2.4 Transformative pedagogy through advanced technologies: a  (Page 2/8)

Advanced technologies are a powerful tool to facilitate an inquiry-based learning space that promotes generative learning through an inquiry stance. This idea frames the delivery methodology for a blended online principal preparation program. The blended online program was designed upon the foundation of an innovative university-district principal preparation program that was created from an inquiry stance and featured collaborative facilitation, field-based learning and constructive practice as the pedagogical model.

The university-district principal preparation program was created in 2002 when a private university and an urban district collaborated on the development of core leadership values for school leaders and worked together to examine the district’s existing needs and goals. The program content was built from an apprenticeship perspective based on the leadership needs of the participants and their schools (Korach, 2005). The delivery model consists of a facilitation team composed of university faculty and district leaders that build content and learning experiences for participants to engage in during a multi-day retreat and weekly six hour classes over four quarters. The work of this collaborative program created its own entity or third space with equal relationships between the academic/practitioner and university/district perspectives. Hora and Millar (2010) describe this third space of partnership work as a place where “individuals from the different home organizations navigate their different pre-existing cultural dynamics as they develop the policies and repertoires of practice appropriate for the new partnership” (p. 12). The inquiry stance allowed the third space to emerge as a safe and neutral setting to interrogate and critically analyze the knowledge, practices and theories of the participants and their work environment. The third space in this university-district collaborative program existed when the participants and faculty met during the retreat and weekly classes.

This paper describes the creation of a blended online program based on the university-district principal preparation prototype. The generative learning continued through field-based inquiry experiences and the creation of a new 3 ^rd space through the interactions of participants and faculty through the online environment and in-person workshops. The transformation of the organic and generative pedagogy to an online environment made the approach of generative learning through the interaction of theory and practice broadly accessible and adaptable to individual and multiple school contexts. Initial feedback and evaluation results of the blended online program reveal that the advanced technologies and online learning environment successfully replicated the 3 ^rd space approach to leadership learning. Findings from this model of principal preparation show school leaders who are engaged in access and equity work and facilitating school cultures that support just outcomes.

Three technology-facilitated practices were integrated to bring about a successful transformation of the program from ground to distance. Those three instructional technologies include: high-participation threaded online discussions, the use of digital portfolios for project management and evaluation, and the establishment of cohorts or online communities of inquiry. The implementation and impact of these practices will also be discussed.