Book Chapters by Sandy McAuley
Amid the relentless proliferation of digital devices, social media, and innovative gadgets, a Net... more Amid the relentless proliferation of digital devices, social media, and innovative gadgets, a Net Generation of students are entering classrooms. In turn, many educators are recognizing a magnified need to better integrate technology into Kindergarten to Grade 12 environments. Yet, the literature suggests that there exists a disconnect between the instructional readiness of K–12 educators and the growing technological needs of students. This paper focuses on educational leaders and their views concerning this possible disconnect. The purpose of this paper is to document the views of Prince Edward Island (PEI) school leaders with regard to the current technological landscape of PEI high schools. (This study is part of a larger three year research project entitled “A University-College-Government-Industry-Community Partnership to Transform Education for Employment in the Digital Economy,” funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada [SSHRC]). The two research questions guiding the study are: (a) What do educational leaders perceive to be the technological culture of PEI schools? (b) What do educational leaders perceive to be the technological skills, abilities, and attitudes of PEI high school students and educators? Qualitative individual interviews were conducted with 10 educational leaders who represented: school principals, vice-principals, and department-heads. Data transcripts were examined, and a preliminary list of key ideas, commonalities, and differences converged to larger themes in response to the research purpose. Data were analyzed via concepts of e-leadership, a term that refers to the effective promotion and integration of technological learning and literacy in schools. For this study, e-leadership was embodied in the perceived views, attitudes, and actions of principals, vice-principals, and department heads. Implications arising from the study spotlight that, in order for students to thrive in a technologically-imbued world, it is important to listen to the experiences of school leaders and attend to leadership needs. In turn, when concepts of e-leadership are better understood, changes to the teaching profession and student learning will more naturally evolve within school settings that are now highly influenced by a digital world.
Papers by Sandy McAuley
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples
This article contextualizes community discourse about promising practices in Inuit bilingual educ... more This article contextualizes community discourse about promising practices in Inuit bilingual education within the findings of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Arviat, Nunavut (Canada), is recognized as a success story in English-Inuktitut bilingualism. It has also been a nexus of elder- and Inuit-driven curriculum reform for strong bilingual education. A community-based research team facilitated conversations with 17 elders, teachers, and parents in Arviat, and 10 Inuit leaders elsewhere, about what is supporting bilingual education. Grounded theory analysis revealed family and community leadership as a key theme. Participants attributed successful bilingual education outcomes to family- and community-based language policies and practices that prioritize Inuktitut and support lifelong language learning. Their emphasis is echoed in discourse in other Inuit and Indigenous contexts. We argue that reclaiming the family leadership that was interrupted by residential schoolin...
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2011
Offered between 2006 and 2009 and graduating 21 Inuit candidates, the Nunavut Master of Education... more Offered between 2006 and 2009 and graduating 21 Inuit candidates, the Nunavut Master of Education program was a collaborative effort made to address the erosion of Inuit leadership in the K-12 school system after the creation of Nunavut, Canada’s newest territory, in 1999. Delivered to a large extent in short, intensive, face-to-face courses, the program also made extensive use of online supports. This paper outlines the design challenges – geographical, technological, pedagogical, and cultural – that faced the development and delivery of the online portion of the program. It highlights the intersection of the design decisions with the decolonizing principles that framed the program as a whole, the various and varying roles played by the online environment over the course of the program, and the program’s contribution to student success.
Abstract This research involves the interaction between one rural community in Prince Edward Isla... more Abstract This research involves the interaction between one rural community in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and a group of researchers to identify strategies to promote effective knowledge translation regarding the health issues facing the community. As per previous ...
Race Ethnicity and Education, 2008
... interpretive tool. These foci contribute to a 'pedagogy of discomfort' through whic... more ... interpretive tool. These foci contribute to a 'pedagogy of discomfort' through which white pre-service teachers confront their resistance to and complicity in the inequities that play themselves out in the school system. The ongoing ...
Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 2007
Knowledge translation implies the exchange and synthesis of knowledge between researchers and res... more Knowledge translation implies the exchange and synthesis of knowledge between researchers and research users, employing a high level of communication and participation, not only to share the knowledge found through research, but also to implement subsequent strategies. Prince Edward Island, a rural province in Canada, provided the setting to exchange knowledge between researchers and a rural community on the health issues affecting children. A case study reports census data, demographic trends, and information about health issues immediate to the community. These focus groups were held to plan solutions to the community's health priorities. The process was participatory, characterized by community involvement. Those participating in the focus groups were interested in research findings and literature to solve local problems. Parenting and mental health were determined to be priority issues requiring broader community engagement. The process of translating knowledge into action after the focus groups met lacked widespread involvement of the community. Although encouraged to do so, the larger rural community did not participate in examining research findings or in planning interventions. The parents in this community may not have perceived themselves as having influence in the process or goals of the project.
Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 2009
The report on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), the Kelowna Accord announced in ... more The report on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), the Kelowna Accord announced in 2005 (five-billion dollars) followed by its demise in 2006, and the settlement in 2006 for Aboriginal survivors of residential schools (1.9 billion dollars), are but some of the recent high-profile indicators of the challenges to Canada in dealing with the 500-year history of European contact with North America’s original inhabitants. While not without its challenges, the creation of Nunavut in 1999 stands apart from this history as a landmark for Inuit self-determination in Canada and a beacon of hope for other Aboriginal peoples. Building on the idea that educational change takes place within the intersecting socio-cultural contexts of the school and the larger world around it, and drawing on data from an eight-year series of design experiments in classrooms in the Baffin (now Qikiqtani) region of Nunavut, this paper explores the potential of knowledge building and knowledge-building t...
SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant on the Digital Economy, 2010
The MOOC Model for Digital Practice responds to the “Building Digital Skills for Tomorrow” sectio... more The MOOC Model for Digital Practice responds to the “Building Digital Skills for Tomorrow” section of the consultation paper Improving Canada's Digital Advantage: Strategies for Sustainable Prosperity by synthesizing the current state of knowledge about Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). It argues that building and sustaining prosperity through Canada's current digital strengths depends on a digital ecosystem that embraces both infrastructure and the collaborative social networks enabled by that infrastructure. Prosperity in this ...
Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2014
in education, Jan 1, 2010
While the ubiquity of Web 2.0 technologies disrupts conventional notions of schooling and literac... more While the ubiquity of Web 2.0 technologies disrupts conventional notions of schooling and literacy, its impact on learning is idiosyncratic at best. Taking the form of a dialogue based on the fifteen-week collaboration of two colleagues implementing an innovative first-year university writing course, this paper documents some of the successes and challenges they faced as they sought to create a space for those technologies in their classrooms.
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Book Chapters by Sandy McAuley
Papers by Sandy McAuley