Imagining The Possibilities: Co-Creating School-Wide Equity, Belonging, And Success, Suzanne L. Martin

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

This Dissertation in Practice (DiP) seeks to address the growing opportunity gap adversely impacting marginalized students at an Albertan elementary school. Through a critical theoretical lens, this DiP interrogates the various systemic barriers, contextual factors, and educator biases that perpetuate and reinforce socially and academically stratified learning opportunities that restrict holistic student engagement, belonging, and success. Despite teachers’ desire to meet the needs of all students, increasing levels of student diversity and complexity are decreasing the effectiveness of the school’s traditional pedagogical practices and structures. Employing a blended transformative and compassionate leadership approach, critically educative possibilities towards deep cultural …

When Good Intentions Aren't Good Enough: Dismantling Colonial Praxis In Educational Leadership, Peter Francis Barron

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Addressing the inequitable educational outcomes of Indigenous students in K-12 education in Alberta is a moral imperative, a mandate of the provincial government and a response to Call to Action #10 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This dissertation-in-practice, viewed through the lens of critical theory, interrogates systemic barriers within Three Bear Hills School Division (a pseudonym) that hinder Indigenous students' graduation and post-secondary transition rates. Indigenous students in K-12 education are adversely impacted by the influence of settler colonialism on leadership praxis, as evidenced by the achievement gap discourse, deficit thinking, and unconscious bias. These factors lead to the …

Improving Educational Opportunities For Indigenous Students In Alberta, Don J. Hinks Mr.

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) seeks to address the underachievement of Indigenous students in a K-9 school in the province of Alberta. Using critical theory and Indigenous knowledge as guidelines, the DiP recognizes a number of significant barriers (the perpetuation of the status quo, racism, colonization, limited relevant pedagogy in classrooms, teacher biases, and a general lack of connection to Indigenous people and culture) that create an achievement-gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Creating equitable learning opportunities for Indigenous students in a faith-based environment, that protects the institution of the Catholic church as its first priority, presents a significant challenge for educators …

Equity And Consistency: Resettlement Needs Assessment And Referral Service Standards For Government-Assisted Refugees, Umashanie Reddy

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The dissertation-in-practice (DiP) addresses the equity and consistency of the resettlement needs assessment and referral service standards for government-assisted refugees (GARs) within the confines of defined autonomy and equity, diversity, and inclusion at Safe Haven Refugee Resettlement Sector, a midsize national resettlement sector in Canada. The current service standards are inequitable and inconsistent, and their application marginalizes GARs. In the DiP, I adopt and adapt an integrated Euro-Afro-Indigenous Ubuntu transformative leadership approach rooted in a decolonizing lens and embedded in equity by addressing inequitable social conditions of a community-in-practice service that causes injustices. The change implementation plan, enacted on the …

Strengthening Administrative Structures To Enhance Community-Partnered Research, Pippa Seccombe-Hett

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Post-secondary institutions across Canada are grappling with how to advance reconciliation and equity in education and research. This challenge is amplified in northern Canada, where northern residents have long sought equity in the Arctic and northern research ecosystems, yet the population has historically been excluded from research programs and research leadership. This paper is focused on exploring how a community college in northern Canada should invest in developing institutional support for research and expanded research capacity as it transforms into a polytechnic university. The community college serves a remote population where the majority of residents are Indigenous, and the institution …

Balancing The Equation: Trauma-Informed Practices For Equity In Student Academic Achievement And Well-Being Outcomes, Erin M. Mcneilage-Van De Wiele

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Adverse childhood experiences and trauma can have detrimental effects on students' academic performance and overall well-being, often resulting in inequitable academic and social outcomes. The problem of practice addresses how to build capacity for trauma awareness and trauma-informed practices in educators to support students impacted by trauma and their classmates. The organization involved in this change process is a large, suburban elementary school in Ontario, serving students in kindergarten through to grade eight. The Dissertation-in-Practice provides a framework for educators to better support students impacted by adverse experiences and/or trauma, through the development of socio-emotional learning competencies and the provision …

Turning The Dial Towards Belonging: How Leadership Teams Can Support And Sustain Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In An International School Context, Ryan Persaud

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Studies indicate that students who feel a strong sense of belonging - a connection with their school, peers, and teachers - tend to perform better academically. This sense of belonging is particularly influential in boosting the academic outcomes of students from historically marginalized, oppressed, and racially and culturally diverse backgrounds. This Dissertation-in-Practice examines the pivotal roles of culturally responsive and transformative leadership in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within international schools. The problem of practice examines leadership confidence, ability, awareness, and knowledge with DEI. It leverages culturally responsive leadership and transformative leadership to argue for a systemic approach to …

Shakamohtaa: Connecting And Coming Together To Support International Student Career Readiness, Sabreena Macelheron

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

In the evolving Canadian landscape, permanent residency acquisition has undergone a transformative shift from land sales to educational credential procurement. Canadian higher education markets post-secondary qualifications to international students (IS) seeking migration routes, posing nuanced challenges. IS, despite holding higher education credentials, often find themselves relegated to non-field specific jobs due to existing disparities in the Canadian job market. Amid this equation, IS grapple with the essential need for pre-and-post graduate career experiences to fulfill eligibility criteria for permanent residency application. This pursuit extends beyond merely aligning with their credentials, requiring conformity to approved national occupation codes aligned with …

Steps Toward Healing A Colonial System While Improving Equitable Experiences For Indigenous Learners K-12 In A Bc Rural School District, Gail Higginbottom

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The Canadian K–12 education system is built on the policy and practices of genocide at Indian residential schools and on ongoing Indigenous-specific racism. With a history of assimilation, it is imperative to address settler colonialism in education today. Through the agency of a Secwépemc district principal, Secwépemc ways of knowing and being, decolonial leadership, and critical and transformative theories emerge as tools for a fraught education system. As a problem of practice, the tension between Indigenous student success and systemic understandings of Indigenous ways of knowing highlights the imperative to address colonial system conditions while improving equitable experiences of Indigenous …

The Amplification Of “At-Promise” Middle School Student Voice To Foster School Success, Nathan J. Ngieng

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Transformative actions towards the collective vision of the educated citizen have been central to the change efforts of educational leaders in British Columbia. Through a challenge to the status quo, utilizing a critical and post-structuralist lens, this paper charts a path towards revisioning middle school student success nested in listening stances and reflective practices. At the heart of this Problem of Practice is the disengagement and lack of voice that middle school students are experiencing, viewed through the context of a large and diverse suburban school district in the lower mainland of British Columbia. Theories of social learning, adult learning, …

Systemic Abuse Of Black Educational Leaders In K-12 Schools, Bianca Parris

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Anti-Black racism (ABR) is race-based discrimination experienced by Black educational leaders in the Ontario education system. Since the police officers murdered George Floyd, it has ignited the global Black Lives Matters movement. This has translated into K-12 Ontario schools with a more pronounced emphasis on addressing ABR and systemic racism to provide an environment that is rooted in equity. Despite this global action and ministry requirement, ABR continues to prevail and affects Black educational leaders’ ability to lead effectively. Black educational leaders are navigating a system that is unjust and rooted in colonialism which puts them at a disadvantage. Critical …

Queering Education: Creating Inclusive And Affirming Learning Environments For Sexually Diverse Students, Phillip M. Spalierno

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This inquiry draws upon a variety of theoretical perspectives and leadership approaches, including critical and queer theories, and the transformative leadership approach, for the purposes of identifying an appropriate solution to creating inclusive and identity affirming learning environments for sexually diverse students. This inquiry provides insight that will help to further understand the experiences of sexually diverse students in the education system, while exploring strategies for creating learning environments that affords these students value, dignity, and respect. It is proposed that a transformative leadership approach, as it is grounded in social justice efforts, may serve to stimulate the conversation amongst …

Weaving The Story Of Self Into Transformative Leadership, Nicole R. Davey

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Indigenous students are not achieving the same levels of success as non-Indigenous students according to British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Education annual reports on academic achievement, secondary transitions, and sense of belonging. School-based leaders oversee implementation of the BC curriculum in their schools and can influence the mindset and practices of educators in their buildings; however, they need supports and structures to better understand how to address the opportunity and achievement gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) asserts that school-based leaders can disrupt oppressive behaviours in the K–12 education system through social justice practices. Transformative …

The Know Better, Do Better Plan For Self And System Transformation, Deena Kotak Buckley

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Educational leadership has roots in neocolonial epistemologies and a functionalist paradigm. While Atman Jnana School Board (a pseudonym) has made a commitment to equity by recognizing the need for communities of belonging, leaders unconsciously lean toward the individual over the collective as imparted by these epistemologies and paradigm. Therefore, the problem of practice under investigation is the development of educational leaders’ capacity to create communities of belonging and purpose. As principals and vice-principals are pivotal to transforming school culture, this organizational improvement plan proposes addressing the problem of practice by creating a community of belonging with school leaders who want …

Anti-Exclusionary Leadership: Increasing The Achievement Of Marginalized And Minoritized Students In An Ontario High School, Nicholas J. Woolley

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) seeks to address the underachievement of marginalized and minoritized students at an Ontario secondary school. Using critical theory, the OIP recognizes that systemic barriers, the pervasive neoliberal performativity agenda, and educator biases and practices combine to reinforce stubborn inequities that negatively impact students who are racialized, poor, and/or identified as having special educational needs. The term anti-exclusion is used to propose an activist stance that challenges inclusion’s connotations of assimilation into a dominant culture. Addressing inequities in a publicly funded, top-down school district context requires adaptive leadership to foster collaborative professionalism while interrogating the status …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Finding A Balance Between Assessment And Learning In Competency-Based Education In Canadian Health Care, Scott Murray

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Due to its emphasis on skill development and alignment with workforce demands, competency-based education (CBE) has garnered considerable attention in recent years. My organizational improvement plan (OIP) focuses on the potential benefits of incorporating learners’ voices into CBE in Canadian medical education and proposes a corresponding implementation framework. The traditional CBE model often lacks a critical component: the learner’s voice. My OIP reviews the literature and outlines its theoretical underpinnings (e.g., systems theory, adult education theory) within the scope of authentic leadership. The findings suggest incorporating learners’ voices into CBE to boost engagement, motivation, and agency. In response to such …

Equity And Inclusion For Leaders In The School District: Exploring Gender, Michele Radomski

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

There are increasing expectations that educational leaders attend to social justice. However, little attention is paid to their own experience of equity and inclusion, and there is an ongoing omission of gender from organizational discourse. This problem of practice identifies the lack of attention to the experience and implications of gender for leaders in a school district. The organizational improvement plan aims to prioritize gender on the organization’s agenda, bridge the gap between representation and equity and inclusion, and create a gender-inclusive leadership climate. Feminist frames for change establish the underlying change strategy and Lewin’s change model structures the change …

Cultivating Compassion: School Discipline Through A Lens Of Equity, Wellbeing, And Decolonization, Kristi L. Blakeway

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Punitive and exclusionary discipline practices cause harm to elementary aged students weakening their connection to school. Such practices are reactive in nature and fail to understand the needs of students who demonstrate challenging behaviour. This organizational improvement plan provides a framework to reimagine school discipline through a lens of equity, wellbeing, and decolonization. It is an invitation to look under the surface to better understand students who struggle with behaviour in elementary classrooms. The school discussed is a large, suburban public school in British Columbia serving students in kindergarten through to grade seven. A conceptual change model, the transformative wheel, …

Building Collaborative Systems To Support Elementary School Principals In Ensuring All Students Flourish, Kristen Brach Ms.

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan addresses the problem of practice of how a district leader can support elementary school leaders in a small, rural school district to work towards improving their schools to become more culturally responsive and meet the needs of all students. Historically, there have been many students, particularly those who have been underserved, who have not had a positive school experience that considers their identity and learning needs. Schools have been unsuccessful at being places that accept all learners and strive to ensure that they are able to grow and flourish. Although there are some classrooms that are …

The Cultivation Of Systemness For Enhanced Equity, Diversity And Inclusivity At A Mid-Sized District School Board In The Province Of Ontario, Pino Buffone

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The cultivation of systemness for enhanced equity, diversity and inclusivity at a mid-sized district school board in the province of Ontario is addressed. The development of shared mindsets regarding a small number of ambitious goals (system coherence) and the implementation of administrative processes such as policies, procedures, practices and protocols (system alignment) that support the optimization of the multi-year strategic plan may, at times, prove difficult to achieve, especially as it relates to bias awareness and critical consciousness, as well as ameliorated fairness and impartiality throughout the organization. Viewed constructively as an opportunity for organizational improvement towards enhanced equity, diversity …

Transforming Together For Equity, Well-Being, And Decolonization, Terry Taylor

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Decolonization, equity, and well-being in K-12 education have become pivotal aims for educational leaders in the province of British Columbia, in Canada, and around the globe. By dismantling coloniality in pedagogical praxes and learning leadership structures within school and district systems, this paper maps a bold and essential journey for change and presents a disruptively anti-colonial amalgam of theory and practice for well-being and equity. In the central Problem of Practice, these complex system leadership goals are investigated through the case of a small and innovative BC school district. Learners—both student and adult—are at the centre of this powerful vision …

Beyond Persistence: Increasing The Representation Of Women Faculty And Leaders In Academic Surgery, Dinah M. Frank

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In demanding tripartite roles, faculty at Academic Health Sciences Centres provide surgeon training and patient care, while seeking discovery through research and innovation. The persistent imbalance of women in academic surgery has been empirically evident and an intense topic of discussion for decades, yet solutions remain elusive. There has been increasing analysis and scrutiny of the factors affecting women in this domain, while highlighting the disconnect between the current state and our affirmed belief in gender equity in both education and medicine. My Organizational Improvement Plan is focussed on the recognition and resolution of barriers and biases impeding the appointment …

Improving Internal Communication In An Asia-Pacific International School, Erin Gillespie

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan presents a continuous organizational change approach that addresses communication issues between leadership and two culturally distinct departments, the Anglo Western and European, in an established Asia-Pacific international school. Communication is valued in the school’s strategic vision of raising the profile of its European culture. However, communication from leadership to Anglo Western teachers concerning how to support the European department remains an area of inaction throughout the organization. The organizational improvement plan explores internal communication between leadership and teachers by drawing on the theoretical concepts of organizational learning theory and transformational leadership to facilitate change and address …

Strategies To Create Equity-Focused Psychologically Safe Climates, Kirsten K.L. Redmond

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) examines strategies to create equity-focused psychologically safe climates within post-secondary institutions. Organizational environments that are marked by high stress, professional hierarchies, and pressure to provide high-quality service, such as those within post-secondary institutions, benefit the most from strategic psychological safety interventions. Yet, many organizations are unsuccessful in creating psychologically safe environments because they have not applied an equity lens (Foley at al., 2002; Singh et al., 2013). A one-size-fits-all approach to psychological safety often exacerbates systemic inequities and barriers which have disproportionate negative impacts on marginalized students and employees (Singh et al., 2013). This OIP …

Building A Culture Of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion And Social Justice At A Community College, Teresa M. Kisilevich

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Over the past number of years, it has become apparent that Canada is facing a significant skilled labour shortage. As the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, the pressure to train and hire skilled trades workers has only increased; in order to fill the growing labour gap, intentional measures are needed to attract and retain a more diverse group of students. This organizational improvement plan aims to capitalize on a recent strategic plan and its central commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice. Through a case study focused on balanced enrolment by gender in trades training, this document considers …

Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion In Alberta Accredited International Schools: Bridging Modern And Traditional Societal Perspectives In Educational Practice, Krista J. Schultz

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

International schools accredited by Western-based educational paradigms encounter specific challenges within the theoretical framework of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), as perceived through the lens of social justice in education. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) considers, from the context of modern and traditional societies, the change readiness of the Alberta Accredited International Schools program (AAIS) surrounding the practice of EDI. Generalized expectations of universal application present with factors that may provide educational leaders with the framework to deliberate critical theory motivating practice. Modernist and traditionalist societal views of EDI, and the translation of pedagogical frameworks through educational reform, are considered. …

Igniting Change In Equity, Diversity And Inclusion At A Canadian Community College Coll, Jennifer Phyllis Gorman

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan addresses the need to develop an equity, diversity, and inclusion strategy that will lead to systematic institutional and cultural change at Mountain College (a pseudonym). This organizational improvement plan draws upon transformational and ethical leadership principles to gain support and momentum from across all levels of the College to develop a shared vision for change and reach the new organizational state. Bolman and Deal's (2013) four frames have been used as a strategic tool to examine Mountain College and identify the actions and decisions the team can take in the organizational improvement process. Following this analysis, …

Toward A More Just And Truly International Education, Jeff Leppard

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

International schools have proliferated in the last 20 years. Although one might expect students who attend such schools to represent a heterogenous, diverse population, in reality, many schools have selective admissions practices, and their education has a strong western influence derived from the few Anglophone countries from which the majority of their teachers come. The problem of practice addressed is a lack of alignment between one school’s mission and values and school practices and curricula that inadvertently continue to promote exclusion and privilege. This organizational improvement plan proposes (a) creating an admissions policy and structure that ensures that the school …

Frame-Bending Quality: Leading Through Discourses Towards Equity And Student Success, Christopher F. Mcgrath

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In 2018, the Government of Ontario introduced a post-secondary accountability framework that attributes up to 60% of colleges’ annual public funding to the achievement of ten government-directed performance outcomes. The new framework’s shift from the previous enrollment-based funding model intensifies neoliberal and post-structural policy discourses of quality and accountability, further relegating social inequities to the margins of post-secondary education. At the same time, burgeoning social movements have appealed to governments and post-secondary institutions to dismantle systemic barriers that impede students from equity-deserving communities from accessing and flourishing in college. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores how a large urban college …

Shifting Individuals And An Organization Towards Social Justice: A Teacher Education Program Imperative, Jennifer L. Skelding

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Globalization is the interconnected national and international forces that shape and define nations, economies, and peoples and that extend to schools. Higher education institutions, and kindergarten to Grade 12 school systems, are impacted by the internationalization of teaching, research, and service in response to market- and ethically driven discourses of targeted international admissions policies. Teacher education programs are positioned to respond to the internationalized teaching and learning context to support nondominant teacher candidates and prepare future teachers for diverse classrooms post-graduation. This OIP problematizes an inconsistent strategic direction to prioritize culturally sustaining pedagogies in a diverse teacher education program located …