CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

1. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY Dr. Stephanie Chitpin (steph.chitpin@uottawa.ca) Dr. Marielle Simon (msimon@uottawa.ca) UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA Faculty of Education

2. www.cpln.ca RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY • Radical changes in principals’ role and responsibilities. • Continuously increasing burden on principals as managers, head of finance, schedulers, followers of bureaucratic regulations, curriculum leaders, reflective practitioners, decision makers, evaluator of teachers and builders of collaborative cultures. • Additional responsibilities are affecting principals’ decision-making. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 2 of 18

3. www.cpln.ca WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? How, and on what basis, principals make decisions around important aspects of school improvement is important both to their development as leaders and also to the educational reform itself. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 3 of 18

4. www.cpln.ca RESEARCH QUESTIONS • To what extent does the use of the OKGF contribute to provide holistic and comprehensive descriptions of participants’ decision-making process when faced with complex problems? • How does the Canadian Principal Learning Network (CPLN) enhance the process of making decision in groups? CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 4 of 18

5. www.cpln.ca Canadian Principal Learning Network Through online activities, CPLN collaboratively links together an international group of principals and researchers to explore the potential of online community professional learning using the OKGF. The OKGF is a model of self-directed professional learning based on the critical rationalism. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 5 of 18

6. www.cpln.ca CATEGORIES OF DECISIONS Non-programed decisions Programed decisions simple, routine, highly structured, repetitive, familiar, low level and quantitative in nature novel, unfamiliar, ambiguous, complex, non-systematic, and qualitative in nature CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 9 of 18

7. www.cpln.ca DEFINITION OF DECISION MAKING The terms problem solving and decision making are often used interchangeably and erroneously. Problem solving is “broader and encapsulates all of the tensions, turbulence, goals, strategies, agendas, preferences, demands, complexities, and potential outcomes of a problematic event”. (Davis and Davis, 2003, p. 37) Decision-makingis the specific process that an individual or a group engages in to solve a problem. Decision-making is a subset of problem solving. With simple or routine problems, decision making and problem solving can be synonymous events. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 8 of 18

8. www.cpln.ca THREE COMPONENTS OF DECISION Welch (2002) 2Options for attaining the goal 3The selection of the preferred option different tentative theories or solutions employed to solve the problem 1A goal making decisions as to which of these tentative solutions to try out CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca

9. www.cpln.ca Objective Knowledge Growth Framework • OKGF: A framework of principal’s decision making (Chitpin, 2009; 2010). • Builds upon Popper’s (1979; 2002) critical rationalism, • This method drives users to discover weak points in theories and to question their arguments. OKJF • Sensitive to experience, contexts and expectations (Chitpin et al, 2010). • Systematically tracks the progression of decision-making (challenges and opportunities) and the problem-solving skills employed by the participants. • Cost efficient and relatively easy to implement. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY CPLNCanadian Principal Learning Network 7 of 18

10. www.cpln.ca OKGF’SFRAMEWORK The figure depicts the cyclical process of identifying an initial problem (P1), proposing a first tentative theory to address or solve the problem (TT1), testing tentative theories against experience or the criticisms of others (EE1), to arrive at a new problem identification process that arises out of error elimination (Pn). CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 6 of 18

11. www.cpln.ca FUNCTIONS OF OKGF It invites people to explicitly examine: Selectivity How and why they eliminate certain options in favour of others? Influence on decisions How others influence the decision process and what that means? Devise theories How they devise tentative theories and consider their accuracy? Decision making How they make decisions? CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 7 of 18

12. www.cpln.ca METHODOLOGY • Researchers trained 12 principals as a reflective members to examine their decision-making processes and problem solving strategies when faced with challenges and opportunities. • Participants were asked to document their decision-making process, using a template as they try to solve situational problems. illustrative case 1 illustrative case 2 CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 11 of 18

13. www.cpln.ca CASE 1: CRYING ALL THE TIME CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 12 of 18

14. www.cpln.ca CASE 2: ICE-FISHING CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 13 of 18

15. www.cpln.ca Findings… • The use of the OKGF allows the participants to learn from each other in a collegial and non-judgmental environment. (Q2) • CPLN was a place for principals to use the OKGF to try out theories/solutions/ ideas and to reflect more deeply about their decision-making skills in their leadership practice. (Q1) • The OKGF provided a place to pose questions, try out tentative solutions, listen, and reflect on the advice of peers. (Q1 & Q2) • The CPLN provided a unique place for participants to be reflective and to learn about their decision making  practices. (Q2) CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 14 of 18

16. www.cpln.ca Implications 1There needs to be an ongoing self-directed structure 2Any learning structure (CPLN) needs to have a mechanism for maintaining rigour as the principals learn 3Studies need to capture principal decision-making in authentic contexts CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 15 of 18

17. www.cpln.ca CONCLUSION 1 2 3 CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca 16 of 18

18. The Renfrew County Catholic District School Board and the researchers wish to thank: The Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER)/The Ontario Ministry of Education and the University of Toronto for funding this research and the symposium. The team also wish to thank all the participants to the symposium. CAPTURING PRINCIPALS’ DECISION MAKING PROCESSES IN AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITYsteph.chitpin@uottawa.ca