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Full-Text Articles in Education
Etuaptmumk: The Indigenous Principle Of Two-Eyed Seeing As A Remedy For Administrator Resistance In Developing Sovereignty-Affirming Equity Leadership Competencies, Bobbie Jo Lovell
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
School leadership is a critical factor in disrupting systemic oppression and ensuring the achievement and well-being of all students. In Ontario, school administrators are charged with setting an equity agenda to foster safe and equitable learning conditions for all students. This PoP seeks to improve administrators’ mindsets on leading equitable schools, and this organizational improvement plan (OIP) leverages the principles of two-eyed seeing (2ES) to braid together the servant, appreciative, and transformative leadership styles which, stronger together, support sustainable solutions for change. A braided integrated approach of the medicine wheel, the Knoster model for managing complex change, and the appreciative …
Leading For Truth And Reconciliation: Parent, Family And Community Empowerment In The Learning Of Their Children, Shendah M. Benoit
Leading For Truth And Reconciliation: Parent, Family And Community Empowerment In The Learning Of Their Children, Shendah M. Benoit
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
Almost ten years after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, there remains much for schools to improve for First Nation, Metis, and Inuit students and their families. Focusing on Call to Action 10.vi: enabling parents to fully participate in the learning of their children, identifies a problem of practice. The impact of residential schools and systemic racism have created a separation between families and their children’s learning as well as a lack of trust in the school. Using the assumptions of positive organizational scholarship to understand the complex system of my school, as well as …
Engaging Health Professionals Toward The Redevelopment Of A Continuing Competence Program, Salima Thawer
Engaging Health Professionals Toward The Redevelopment Of A Continuing Competence Program, Salima Thawer
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
Continuing competence is the combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment of a professional, applied safely and ethically to their practice of the profession. Under the Health Professions Act in Alberta, health regulatory colleges must oversee the continuing competence of their registrants, ensuring they act in the public’s best interest. At Health Professionals Regulatory College (HPRC), over 3500 registrants are accountable to its continuing competence program (CCP). The current CCP, in place for over 15 years, has not integrated collection and analysis of diversity data that may influence individual competence, nor has it evolved with trends toward right-touch regulation that …
Mentoring Matters: Addressing Gender Inequity In Japanese Higher Education Through An Online Mentorship Program, Tanja M. Mccandie
Mentoring Matters: Addressing Gender Inequity In Japanese Higher Education Through An Online Mentorship Program, Tanja M. Mccandie
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The lack of equity and inclusion of women in formal leadership roles in Japan has been heavily criticized for years, including in higher education. This Organizational Improvement Plan presents an actionable plan utilizing an online mentorship program to address the Problem of Practice; the lack of women in positions of formal leadership and the few leadership development opportunities women have within the Learning Center of X University. Analysis identifies the institutional and cultural barriers that women faculty are confronted with, and which prevent their upward career mobility within X University. This change plan views the institution’s learning center through a …
Introducing A Revenue-Generating Program: A Post-Compulsory Cinderella Story, Claire Mooney
Introducing A Revenue-Generating Program: A Post-Compulsory Cinderella Story, Claire Mooney
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
In 2015 the Ontario provincial government implemented an amendment to Regulation 347/02: Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs. This amendment resulted in the move from a two-semester program to a four-semester program with a commensurate reduction in funding from 2.0 to 1.5 for BEd students, effectively moving them from 1.0 FTE funding to 0.75. The introduction of the amendment coincided with the move to a Responsibility Centred Management approach to funding across South Central University. Hence, the reduction in funding was coincident with greater devolved responsibility for fiscal management at a departmental and faculty level. The Teacher Education Stream (TES) program …
Beyond Persistence: Increasing The Representation Of Women Faculty And Leaders In Academic Surgery, Dinah M. Frank
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 …
Equity And Excellence: Creating A Socially Responsible Shared Vision Of Academic Quality, Amanda Skanes
Equity And Excellence: Creating A Socially Responsible Shared Vision Of Academic Quality, Amanda Skanes
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The concepts of academic quality and social responsibility in post-secondary organizations are spacious yet becoming more intertwined. With stated organizational values grounded in excellence and diversity, this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) seeks to intersect a quality management framework with the equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts at a multi-campus college in Atlantic Canada. Specifically, the problem of practice I aim to resolve is how a shared vision of academic quality may be created through an added lens of social responsibility among the academic leadership team. In order to achieve a shared vision of academic quality, there are two main goals …
Cultural Awareness And Change Management: Embracing The Benefits Of Merging A Community College With A University In Atlantic Canada, Paul M. Brett
Cultural Awareness And Change Management: Embracing The Benefits Of Merging A Community College With A University In Atlantic Canada, Paul M. Brett
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The organizational merger of two post-secondary organizations is fraught with synergies and complications that lend themselves to positive and negative outcomes of the joining. The need for a consolidated credential pathway model that defined the academic and administrative authorities of the merged organization was required. The organizational improvement plan (OIP) reviews the historical context of Ocean Institute of Eastern University (OIEU) to uncover the cultural underpinnings of resistance that exhibited themselves. While blind resistance exists within almost every organization, including true ideological resistance, within the context of OIEU, most of the resistance is rooted in political resistance, where some feel …
Embracing Complexity To Foster Program Adaptation At A College In Ontario, Paula Benbow
Embracing Complexity To Foster Program Adaptation At A College In Ontario, Paula Benbow
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The 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 …
Virtually Constructed Leadership: A Study Of Accountability In An International Non-Profit Organization, Kristopher Ph Tharris
Virtually Constructed Leadership: A Study Of Accountability In An International Non-Profit Organization, Kristopher Ph Tharris
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
Through the eyes of a leader within a virtual non-profit organization (referred to as the Centre), this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores the lack of formal accountability amongst an international team of volunteers. The lack of formal accountability has the potential to hinder all interactions of the team, decreasing efficiency of the organization and ultimately decreasing its impact on beneficiaries. The relationship between the volunteer leaders and the Centre is described as organizational volunteerism, where organizations are voluntarily contributing their human resources to benefit the international community. This improvement plan examines a combination of complementary leadership approaches that form a …
The Internationalization Of The Student Body At Oceans College, Canada – An Appreciative Inquiry And Shared Leadership Approach To Change, Ian H. Macleod
The Internationalization Of The Student Body At Oceans College, Canada – An Appreciative Inquiry And Shared Leadership Approach To Change, Ian H. Macleod
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses a problem of practice (PoP) at Oceans College (a pseudonym), a multilocation, panprovincial community college. Oceans College currently focuses on recruiting, admitting, and graduating domestic, in-province students. The number of international students, however, is growing. Currently there are no formal processes at the College for international students, unlike at the other postsecondary institutions in the province which actively recruit and enroll international students. The PoP is the lack of readiness at Oceans College to cope with the significant enrollment of international students. Different leadership theories were examined to develop this OIP, and appreciative inquiry …
Practical Measurement For Strategic Growth In An International School District, Daryl Stevens
Practical Measurement For Strategic Growth In An International School District, Daryl Stevens
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The accountability era of the past three decades failed to produce significant educational change, yet the standardized measures of student performance in primarily cognitive domains that epitomized that era continue to consume a disparate amount of energy and influence a disproportionate degree of decision-making in education organizations. That strategic-growth-crippling perseveration on standardized assessments is compounded by a general lack of change-process training, understanding and purposeful use in education contexts, and particularly exacerbated by the inability of education organizations to institutionalize effective innovations. The purpose of this study was to understand how a school district’s leadership team might move beyond a …
Aligning First-Year Academic Learning Experiences At A Small Liberal Arts University, Robyne Hanley-Dafoe
Aligning First-Year Academic Learning Experiences At A Small Liberal Arts University, Robyne Hanley-Dafoe
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
First-year academic experiences in post-secondary education have been widely studied (Pampaka, Williams, & Hutcheson, 2012; Kahu & Nelson, 2018). Rapid expansion of student enrolment has impacted the scope of teaching and learning practices at universities (Zepke, 2018; O’Brien & Iannone, 2017). Much of the focus has been on student success, satisfaction, and retention; however, Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, and Pearce (2009) suggest that more research on the student learning experience is needed. This organizational improvement plan (OIP) expands on this idea to include pedagogy and course design, as they impact student learning, while exploring institutional identity. Using Bolman and Deal’s …
Flourishing Firefighters: A Plan For Optimal Organizational Deviance Using Healthy Human Systems, Sajel Bellon
Flourishing Firefighters: A Plan For Optimal Organizational Deviance Using Healthy Human Systems, Sajel Bellon
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The purpose of this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is to offer the potential groundwork to enhance the current support services of a union representing firefighters in Canada. The hope is to address the growing number of firefighters that are afflicted with Occupational Stress Injuries (OSI) and to provide a more comprehensive positive approach to mitigate the psychological effects and professional ramifications of the consistent exposure to traumatic events and other associated occupational stressors. The aim is to leverage the existing structure and resources to address the Problem of Practice (PoP): How can union leaders effectively address the increasing prevalence of …