Date of Submission

8-31-2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

OIP Defense Chair

Dr. Elan Paulson

Keywords

leadership, community college, digital pedagogy, creative and cultural industries, innovation and SMAs, Ontario

Abstract

Leaders of cultural and creative programs (CCIs) in Ontario community colleges are key to realizing potential in higher education related to digital pedagogy, creativity, industry partnerships, entrepreneurship and innovation. In this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP), the role of an academic leadership group is considered from Ontario-centric creative industry and innovation policies and college processes. The problem of practice is the gap of harmonized leadership strategy between higher education classroom practices and regional and provincial overarching educational strategy to increase innovation through digital pedagogy. Colleges have collective capacities in innovating with digital pedagogy in creative industry programs and providing graduates with workplace skills, while supporting humanistic ideals of culture and creativity.

There is an opportunity for a Creative Program Leaders Committee to move from a community of practice to become influencers of strategy and research. In the OIP I outline a plan to begin the process to define digital pedagogy in creative programs, collect exemplars, and plan to create a strategy document to lead to knowledge transfer among stakeholders. The OIP is contextualized through themes of complexity, ambiguity, and connectivity in a neo-liberal era. Eddy’s (2010) community college change communication framework and Hernes’ (2008, 2014) ideas of process organizational theory inform these themes. By doing so, the informed strategy creation can help harmonize and advance collective goals for both colleges and provincial institutions.

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