Fostering A Culture Of Collaboration Among Early Childhood Professionals In Higher Education, Caroline Fabbruzzo

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Collaboration among professionals is promoted in various disciplines. This Organizational Improvement Plan addresses a Problem of Practice (PoP) in a Canadian higher education institution. The PoP is the absence of a culture of collaboration among faculty of an Early Childhood Studies program. In the context of this plan, collaboration is defined as a multidimensional, ongoing process that includes interaction, time commitment, the exchange of expertise, and the maintenance of a professional working relationship with stakeholders in order to promote best outcomes. Failure to address this PoP is a disservice to children and their families. Leadership and faculty of the Early …

Improving Faculty Capacity To Support Student Mental Health, Nishma Bhaloo

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Mental health issues are on the rise among students at postsecondary institutions (PSIs), necessitating a campus-wide initiative to address growing concerns about mental health problems among students. Extending the circle of care model to include faculty ensures the timely delivery of support and services to address students’ mental health needs. This integrated approach also enables faculty to respond to students’ needs and direct students to the appropriate resources. However, faculty must be equipped with the knowledge needed to recognize the signs of mental health issues among students to positively impact students’ overall health and well-being. Improving faculty capacity to support …

Fostering Collaboration Between Local Heis And Global Professional Engineering Organization, Helder F. Pinheiro Mr

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan (OIP) proposes a change process to foster collaboration between a not-for-profit engineering organization and higher education institutions (HEIs) situated in the Central Ontario Region. This OIP will help students create successful conditions to transition from HEIs to workplaces by providing them with support from a multidisciplinary team, including professional engineers. Support will be needed to engage students in events that underscore creativity, critical thinking, communication, and other leadership competencies for facing 21st-century challenges. As a section chair, I will work as a change initiator/participant with a guiding coalition encompassing students, faculty members, HEI administrators, and executives …

Citizenship Education In Neoliberal Times, Elissar Gerges

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

In pursuit of continuous rather than episodic change, this organizational improvement plan uses Kotter’s (2014) framework for organizational change, embedded within the PDSA cycle, to create a professional development community at the school. The school’s mission is focused on citizenship, but implementation is still an area of action. The compliance culture at the school and the dominant transactional leadership approach have influenced the enactment of the school’s mission throughout the various high school departments. Using a conceptual framework adapted from Hackman’s (2002) framework for building a collaborative environment, this improvement plan explores how a private school in Ontario can implement …

Increasing Collaboration Between Noncredit Staff And Credit Faculty, Dimitra Fotopoulos

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) focused on two specific stakeholder groups within a liberal arts postsecondary institution in western Canada: the noncredit faculty (NCF) and academic faculties. A third group, the external community, is also a key stakeholder that will benefit from the OIP through relevant programming for work-ready graduates. The NCF, in which noncredit certificates, diplomas, and professional development programs are offered, is tasked with revenue generation. It is an outward facing arm of the organization, with a strong focus on building relationships with the business and nonprofit community. The goals of the academic faculties are to develop and …

Autonomy And Empowerment To Be Creative And Engaged In A Collaborative Culture, Mohamed S. Hanif

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This document is an Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP). The purpose of the OIP is to address a specific problem of practice (PoP) at a private career college in Ontario (the College). The PoP at the College is the need for instructors to have autonomy and empowerment to be creative and engaged in a collaborative culture. An organizational analysis at the College determined that the present functionalist theoretical organizational framework and its hierarchical structure inhibit collaboration. After a comprehensive review of scholarly literature, this OIP recommends that a postmodernist theoretical organizational framework and a follower-centric approach to leadership using the transformational …

An Institutional Strategy To Address Financial Preparedness In A Post-Secondary Environment, Necia Martins

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Attending post-secondary comes at a cost. With rising tuition and life costs, the financial responsibility students are taking on is significant. Many young adults lack the experience and knowledge to manage their financial obligations. For some, during times of financial stress this may lead to balancing a part-time job, a reduced course load or considering withdrawing from studies. Many students rely on financial aid to support their academic and life costs. In the past few years, the provincial government made various changes to the financial aid program and tuition fees. These changes have led to many students misunderstanding how much …

Building A Culture Of Collaboration, Cathy Mccann-Kyte

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Abstract

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores how a school principal can create a culture of collaboration among teachers. The OIP’s problem of practice emerged due to a lack of collaboration among teachers at a school. School data revealed that the lack of collaboration directly impacted teacher classroom practice and ultimately student achievement. Two change theories, the Change Path Model (Cawsey, Deszca, & Ingles, 2016) and the Appreciative Inquiry Model (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) influenced the thinking behind the organizational change plan. Within the organizational change plan, building relationships by developing trust through transformational leadership and creating professional learning communities …

An Exploration Of Collaboration In Indigenous Language Revitalization In A First Nation Community, Sara General

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores how Indigenous language leaders at Six Nations of the Grand River can collaborate for the purpose of revitalizing Indigenous languages. Using an Indigenous research study approach, I conducted single 45-60 minute semi-structured interviews with 10 Indigenous language leaders from the Six Nations of the Grand River. To develop an understanding about the concept of collaboration informed by Haudenosaunee epistemologies, I explored three cultural stories that generally constitute the foundation of Haudenosaunee philosophy and worldview. Together, insights from both the participants and the cultural stories informed this study and supported the development of my conceptual framework, which includes …

Growing Citizens: Students’ Social Emotional Learning Via School Gardens, Kathryn Markham-Petro

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The importance of social and emotional learning in the life of a student is now being recognized as a factor for academic and life success. How a garden can help in the promotion of skills related to social and emotional learning will provide further justification for the implementation of gardens in schools. The purpose of this exploratory, interpretivist qualitative study, with data collected from a purposive sample of educators involved in classroom-based education within schools, was to explore the social and emotional practices of primary grade students (kindergarten through grade five). The sample size consisted of 14 educators who were …

A Call To Action: Indigenizing Curriculum Through Adaptive Leadership, Christie Rehmann Pettipas

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Since the release of the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015, the post-secondary sector has focused their attention on the indigenization of programming and practices with mixed results. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) presents a possible solution to embed Indigenous knowledge and culture in a program offered at a large urban college in Canada.

Both decolonization theory and Schein’s cultural assessment (2017) are used to identify current values and structures that are barriers to the effective integration of Indigenous knowledge in course curriculum and teaching. Utilizing an adaptive leadership framework (Hefeitz, 1994, Northouse, …

Enhancing Team Motivation Through A Period Of Rapid Change, Lisa Ramshaw

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This organizational improvement plan (OIP) presents possible leadership approaches and solutions to the enhance team motivation through a period of rapid change. The OIP focuses on a team within an educational training institute, strategically aligned to a large educational organization. The training institute was previously known as the professional learning and development (PLD) department and was situated within the corporate office of the organization. The Governing Board moved the PLD department into a separate business entity, a training institute, with a new commercial vision. The team therefore transitioned from an internal PLD department (cost center) with service-orientation, to an external …

Collaborative Work Environments: Development And Sustainability, Christy L. Thompson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines how elementary principals develop collaborative work environments. Specifically, it explores how principals understand collaborative work, examines the strategies principals employ to encourage such an environment, the supports principals use when developing collaborative work environments and the challenges principals experience when trying to create one in his or her school. The study was conducted using a qualitative research design and an interpretivist approach was used to frame the research. Eleven elementary principals were interviewed for this study. The interviews were semi-structured and ranged in length from 45-60 minutes.

Findings included an important emphasis on positive relationship building amongst …

Fostering The Mobilization Of Knowledge From Professional Development To The Classroom, Robert J. Williams

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examined the extent to which professional knowledge, acquired from professional development programs in education, was mobilized in elementary school classrooms. The author investigated the alignment of participants’ perceptions and actions with the aims of professional development providers, studied teachers' in-depth experiences of that professional development, and noted the key aspects of professional development that related to knowledge mobilization. The project acquired data from four elementary school teachers employing semi-structured interviews, multiple classroom observations and teacher-generated and published documents. Participants’ perceptions of professional development were influenced by the following factors: impact on income, personal/professional growth and professional collaboration. Additionally, …

An Investigation On The Value Of Integrating Mental Health Supports In Education To Build Capacity For Change, Erin Keith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Current statistics in Ontario show that one in five students suffer from mental health issues (Canada, 2012). Mental health disorders cause significant distress, impairing students’ functioning at school, at home, and in the community (Children’s Mental Health Ontario, 2014). Research has shown that prevention and early intervention strategies targeting students at risk for mental health challenges are beneficial, cost-effective, and reduce the need for more costly, intensive interventions. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013). In response to recent Ontario Ministry mental health initiatives (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006; 2011; 2013), the Peel District School Board, in Ontario, Canada, launched an interprofessional, …