Date of Submission
7-15-2020
Document Type
OIP
Degree
Doctor of Education
Department
Education
Keywords
school leadership, professional learning, Personal Leadership Resources, change, student achievement
Abstract
In the Lakeside School District, the overall goal of the strategic plan is student achievement. Despite efforts to meet this goal through initiatives, resources, and pedagogical practice in classrooms, student achievement in Lakeside is stagnant. Given that effective school leadership can have a significant impact on student learning, this Organizational Improvement Plan suggests changing professional learning to support leadership development for school principals and vice principals, as a way of improving student achievement.
Effective school leadership is predicated on the ability to enact leadership practices that support learning. To enact these practices, school leaders must first have foundational leadership skills, such as the Personal Leadership Resources (PLRs) as indicated in the Ontario Leadership Framework. The PLRs include cognitive resources (problem solving expertise, knowledge of effective school and classroom practices directly affecting student learning, and systems thinking), social resources (perceiving emotions, managing emotions, and acting in emotionally appropriate ways), and psychological resources (optimism, self-efficacy, resiliency, and proactivity). Principals and vice principals must understand the important impact their leadership has on student achievement and be given opportunities to investigate and develop the PLRs. Changing professional learning that addresses leadership learning needs is suggested.
The change suggested for Lakeside will use Relational Leadership Theory as a framework for guiding the change process, as well as Transformational Leadership, and Kotter’s Eight Stage Process as the change path model. These have been selected intentionally because they connect with the values of the district as well as the desired leadership practices.
The OIP addresses concerns about knowledge, resources, and use of structures, to create alignment among them and to establish congruence between district goals and practices. Strategic and incremental change will address the problem of practice.
Recommended Citation
Thompson, D. R. (2020). Developing the Personal Leadership Resources of the Ontario Leadership Framework for principals and vice principals. The Organizational Improvement Plan at Western University, 169. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/169