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Re-Invigorating Mid-Career Faculty at a Canadian Mid-Sized College: Strategies for Professional Development and Mentorship
Get PDFMid-career faculty (MCF) currently comprise a predominant number of faculty at higher education institutions. Mid-career faculty applies to those individuals who have been teaching within post-secondary education for more than five years but are still more than five years from retirement. As faculty move into this middle phase of their career, there tends to be fewer opportunities for professional development, reduced opportunities for advancement or leadership, and a lack of mentorship. These decreased opportunities lead to a decrease in MCF job satisfaction. At Riverside College (a pseudonym) a significant percentage of the faculty leaving the college in the last few years have been MCF. In this organizational improvement plan (OIP), I explore what strategies will support the development of MCF at a mid-sized community college in Western Canada, that will lead to increased engagement and retention. Within the OIP I will use a combination of Appreciative Inquiry, the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, and ADKAR® to guide the change. I will draw on perspectives from an interpretive lens and use both distributive and authentic leadership approaches. The solution chosen to address the problem of practice is to develop specific MCF professional development and mentorship as a retention strategy. One example of professional development is the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Scholarship of teaching and learning is a process for faculty to focus their professional development in mid-career. Educational developers responsible for faculty professional development support MCF to examine their teaching practices and move from scholarly teaching to scholarship of teaching and learning.
Keywords: mid-career faculty (MCF), retention, professional development, educational developer, leadership, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
Fostering Asset-Based Approaches to ELA and Multilingualism in an English-Medium International School
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to address the Problem of Practice (PoP) of the marginalization of English Language Learners (ELLs) in an English-medium International School (EMIS) by leveraging teacher-leaders as advocates for cultural and linguistic equity via asset-based approaches starting in the classroom. Underpinned by colonial modes of thought disguised as neoliberal internationalism, EMISs often perpetuate the elevation of English as the language of academia while neglecting their normative aspirational mission commitments to equity, diversity, and social justice by failing to provide pathways to foster multilingual development. Deficit-based language programs illustrate this by approaching ELLs as academically deficient based on their English abilities while neglecting to leverage their capabilities in their first language to accelerate the development of their second language using constructivist, asset-based approaches. Transformative leadership in conjunction with critical and postcolonial theory constitutes the critically-oriented dimensions of this OIP, while transformational leadership linked to constructivist learning theory represents the plan’s commitment to improving organizational effectiveness while affirming current practices that are already in alignment. From the positionality of a middle leader, a critical organizational analysis is conducted using Bolman and Deal’s (2017) multi-frame approach, and Nadler and Tushman’s (1989) congruence model. The process of implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the solution to leverage data to institutionalize an equitable English Language Acquisition program structure is then framed using Deszca et al.’s (2020) change path model and Deming’s (1993) plan, do, study, act model
Developing Teacher Capacity and Resilience to Support Vulnerable High School Learners
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores ways students designated with mental health and/or moderate to severe behaviour disorders can be supported to successfully transition between grades and through to graduation at Creekside Secondary School, a large secondary school in British Columbia. Current data shows these students are not experiencing the same success as their non-designated peers, feel less connected to their school, and have much lower rates of graduation. Referrals to tier-three alternate programs is the current practice if the school is unable to meet the needs of the students to fully include them in their mainstream classes. This OIP finds that teacher perceptions of students with these designations, as well as the psychological well-being of teachers, greatly impacts the experiences and success of vulnerable learners, with negative teacher perceptions contributing to the marginalization of these students. Furthermore, it is found that both the mental health and well-being of teachers and students are influenced by the quality of the teacher-student relationship. Implementing structures and processes which promote a sense of attachment and belonging among students, and developing resilience and well-being among staff, are explored through an inquiry change model to reach the desired outcome of having all students at Creekside feel safe, included, and experience success in their education
Fostering a Culture of Collaboration Among Early Childhood Professionals in Higher Education
Get PDFCollaboration among professionals is promoted in various disciplines. This Organizational Improvement Plan addresses a Problem of Practice (PoP) in a Canadian higher education institution. The PoP is the absence of a culture of collaboration among faculty of an Early Childhood Studies program. In the context of this plan, collaboration is defined as a multidimensional, ongoing process that includes interaction, time commitment, the exchange of expertise, and the maintenance of a professional working relationship with stakeholders in order to promote best outcomes. Failure to address this PoP is a disservice to children and their families. Leadership and faculty of the Early Childhood Studies program have an ethical obligation to engage in a culture of collaboration to promote skills, knowledge, and pedagogical practices that will produce graduates of the highest quality. A ripple effect of this change is that graduates will be better prepared to make the greatest possible difference by supporting children and their families to achieve equal outcomes and well-being. Central to this plan are three leadership approaches: transformational, participative, and mindful leadership. Social constructivism is the overarching theory framing this plan and is supported with organizational culture theory. A solution is identified, a union of reflective group practice and communities of practice, and a change path model is used to facilitate the change, with a focus on addressing resistance, communication, knowledge mobilization, and reflection. In addition, a participatory orientation to evaluation and the Plan, Do, Study, Act model are used to frame the monitoring and evaluation of the change.
Keywords: collaboration, social constructivism, organizational culture, early childhood studies, reflective group practice, CoP
Supporting Post-Secondary Implementation of Recovery-Oriented Practice in a Stepped Care Model
Get PDFStudent mental health has been a growing concern for higher education communities for many years. Campuses have been struggling to keep up with the increasing demand for services which has been complicated further by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Stepped Care model (SCM) developed at a Canadian university has been offering new ways of organizing mental health resources based on open access, student choice, and recovery principles. There are diverse definitions of recovery in the literature and are usually based on values such as empowerment, respect, and self-determination. SCMs have been shown to increase access to resources and reduce or eliminate waitlists for supports. A Canadian non-profit organization (SCCG) has been supporting the implementation of SCMs on campus communities in North America through training and consultation. The paradigm shift from the dominant biomedical model of health, which is expert-driven and focused on pathology, to recovery-oriented practices is complex. Currently, SCCG does not have a detailed vision of recovery-oriented practice in SCMs and limited resources to support its implementation. This problem of practice to be addressed is the lack of visioning and strategic planning for recovery-oriented practice in SCMs being implemented in post-secondary settings. Possible solutions including visioning, and resource and training development are explored. A change implementation plan is discussed along with monitoring and evaluation and communicating the change process. This plan offers practical solutions to support SCCG in moving toward a unified vision of recovery in SCM, and tools to support its implementation in post-secondary contexts
Introducing a Revenue-Generating Program: A Post-Compulsory Cinderella Story
Get PDFIn 2015 the Ontario provincial government implemented an amendment to Regulation 347/02: Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs. This amendment resulted in the move from a two-semester program to a four-semester program with a commensurate reduction in funding from 2.0 to 1.5 for BEd students, effectively moving them from 1.0 FTE funding to 0.75. The introduction of the amendment coincided with the move to a Responsibility Centred Management approach to funding across South Central University. Hence, the reduction in funding was coincident with greater devolved responsibility for fiscal management at a departmental and faculty level. The Teacher Education Stream (TES) program was introduced at an undergraduate level as a new revenue stream into the School of Education to overcome the fiscal deficit due to policy changes at both the provincial and institutional level. The introduction of the TES program represents something of an enigmatic juxtaposition; the rationale for the introduction of the program was the market-driven pressure of a neoliberal shift in provincial and university governance, yet the TES is predicated on discourses of equity, inclusion, and social justice. The TES program was introduced quickly as a result of fiscal necessity. There was limited consideration given to the potential consequences of the implementation, embedding, and expansion of the program. This lack of strategic planning gives rise to the Problem of Practice addressed within this Organizational Improvement Plan. Wayfinding leadership and appreciative inquiry inform the plan for change, which is further elaborated through Lewin’s three-step model and monitored through participatory evaluation
Bishop Cronyn Memorial Chapel Altar
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INTEGRATING CULTURALLY SUSTAINING PEDAGOGY TO DISRUPT OPPRESSIVE PRACTICE
Get PDFI present a plan for addressing and remedying a history of institutionalized racism at a midsized elementary school in British Columbia. Mountainview Elementary was designed 25 years ago to serve a White, Christian demographic seeking an elite educational ethos. The school now finds itself serving a demographic that is 90% South Asian with a large proportion of English language learners. The conservative, Eurocentric approaches to education that made the school attractive historically are still deeply engrained in the organizational structure and pedagogy of the school and now support problematic and highly inequitable educational practices that marginalize the South Asian community. Implementing inclusive, equitable, and culturally relevant structures to support the needs of all learners will require identifying and mitigating bias among the staff, incorporating the voices of the South Asian parents, and mobilizing the knowledge of community stakeholders to integrate culturally relevant curriculum into daily practice. At the heart of my approach to solving the problem at Mountainview are notions of social constructivism and social justice theory which support the enhancement of students\u27 sense of self and the reflection of family values. My framework for leading change is based in authentic and distributed approaches to leadership that develop trust and employ shared decision-making. A hybrid model for change implementation, strategies for evaluating and monitoring change, and next steps for achieving lasting organizational change at Mountainview are discussed.
Keywords: Eurocentric, Social Constructivism, Social Justice, Authentic Leadership, Distributed Leadership, Inclusive, Equitable, Culturally Responsive, Bias, Institutionalized Racism, South Asia