Identify an issue in your workplace that stems from rapid changes in the educational environment along with a trend in education that might address the issue and write a paper proposing an innovative process, technology, or both.
Introduction
What is the impact of rapid societal change? What kinds of things does societal change touch? When you break it down, you will find societal change may involve people, cultural norms, laws, events, regulations, or any combination of these factors. What does this mean for educational leadership?
Like many of today’s institutions, the institution of education is being impacted by the rapid pace at which society continues to evolve and change. Demographic shifts, updated government policies, globalization, and changing social and civic norms all affect educational institutions. Technology, of course, is a major driver of many of these changes.
Those who lead academic institutions may need to consider more responsive or agile alternatives to current organizational structures in order to meet evolving student needs and keep up with the competition. A leader with a strategic orientation who can look ahead and maintain a keen awareness of societal trends will be most likely to guide an institution into the future.
Keep in mind that the institution of education is not just buffeted by change, but acts as a change agent. Leaders in education are innovating to meet new circumstances and it is important for your own leadership effectiveness to keep up on how they are meeting the challenges and attempting to scale these innovations.
Preparation
Choose an issue in your current work environment that has been brought about or affected by rapid changes or trends in the field of education or society as a whole. This issue will be at the core of the remaining assessments in the course, so choose one that you will be interested in exploring in depth.
Consult the EdD Program Research Guide for literature research advice. See the Education Leadership Page. You may also want to see the Journal and Research Alerts tab for instructions on setting up ongoing table of contents email alerts for key Education Leadership journals such as the Journal of Educational Administration or School Leadership & Management.
Instructions
In your assessment:
Introduce the institution or organization of your chosen issue, and if it is not traditional P–12 or higher education, briefly describe the role of academics in the organization.
If you are not currently employed with an academic institution, substitute an institution with an educational component where you worked in the past or one you would like to work for.
Identify and analyze the issue you will discuss. As you describe this problem, please answer all of the following:
Why is the issue significant to the institutional goals or mission?
Who is involved?
How did the issue come to exist?
What are causal and contributing factors that perpetuate the issue?
Provide rationale and evidence for your analysis.
Has the issue been addressed?
What has hampered efforts to address the issue?
What will happen if the issue is not addressed?
Identify and describe one specific form of educational innovation or technological trend from the current literature that you might use to address your workplace issue. For this project, choose an innovation or technology that is scalable. Examples of scalability include a pilot project to a larger, wide-scale implementation; from a small group project to the wider institution; or from a school to the school district.
Describe the innovation or technology.
Identify which causal factor your proposed innovation addresses.
Describe how the implementation of the innovation or technology might be useful in your situation.
Support your proposed intervention with reference to the literature.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies:
Competency 1: Analyze innovative trends and issues of scale in education.
Identify and describe one specific form of educational innovation or technology from the literature that is scalable and might be used to address the workplace issue.
Competency 2: Use systems thinking to evaluate the implications of rapid societal change for educational systems including for leadership models and behaviors.
Identify and analyze a problem or issue in the workplace that is affected by rapid societal change.
Competency 5: Synthesize professional and scholarly literature.
Support the proposed intervention with reference to the literature.
Competency 6: Apply principles of effective communication, including writing competently for the intended purpose.
Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
Communicate clearly, supporting a central idea in an appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics
I have also included the rubric with lots of attachments to help in the writing process.
