Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2017 - EDUC 813 G031

Organizational Theory and Analyses (5)

Class Number: 7874

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6, 2017: Fri, 4:30–9:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Jan 13, 2017: Fri, 4:30–9:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Feb 3, 2017: Fri, 4:30–9:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Feb 24, 2017: Fri, 4:30–9:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Mar 3, 2017: Fri, 4:30–9:00 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Jan 7, 2017: Sat, 8:30 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Jan 14, 2017: Sat, 8:30 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Feb 4, 2017: Sat, 8:30 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Feb 25, 2017: Sat, 8:30 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

    Mar 4, 2017: Sat, 8:30 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This course critically examines organizations in which educational leaders work from different theoretical perspectives and in light of research evidence. It also critiques several past and current reform initiatives, and explores specific topics in-depth. A central and pervasive question of the course concerns organizational purposes, especially with respect to learning, and how these purposes are served by organizational structures and processes.

COURSE DETAILS:


Meeting Dates:
January 6/7, January 13/14
February 3/4, February 24/25
March 3/4  

Times:
Fridays from 4:30 to 9:00
Saturdays from 8:30 to 4:30  

Location: SFU Harbour Centre, Room 1315
Exception-- Feb 4: Harbour Centre, Room 1525  

Educational Symposium: February 18, 9:00 to 3:00 at Segal Graduate School of Business

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:


This course is part of a two year program in Educational Leadership that is intended to introduce students to insights about leadership, particularly in a K-12 school setting, from theory, research and practice in ways that will:

•  Enrich their understanding of leadership and its relationship to the aims of education and the nature of governance, administration, teaching and learning in a formal educational context;

•  Enrich their understanding of the challenges, opportunities and enduring dilemmas of leadership in such a context;

•  Develop their ability to articulate an informed, thoughtful and coherent statement of leadership philosophy grounded in values and aims;

•  Develop their leadership dispositions and competencies; and

•  Prepare them for ongoing inquiry, learning and professional growth in relation to their understanding and practice of leadership within current and future roles.  

This course will contribute to all those goals by extending understandings developed in EDUC 818 (Educational Leadership) and prepare students for continued pursuit of them in subsequent courses. Specifically, it will:  

•  Foster their understanding of key organizational theory concepts and how to apply theoretical ideas in their own organizations;

•  Provide insight into major historical factors that underlie the current school context in BC and affect school-level relationships between teachers and administrators; and

•  Develop an understanding of literature-based collaborative principles required to create effective organizations and extend their ability to utilize them within their own organizations.

At the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate their learning by:  

•  Describing their personal understanding of effective organizational practices in a school setting in an informed, thoughtful and coherent way that is grounded in the values and aims of education in that setting;

•  Analyzing how dialogic approaches can improve individual and collective capacity for constructive discourse, particularly about contentious issues, and showing how such approaches can be utilized within their organizations; and

•  Providing a written response to the overall course question: “How has my awareness and understanding changed in relation to creating or extending effective organizations in the BC K-12 school system - be they schools, districts or provincial organizations - and how might this awareness and understanding be applied in my own practice?” utilizing concepts and insights from course readings and discussions.


As an integral part of their two-year program, students will attend a series of four educational symposia titled “Reimagining Public Education Discourse in British Columbia.” The second of these symposia will be held on Saturday, February 18th, and will be considered to be part of the instructional hours for the Leadership course.

Grading

  • In-Class and On-Line Participation 10%
  • In-Class Presentation 25%
  • Symposium-Related Analysis 25%
  • Final course paper 40%

NOTES:


In-Class and On-Line Participation

All students are expected to participate actively in class activities. Active participation involves empathetic listening, sharing of questions and thoughts, responding to and extending others’ questions and thoughts, and respectful turn-taking. Although all students are expected to contribute in an on-going way, it is not the volume but the integrity and thoughtfulness of individual contributions that is desired.  

Students will also participate in an on-line forum in order to continue dialogue asynchronously outside of class time  

Student inquiry and insight as demonstrated through in-class and on-line participation will account for approximately 10% of the course grade.  

In-Class Presentation

Students will be assigned to a Team to prepare a brief presentation for the class related to a significant aspect of organizational behaviour in a school setting.  

The presentation should last no more than 20 minutes with an additional 40 minutes maximum set aside for discussion activities. The Team may use presentation software or other techniques and materials to support the presentation.  

The Team presentation and a subsequent critical response will account for approximately 25% of the course grade and will be evaluated in terms of: (a) adherence to time limits, (b) organization, (c) effectiveness ; (d) depth of analysis, and (e) effective facilitation of class discussion.  

Symposium-Related Analysis

In support of completing and deepening the understanding of issues related to organizational dynamics in contentious contexts, each student will be assigned to a Team to prepare for, and subsequently reflect upon, participation in the symposium on February 18th.  

This collaborative task will account for approximately 25% of the course grade and will be evaluated in terms of: (a) the quality of the analysis of issues related to leadership in contentious contexts, (b) the clarity of the presentation of that analysis, and (c) facilitation of in-class and on-line discussion by class members not on the Team of the issues.  

Major Paper

This paper, which must be no more than 5 pages in length, will provide a response to question ‘How has my awareness and understanding changed in relation to creating or extending effective organizations in the BC K-12 school system - be they schools, districts or provincial organizations - and how might this awareness and understanding be applied in my own practice?’ utilizing concepts and insights from course readings and discussions  

The paper will be evaluated in terms its clarity of organization and expression, the sophistication of its discussion of organizational effectiveness, the integrity of its self-analysis and the practical effectiveness of action plan.  

The statement will account for approximately 40% of the course grade.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

There is no required text for this course. A variety of readings will be assigned that are accessible on-line or through the SFU library free of charge, including:

Achinstein, B. (2002). Conflict and Community: The micropolitics of teacher collaboration. Teachers College Record, 104,3.

Cerna, L. (2014), “Trust: What it is and Why it Matters for Governance and Education”, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 108, OECD Publishing.

Naylor, C. (2008) The international debate on educational and teacher leadership and its relevance to teacher unions. BCTF Research.

Swaffield, S. & Dempster, N. A learning dialogue, in McBeath & Dempster, eds. (2009). Connecting Leadership and Learning: Principles for Practice.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS