Date of Submission

8-29-2022

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

developmental disabilities, integration, post-secondary education, transformational leadership, authentic leadership

Abstract

Students with developmental disabilities are a growing and diverse population. Higher education landscapes are becoming increasingly complex. Despite academic and personal supports available to all Ontario college students through student services centers, Marshall College (a pseudonym) is experiencing a disconnect between the stated vision, mission, and values and the Community Integration Through Cooperative Education (CICE) program and its students. Diverse views have polarized senior administration, faculty, and staff on how to adapt to having students with developmental disabilities accessing post-secondary education through the CICE program. This Organizational Improvement Plan explores the organizational context of Marshall College and proposes an improvement plan to address the problem of practice, which is how to improve the lack of integration experienced by the CICE program and its students. As the faculty coordinator of the CICE program, I have created a change improvement plan to guide the change process. The problem of practice is framed with the interpretivist, social constructivism epistemology, and Capper’s (2019) Disabilities Studies in Education epistemology. The plan’s predominant leadership frameworks, transformational and authentic leadership, combined with Kotter’s (1996, 2012) eight-step change model is used to create a plan of action that encompasses key stakeholders with well-defined roles and responsibilities to enact the proposed change. The plan-do-study-act cycle is used to monitor and evaluate the plan and I incorporate detailed plans for communicating the need for change while ensuring collaboration amongst all stakeholders. I conclude with a pathway forward within this institution and set the groundwork for future change.

Keywords: developmental disabilities, integration, post-secondary education, transformational leadership, authentic leadership

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