University of Northern British Columbia. Education-Multidisciplinary Leadership

The intent of this project to create a presentation and facilitation guide to support School Districts with the amalgamation of early care and learning and education into the same Governmental Ministry. The early care and learning system and the kindergarten-grade 12 (K- 12) systems currently sit in two separate government ministries. The project articulates both the parallel systems of the early care and learning and the K-12 systems and preparation of the amalgamation of the two systems. This project examines the historical differences between the two systems, the rights to access early care and learning and different types of governance models. This project will include a PowerPoint presentation and facilitation guide and can be used, as a template, for School Districts in British Columbia to start the initial discussion of this amalgamation with key stakeholders.

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, new innovations are created constantly. Due to the prevalence of these new technologies being regularly introduced into workplaces, making the implementation easier for end-users will help ease the implementation process itself. This research focused on the relationship between University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) employees and the implementation of the Banner 9 upgrade to UNBC’s ERP, specifically by answering the following questions: how do UNBC Banner users feel about the implementation, what themes were prevalent in the implementation, and what suggestions and recommendations can be made to mitigate resistance and lessen the difficulty of future implementations? Surveys and interviews were used to collect data. Via participant responses, the following suggestions were derived from the themes discovered: hold regular and themed training workshops, increase transparency regarding the implementation, provide IT department demonstrations, and have documentation more accessible to users.

The history of Education in Canada has been systemically and generational destructive to Aboriginal people and culture. This history of destruction has caused systemic racism throughout our school systems resulting in lower graduation rates and a lack of equity in achievement within education resulting in gaps in social-economic disparity for Aboriginal People in Canada (Archibald & Hare, 2017). This research project aims to address a gap in the education of educators in regard to closing the gap and working together for reconciliation. This project provides a framework for a holistic understanding of how to approach working within First Nations communities within the education system or across systems. The result of this project is a guidebook and PowerPoint presentation for professional development. The project provides educational professionals with some tools and knowledge to improve inclusive and culturally sensitive practice. The project delivers a common goal framework conceptualized by the researcher and adapted from a generalized, personal, and interpretative understanding of the Aboriginal Medicine Wheel. The four-part conceptual framework includes leadership, holistic approach, capacity building, and ethical considerations with the common goal in the center. The project brings together the concepts important to achieving the common goal of improving professional capacity when working with Aboriginal People and First Nations communities.