Draft Strategic Plan April 2008

Institute for Leadership in Learning and Teaching—Strategic Plan (April 2008-draft)

Outcomes for the Institute
The institute will create opportunities to encourage reflection, dialogue, and exploration of learning and teaching.

Outcomes for Teachers
The Institute will develop programs to assist people in designing and delivering effective learning experiences.

Outcomes for Students
The Institute will support students in understanding how to benefit from the learning-centred experience.

Outcomes for Administrators
The Institute will develop programs to support a learning-centred approach to curriculum development and quality assurance.

Outcomes for Staff
The Institute will establish a support framework to encourage the growth of “communities of practice” around learning and teaching.

The Institute will recognize and celebrate excellence in learning and teaching.

Values
1. Self knowledge as the foundation of learning and teaching
2. Risk and vulnerability are central.
3. Learning as transformational, empowering, self-directed, and life-long.4. A diverse, democratic, and personal approach to learning and teaching.
5. A scholarly and applied understanding of effective learning and teaching.
6. A mastery approach to the design and delivery of learning experiences.
7. A just and fair environment for all.

Principles
1. The Institute will be learning-centred, in alignment with the mission, vision, and values of Okanagan College.
2. Everyone in a learning-centred organization is a learner.
3 A learning-centred approach requires well-designed lessons and effective lesson delivery.
4. Informal “communities of practice” are an effective way to share knowledge and skills.
5. A learning-centred approach continually reviews its outcomes and assessment strategies.

Long Term Strategies (over three years)

1. Create Fellows from eight areas who will guide and develop the Institute. Fellows will be selected from International, Trades, Technology, Health, Arts, Science, Aacp, and Business.
2. Create a course for new instructors and professors developed around learner-centred learning and teaching.
3. Use the number of peer-visitations as an important early measurement of success.
4. Develop a newsletter for the Institute.5. Celebrate excellence in student achievement.

Short Term Strategies (in one year)
1. Develop theme of “the first week” in Connections 2008.2. Develop curriculum for a course for new instructors and professors.3. Model “first week best practices” through posters and video.4. Develop training for small group instructional feedback.5. Develop a mentor program for new instructors and professors.

Other Strategies: brainstorming only
1. Two hour block of time for learning and teaching activities
2. Create “fellows” who belong to the Institute
3. One fellow in 8 areas: Business, health, science, arts, aacp, trades, international, technologies
4. Create incentives for people to participate
5. Explore required attendance on a semester long course for all new teachers
6. Improve the orientation for new teachers to include more “learning and teaching” skills
7. Explore mini-conference every term on learning and teaching
8. Develop regular teaching tips in college newsletter
9. Develop a food budget for those informal learning groups
10. Create a budget for external speakers
11. Explore creates uses of the scholarly release provision for faculty
12. Resource an inventory of skills and learning objects for teachers to reference
13. Develop a small group instructional feedback program
14. Encourage and measure numbers of peer-to-peer classroom visits
15. Develop a mentor program with trained mentors
16. Allow teachers to model their best practices using video
17. Use tv screens to showcase learning-centred staff
18. Explore You Tube as a vehicle of sharing instructional expertise
19. Explore learning and teaching radio station
20. Showcase professors like Jake Kennedy in action using multimedia resources
21. Share interviews with students so that students can view their point of view
22. Create a success channel on closed circuit or community television
23. Re-create the power of the learning centre inside our classrooms
24. Celebrate community successes beyond the classroom
25. Inspire people.
26. Create a semester event where we share success stories
27. Design a program to help students understand their learning processes
28. Provide a common first two weeks program to help teachers learn about the strengths of their students
29. Inform students about the benefits of belonging to a learning community
30. More student and teacher relationship building opportunities.
31. Improve relationships through more social events
32. Pot of coffee or tea upon request to every 8:30am morning classroom
33. Establish furniture to meet learning-centred needs
34. Encourage teachers to understand the benefits of alternative strategies such as circle time.
35. Explore the use of music to facilitate learning experiences.
36. Explore the use of humour in the classroom.
37. Provide adequate funding for faculty and staff development
38. Support case studies on instructional excellence
39. Encourage interdisciplinary practices
30. Create a newsletter or journal for the Institute
31. Collate evidence on the benefits of learning-centred practices
32. Create a trial or pilot on pass/fail grading.
32. Create a journal that focuses on the process success. Ie. Focus on the obstacles and how they were overcome
33. Address the needs of term instructors and faculty
34. Make certain there are good web resources
35. Create a repository for instructional artifacts
36. Provide an alternative web universe for experimentation
37. Create opportunities or a program that supports self-assessment of one’s personal and professional emotional intelligence resources38. Explore the use of portfolios for teachers and students