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Story 17-5 Dan Morand Interview
Get PDFDan Morand, the current pastor at Beth-Emmanuel Church and director at the Urban Haven Project, shares the work the project is doing for the homeless and near-homeless community
Improving Online Student Engagement in the Online Classroom
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan seeks to address inadequate online student engagement within online classrooms at University X. Inadequate student engagement risks students’ learning, persistence, performance, and academic achievement (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzi, & Gonyea, 2008; Meyer, 2014; Pardo, Han, & Ellis, 2016; Phan, McNeil, & Robin, 2016), demonstrating the pressing need to improve online student engagement. This work is undertaken in the context of substantial growth in online education, accelerated in the short term by a movement to online delivery of face-to-face post-secondary education necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. The author considers this problem from a non-traditional leadership role of an adjunct online instructor, and so employs distributed leadership, as enacted through teacher leadership, from the vantage point of constructivism. The assumptions of emergent and continuous change which underpin this result in the selection of Weick and Quinn’s (1999) freeze, rebalance, unfreeze framework for leading change and sensemaking as a tool to conduct a critical organizational analysis, in alignment with the author’s constructivist perspective. The author recommends engaging in a period of individual modifications to her instructional practice, followed by the development of a Community of Practice. This Community of Practice will collaboratively build a definition of online student engagement and develop relevant changes to practice designed to improve online student engagement in the online classrooms of the Community of Practice. Communication is a critical element of this plan as the author must engage colleagues and build momentum with limited resources
IMPROVING THE CAPACITY FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES AND COLLEGE FACULTY
Get PDFFailing to provide access to students with disabilities can have far-reaching consequences for the student, society and the higher education organization (HEO). Facilitating access is a particularly sensitive task in the context of college education, considering the reliance of college faculty on practical methods of instruction and the complex needs of academically at-risk students enrolled at these organizations. In such a setting, faculty and accessibility services need to communicate, consult and collaborate seamlessly in order to provide support and ensure access for this student population. The problem of practice addressed here concerns overcoming barriers to cross-functional collaboration between faculty and accessibility services at my college which delay accommodation-related decision making and negatively impact students with disabilities. Following Kotter’s (1996) eight step model for change and principles of distributed and servant leadership, this organizational improvement plan proposes a conflict-resolution-focused solution in the form of mediation committees to address the disputes among faculty, accessibility services and students. Furthermore, tools from the social cognitive theory are used to facilitate organizational learning around principles of accessibility and accommodation planning (Bandura, 2000). It is important to note that the challenges around access to higher education resulted by tensions between faculty and accessibility services is not unique to this college (Sokal, 2016). Therefore, the work at hand has the capacity to improve the practices of other HEOs with similar organizational structures
Development of an Academic-Service Alliance to address New Graduate Registered Nurses’ Practice Readiness
Get PDFNew Graduate Registered Nurses’ (NGRN) lack of practice readiness is a Problem of Practice (PoP) impacting hospitals. Stemming from the evolving complexity of today’s healthcare environment and the generalist nature of the baccalaureate nursing program, the lack of NGRN practice readiness increases hospital-based orientation costs, patient safety risks, and NGRN attrition. There is currently no formal structure in which key stakeholders can address the NGRN lack of knowledge, skills and judgment and the associated implications for the safety and quality of patient care. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) examines NGRN practice readiness within the organizational context of the Health Centre (HC), a Canadian academic health sciences center, and explores possible solutions. Nadler and Tushman’s (1980) Congruence Model of Organizational Behavior is used to perform a critical analysis of the HC’s current state and determine needed change. Consideration is given to the political, economic, social, cultural and historical influences shaping this PoP
The Change Leader (CL) draws on authentic leadership, collaboration theory, principles of influence and inclusion, and adaptive leadership theory to develop a comprehensive change plan. Viewing the disempowered position of nursing students, NGRN, and patients through a critical theory lens highlights the need to remove structural barriers and enable equitable participation of all stakeholders in the change process. The HC operates as a complex adaptive system (CAS) and, in light of complexity theory, the proposed emergent change is guided by broad, system-level goals. Three possible solutions to this PoP are reviewed. Based on Kotter’s eight-stage process of major change, a plan to establish an Academic-Service Partnership (referred to as the ‘Alliance’) is described. Throughout the change plan attention is given to the empowerment of key stakeholders: nursing students, NGRN, and patients.
The evaluation component of the change plan incorporates a Return-on-Investment (ROI) methodology to identify both the monetary and intangible benefits of the proposed change. A multi-strategy communication plan designed to align with and support the corresponding stages of the planned change is outlined. This OIP proposes a model which provides the structure required to address NGRN practice readiness. In future, this solution has potential application for other healthcare professions and their transition into professional practice
Supporting Teacher Retention in a Proprietary Asian School
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores how best to support Green Planet Academy (GPA; a pseudonym), an international school in a large Asian city, in improving teacher retention beyond initial two-year contracts. The problem of practice that is addressed is the current low retention of teachers and lack of a plan to retain them. Through a variety of lenses, including a social constructivist worldview, self-determination theory, distributive leadership, and transformational leadership, the specified problem of teacher retention problem is framed and analyzed. Teachers moving around to various international schools is not out of the ordinary, indeed it is almost expected, but understanding what positive teacher retention looks like in overseas education can inform best practices that can benefit both the teacher and the educational institution. External and internal factors are considered that are within the administration’s agency to make positive change. Five possible solutions to remediate the problem of practice are presented and evaluated. The chosen solution, a combination of improving hiring processes and instituting a mentorship program, is based on a timeline from the change path model that will create a sense of teacher empowerment. It will also build agency and confidence for individual teachers, which, it is proposed, will ultimately lead to their continued employment at GPA. Implementation, evaluation, and communication plans are presented to detail how GPA can communicate the change, move forward with the solution to keep teachers retained for longer periods of time, and evaluate progress. The proposed mentorship program would involve the participation of mentee teachers (new hires) and mentor teachers selected from among the current staff, as well as facilitation from administration. Mentee teachers would be expected to develop goals throughout their time at GPA. Mentor teachers would be in an advisory role, giving suggestions and scheduling regular check-ins. Administrators would be responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the program. Finally, next steps are explored that involve making the mentorship program even more rigorous, streamlining some hiring practices, and considering additional pastoral care elements
Weaving the Braid of Culturally Responsive Leadership Within Policy and Governance to Improve Indigenous Student Success
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores a Problem of Practice (PoP) that highlights the need for why the Board of Education and the Senior Administration team within the Raven Bay School Division (RBSD, pseudonym) would benefit from using a culturally responsive leadership approach when making decisions and how this may be achieved through policy and governance to guide their practice. The goal of this OIP is to examine why this leadership approach would be relevant for the Board of Education and the Senior Leadership team when they are making any policy and governance decisions, as it relates to Indigenous Education and how this leadership approach could positively support the improvement of educational outcomes and opportunities for Indigenous learners across the RBSD. The recommended solutions found within this OIP are intended to show how the RBSD can weave together a culturally responsive braid of policy and governance to address their goal of improving Indigenous learner outcomes found within their strategic.
If this OIP is implemented, the solutions could be turned into strategies that work towards positively closing the current achievement gap that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners within the RBSD. Thus, beginning to shift the negative narrative of the culture of low expectations for Indigenous learners within the RBSD to a positive narrative of equity and success through the lens of culturally responsive leadership.
Keywords: Aboriginal, Aboriginal Learning, Aboriginal Rights, Assimilation, Colonization, Culture, Decolonization, Educator, Emotional Intelligence, Ethical, Experiential Learning, First Nations, First Peoples, Holistic Education, Indigenizing Education, Lifelong Learning, Reconciliation, Social Emotional Learning, Transformative Change, Worldvie
