and social foundations, the organization can help its curriculum leaders deepen their knowledge and strengthen their practice. From a systems thinking perspective, focusing the ministry’s collective domain on curriculum leadership capacity development will shift individual and system domains, thereby affecting the education system’s instructional capacity and performance. To those ends, the organization can take an amalgamated leadership approach to change and utilize a hybrid change process in the establishment of a curriculum leadership-focused community of practice. This OIP provides valuable information to scholars and practitioners interested in curriculum leadership capacity development by bringing the voices of curriculum leaders working for a ministry of education into a discussion which focuses primarily on the needs of teacher leaders and principals
Breaking Barriers: A Blended Mosaic Model of Inclusion for English Language Learners
Get PDFThis organizational improvement plan (OIP) presents a holistic, authentic, and proactive inclusion plan for English language learners (ELLs) at Graus Secondary School (GSS). It is framed around a problem of practice (PoP) that emerged due to an influx of newcomers to Ontario in 2016. This OIP proposes a solution to the inevitable exclusion that ELLs experience, builds on existing initiatives and offers additional support to administrators and school staff that maximizes authentic inclusion in the reception and inclusion of incoming ELLs. This solution, the author’s blended mosaic model of inclusion (BMMI), transforms the view of diversity from a fixed mosaic to a blended one that allows space for critical dialogue and authentic connection. This OIP is guided by social justice leadership and the PoP is framed by critical race theory (CRT) and critical sociocultural theory. The leadership approaches to change adopted are for a culturally responsive, social justice, and transformative leadership. Combined, these leadership approaches bridge gaps in the required conditions for equitable learning opportunities that are inclusive of and responsive to ELLs’ needs. A combination of Kang et al.’s (2020) and Deszca et al.’s (2020) change path models is used to outline the process of change. The change implementation plan outlines goals and priorities through the BMMI to close the gap between the current and desired states for ELLs. The monitoring and evaluation plan combines assessments before, during, and after change implementation, and the PDSA model, and is guided by the chosen change path model and leadership approaches