Managing the tension: Balancing district requirements and local school context in school improvement planning

This Organization Improvement Plan (OIP) examines how a principal can implement school improvement planning processes that address both the requirements of a district and the needs of the individual school. The problem of practice identified that principals struggle with motivating teachers to engage in meaningful professional learning when implementing school improvement planning processes required by the district. The complex nature of school environments is examined and the difficulties this poses for principals in leading change within schools is identified. Change is conceptualized as a non-linear, continuous process that is focused on the relationships between the teachers within a school and between teachers and the principal. Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) (Uhl-Bien, Marion, McKelvey, 2007) is used as a framework to examine how a principal can balance the often-competing needs of the district and teaching staff within their school. The CLT framework is composed of: adaptive, administrative, and enabling leadership components. The concept of Collaborative Professionalism (Hargreaves & O’Connor, 2018) in which teachers develop a professional accountability regarding student learning is also examined as a framework that complements CLT. The key role that the principal plays in nurturing conditions for ongoing, professional learning among teachers is identified.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Goodacre, Oliver S

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• MacKinnon, Kenneth

• Complexity Leadership Theory
• Adaptive leadership
• Administrative leadership
• Enabling leadership
• Collaborative Professionalism

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/26515

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/26515