Doctor of Education

EdD in Educational Leadership: Leading for Educational Change in the Yukon

Method of delivery:
In-person
Applications open:
November 1, 2021
Applications close:
March 15, 2022
Next start date:
September 2022

The Leading for Educational Change in the Yukon, EdD provides a blend of rigorous coursework and original research that meets the needs of educators who occupy positions of influence in schools, colleges, universities and health and community services. Students will focus on integrating education and leadership theory with practice and drawing on the Yukon’s unique socio-political-cultural-environmental context, preparing them to understand the current educational landscape, think for change, and enact change is fundamental to the program’s intent. The program emphasizes integrating theory with practice.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Designed for

Instructors, senior administrators and professional staff in the public education and other related sectors (e.g., health), community leaders, researchers and policy analysts who reside in Yukon Territory.

Program Format

  • 40 units of coursework plus Doctoral exam and thesis
  • Most classes held on alternating weekends (e.g., Friday evening; Saturdays from 9-4)
  • Includes an extended canoe trip along the Yukon River (tentatively the second or third week of August 2023)

PROGRAM DESIGN & COURSES

Program Design

Designed intentionally to support the supervision and research trajectory of the cohort, the building in a course-cohort-based structure that takes the students beyond their comprehensive exams, the integrity of the cohort model continues to support students in their: 

  1. Research proposal and ethics (EDUC 950),
  2. Data collection and analysis, and
  3. Dissertation writing.

Program Goals

The EdD Program is intended to provide participants with structured and supported opportunities to:

  • Develop, through scholarly and first-hand exposure, a critical understanding of the current educational landscape and associated concerns in a variety of settings in the Yukon;
  • Develop, through scholarly exposure, a critical awareness of assumptions and theories informing current and proposed educational leadership practice;
  • Understand, apply, and articulate educational leadership theories, knowledge of historical and socio-cultural conditions, and a personal philosophy for land- and community-based decision making;
  • Apply principles of land- and community-based education to inform policies across multiple levels;
  • Articulate and advocate for organizational and leadership cultures that are critically reflective of their practices and conducive to student learning and development in response to community imperatives;
  • Use knowledge of education and leadership theories in consideration of the knowledge of historical and socio-cultural conditions to influence educational development;
  • Facilitate the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of land- and community-based education;
  • Create and conduct a line of research that has the potential for contributing important new understandings and trajectories for educational leadership in the Yukon and broader field of education.

The program culminates in a degree of the highest standard in the profession of education.

Courses

Students complete:

EDUC 964-5 SEMINAR IN EDUCATIONAL THEORY

This course is determined in context with the program theme.

EDUC 961-5 EDUCATIONAL GOVERNANCE, REFORM, AND DIVERSITY 

The nature and impact of recent wide-ranging systemic educational reform in several different countries are critically examined, through two major themes. One theme is the politics and dynamics of governance, with a particular emphasis on participatory forms of political life in a heterogeneous society. The other theme is the politics and culture of difference, and the development of community which respects these differences.

EDUC 950-5 APPROCHES TO EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

The broad paradigms encompassing much current educational research are examined, with emphasis on their philosophical and assumptional bases, as well as general ethical and methodological issues. Particular attention is paid to the critical reading of research and the implications for educational leadership. In addition, students begin to identify a research topic and to develop a defensible research orientation.

EDUC 816-5 DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES FOR DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS

This course will include a land-experience, in the form of an optional paddling trip down the Yukon River. This one week trip is tentatively scheduled for the second or third week of August 2023.

Investigates theories and issues associated with developing educational programs and practices in various educational contexts. Addresses the development of new programs and their implementation in schools and other educational settings.

EDUC 962-5 LEADERSHIP, ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST

The special responsibilities of leaders in educational institutions for accountability both to learners and to the wider community with respect to policies, practices and programs are the focus of this seminar. Contemporary approaches to program assessment and to ensuring cost-effectiveness in educational management are applied to cases emerging from student experience.

EDUC 840-5 GRADUATE SEMINAR

This course will be used to support students in their dissertation writing. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

EDUC 904-5 FIELDWORK III

This course will be used to support students in their dissertation writing.

EDUC 905-5 FIELDWORK IV

This course will be used to support students in their dissertation writing.

EDUC 983-5 Doctoral COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

The examination is graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Normally, the comprehensive examination is completed in the term in which course requirements are completed, or the term immediately following. The comprehensive examination is completed as a written and oral examination submitted to the committee. Questions for the comprehensive examination will be posted at the beginning of the students' program.

Further Studies

A major part of this program is original research. A thesis describing this is submitted and defended. Upon entry to the program, every term students enroll in EDUC 899-15 Doctoral Thesis.

LOCATION

Learn where you live. The Faculty of Education strives to bring programs to communities outside the Lower Mainland.

In the Community

The Leading for Education Change in the Yukon, EdD program takes place entirely in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

The Faculty of Education respectfully acknowledges the unceded traditional territory of the Taa'an Kwächän and the Kwanlin Dün First Nations on which this program takes place.

FACULTY

Faculty members are recognized for their work in developing, advancing and enacting knowledge that makes a difference in public education. We follow a rigorous research program to investigate theory and provide innovative leadership in issues of educational pedagogy.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

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