7289 research outputs found
Sort by
Two-Eyed Seeing to Support Indigenous Education
Get PDFIn 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its 94 ‘calls to action’ to address the atrocities of residential schools, while providing guidance to support reconciliation. Education was identified as one area where reform is necessary. Within the Nikosis Public School Division (NPSD) (a pseudonym), Indigenous students experience significantly lower academic results than their non-Indigenous peers. The colonized approach to education founded heavily on Eurocentric ideology lacks cultural connections that relate to Indigenous students. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) will focus on Buffalo Elementary (a pseudonym) and look to support stronger cultural connections as a method to provide a more welcoming and engaging environment. This idea is based on the premise that if students feel more welcome and accepted, then there is a greater opportunity to thrive academically. This OIP will look to increase Indigenous Knowledges and culture within the school so it is valued alongside the Westernized perspective. A critical social justice lens will be used as a framework given its foundations in supporting marginalized and oppressed populations to work toward more equitable solutions. The change leader will draw from authentic and culturally responsive leadership approaches to strengthen relationships between the school and the Indigenous community as this relationship will be critical. The intent of the OIP is to eradicate the achievement gap at Buffalo Elementary that currently exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students with the goal of implementing successful practices into other schools in the division
Improving STEM Graduate Students\u27 Mental Health and Wellbeing
Get PDFAn emerging problem with graduate education is the unprecedented rise in mental health and wellbeing concerns across higher education institutions in Canada. Graduate education is widely associated with emotional, physical, and psychological stress. Graduate students are at risk of the onset of mental health illnesses due to a culture of acceptance that graduate studies is synonymous with stress and anxiety. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores approaches to improve the mental health and wellness of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) graduate students to promote their personal wellbeing and academic success. The goal of my Problem of Practice (PoP) is to increase awareness of the complex factors and address the systemic barriers that contribute to STEM graduate student mental health illnesses at University Z, and to develop strategies to mitigate their onset. Transformational and distributed leadership practices underpinned by a social justice lens are the chosen leadership approaches. Nadler and Tushman’s Congruence Model (1980) is used as a thought map to conduct a comprehensive organizational analysis which includes a partial PESTE analysis. Kotter’s Eight-Stage Model (1996) is integrated with the Change Path Model (2016) to create a hybrid CDI x K Model to lead the change process. A resulting policy-based solution to empower STEM graduate students is pursued through the OIP. A thorough implementation plan that details objectives, actions, personnel, and timelines is presented. The plan is monitored and evaluated through the application of Deming’s (1993) PDSA cycle. The OIP presents next steps, future considerations, and a reflective conclusion
Intercultural Encounters: Creating Purposeful Interactions between Domestic and International Students
Get PDFConsidering that internationalization has become an important component of many universities’ strategic plans, universities might want to expand efforts to increase Internationalization-at-Home initiatives. With the increasing number of international students on Canadian campuses, an opportunity exists to enhance both domestic and international students’ understanding of global issues and their impact on societies throughout the world. The Problem of Practice (PoP) addressed in this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is leveraging the opportunity to create purposeful interactions between domestic and international students within a small, yet divided, University College. Foundational to this OIP are leadership approaches, including systems, adaptive, and distributed leadership, that are employed to identify patterns and implement change. Using Bowman and Deal’s (2017) four frames, an analysis of the current situation is reviewed to assist in determining of the change process. In considering change drivers, the STEEPLED approach is applied as it provides a thorough examination of multiple aspects for consideration. Change readiness is also deliberated, often in tandem with change drivers. The chosen solution is the creation of purposeful interactions via extracurricular activities for all students as well as co-curricular activities for students in the School of English, while also staying the course of continuing to look for opportunities for purposeful interactions for degree students. The framework for leading change and proposed solution are based on Complex Adaptive Systems and the Change Path Model (Cawsey et al., 2016), while the implementation, monitoring and evaluation methods include the Change Path Model, the PDSA Model and the Program Logic Model
Embracing Complexity to Foster Program Adaptation at a College in Ontario
Get PDFThe knowledge, skills, values, and confidence needed to practice dental hygiene safely, effectively, and ethically are evolving. Healthcare and the higher education landscapes are becoming increasingly complex. Despite the increased curricular competencies, emerging research about positive aspects of baccalaureate dental hygiene education, and out-of-province trends towards degree education, Bayview College continues to only offer a diploma credential that is specific to dental hygiene. Diverse views have polarized faculty on how to adapt the dental hygiene program so that it better meets professional, community, and societal needs. This Organizational Improvement Plan explores the organizational context at Bayview College and proposes a strategy to address the problem of practice, which is the lack of a shared vision about the evolution of its dental hygiene program. As a faculty member at the institution, I lay out the path to guide the change process. The plan’s overarching leadership framework, complexity leadership theory, combined with Stacey’s complexity theory, Olson and Eoyang’s conditions for self-organization, and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle reflect the changing environmental circumstances and complex adaptive systems that make up the Bayview College community. In addition, the selected strategy, an appreciative inquiry initiative, will foster stakeholder engagement, emergence, and creative problem solving as a means to address the identified problem of practice. I incorporate detailed plans for implementation, monitoring and evaluating, and communicating the need for change. I conclude with a path forward on how the vision can be actualized within the organization and set the foundation for future change
Developing and Implementing a Middle School Program to Improve Student Well-Being and Bolster Enrollment
Get PDFDuring the adolescent years, which coincide with the years of middle school, a student’s inward sense of self-awareness shifts to an acute awareness of others’ perception of them. More so than any other period in a student’s development, it is the middle years where their physical, emotional, and cognitive changes are on full display to everyone around them. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP), based on a research-driven understanding that the middle years of school present unique challenges in all aspects of student life, looks to develop and implement a middle school program that addresses the unique needs of adolescent students to support their personal, social, academic, and emotional well-being at a private, for-profit, international school in South East Asia (SEA). The plan combines a blend of transformational and servant leadership models to guide stakeholders through Kotter’s (2012) model of eight stages of change. I propose strategies and solutions to be implemented, based on expanding teacher pedagogical approaches and leveraging existing structures and programs in place, through PDSA cycles combined with Markiewicz & Patrick’s (2016) monitoring and evaluation frameworks and the existing action planning and monitoring process already in place at the school. A strong communication plan ensures that stakeholders understand the plan and process.
Keywords: Kotter, transformational leadership, servant leadership, adolescence, well-being, international education, middle school, advisory program, pastora
The Conundrum of Collaboration: Examining Collaboration as a Continuum Towards Professional Learning
Get PDFStories are a collaborative effort between teller and listener; utilizing the First Nations Métis Inuit (FNMI) tradition of Storytelling, this organizational improvement plan recounts the story of teacher collaboration at Ginkendan Secondary School (GSS, a pseudonym). A systems theory lens will be employed to frame a problem of contrived collegiality, a state of perfunctory collaboration resulting from dictated professional development that does not lead to professional learning. A feedback loop of teacher-derived professional learning will be investigated to propel teachers forward on a conceptual framework of a collaboration continuum. Comfortable collaboration, a stage where teachers are empowered to address their own problems of practice, will mark a new stage on the continuum. This stage is differentiated through professional learning circles/communities. Teacher Leaders will orient teachers to new professional learning and empower others towards a more critical state. A final stage of collaboration, critical colleagueship, will be investigated through a mentor-like relationship. This stage is marked by a 4C framework and is the most difficult, as it involves close scrutiny by other teachers, opening the classroom doors to new ideas, and growing new learnings. Finally, the FNMI moral teaching of the Medicine Wheel will communicate a plan for change that can support teachers in different stages of their growth and practice
