Date of Submission

8-10-2022

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

undergraduate education, teacher education, higher education, wayfinding leadership, appreciative inquiry, three-step model, participatory evaluation

Abstract

In 2015 the Ontario provincial government implemented an amendment to Regulation 347/02: Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs. This amendment resulted in the move from a two-semester program to a four-semester program with a commensurate reduction in funding from 2.0 to 1.5 for BEd students, effectively moving them from 1.0 FTE funding to 0.75. The introduction of the amendment coincided with the move to a Responsibility Centred Management approach to funding across South Central University. Hence, the reduction in funding was coincident with greater devolved responsibility for fiscal management at a departmental and faculty level. The Teacher Education Stream (TES) program was introduced at an undergraduate level as a new revenue stream into the School of Education to overcome the fiscal deficit due to policy changes at both the provincial and institutional level. The introduction of the TES program represents something of an enigmatic juxtaposition; the rationale for the introduction of the program was the market-driven pressure of a neoliberal shift in provincial and university governance, yet the TES is predicated on discourses of equity, inclusion, and social justice. The TES program was introduced quickly as a result of fiscal necessity. There was limited consideration given to the potential consequences of the implementation, embedding, and expansion of the program. This lack of strategic planning gives rise to the Problem of Practice addressed within this Organizational Improvement Plan. Wayfinding leadership and appreciative inquiry inform the plan for change, which is further elaborated through Lewin’s three-step model and monitored through participatory evaluation.

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