Date of Submission
5-8-2024
Document Type
DiP
Degree
Doctor of Education
Department
Education
Keywords
Settler Canadian, Decolonization, Indigenization, Indigenous Ally, Transformative Leadership, Calls to Action, Indigenous students
Abstract
The Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s (TRC) Calls to Action #7 and #63 focus on the Indigenization and decolonization of schools to create positive change for Indigenous students. To address these specific Calls to Action in an Ontario Catholic elementary school, a critically responsive transformative school leadership approach is required. This approach emphasizes individual and organizational reconciliation that seeks to improve Indigenous students’ academic achievement and well-being in the current colonial structures of the Ontario education system. To create an awareness of these structures, Catholic school leaders must acknowledge their own Settler Canadian identity. In doing so, they develop authentic relationships based on allyship with Indigenous partners and families to better support Indigenous students in their organizations. They also focus on improving the lives of their Indigenous students by ensuring that non-Indigenous educators recognize the critical role they play in the education of Indigenous children. This Dissertation-in-Practice aims to address the problem of practice whereby non-Indigenous educators deepen their understanding of Indigenous knowledge, history, and pedagogy to address the TRC’s Calls to Action. To do so, the school leader will create collaborative and professional learning communities (PLCs) which will focus on Linda and Robert Goulet’s (2014) model of effective teaching for Indigenous students. Kurt Lewin’s three-stage model of organizational change frames this work within the school and becomes an iterative process that guides all elements of the Dissertation-in-Practice including the change implementation plan, the communication plan, and the knowledge mobilization plan (KMb). Halbert and Kaser’s (2022) spirals of inquiry compliments Lewin’s change model and assists in the monitoring and evaluation of the solution to the Problem of Practice.
Keywords: Calls to Action, transformative leadership, Settler Canadian, allyship, Indigenous students
Recommended Citation
Ricco, C. (2024). Principal Leadership from a Settler Canadian's Perspective. The Dissertation in Practice at Western University, 417. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/417