Education Commons^™

Admission Policy Review: Strengthening Indigenous In-Community Training Programs, Rennais C. Gayle

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Canada’s colonial past significantly impacts prospective Indigenous student postsecondary enrollment. For the past fifty years, postsecondary institutions have focused on assimilation and cultural renewal. One assumption is Indigenous learners share similar educational experiences including ease and access to westernized high school programs with a credit or term system and ease and access to transcripts and criminal records checks often required for postsecondary admission. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses the Problem of Practice (PoP) in admission procedures that do not consider Indigenous knowledges, experiences, and criteria for entry into postsecondary programming in SMH Department at LAC College. As an academic …

Kotter's Model For Change And Distributed Leadership: A Multifaceted Approach For Canadian Colleges To Become Less Reliant On Operating Grant Funding, Jatinder Notay

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The emergence of performance-based frameworks for funding and declining government operating grant funding are contemporary challenges for Canadian public higher education institutions. Operating grants are a sizable portion of the funding institutions receive from the provincial government, and continued conditions on and declines in these grants pose significant risks to the sustainability and viability of these public institutions. Higher education institutions today need to become less reliant on government funds while remaining aligned with mandates to provide the programs and services necessary to meet the needs of the regions and communities they serve. Frontier College (a pseudonym) has revenue diversification …

Evolving Academic Advising At Polytechnic A, Angela M. Briggs

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Over the past decade, Polytechnic A unsuccessfully implemented several academic advising models. As provincial funding for post-secondary institutions has continued to decline, Polytechnic A has commenced the most significant transformation and restructuring in its history to ensure a successful and agile future state. As resources are limited and will likely remain so, it is imperative that each portfolio critically examines its work to ensure it supports student success, financial sustainability, optimization, and innovation. Student retention will be paramount. Opportunely, the literature advocates for academic advising as a critical strategic enabler to support student success and, ultimately, student retention. Consequently, the …

Promoting Student Action In A Primary School, Kyle Hawkins

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan addresses a problem of practice in the primary division of an international school. This improvement plan focuses on increasing the quantity and quality of student action as an outcome of learning as evidenced in the school’s curriculum mapping database. Proposed changes are based on the belief that the overarching purpose of schooling is to prepare individuals for full engagement and participation in democratic society. Full participation requires that students develop a sense of agency and empowerment to act upon the knowledge they gain through their schooling. Schooling provides students with the ability and disposition to challenge …

Teacher Leadership To Enhance Day Treatment Services, Silvia Robinson

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Day treatment classrooms offer alternative educational programming for students who cannot attend regular classrooms due to their need for mental health care and treatment. The unique design of day treatment classrooms combines individualized educational programming provided by publicly funded teachers and mental health treatment provided by workers from a children’s mental health agency. The Problem of Practice (PoP) aims to increase the leadership capacity for an elementary teaching team providing day treatment services within a children’s mental health organization. The special education teacher and the academic programming of the student receives limited attention within the wider multidisciplinary team as the …

Implementing Internationalization In Ontario In A Public-Private Partnership, Junie Facey

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

The goal of Canada’s International Education Strategy: Harnessing our Knowledge Advantage to Drive Innovation and Prosperity (Global Affairs Canada, 2014) is to target the best and brightest international students to study in the country’s higher education institutions, mutually benefiting the student and the country’s economy. However, internationalization has created a new reality, with students graduating ill-equipped for the global society and a demand for approaches that embrace the complexities of diversity and changing environments (Dailey-Hebert & Dennis, 2015). Absent from the internationalization agenda are the considerations of impact on students and what they need in an organization’s culture to …

Organizational Improvement Plan: Improving Core French Teacher Equity Within A French Immersion School, Angelica Farr

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

My Organizational Improvement Plan examines the systemic inequity between the Core French Program and the French Immersion Program in Ontario secondary schools. Leadership, in the form of Principals, can play a significant role in this issue. Principals who prioritize the equitable distribution of resources and professional development in French Immersion settings may positively impact teacher efficacy; however, in Core French settings, Principals’ realm of priorities often lies in other curriculum areas.

Various researchers, such as Lapkin (2003) and Mady (2010), have looked at the systemic inequity between the two French programs. It has been shown that there is a disproportionate …

How School And School Board Leaders Can Increase The Sense Of Social Belonging For Students With Developmental Disabilities Who Exhibit Challenging Behaviour, Kathleen Sutherland

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan seeks to understand how school and school board leaders at Ontario Catholic District School Board (OCDSB) can increase the sense of social belonging for students with Developmental Disabilities who exhibit challenging behaviour. Bolman and Deal’s (2013) Four Frames model and Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs are the frameworks used that assist in identifying potential factors that may be impeding the organization from achieving change. A PESTE analysis as presented by Cawsey, Deszca, and Ingols (2016) is conducted that outlines the political, economic, social, technological, and environmental factors that impact this Problem of Practice. These factors and …