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Improving the Learning Environment Through Communication: A Systems Perspective
Get PDFThe call centre can be best described as an organizational system with three sub-systems made up of 15 sections. Systems are impacted by their environment and respond by outputting their own impact onto the environment (Jones, 2013; Kast & Rosenzweig, 2017). In the case of the call centre’s system, the environment is the caller (client), and the impact is the increased complexity in the types of questions asked. The call centre was impacted by clients who posed complex questions, and the system responded by outputting incorrect information to its clients (Internal Report, 2015). Internal research revealed that the system was unable to prepare its parts (sub-systems and sections) for the changes in the types of questions asked by clients (Internal Report, 2015). A solution was devised to transform the call centre into a system that is prepared to output correct information when impacted by changes to question types. The solution focuses on changing the formal learning process because its function is to prepare the system for outputting correct information. This organizational improvement plan (OIP) uses a transformational leadership approach to identify the problem, define the desired end-state, outline a strategy, and communicate the change plan
Engaging Teachers in Agile School Improvement
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan addresses a K-6 principal’s leadership challenge of engaging teachers in implementing the strategies from the annual school improvement plan in a changing school context. The inquiry questions focus on increasing teacher voice, enabling collaborative professional learning, and facilitating dynamic organizational change. Drawing from complexity theory, School X is conceived as a complex adaptive system that exists within a broader eco-system, with organizational transformation occurring through complex responsive processes where human interactions and diversity are essential for shifting current thinking and behaviors. The principal proposes an authentic/adaptive leadership approach that integrates two change models to develop the Dynamic Innovative Generative change framework to lead teachers in a system-oriented and locally adapted process where teachers participate as leaders and co-creators of school improvement. A collaborative, short-term action planning protocol enables teachers to engage in student-centered, collaborative, and impactful school and practice improvement. This proposed solution addresses the current low level of readiness for teachers to engage in creative and collaborative professional learning. Supporting the principal in implementing the changes in this OIP is a detailed communication plan and strategies for adapting decisions and leading an agile school improvement process
Toward the Integration of Student Advising at a Canadian Higher Education Institution
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses a problem of practice concerning the fragmented state of student advising at a large, urban higher education institution (HEI). Aligned with the sample university’s overarching organizational goal to advance a more student-centred approach, the OIP aims to foster intersections across a specialized model of student advising service provision to better meet the needs of a diverse, 21st century student population. In addition, the OIP responds to environmental realities in which increasing accountabilities, compounded by the rapid pace and growing pervasiveness of reactive change, require building internal capacity for ongoing, continuous adaptation (Lichtenstein et al., 2006). The OIP’s overarching leadership lens is informed by complexity theory (CT), and the complexity leadership (CL) model (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017, 2018) is used as the framework to lead the change and to shift perspectives on leadership to more distributed forms.
Acknowledging that there is no single correct way to structure student advising in HEIs, the OIP proposes that a traditional service-provider model of student advising may be enhanced by forging interconnections through a combination of technology and adaptive space within which social capital among agents may be fostered across the system of service provision. Specifically, the OIP describes how a planned change to deploy a software solution to support student referrals across the system may be leveraged as a starting point to enable conditions for continuous adaptation. The planned change is used as an opportunity to create adaptive space (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017; Uhl-Bien & Marion, 2009) for agents working across the system to connect and work through the change together, thereby shifting traditional, top-down perspectives on leadership and change toward a more bottom-up approach. In this way, the OIP balances leading change for performance with creating conditions for ongoing system adaptation (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017). While this OIP presents a context-specific approach to change, the concepts it employs from CL—including creating and maintaining adaptive space, adaptive leadership, and practices—may inform approaches to change in similar contexts at other HEIs.
Keywords: adaptation, adaptive space, complexity theory, model of complexity leadership, higher education institutions, student advisin
Building Teacher Capacity to Personalize Learning for Students
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) proposes building teacher professional capacity and capital to meet the challenge of personalizing student learning by implementing an embedded professional learning plan. This plan will be responsive to individual teacher professional learning needs as well as evidence and research informed. This OIP is based on the belief that for change in student learning to occur, the change needs to happen at the classroom level with teachers. A shift in teacher practice requires alignment in the teacher’s values, beliefs and practices. To support this shift, a common understanding of personalizing learning needs to be established as well as implementing a professional learning plan that supports building teacher capacity to achieve it. Also, school-based conditions need to be optimized to support professional growth. As effective teaching and learning practices do not happen in isolation, an integrated theory of change helps ensure a balance between the external, internal and personal dimensions of change. Since the teacher’s personal dimension of change must adhere to the boundaries and expectations of the external governing bodies as well as work within the internal structures, policies and procedures of the school, this balance is integral to the success of the change process. Through the implementation of a multifaceted approach to professional learning, teachers will engage in a reflective cycle of continuous improvement. This will be supported by adaptive distributed instructional leadership as well as school structures that provide common teacher collaboration time. Three key areas of focus are targeted with this approach. These include deepening curricular knowledge, strengthening pedagogical practices and increasing individual teacher’s ability to understand each student learner and include them as active participants in the design of their learning
Unifying Services to Students with Complex Needs Within a Newly Amalgamated School District
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses the inequitable services and supports currently available to students with complex needs throughout a newly amalgamated First Nations school district. This problem of practice explores how services for students with complex needs can be unified in a way that provides equity between schools, while being responsive to individual student needs. An overview of historical and current organizational contexts is provided, and personal and organizational leadership positions and lenses are investigated. Guiding questions emerging from this problem of practice are explored, including the capacity and professional learning needs of school-based staff, physical and human resourcing needs, and resistance of school-based staff to proposed district changes. Grounded in complexity theory, current and envisioned future states are considered, exploring potential change drivers and organizational change readiness. A framework for leading the change process is reviewed from a critical transformative leadership approach, viewed through an Indigenous leadership lens. Potential solutions are discussed, along with plans on how to implement, monitor, and measure change. An implementation, evaluation, and communication plan is described, providing a framework for change through an analysis of relevant theories, research, and organizational data. Next steps and future considerations are also reviewed to ensure ongoing organizational growth. Upon implementation and institutionalization, this OIP will ensure that students with complex needs are offered programming that better meets their individualized needs, while allowing for consistent service delivery as they transition between schools within the district
Developing the Personal Leadership Resources of the Ontario Leadership Framework for principals and vice principals
Get PDFIn the Lakeside School District, the overall goal of the strategic plan is student achievement. Despite efforts to meet this goal through initiatives, resources, and pedagogical practice in classrooms, student achievement in Lakeside is stagnant. Given that effective school leadership can have a significant impact on student learning, this Organizational Improvement Plan suggests changing professional learning to support leadership development for school principals and vice principals, as a way of improving student achievement.
Effective school leadership is predicated on the ability to enact leadership practices that support learning. To enact these practices, school leaders must first have foundational leadership skills, such as the Personal Leadership Resources (PLRs) as indicated in the Ontario Leadership Framework. The PLRs include cognitive resources (problem solving expertise, knowledge of effective school and classroom practices directly affecting student learning, and systems thinking), social resources (perceiving emotions, managing emotions, and acting in emotionally appropriate ways), and psychological resources (optimism, self-efficacy, resiliency, and proactivity). Principals and vice principals must understand the important impact their leadership has on student achievement and be given opportunities to investigate and develop the PLRs. Changing professional learning that addresses leadership learning needs is suggested.
The change suggested for Lakeside will use Relational Leadership Theory as a framework for guiding the change process, as well as Transformational Leadership, and Kotter’s Eight Stage Process as the change path model. These have been selected intentionally because they connect with the values of the district as well as the desired leadership practices.
The OIP addresses concerns about knowledge, resources, and use of structures, to create alignment among them and to establish congruence between district goals and practices. Strategic and incremental change will address the problem of practice
Building Leadership Capacity for the Effective Implementation of a Professional Development Tool in K-12 School in a Region in Arctic Canada
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to identify and remediate the organizational factors that are presently leading to the faulty delivery of a professional development framework (PDFM) tool in an educational organization in the Canadian Arctic. Implementation of change initiatives in organizations is a complex undertaking and can be further complicated by contextual factors such as culture. In this region, a large percentage of students are Inuit, and teachers and school leaders are both Inuit and non-Inuit. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), translated as Inuit traditional knowledge, is a foundation upon which education is delivered in the region. Therefore, this organizational change requires the integration of (IQ) principles and cross-cultural awareness to ensure that students’ cultural and identity needs are met. The change plan is framed by a social constructivist worldview and incorporates transformational leadership approaches that have been identified as the best-suited ways to lead this change process. To ensure that the implementation of the PDFM tool is done with fidelity, this OIP proposes a change plan framed by Cawsey et al.’s (2016) change path model in conjunction with the conceptual framework of Hall and Hord’s (2006) concerns-based adoption model. This OIP further proposes that change path planning is viewed through the lens of the three dimensions of culturally responsive pedagogy: institutional, personal, and instructional. These three dimensions relate directly to the IQ principles, and embracing them in leadership will help to ensure that IQ is an integral part of implementation planning. The solution for change, to leverage school literacy teams to work as leadership development teams, builds upon the structures and procedures that presently exist in schools. The vision is to create a community of practice protocol to develop and strengthen leadership capacity in schools. With this increased capacity, school leaders will be able to execute the PDFM tool with success, supporting educators in their professional development, improving the quality of instruction, and thereby ensuring that students receive the education they deserve
The Complex Role of the Faculty Advisor
Get PDFThe faculty advisor role in Bachelor of Education programs in Ontario is complex and requires a sophisticated range of knowledge and skills. Faculty advisors support teacher candidates during practicum placements, teach weekly courses, communicate with associate teachers, and provide the important link between the university setting and classroom teaching. Despite their crucial role in the development of our future teachers, faculty advisors must contend with challenging issues within higher education organizations, including precarious employment, limited access to resources and professional development, and marginalized status in the university community. Issues of identity are raised in the context of inexperienced teacher educators who must develop new skills to teach adults, often following highly successful careers as school leaders. The Organizational Improvement Plan will explore the specific context of the faculty advisor at North Clarence University and will address the problem of practice, which is that too few faculty advisors are able to provide the consistent, equitable and knowledgeable support that is required by teacher candidates to make effective connections between their academic course work and classroom practice. Lewin’s Three-Step Model (Burnes, 2004) is paired with elements of Lewis’ (2019) Stakeholder Communication Model to frame the change process. Four potential strategies are identified to address the problem of practice: the development of a mentorship program, the implementation of professional learning communities, the introduction of celebration and recognition events, and enhanced induction procedures. The Organizational Improvement Plan includes both transformative and shared leadership approaches, with a focus on social justice, equity and democratic principles