MDDE 631 - Inclusive Leadership & Practice in Education
Introduction into MDDE 631
This Artifact #5 was the Inclusive Leadership and Practice in Education course. Firstly, each week we were required to actively engage with our colleagues by providing and maintaining a weekly journal that documented our reports, evidence, and reflections on inclusiveness and leadership theories. The weekly journal served as a summary of our weekly reflections on how we intended to transfer new experiences through inclusiveness and leadership theories. Secondly, we worked on a culminating assignment with group members throughout the course. Finally, we had to provide and receive feedback from our colleagues and instructor, allowing us to review, reflect and modify our journals and assignments. I knew I had to keep an ongoing weekly reflective journal. Dr. Bainbridge did say that we had to make sure we kept on top of it these weekly journals in order to stay on track. I decided to always write my journals on a Monday so that I could write about my experiences in the previous week. I feel my journal was well executed and I presented it with a visually pleasing presentation using Canva. I had grown to love the program Canva for delivery of presentations because once I started to play around with the program, it was easy to use. It is a great tool for presentations because it has different options for colourful background visuals. It is easy to use and upload other images and information (see below for link).
Program Competencies
1. Problem Solving, Analysis, & Decision Making
- 1.1. Recognize problems
- 1.4. Find and access information
- 1.5 Critically evaluate the relevance of information for a given situation
- 1.6. Compare alternatives using critical analysis
- 1.7. Make reasoned arguments using critical reflection, leading to rational solutions
3. Communication Technologies and Networking
- 3.1. Use a variety of communication and document-sharing tools to create, reflect, and communicate with others
- 3.2. Analyze and evaluate the various applications and implications of these technologies
- 3.3. Justify the applicatoions of these technologies in real-life contexts on the basis of theory and research
4. Communication & Interpersonal Skills
- 4.1. Write clearly and in a style appropriate to purpose (e.g. assignments, essays, published documents, and theses)
- 4.4. Support the learning of others when involved in teaching, mentoring, moderating, collaboration or demonstration activities
- 4.5. Participate and contribute effectively in collaborative group activities
- 4.6. Demonstrate effective design, delivery and critical evaluation of presentations, computer conferences, or seminars
- 4.8. Organize, and convey your ideas effectively through a range of communication skills and work collaboratively and in teams.
5. Research
- 5.4. Critically review literature both broadly and in-depth
- 5.6. Summarize and synthesize information with a view to pursuing deeper understanding
- 5.7. Effectively communicate information, arguments, and analyses in the discipline of Distance Education, in a variety of forms, to suit different contexts and audiences
- 5.10. Demonstrate the use of communications and other technology-based research tools
6. Management, Organization and Leadership
-
6.1. Analyze the current and future climate of the distance education and distance learning industry, and formulate strategies to respond to that climate
- 6.5. Manage workload, other commitments, and information needs within time and structural constraints (in both personal and team management situations
Reflective Learning #1
This assignment asked me to describe, critically analyze and lead a discussion about an educational setting in which a lack of inclusiveness was a concern (6.1).
This presentation assignment had three components. First component, I had to randomly form groups. I am not sure if this was hard for others to do but I felt overwhelmed about choosing my own group. I looked into our initial "Introduction" pages and decided I reached out to 3 other ladies that I knew were also in the educational field like myself. I prompted our initial meeting with everyone, reviewed the outline, and decided who was going to be responsible for component of the assignment. In a sense I took on a leadership role here. Taking a role to connect all of us was empowering and these connections between us right at the beginning fostered collaboration and trust, which was essential for success of this culminating assignment.
We as a group formed a feed on Whatsapp and we began to discuss the importance of our case study and how it reflects on the rubric and expectations of the assignment (3.1). I have to admit, I was very lucky to have these ladies as my group members. It was important when we first met that we chatted a bit about ourselves, where we were in our lives , and what direction we wanted to be in to complete the Masters Program (6.5). We spoke about each other's interests and backgrounds. Our group was very open to innovative ideas on how to deliver this topic and diverse viewpoints when discussing our topic. Our group had a very good balance between the need for cohesion within our group and allowing our creativity and knowledge in ASD to support the project. Our open and personal discussion about ourselves allowed us as individuals to bring some diverse perspectives on the topic we chose. How can I relate to this topic, what experiences do I have in this topic and how can I take our knowledge and apply that to this assignment (1.9). This definitely had a positive effect when I was arriving at solutions about who was going to tackle which section more efficiently and effectively (3.1).
All of us had a very specific goal on our delivery of our presentation. We wanted to showcase our assignment on Canva (3.2). Everyone was on task even as all of us lead very busy lives (6.5). Dr Bainbridge gave us continual feedback throughout this process of the assignment (4.1 4.4). I was always very inclusive and accepted each other's feedback and I all acted with integrity by being very respectful and responsible in sharing the work equally amongst our group (4.1).
The second component was to build a case study based on an example of a need for inclusiveness in an educational setting. We decided through discussion that we were going to concentrate on one of my students with ASD that I had been working with in my class for the past two years (5.7). We all had some form of experience working with students with ASD so our group melded right away (4.5). It is interesting when you share commonalities with similar experiences you just seem to form an immediate bond. This was the case with our group. I appreciated our group because we had commonalities in education but I also wanted to make sure moving forward in other courses and groups that I was branching out to other colleagues. This would provide me different professionals from various fields that would provide insights based on their specialized knowledge in their field. This will also help creating a more inclusive environment that will cater to a wider audience in each course.
The third and final component was to create a minimum of 3 questions related to the case study and analysis as the basis for initiating class discussion during our presentation to moderate the discussion (5.7). We had to present our presentation that was engaging and ready for and open to feedback with follow up questions (4.6). I feel our presentation was well executed and everyone was prepared as we all had a part in the presentation. After our presentation, I offered my questions to our audience. Our entire presentation was well prepared and organized. I did my share in collecting data, the facts about my student, and examples to support our message in our presentation. I was concise about my role, and responsibilities within the group and I was always trying to maintain a positive attitude and enthusiasm by keeping in touch with my other group members offering assistance if needed.
In final reflection, I also learned in this course that staying on top of my students exceptionalities are very important. I want to always negate the stress for all students, including those with ASD when they are transitioning from Grade 8 - Grade 9. This transition needs to be taken in small steps in order for my students to be able to feel successful navigating new environments, routines, curriculum expectations and social development. Good communication with the Secondary \school is key in order for students with ASD need their transition planning to needs to start early (well before September entry) by involving parents, educators, therapists, community support members in planning and preparation.
Reflective Learning #2
The final assignment was our reflective paper where we had to reflect on the inclusiveness practices in my classroom and workplace. I had to choose what leadership theories I applied to supporting this development. I wanted to go back and review MDDE 612 where I had really gained some insight into learning through reflecting on learning (1.1 1.4). The book I read called "On Reflection" by Ellen Rose. As I do, at times, really struggle with grasping the concept of "true" reflection because involves critical thinking and emotional. Considering my feelings and reactions can evoke a range of emotions and often times those emotions create doubt in my abilities as a writer, and communicator.
I wanted to use the UDL is a framework that enable all of my learners in the classrooms to peaked learners' interests, offering challenging lessons, while continuing to increase motivation. I took more of a Constructivist theory, challenging my learners to construct knowledge through prior knowledge and experiences. This supported all of my learners by adapting lessons and varying content (i.e., visual or auditory) and teaching methods to meet their diverse needs. I also introduced the "Trails" program which was a school-wide strategy that promoted positive behaviour language, fostered students' social, emotional, and academic success.
After reviewing certain key factors such as this allowed me to stay focused to provide some real reflective learning by ability remaining organized and make lists about what is this assignment asking me to do (1.6)? This thought process allowed me to make links from one experience to the next while making sure I made the most out of my experience in this course (1.5).
I came to realize that growing up I was not a very good “reflector”. It wasn’t until my entry into post-secondary education that I became aware of the true value of its form. I also struggled that when I did not have to write goals (or pre-reflection) I did not use this as a baseline for conclusive and “real” results such as "How did assignment/lesson work out?" "How did it work well?" "Can I improve on this the next time?". In the past, reflection became something I would fluff off to the end os a task perhaps while driving home in a matter of seconds. Now I make sure to write SMART goals before I complete anything that requires my own personal feedback.
I respected Dr Bainbridge immensely because she offered inclusivity when it came to making me feel that my thoughts and opinions felt valued (4.9). She always made me feel supported even when I started to doubted my ability as a writer She made sure to highlight my strengths when delivering feedback. Her feedback was always personal, paying attention to detail while then respectfully providing clear suggestions to make my writing more clear and purposeful. She did this all the while remaining respectful and kind because she always made sure to deliver some positive language that kept me motivated. Her delivery of feedback allowed me to gain confidence while helping me understand where I need to improve and develop my skills as a writer.
What I learned about myself:
Not only did I feel valued from my colleagues and Dr Bainbridge in my feedback in my reflection journal, it also brought some intrinsic thought to my own leadership style. We had to discuss inclusive education and how our own leadership theories would fit well with inclusive education with me as an educator. Upon investigating different leadership theories, I was drawn to emergent leadership. In my opinion and experience, emergent leadership occurs not necessarily by being appointed as a leader. It is a group member within an organization that sees a need for direction therefore that person steps up for the specific task. For example, there is always a need to support many activities within our school walls such as needing a volleyball coach or organizing a school dance. So I stepped up and became that leader. I was able to take on a leadership role and started to motivate other teachers to support and do the same. I was successful in leading because I lead by example. I adapted, and collaborated as a team for a success. The result of taking on this leadership role improved commonalities and strengthened relationships between us as educators. It increased teamwork and collaboration amongst staff for other future events.
In conclusion, many theories have a place within a educational organization and many different types of leadership theories can at certain times intertwine and form cohesion on a specific task. In my opinion, I am good leader that adapts to different situations according to goals, structure, needs, and creative ability of our school team. Finally, as an inclusive leader, I am committed to continuing to provide authentic learning experiences.
