Date of Submission
8-11-2021
Document Type
OIP
Degree
Doctor of Education
Department
Education
Keywords
transformative leadership, inclusion, diversity, equity, social justice, traditional society, modern society, critical theory
Abstract
International schools accredited by Western-based educational paradigms encounter specific challenges within the theoretical framework of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), as perceived through the lens of social justice in education. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) considers, from the context of modern and traditional societies, the change readiness of the Alberta Accredited International Schools program (AAIS) surrounding the practice of EDI. Generalized expectations of universal application present with factors that may provide educational leaders with the framework to deliberate critical theory motivating practice. Modernist and traditionalist societal views of EDI, and the translation of pedagogical frameworks through educational reform, are considered. My agency as an external educational psychologist and EDI consultant provides a practical, site-based context of change with a worldview of transformative leadership. As an external consultant, I proposed a blended change model, including Cawsey et al.’s (2016) Change Path Model through the lens of Capper’s (2019) critical theory for organizational improvement. The proposal of an EDI policy analyst change driver to inform a transformative worldview and associated theoretical resolutions is presented. Solutions are offered to influence current and future alignment within varied contexts between the provincial agency and the AAIS program sites. Informed by social justice in educational leadership, this OIP accepts a theoretically based challenge to apply a transformative leadership model of EDI practice to AAIS leaders. The outcome includes an alternative conceptualization of EDI practice demands within schools existing in a traditional society aligned with a Western-based educational pedagogy.
Recommended Citation
Schultz, K. J. (2021). Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Alberta Accredited International Schools: Bridging Modern and Traditional Societal Perspectives in Educational Practice. The Organizational Improvement Plan at Western University, 247. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/247