EDUA 5010 An Introduction to Educational Administration

Course Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of, and introduction to, the administration of education/schooling in Manitoba and Canada.  In this course "administration" broadly conceived to include issues of governance and politics - how our school systems are structured an dhow authority is exercised - as well as issues of leadership and management - the processes of working with others and through others to achieve certain desired organizational outcomes.  It also assumes that administration always has to be understood in a broader cultural and educational context.  In the first part of the course attention will be focused on "the Canadian design of education" - the different systems and structures we have created, their stated purposes, and contemporary reform efforts.  In the second part of the course attention will shift more to an examination of the processes and practices associated with school administration.  Throughout attention will be given to exploring the social, political, socio-economic, legal and cultural contexts that give meaning to school administration in Manitoba.

Instructor: Jon Young

(Fall 2014 University of Manitoba)

Reflection:

I had originally taken this course in order to fulfill the requirements of my Principal’s Certificate and to see if I was really interested in completing a Master’s program in Educational Administration. 

This course was taken through the University of Manitoba on Monday evenings.  It was wonderful to have this opportunity to meet many other educators from other school divisions in and around Winnipeg.  Little did I know then that this would be one of only two courses that I would take in-person while completing my Masters.

Professor Young provided a varied syllabus with a plethora of articles, books, policies and reports to read.  Personally, I found the political articles very challenging to read and understand.  Fortunately, there was enough of a variety of topics to keep me somewhat interested in continuing.  Honestly, if it hadn't been for the fact I needed a course for my principal's certificate (that I really wanted), I would have dropped this course. 

On a positive note, it was during this course that I came to know about the works of Ken Leithwood and The Wallace Foundation. As a newly appointed administrator, the required readings helped provide me with a greater understanding and perspective of my role as a school leader.  

I appreciated that Jon brought in guest speakers to speak to their areas of expertise.  Carolyn Duhamel, Executive Director of the Manitoba School Boards Association, Nora Murdock, Director of Education of Fisher River First Nation and Brian O’Leary, Superintendent of Seven Oaks School Division all provided us with insight on their roles and responsibilities as educational leaders.

This course also gave me the opportunity to explore and critically review the Ontario Leadership Framework document.  I found their province-wide approach fascinating, daunting and intriguing at the same time.  Their framework demonstrated the enormity of the roles and responsibilities of educational leaders.  I really did not know how much there was to learn about school leadership and was disheartened with how little guidance was being provided by my own division.  I decided that I would keep this framework handy as there was certain to be much overlap between Ontario and Manitoba.  As we now navigate through a global pandemic, I think that it will be even more important for us to learn from successes (or failures) of other provinces.  

Although there were certain aspects of this course that I enjoyed, I mostly "tolerated" this course.  It did not entice me to enroll in a Master's program in Educational Administration.  I found the broad overview of so many topics a bit overwhelming and out of my comfort zone at the time.  Overall, I did not enjoy this course experience and I knew that I wasn't going to get what I needed from a program that I didn't love.  I decided that I would focus on gaining on the job experience before committing to taking more courses.  

When I think back to the topics discussed in this course, I now understand that the broad topics were intentional and required in order for me to understand the diverse aspects of educational leadership.  

EDUA 5010 Chosen Assignment (Article Review)

I chose to include this article Educational Accountability by Kenneth Leithwood because the topic of accountability really resonated with me.  As a bit of a type A personality, or maybe a lot, I have always held myself accountable to very high standards in everything I do, whether or not there is a possible reward or penalty at stake.  When I took this course I was in a situation where I felt that my principal did not hold himself to these same standards and it was challenging for me to navigate my leadership role.