Mixed methods research is increasingly being used as an alternative to the traditional mono-method ways of conceiving and implementing inquiries in education and social sciences. In conceptualizing mixed methods studies, various paradigmatic assumptions are still being debated. However, many researchers have stated that the paradigmatic differences have been overdrawn and that paradigmatic incompatibility makes dialogue among researchers less productive. Researchers further acknowledge that philosophical differences are reconcilable through new guiding paradigms that actively embrace and promote mixing methods. Mixed methods researchers reject traditional dualism and prefer action to philosophizing by privileging inquiry questions over assumptive worlds. In this course, students will be introduced to various mixed methods design alternatives that allow researchers to link the purpose of the research to methodologies and integrate findings from mixed methods. This course covers various phases of mixed methods research, including theoretical frameworks of mixed methods research designs, strategic mixed methods sampling, data collection methods, integrative data analysis strategies, and a mixed methods research proposal. This is a doctoral level course designed to serve students who plan to conduct independent research. I anticipate that students will have had prior research experience or course work in research methods.

This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the concepts related to systematic review and meta-analysis and develop their skills in this research methodology. Specifically, this course covers the topics of formulating the research questions that can be answered with systematic reviews, perform the literature search, select the studies and critically evaluate them using the quality, inclusion and exclusion criteria, extract data on key elements of the studies, outcomes and relevant statistics, compute and convert various effect size indices, synthesize the results of the studies with meta-analysis techniques, and present the results. The focus of the course is both methodological and practical.

Special topics courses designed to permit the study (in a formal class setting) of advanced quantitative research methods.

The purpose of this course is to examine the relationship between ideologies and practices of language and nation, from the period of the rise of the nation-State in the 19th century to current social changes related to the globalized new economy which challenge prevailing ideas about language and nation. We will focus in particular on language as a technique of regimentation, which helps produce and police populations; and as a terrain of struggle over access to and legitimation of relations of authority, power and inequality. We will examine European nationalism and its ties to colonialism, industrial capitalism, liberal democracy and modernity. We will then move to reactions to it in the form of linguistic minority movements, international auxiliary languages, fascism (in particular Nazism), and Communism. We will then touch briefly on the post WWII period, and focus the rest of the course on contemporary conditions of late capitalism, since the late 1980s, with a focus on the commodification of language and identity in the current economy; language and globalization; and current debates on the ecology of language and language endangerment. Throughout we will also examine the role of linguists, anthropologists and other producers of discourse about language, nation and State in the construction of theories of nation, ethnicity, race and citizenship.

The anthropological perspective of the ethnography of communication will be adopted to study the relationship between language use, social relations, culture and learning in and out of schools. The course will deal with the nature and origin of cultural differences in language use and patterns and social interactional styles; with the consequences of those differences for school performance; and with the usefulness of the ethnography of communication as both a research and a pedagogical tool in the development of curricula and teaching practices that account for such differences. The ethnography of communication will also be interpreted in the light of political economic perspectives on the issue of sociolinguistic diversity and educational success.

A seminar examining the strategies, techniques, and problems involved in the conduct of research in educational administration. This seminar prepares the student for defining research problems, reviewing relevant literature, writing research proposals, conducting research and writing reports in educational administration. During this course the student will prepare the proposal for their Major Research Paper.

The goals of this course are to provide students with an introduction to the purposes of research in educational leadership and policy and to assist students in learning how to obtain, evaluate, interpret, and use research in their work as educators and in their graduate studies. Possible topics include: overview of different research paradigms and research strategies used in studies of policy, leadership, and change; how to critically analyze the strengths and weakness of research; how to conduct a review of literature and build a bibliography; dissemination of research; the connections between research, policy, and practice; the role of research and evaluation departments; leadership roles in sponsoring, directing, using, and communicating research.

This course provides an introduction to quantitative methods of inquiry and a foundation for more advanced courses in applied statistics for students in education and social sciences. The course covers univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics; an introduction to sampling, experimental design, and statistical inference; contingency tables and Chi-square; t-test, analysis of variance, and regression. Students will learn to use Excel or SPSS software.

At the end of the course, students should be able to define and use the descriptive and inferential statistics taught in this course to analyze real data and to interpret the analytical results. No prior knowledge of statistics is required.

An analysis of the organizational culture of educational organizations. The implications for action resulting from research and theory relating to organizational culture are examined. Case studies and field experiences are used as bases for the analysis of decision-making within the context of specific organizational cultures.

This course examines how to effectively develop the people who work in education throughout their careers. The course includes attention to different education systems’ approaches to developing and organizing people in education in Canada and internationally. Topics for investigation include induction, mentoring, coaching, effective continuing professional learning and development, leading and developing educators including performance appraisal and support, and leadership development for aspiring and current school and system leaders.

An analysis of issues and problems in conceptualizing, operationalizing, and evaluating a total school environment in terms of a range of divergent goals and values. Major topics include strategies for program development and change in the context of education in Ontario, Canada, and internationally; theoretical and empirical bases differentiating educational environments, the role of the program manager, and skills needed to manage program development, organization, implementation, and evaluation.

Practical considerations in solving political problems in and about schools. Focus is on the five levels of local governance: family/school, micro-politics (within the school), neighbourhood, meso-politics (the school and the central office), and the board. Special attention to understanding background variables such as the environment, institutions, power, and issues. Workshop activities centre around processes such as coalition-building, advocating, believing, and co-producing. Readings include procedural, fictional, and conceptual materials.

Administrators in education and teachers are continually asked to decide on matters of equity, to adjudicate between conflicting value positions, and to accommodate different rights and human interests in their planning. Often administrative practice in these areas is less than successful. This course will study various ethical schools of thought and modern approaches to social justice. It will apply that content to administrative practice in education. Particular attention will be given to equity issues in areas of race, culture, gender, age, social class, national origin, language, ancestry, sexual orientation, citizenship, and physical or mental abilities.

This course deals with how teachers contribute to and are affected by administrative processes. It looks at the determinants of teachers' classroom strategies, the work culture of teachers, teachers' careers, the role of teachers in school decision-making, the relationship of teachers' educational commitments to aspects of their broader lives (such as age, religious and political beliefs, and gender identity), and the role of teachers in fostering or inhibiting educational change. The course will be of interest to elementary and secondary teachers and to educational administrators.

An examination of the current context of legal discourse related to the practical exigencies of present-day school experience. A detailed study of statutory and common law sources under which educators operate. The law is not immutable. Emphasis on negligence, malpractice, human rights and the school system, teacher rights, and student discipline and the Young Offenders Act and Zero Tolerance.

This course provides students interested in educational policy analysis with a working understanding of the relevant conceptual, methodological, ethical, and political issues. In this course, students conduct in-depth analysis of educational policy issues that are in recent public discourse as well as those that they are personally interested in. Students are guided through relevant readings, class discussions, and assignments to examine the different aspects of educational policy: historical, political, social, and personal. We also examine different educational policy issues from the perspectives of different stakeholders: students, family, teachers/educators, unions, administrators, bureaucrats/civil servants, politicians, and society-at-large.

Course assignments support students in learning how to frame an educational issue; critique and analyze policies through a critical and anti-colonial perspective; use existing research evidence to analyze the implications of the issue and to develop options for addressing the issue; collaborate with stakeholders; and communicate policy issues with different audiences. Visits by guest speakers will ensure that students are exposed to a range of policy topics as well as contrasting framing and communication styles. Major assignments for the class will consist of carrying out in-depth policy analysis or some of the aspects of an applied research project.

This course introduces the theoretical and empirical methods used in the modern economic analysis of education policy. We will apply economic theory and econometric methods to a wide range of educational policy issues, including the demand for and returns to schooling, the impact of school resources on student outcomes, education and growth, student incentives, school choice, accountability, teacher labour markets, and the equity and efficiency of school funding. Throughout the course, attention will be paid to the ability of statistics and econometric methods to make causal inferences about the effects of education policies and predict the likely impact of policy changes.

This course offers a broad survey of contemporary research, theory and debates in Sociology of Education. The course is organized by 3 major connections between schools and society: social organization, selection, and socialization. It will examine how schooling has become a core institution in modern society, central for understanding emerging forms of culture, economy, inequality, and social organization. The course will prepare students to conduct research on many educational topics at both K-12 and post-secondary levels. It will focus on trends that have shaped education in the modern era, particularly over the past 30 years. Most readings will be by North America-based empirical sociologists, though we will also look at many international trends.

This course counters conventional approaches to the study and research of education policy by setting it against the dynamic and shifting context of policy enacted on the ground. Through critical policy sociology, it places emphasis on variables impacting teachers' sensemaking as well as the negotiation, contestation, and struggle of actors outside of official processes to change the conditions of oppressive social practices and injustice in schooling.

This course offers a critical approach to evaluate education technology (EdTech) through the lens of pre and (post) pandemic education policies. A critical approach engages structures of power and the politics of choice and access; it holds tension between the promise of EdTech as revolutionary and the application of EdTech as a site of social reproduction and injustice. Topics include but are not limited to product enabled surveillance, market-driven education reforms, social-stratification, artificial intelligence, and internationalization.

This course provides an introduction to educational policy, leadership and change in general and to this program in particular by focusing on foundational concepts and theories significant to the understanding of education and educational administration. It offers a critical examination of a wide range of topics central to educational administration, educational policy, leadership and change, such as organization, community, power, authority, change, difference, leadership, and values. This examination will take into account major historical developments in the field as well as differing theoretical stances or paradigms, such as positivism, functionalism, interpretivism, critical pedagogy, feminism, post-structuralism and post-modernism. The course will help students understand how to use theory to make sense of educational practice in productive ways.

This course will focus on the social and policy contexts in which elementary and secondary educators work. Students will be exposed to a variety of issues related to schooling in a diverse and complex environment such as: differing purposes, philosophies, and values of education; multiculturalism and social justice; equity issues related to race, class, gender, and language; parental influences on schooling; the relationship of schooling to the labor market and the economy; choice of school and program; decentralization and centralization; standards and accountability; educational finance; school reform; educational and non-educational pressure groups and stakeholders. Through an exploration of these or related topics, this course will help students to continue to develop their understanding of different paradigms and methods used in research in educational administration, leadership, policy and change.

This course will examine various leadership approaches in K-12 schools with a view to informing educational leadership theory and practice. Schools operate in diverse contexts and as such school leaders must be prepared to engage with the diversity presented in schools and school communities. The course will examine, among other things, the connections between school leadership practices, theories, student engagement, and student achievement. Possibilities, challenges, and tensions of various school leadership frameworks such as culturally responsive, transformative, social justice leadership, decolonizing leadership, among others will be explored.

This course takes a broad view of school leadership and asserts that everyone in a school can lead, and leadership is about choosing decisions and actions that support all students to thrive. This course will be of value to students seeking to deepen their understanding of school leadership theorizing and practice in diverse contexts, and develop skills and knowledge needed to effectively lead schools.

The course explores ways in which discourses and practices grounded in white supremacy and coloniality have been operationalized in the field of educational leadership. Education and schooling are sites of continued contestations of knowledge that impacts learners in these spaces. The course examines how issues of race, anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism, whiteness and other forms of oppression are theorized and practiced in educational leadership. Examining these issues offers alternative leadership epistemologies that scholars and practitioners can explore with the aim of changing the educational outcomes for those who continue to be oppressed in educational spaces. The course offers educators, educational practitioners, administrators, researchers and others to better understand and critique approaches to leadership within different educational and organizational contexts. Students will have the opportunity to engage with multiple perspectives and approaches to leadership framed within contemporary socio-cultural and political shifts and complexities. Overall, the course provides students with an opportunity to re-imagine school leadership undergirded by critical decolonizing antiracist frameworks.

This course explores the meaning of educational change, addressing such issues as contemporary views on educational reform, and the challenges in implementing change. The perspective is then used to better appreciate how those in leadership roles can facilitate efforts by stakeholders (principals, teachers, staff, and others) to improve their own practice as well as meaningfully respond to pressures for change. Through the readings, course work, and assignments, students will gain a broader comprehension of the pertinent skills required to manage educational change, with an emphasis on both knowledge acquisition and practice.

A companion course to 1047. Contemporary conceptions of leadership are examined for their value in helping present schools improve and future schools serve their publics well. Understanding of expert leadership is developed through the study not only of expert leaders' behaviors, but also of their feelings, values, and problem-solving strategies. The formal and informal experiences that contribute to the development of leadership expertise will be examined.

This course has been designed to be one of the final courses for students in the Master's Program in Educational Leadership and Policy. The course provides an opportunity for students to explore and develop a comprehensive view of the field, through pedagogies designed to help summarize, integrate, and consolidate their knowledge and understanding.

Students will link particular problems in practice to the theoretical bases of the field, through the lenses of the major strands of the program: leadership, policy, change, and social diversity. There will be a focus on analysis, synthesis, and application, building a deeper understanding, situated in the broader field. The culmination of this course will be the creation of a comprehensive portfolio reflecting the student's understanding of the breadth and depth of the field.

Specialized study, under the direction of a staff member, focusing upon topics of particular interest to the student that are not included in available courses. While credit is not given for a thesis investigation proper, the study may be closely related to a thesis topic.

To enrol in this course, students must also be currently enrolled in the Education Leaders (Principal's Qualification) Program, PQP1, offered by OISE's Continuing and Professional Learning department. This course is the first of two courses to develop people to become school principals in Ontario. A key component of the course is the critical evaluation and focus on current research in the areas related to leadership practices and their effects, instructional leadership, education change, and reform efforts.

The course's content includes a critical awareness of current problems associated with educational leadership practice and application to current issues and problems in education informed by cutting-edge research and professional practice. The outcome of these courses is to hone the judgment of practitioners within the educational setting.

To enrol in this course, students must also be currently enrolled in the Education Leaders (Principal's Qualification) Program, PQP 2, offered by OISE's Continuing and Professional Learning department. This is the second of two courses which explores the role of the principal, one of the most influential roles in our educational system. It provides a foundation for candidates assuming the role of principal or vice-principal in Ontario schools and is one component of ongoing professional learning focused on the development of the personal and professional knowledge, and the skills and practices that lead to exemplary practice in the role of principal.

The program is designed to support candidates in becoming reflective educational leaders who are informed consumers of education research in their ongoing professional growth, and who can lead effectively in the dynamic, diverse contexts of Ontario, characterized by rapidly changing events and circumstances.