Transformative Educational Leadership Journal | ISSUE Fall 2023
Nicole Davey shares how this world and our equity-focused goals require a new type of leadership. In her organizational improvement plan, Nicole shows how Indigenous ways of knowing and being create and amplify powerful leadership models to enable deep and meaningful change in education. This plan is meant to guide transformative change in the K–12 education system, and, fittingly, it begins with the critical examination of self.
By Nicole Davey
As an educator, I believe all students deserve to walk the stage “with dignity, purpose and options” (Timperley et al., 2014, p. 3). To achieve this goal, transformative change is needed in education. The process of writing my organizational improvement plan reaffirmed and deepened my belief that learning is not just about the acquisition and application of knowledge — learning requires self-awareness, introspection, and critical reflection. In this work, you cannot separate the head from the heart, the personal from the professional. The story of self is woven into leadership.
When I first began teaching over 25 years ago, leadership looked and felt very different. Steeped in hierarchy and power, leadership was measured by compliance, obedience and accountability.
Through my experiences and continued education, I have seen the need for a totally different type of leadership – leadership that is authentic, relational, holistic, and transformative.
In my organizational improvement plan, I show how Indigenous ways of knowing and being create and amplify powerful leadership models to enable deep and meaningful change in education. This plan weaves together Indigenous and Western leadership principles and practices to show a new way towards a system of high quality and high equity.
The following executive summary has been adapted from the full Organizational Improvement Plan.
Read the full plan
This Organization Improvement Plan has a strong moral purpose that addresses the current inequities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in BC school districts. The current model of education is based on colonial structures that have existed for over a century, negatively impacting the success of Indigenous students, which include First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students. Canadian government agencies have acknowledged the devastating impact historical legislation, policies, and programs have had on Indigenous Peoples and have enacted new legislation, policies, and programs to support the success, health, and well-being of Indigenous Peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) and the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Education (2021) are explicitly guiding schools to engage in decolonizing the K–12 public school system. Currently, there is a lack of supports and structures that enable school-based leaders to acknowledge, understand, and dismantle the colonial structures still present in schools today.
As the Director of Instruction, Learning & Innovation, my Problem of Practice (PoP) is to create the conditions that will allow school-based leaders to uncover and weave their stories of self into their practice, enabling them to adopt social justice practices and disrupt oppressive behaviours within the district. They have the scope and agency to lead changes that will reduce the opportunity and achievement gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students (Mittal & Elias, 2016). This organizational improvement plan (OIP) was developed to address this challenge by creating supports and structures to provide school-based leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to close gaps in the areas of graduation and transitions, sense of belonging, and academic achievement. This will create the conditions for school-based leaders to engage in critical reflexivity and introspection, acknowledging the role they currently play in perpetuating colonial structures in their schools.
As a Métis educator, I come to this OIP with the lens of walking in two worlds, seeking to weave Indigenous ways of knowing and being into historically Western contexts. I seek to dismantle current power dynamics by focusing on improving Indigenous student success. I acknowledge that creating new realities requires looking at learning as a social and collaborative endeavour, which connects to a social-constructivist worldview.
A transformative and Indigenous leadership approach will allow me to disrupt oppressive behaviours through shared experiences that recognize the importance of reflection, relationship, and reciprocity.
The creation and sharing of stories of self recognizes that the change process begins with the self and centres the self as the start of transformative change.
The four steps of Deszca et al.’s (2020) change-path model provide a framework for leading the change process. The change path model is a Western, scientific methodology; therefore, I have infused it with Milligan et al.’s (2022) relational framework for systems change to honour Two-Eyed Seeing, which is a decolonizing practice. This blend provides an Indigenous perspective that honours circularity, connectedness, and compassion in the change process. The relational framework for systems change acknowledges the need for a holistic and relational approach, while the change-path model provides a more linear and structured approach. Both connect to a systems perspective that addresses the complexity and interconnectedness of organizations and the need to create conditions to support impactful change.
The Change-Path Model and the Relational Framework for Systems Change
Note: Adapted from Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit (4th ed.), by G. Deszca, Ingols, and T. Cawsey, 2020, Sage Publishing; and K. Milligan, J. Zerda, and K. Kania, “The Relational Work of Systems Change,” 2022, Stanford Social Innovation Review. (https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_relational_work_of_systems_change)
As part of the change-path model’s awakening stage, I have determined that the LB School District (a pseudonym) is in a favourable position to engage in meaningful change. It is committed to improving Indigenous student success as stated in the district strategic plan. The district also has a proven history of effectively implementing change across the district and is addressing capacity building for school-based leaders.
The chosen solution for the PoP is creating a professional learning community for school-based leaders that will enable the conditions for collaborative inquiry. The spiral of inquiry (Kaser & Halbert, 2017) is an important tool that will allow school-based leaders to engage in self-reflection and critical reflexivity, enabling them to surface and share stories of self. Weaving their stories of self into their own leadership will support them in leading work relating to equity, anti-racism, decolonization, and social justice. The change implementation plan cycles through the four phases of the change-path model, providing a framework to manage the transition and change. As an intentional act to decolonize the change process, Indigenous principles are woven throughout each phase of the change-path model.
Change Path Model and Indigenous Practices
|
Change Path Model |
Indigenous Practices |
|
Stage One: Awakening |
Envisioning, Connecting |
|
Stage Two: Mobilization |
Intervening, Creating |
|
Stage Three: Acceleration |
Networking, Storytelling |
|
Stage Four: Institutionalization |
Democratizing, Sharing |
Note: Adapted from Deszca et al.’s (2020) Change-Path Model and Smith’s (2012) Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People
The use of story in this process challenges existing structures to incorporate Two-Eyed Seeing. This requires the creation of structures based on relationship, reciprocity, and reflection. This OIP is meant to guide transformative change in the K–12 education system, starting with the critical examination of self. Indigenous principles are woven throughout the change, demonstrating the importance of an approach that touches and engages the heart, mind, body, and spirit. The intention is to create a more equitable education system – one that enables Indigenous students to not merely exist but to thrive.
Nicole Davey
Dr. Nicole Davey believes that transformation in education is possible through human connection, supportive learning networks, and an unrelenting moral purpose grounded in equity. She is curious about how to support the learning of all those within the system, connecting to both the head and the heart. Nicole's doctoral work amplifies Indigenous ways of being and knowing in systems leadership to create the conditions for the adoption of social justice practices.
For your interest, this reference list holds all the references from the full Organizational Improvement Plan
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