Department of Leadership, Higher Education and Adult Education (LHAE)

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Caat Baccalaureates: What Has Been Their Impact on Students and Colleges?
(2017-04) Wheelahan, Leesa; Moodie, Gavin; Skolnik, Michael L.; Liu, Qin; Adam, Edmund G.; Simpson, Diane
This report is the culmination of a research project that explored the impact of college degrees on colleges and on students. We conclude that college degrees are largely fulfilling their intended purposes. The labour market outcomes for college degrees are strong, stronger than for lower level credentials. Degree programs are career‐focused and applied. College degrees are providing opportunities for students who otherwise may not be able to attain that level of education. Pedagogy is strongly student focused, classes are small and experiential learning is a prominent feature. Students are able to access degrees using their diploma as the entry credential, and receive credit for their diploma in their degree. Students enjoy the applied, hands-on, practical educational experience. They enjoy their work placements and internships. They love their teachers and say their teachers are accessible and knowledgeable in their field. Many students value the geographic proximity of their college because it means that they don’t have to leave home to study. This is important for all students, but particularly for older students whose jobs and families tie them to a location. Colleges are able to meet the educational needs as well as the labour market needs of their regions and communities, particularly in regions where there is no university and students have limited opportunities for degree studies. Government funding for college degrees is similar to that for diplomas which means they are cheaper to fund than university degrees (a cause of much concern for institutional leaders in colleges), and fees are mostly lower than in universities.
Canada’s Approach to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Context, Policy, Strategy, and Programs
(Australian Council of Learned Academies, 2012) Weinrib, Julian; Jones, Glen A.
The objective of this report is to collate, synthesize and analyze a variety of STEM-related educational programs, outputs and outcomes in the context of the Canadian post-secondary education sector. We begin by providing a brief introduction to the structure and political economy of PSE in Canada in order to foreground the overview and provide much needed context for the particular set of circumstances that have shaped STEM-related policies and programs in Canada, particularly over the past 10 years.
Case Study of the Innovative M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership Cohort initiative Introduced at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto
(2014-11-19) Janzen, Katharine
This was a mixed-methods evaluative case study based on the experience of the first three cohorts of students who completed the innovative M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership Cohort option at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. The program content (seven core courses and three electives), and program delivery format (cohort based, collaborative groups and compressed scheduling) responded to the needs of the target student population. The most risky innovation was the admission of some very experienced professionals - “middle management” staff in colleges and universities - into the program for a Master’s in Higher Education degree - even though they had not earned the normally required four-year or honours undergraduate degree. Students were admitted by one of three routes: standard admission, non-standard case consideration, or the certificate route, depending on their past academic achievements and professional experience. While there were important lessons learned from the way in which the initiative was introduced and developed, feedback from all participants regarding the efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of this program option was overwhelmingly positive. Seventy-seven students (of 86 invited, for a 90% response rate) completed a lengthy on-line survey questionnaire; 17 (of 23 randomly selected or 74%) of them also participated in individual follow-up interviews. Four senior administrators who were directly involved in the initiation and approval process for this option, six of the seven faculty who taught the required core courses, and four program faculty who had not taught any of the core courses also participated in audio-recorded interviews. Student achievement and satisfaction with the program was phenomenally high for all variables assessed, such as program completion rates, satisfaction with the value of the program content, delivery methods and functional support. Most notably, the Grade Point Average (GPA) achieved by the students was virtually the same that is 3.92, 3.86 and 3.90 respectively for students admitted by the standard, non-standard or certificate entry routes. This report concludes with implications of the findings and recommendations for practice, policy and further research.
Charisma as a tactic of influence in social activism, a case study on the work of Dr.Bonnie Burstow.
(World Association for Case Method Research and Application, 2018-12) Hitimana, Amani
This case study focuses on the social activism of Dr. Bonnie Burstow, Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Adult Education and Community Development Program, who has dedicated her life to social justice. Using charisma as a tactic of influence, Dr. Burstow has achieved revolutionary outcomes and taken on leadership roles in academia and the antipsychiatry movement. Dr. Burstow’s charismatic leadership has been a major inspiration for others, including her own graduate students, to continue to be active in the antipsychiatry movement. Dr. Burstow’s charisma has also helped her effectively voice her support of disenfranchised populations.
College Baccalaureate Degree Approval Processes In Other Jurisdictions
(2013-09-16) Skolnik, Michael, L.
This study examined aspects of approval processes for baccalaureate degree programs in colleges in the following 11 jurisdictions: Alberta, British Columbia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Flanders, Florida, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. More detailed profiles are provided for seven of the jurisdictions. In order to make the data more relevant for the Ontario reader, some comparisons with characteristics of the baccalaureate degree approval process in Ontario are noted.
College Baccalaureate Degrees and the Diversification of Baccalaureate Production in Ontario
(2012-05-24) Skolnik, Michael, L.
Factors Contributing to Canada’s Number One International Ranking in the Proportion of Adults Who Have Attained a Community College Credential
(2018-07) Skolnik, Michael L.
Canada ranks first among OECD countries in the proportion of the adult population whose highest level of education is a credential from a community college or similar type of educational institution. Canada’s rate of attainment of this type of educational credential is more than three times the average for OECD member countries, and only three member countries have rates that are more than half Canada’s rate. This paper explores the factors that contribute to Canada’s high rate of short-cycle tertiary education attainment relative to other countries. The factors examined include: the role and prevalence of short-cycle postsecondary institutions in different countries; the proportions of students who begin postsecondary education in a college rather than a university; college graduation and transfer rates; and different approaches to workforce preparation. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the implications of the international differences that were explored.
False Freedom: Bio-carding, Bio-surveillance and Pedagogies for Community Care in the World of COVID-19
(2020-06-01) Hassen, Yasmine; Tian, Liujia; Houston, Jann
The world is making major adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and governments have to identify strategies to make our communities safer. One of the biggest impacts has been the halt of mobility and travel and there has been a call for immunity passports and other forms of biocarding as a solution to enable people to move about their communities, use public spaces and travel more safely. This Zine is a pedagogy of public education and awareness within the academy and community spheres that depicts, through artistic contributions, the potential impacts of surveillance for Covid-19 and the resilience of communities in Toronto and around the world.
False Freedom: Bio-Carding, Bio-surveillance and Pedagogies for Community Care in the World of COVID-19
(2020-08-30) Hassen, Yasmine; Tian, Ian liujia Tian; Houston, Jann
The world is making major adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and governments have to identify strategies to make our communities safer. One of the biggest impacts has been the halt of mobility and travel and there has been a call for immunity passports and other forms of biocarding as a solution to enable people to move about their communities, use public spaces and travel more safely. Through a University of Toronto Covid-19 Student Engagement Grant, this Zine is a pedagogy of public education and awareness within the academy and community spheres that depicts, through artistic contributions, the potential impacts of surveillance for Covid-19 and the resilience of communities in Toronto and around the world.
The Five R’s for Indigenizing Online Learning: A Case Study of the First Nations Schools’ Principals Course
(2018-10) Tessaro, Danielle; Restoule, Jean-Paul; Gaviria, Patricia; Flessa, Joseph; Lindeman, Carlana; Scully-Stewart, Coleen
This article focuses on the creation, implementation, experiences, and research surrounding the first online professional development course for principals of First Nations schools across Canada, named the First Nations Schools’ Principals Course (FNSPC). First, we describe the contexts, goals, and designing of the FNSPC. Second, we outline the complexities of bringing Indigenous values into an online educational space. Lastly, we describe how using the Five R’s (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001; Restoule, 2008) of respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, and relationships recasts the challenges of Indigenizing online education into opportunities for spaces of traditional and non-traditional Indigenous learning through the FNSPC.
HIRING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; TIM HORTONS FRANCHISE MEGLEEN: A CASE STUDY.
(World Association for Case Method Research and Application, 2018-01) Hitimana, Amani; Wall, Susan
This case study focuses on the evidence-based approach to decision making that Tim Hortons Franchisee Megleen Inc., Mark Wafer used to dedicate inclusive hiring practices committed to persons with disabilities. The case reviews the evidence to support hiring persons with disabilities while ensuring a job-person fit, training, communication and accommodation. Research has demonstrated that negative perceptions, bias and emotional tagging have led to misconceptions in the Canadian employment market and have become an anchoring trap in hiring practices. Persons with disabilities are valuable human resources and community members, as evidenced by Mark Wafer’s commitment, that must be included in organizational workforce planning.
Mixed-sector tertiary education: Implications for self-accrediting and other higher education institutions
(National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), 2010) Moodie, Gavin
‘Mixed-sector’ institutions are relatively new in Australia, but numbers are likely to increase as the boundaries between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education become increasingly blurred. In 2009 the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) published research examining the nature of higher education offered by public VET providers (Higher education in TAFE by Leesa Wheelahan, Gavin Moodie, Stephen Billett and Ann Kelly). Gavin Moodie and his colleagues are continuing their research and this paper has been written with the intention of provoking discussion. It presents an initial account of mixed-sector tertiary education in Australia—separating institutions accrediting their own higher education programs, most of which are large public universities, from other tertiary education institutions, primarily smaller private providers. A range of issues about the emerging character of mixed-sector provision is flagged and will be considered as part of the research, including: - How relevant will the sector designations be if the distinctions relating to tertiary education continue to blur, and if Australian governments allocate public support for teaching by mechanisms that do not distinguish between types of institutions? - To what degree is mixed-sector provision affected by the extent to which the smaller sector is integrated with an institution’s organisational structure, the level of the organisation at which vocational and higher education are integrated and the level of autonomy granted to organisational units? - What are the implications of mixed-sector provision for the students, staff and institutional futures?
Ontario Colleges in a Comparative Perspective
(2020-09) Skolnik, Michael L.
The aim of this paper is to provide a data-based comparison of the programmatic activity profile of Ontario colleges with that of colleges in other Canadian and international jurisdictions. The pursuit of that aim was impeded somewhat by the lack of data for many other jurisdictions on such basic indicators as total enrolment and numbers of graduates in different types of programs. Internationally the most widely available indicator related to the activity of colleges is the rate of attainment of short-cycle tertiary education (SCTE). Short-cycle tertiary education is the highest level of non-degree postsecondary education in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), and rates of SCTE attainment for all OECD countries are published annually by the OECD and are available from Statistics Canada for Canada’s provinces and territories. About 80% of the graduates of Ontario colleges are in this category of activity, and virtually all SCTE programming in Ontario is provided by the colleges. However in many jurisdictions SCTE accounts for a much smaller percentage of college activity, and organizations other than colleges are responsible for substantial percentages of SCTE. Subject to data limitations that are described in the paper, the author found that relative to other jurisdictions Ontario ranks high with respect to every indicator pertaining to the scale of college provision of high-level non-degree vocationally oriented postsecondary education, but low with respect to the role of colleges in facilitating attainment of bachelor’s degrees. The fact that relatively more people complete a program of SCTE in Ontario than in all OECD countries, and that the proportion of those who complete such a program that do so in a college is higher than in many OECD countries implies that that the extent of SCTE activity of Ontario colleges greatly exceeds that of all OECD countries. Ontario accounts for about 62% of all SCTE graduates in Canadian colleges, and ratio of the number of SCTE graduates to the number of graduates of the next lower ISCED category is much higher in Ontario than anywhere else in Canada. In addition, the percentage of graduates who are in the highest-level sub-categories of short cycle tertiary education, advanced diploma and graduate certificate programs, is much higher for Ontario than any other province. In contrast to the substantial scale of their non-degree programs, Ontario colleges have a relatively small footprint in regard to bachelor’s degrees. Compared to other jurisdictions where colleges have been allowed to award bachelor’s degrees for close to two decades or more, both the percentage of bachelor’s degrees that are awarded by colleges and bachelor’s degrees as a percentage of all college awards are quite low. In addition, Ontario has a quite low rate of college-to-university transfer. By itself, a comparative study like this one is an insufficient base for developing policy proposals. However, such a study can be useful for identifying anomalies that may warrant examination. Ontario’s relatively low ratio of the number of vocationally oriented bachelor’s degrees awarded by colleges to the number of high-level non-degree credentials awarded may constitute such an anomaly. Both the scale of its high-level non-degree activity and its track record of program assessment in a rigorous quality assurance system suggest that Ontario’s college sector has the capability to contribute more to the attainment of career-focused degrees than it has been allowed to thus far. However, the paper notes that there may be some strengths in the present configuration of programs in the colleges, and a decision to expand college degree activity should be based on a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of doing so, which was not the intent of this paper. Drawing upon examination of other jurisdictions, the paper concludes by noting some practices that might be considered in Ontario if there is a desire to expand degree programming activity of the colleges.
Ontario Student Mobility: Carving Paths of Desire
(2016-02) Lennon, Mary Catharine; Brijmohan, Amanda; Lavigne, Eric; Yang, Jinli; Moodie, Gavin; Wheelahan, Leesa
Contributing to the four years of substantial research, knowledge building and reflection by ONCAT, this study synthesises current theories and research on student mobility, institutional partnerships and pathways, and presents the current patterns of student flows and institutional agreements in Ontario. The analysis and findings show unexpected routes and relationships, and finds current trends in pathway agreement are not supporting students in the intended way. Based on literature, research and consultations with experts and practitioners, this study derives principles from these findings and develops a framework that supports the effective development and implementation of pathways and supports student movement and articulation between the sectors of postsecondary education (PSE). The intention of the principles and framework is to support strategic decision making that benefits all stakeholders: students, programs, institutions, government, and society at large.
Pathways to education and work in Ontario and Canada
(2015) Wheelahan, Leesa; Moodie, Gavin; Lavigne, Eric; Yang, Jinli; Brijmohan, Amanda; Childs, Ruth
This report investigates the nature of pathways within postsecondary education and between postsecondary education and the labour market in Ontario and Canada. It explores the extent to which students stay within the same field of education when they undertake a second postsecondary education qualification, and the links between their qualifications and the labour market in different fields of education. It uses the 2013 National Graduate Survey produced by Statistics Canada which surveyed students who graduated from their program in 2009 and 2010. Graduates were surveyed in 2013, at least two years after they had graduated.
A Policy Framework to Support a New Social Settlement in TAFE
(2019) Wheelahan, Leesa
The Whitlam Government’s policies for TAFE were visionary and TAFE became part of our social infrastructure. TAFE contributed to regional social and economic development, and it supported social inclusion by providing individuals with access to vocationally oriented education that supported their individual development, helped them access good jobs, and helped them to contribute to their families, communities and society. However, TAFE has been decimated by the failed experiment of the last 30 years in marketisation and through the imposition of narrow competency-based education qualifications. A new Federal Labor government will inherit a low trust vocational education system in which there has been a loss of confidence in vocational education qualifications, TAFE has been decimated, there has been a precipitous decline in publicly funded enrolments, fragmentation of the system, and ever increasing regulation to stamp out bad behaviour after it has occurred. The vocational education market has comprehensively failed and cannot be fixed through adjusting settings. A for profit market results in a race for profits and a race to the bottom in quality. The competency-based training model of curriculum has also failed. It has facilitated the vocational education market through specifying fragmented competencies that can be bought and sold and through a narrow focus on specific skills needed for particular jobs. This model closes students’ possibilities and options through being too narrow, and it is pointless because most graduates do not work in the intended occupation associated with their qualification, apart from regulated occupations such as nursing or the traditional trades. A new model is needed which builds on a modernised Kangan vision, so that TAFE can once again contribute to sustainable regional social and economic development, to individual development and choice, and to building tolerant, socially inclusive communities. This paper, commissioned by the John Cain Foundation, offers elements of a new policy framework to rebuild TAFE and to build a high trusted vocational education system with trusted qualifications. It argues that TAFE institutes are the local anchor institutions of the vocational education system and of their communities. They are the anchor of the vocational education system because they are the public institutions entrusted with fulfilling public policy objectives. They are the anchors of their communities because they build close links with employers and support the development of a high-skilled workforce; because of their close connections with local economic, social and cultural institutions; and, because of their ability to support and work with local disadvantaged communities.
Public Policy and the Attraction of International Students
(2016-03-29) Sá, Creso; Sabzalieva, Emma
In this project we asked: in this competition to attract and retain high quality students, how are the major Anglophone governments responding to and shaping the international brain race? The very recent discussion paper from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Developing global opportunities, demonstrates the timeliness of this study for the Ontario context (MTCU, 2016). Thus the research questions underpinning the project were: 1. What is the policy framework for attracting international students in these jurisdictions? 2. How and why has this policy framework evolved over the last fifteen years (2000-2015)? 3. How competitive is Ontario in relation to other jurisdictions? 4. What policy levers could Ontario consider moving forward to enhance its position globally as a premier destination for foreign talent? The findings of the project are divided into six categories: political climate and policy framework, government initiatives, major reports, legislation, funding, and external factors. Within each category we offer two short case studies, generally drawn from a single jurisdiction, that exemplify ‘lessons learned’ that may be relevant to the Ontario setting.
The quality of teaching in VET – evidence
(LH Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management, 2010-08) Moodie, Gavin; Curtin, Emma
Racialized Women Principals and Vice-Principals: Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario's Public Schools
(2024-05-31) Fatimah, Dareen
In this study I explored how participating racialized women principals and vice-principals in Ontario’s public school boards navigated the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. I conducted semi-structured interviews with six women leaders in public schools to explore the opportunities and challenges they encountered, along with the strategies they employed to overcome these challenges. I identified six themes in the study findings: a) career progression, b) identity and influence, c) governance in public school boards, d) COVID-19 challenges, e) opportunities and resources, f) racialized women’s leadership. Findings derived from the participants’ responses revealed diverse experiences and emphasized the importance of resilience despite the challenges. The study findings point out the need for greater representation of racialized women to foster equity and inclusion in educational leadership in Ontario public schools, and illuminate the significance of centralizing the experiences of racialized women leaders to inform future research and policy.
The Rae Report in Retrospect: A View From the College Sector
(2015-03-23) Lennon, Mary Catharine; Skolnik, Michael L.; Jones, Glen A.

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