Search

This article describes "Adaptive Mentorship"© (AM), a mentoring model designed by the authors to be applied in any coaching, supervisory, mentorship, preceptorship, apprenticeship, or training setting across the post-secondary, professional-education, or occupational-training spectrum. The authors derived the AM model from earlier contingency leadership approaches, and in this present article they synthesize the research results that they and others have accumulated regarding the effectiveness of the model. During the past two decades, they have used these research findings to apply, refine, and disseminate the model in higher education settings. The authors describe AM's rationale and implementation procedures; they consolidate the body of research findings; and they summarize the model's strengths and limitations. They conclude this report by inviting interested mentorship practitioners/researchers in "any" field of professional development to consider this evidence in determining whether AM has potential to enhance their own mentoring programs.

In this article, two indigenous post-interns, who completed their 16-week extended-teaching practicum sessions in rural schools in one Western Canadian province, assess their school-based internship experiences. They summarize their perspectives in three areas: 1) the elements they perceived as positive during the internship, 2) the challenging aspects they encountered during the four-month period, and 3) advice or suggestions for enhancing future practicum programs that they offer to practicum stakeholders. These views of the two-post-interns are compared to the findings from earlier research that similarly examined previous post-interns' evaluations of their rural extended-practicum experiences in that region. Similarities and differences between the two sets of findings are discussed and implications are drawn for enhancing rural-based teaching practicums for neophyte teachers.

In this article, we use a recent Manitoba child custody case to provide a legal and ethical account of the notion of the best interests of the child. We explore the tension between the best interests of the child and parental rights to expression of a racist nature. We consider how the interests of different actors--the state, parents and children--are considered in the context of racist parenting. The parent-child relationship is salient in formulating and influencing acceptable and unacceptable thoughts, ideas and behaviours in children but the views of parents do not always coincide with what society tolerates as acceptable. We ask, when do parental views on subjects such as religion, race or politics reach the level of "legal unacceptability" such that a parent could face a loss of custody as a result of expressing or teaching these views to his or her child? We also consider the ethical frames which apply to this proposed fact situation to help us make sense of the best interests of the child principle where racist parental beliefs are at the fore. This article encourages advocates, care-givers, and adjudicators to work with Solomon-like wisdom for the best interests of the child by bringing to consideration the commonly taken-for-granted jurisprudential and ethical meanings and interpretations that are perhaps over-embedded and under-considered in the cliche-oriented notion of the best interests of the child. (Contains 11 footnotes.)

The Adaptive Mentorship (AM) model (formerly called Contextual Supervision) is described and implications are raised for its wider implementation. The researchers derived the AM model from earlier contingency leadership approaches, and during the last two decades, have further refined it. They argue for the transferability of AM, because it may be adapted by mentors in any field to assist protégés in developing professional proficiency in their respective contexts.

While numerous philosophical essays offer speculative explanations of how persons should make ethical decisions, empirical investigations of the phenomenon of ethical decision-making are limited to just a few studies in the discipline of business management. This investigation focused on the ethical dilemmas confronted by educators, with emphasis given to identifying the kinds of ethical dilemmas and the process used to resolve them. Using grounded theory, the investigator analyzed 24 case studies written by doctoral students in an educational leadership program. Results suggest that educators utilize a contingency model that considers both the type and moral intensity of the dilemma when making ethical decisions.

The social relevance of trust and the principals' obligation to foster trust in schools have been strongly advocated. This paper describes an in-depth, qualitative study that engaged a group of twenty-five Canadian school principals over a period of seven months, exploring the issues of trust as it affects principals' roles and responsibilities. Four central concerns were identified by the participants: i) defining trust, ii) establishing trust, iii) maintaining trust, and iv) trust breaking. The principals' multiple relationships produce a complex web of issues related to trust; including intensity of relationships and the contingent role of school principals in trust brokering within learning communities. This research has further established a basis for on-going examination of the nature, extent, and effect of trust relationships in the lives of school administrators.

Undergraduate students in professional education programs typically rate their clinical or practicum experiences as the most important component of their entire pre-service preparation. This essay addresses the value of students' views regarding the effectiveness of practicum programs. We summarize the views of 546 post-practicum students from three professional disciplines (engineering, nursing, and teacher education), concerning what they considered to be the most positive and negative aspects of their respective practicum/clinical field-experiences. Our data analysis revealed three positive themes across the disciplines: the supportive interrelationships that students experienced; their own professional achievements; and their personal contribution to the welfare of their clients/pupils. Three negative elements also emerged: individual personal/professional challenges; site-based interpersonal conflicts; and policy or procedural problems with the program. Implications are raised for practicum administrators regarding the contribution of the student voice to clinical program enhancement.

The policy and practice of public administration are caught between two seemingly incommensurate goals. Public servants are expected to be responsible to the oversight and control of democratically elected governments, yet, as the policy space becomes more complex, are forced to exercise more judgment and discretion in their responsibilities. Individual, collective, and professional conscience is motivated across this spectrum of challenges. This article explores the concepts of discretion and conscience in theory and practice in the Canadian context. It offers insights into how conscience can, and perhaps must, be both accommodated and supported more appropriately in the practice of 21st-century public administration and service. At root, we argue that an array of strategies and approaches may help to build relational reciprocity to a broader set of norms that are necessary for efficient and effective governance. La politique et la pratique de l'administration publique semblent aux prises avec deux objectifs apparemment disproportionnes. Alors que les fonctionnaires sont supposes avoir la responsabilite de controler les gouvernements elus democratiquement, leur marge de manoeuvre devient plus complexe, et ils sont forces a faire preuve de plus de jugement et de devoir de reserve en ce qui concerne leurs responsabilites. Cet eventail de defis motive la conscience individuelle, collective et professionnelle. Cet article etudie les concepts de devoir de reserve et de conscience dans la theorie et la pratique du contexte politique canadien. Il permet de mieux saisir comment la conscience peut, et parfois doit etre a la fois mieux prise en compte et soutenue au sein de la pratique et du service de l'administration publique du 21e siecle. Fondamentalement, nous affirmons qu'il existe toute une gamme de strategies et de demarches capables d'etablir une reciprocite relationnelle a un ensemble elargi de normes qui sont indispensables pour assurer une gouvernance efficace et efficiente., Introduction The theory and practice of public administration have long been engaged in a dialogue about the right balance between civil servants as accountable agents responsible to the democratic system [...]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and elaborate on the construct of flourishing in schools as understood through the stories and explanations provided by a small group of public school principals. Framed within a positive organizational perspective, the specific objectives of this study are: to identify how school leaders understand and experience flourishing in their roles and in their schools; to explore the conditions, catalysts and/or galvanizing forces of flourishing in schools. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers used an electronic Delphi survey to gain a qualitative description of the understandings and impressions of the construct of flourishing from the perspective of practicing school administrators in one school district in central British Columbia. Delphi responses were aggregated after each round and thematically analysed to determine patterns and trends for further examination through progressive iterations of the survey administered via e-mail. The final set of data were then analysed for patterns, trends and themes that were compared and contrasted against research findings in the literature underpinning the theoretical framework for this study. Findings: While there was no single definition of what it means to flourish in the work of school leadership, shared descriptions from these principals indicated that they feel a sense of flourishing when they are working together with teachers from a sense of purpose and passion and in a spirit of play to cultivate learning climates that reflect a shared ownership for improving educational experiences for students. These initial findings provoke thinking about the potentials and benefits of shifting the focus of research and practice in educational leadership towards more positive, strengths-based perspectives. Research limitations/implications: The sample size was small, and so generalizing findings beyond this study is unreasonable. Further, because the researchers separated participant information from responses in order to safeguard anonymity and to aggregate the responses to provide these back to participants for their further elaboration and reflections, they were unable to determine whether particular responses were connected to context (elementary or secondary, size of school, years of experience as an administrator), gender or other demographic factors. However, the use of the electronic Delphi instrument provided insights on engaging school principals in thoughtful inquiry as participants, while respecting the busy workload and time constraints associated with the work of school principals. Practical implications: Attending to well-being in the work of leading schools is an under-researched area of educational leadership. This study is an example of how researching educational leadership from a positive, strengths-based, human development perspective may provide useful insights for supporting principals and other educators to notice, nurture and sustain a sense of flourishing in their work and across the school. While further research is needed to examine the construct of flourishing across a diverse range of school organizations, the findings from this study provoke thinking about the benefits of studying what goes well, what brings vitality and a more full sense of humanity in the work of leading school organizations. Originality/value: The researchers use a new perspective for examining and explaining the phenomenon of flourishing in schools, a positive organizational research orientation. The use of this strengths-based, positive, human development approach to examining the construct of flourishing from the perspective of school principals can offer new insights and strategies for attending to well-being as an integral part of the work of leading schools.

As a fundamental concept in human interactions, trust is important for understanding and mediating the social structures in schools. The instrumental work of cultivating, brokering, and maintaining trust in schools lies within the role of the school administrator. Our exploratory study examined the Canadian school principals' perceptions of their moral agency and trust-brokering roles in schools. Upon reviewing the literature on the imperative of trust in school settings, we offer a phenomenological analysis of selected research findings. These findings are based on the responses of Canadian school principals (N = 177) who had reflected on their lived experiences of the personal, relational, decisional, educational, organizational, and moral imperatives of trust for school leaders.