Date of Submission

6-16-2019

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

Principal, Student Achievement, Ontario, Sustainability, Educational Leadership, Organizational Change

Abstract

Principal leadership in schools is a critical factor in promoting student achievement and fostering a climate for continual professional learning among teachers. The principal sets the tone for the school and it is the principal’s leadership approach that affects the school’s culture, climate for professional learning, and impact on promoting deep student learning and critical thought. In Ontario, school principals are being tasked on a daily basis with the dual challenge of leading the professional learning of teachers while overseeing a multitude of managerial responsibilities for operating a school. Add to this a new era of accountability and a focus on school data, the job description of school principals has significantly expanded. Supporting principals to address this dichotomy of challenging tasks is required. The problem of practice (PoP) that inspires this organizational plan (OIP) explores the core leadership practices and key contingencies necessary to shape the instructional leadership practice of effective principals. It utilizes the principles of shared and servant leadership through a liberal and critical lens to develop sustainable solutions which are multifaceted and target both the principal’s personal agency and the organizational points of leverage for change. In addressing the change process, a multi-pronged framework, using the Congruence Model of Nadler and Tushman (1989), will be used to evaluate the organizational change process and guide administration and staff towards conceptualizing and leading change both at the system and school level.

Keywords: Principal, Student Achievement, Sustainability, Professional Learning, Capacity Building, Shared Leadership, Servant Leadership, Organizational Change, Collective Efficacy

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