This thesis attempts to formally connect the fields of sustainability and responsibility. It considers first the larger context of business sustainability and responsible leadership, and evaluates the value and need for a common transformative space for these fields and what such a space might look like. As such, the thesis investigates the relation between sustainability and responsibility from an organizational and personal development perspective. This developmental perspective emerges from research in the domain of business education and the role of business schools in terms of educating responsible leaders for a sustainable world. The research suggests a concrete approach, the ‘Collaboratory’ for such a common space of transformation and critically evaluates its effectiveness to develop responsible leaders. The key contribution of this thesis lies in the interconnection of two fast evolving fields of research: the development of responsible leadership and business sustainability, providing a model for practitioners and scholars to reflect on and debate the larger forces and dynamics at play. Most research to date has focused on considering personal and organizational transformation separately. On the one hand, research scholars have studied effective learning environments to enable responsible leadership, and on the other hand, we have studied if and how organizations can advance from their current mode of operations to become “truly sustainable”. The thesis contributes a model to describe the interdependency of these two, and proposes the ‘Collaboratory’ as a means to realize this interdependency in practice. Chapter 1 is a new article theorizing the whole argument; subsequent chapters are previously published articles in these inter-connected fields and addressing methods and approaches to connect personal and organization development, drawing from a body of literature that considers the human spirit in large social change; and using the ‘Collaboratory’ as an illustrative and timely example for such methods.

A growing body of work has emerged regarding the responsibilities required of district leaders in establishing plans that initiate and create conditions for sustainability of continuous improvement achieved through a systemic reform structure such as professional learning communities. However, limited research exists in respect to sustaining cultures of continuous improvement in rapid growth districts. Rapid growth districts can be described as school systems, which construct and open multiple campuses annually. The underlying premise of this study considered how humans interact with one another within a rapidly changing professional organization. Change theory, professional capital, organizational learning theory, and system reform emerge as the conceptual framework in this study of district support of professional learning communities. Data collection for this qualitative descriptive case study included interviewing six K-12 principals, administering the PLCA-DS survey to 247 K-12 staff members, and document review. Recognition of the importance of the PLC framework, building capacity, development of collaborative culture, and issues resulting from constant change due to rapid growth were the four themes generated by the participants to support continuous improvement in a rapid growth district. The four themes combined with the components of the conceptual framework outline how district leaders in a rapidly changing environment cultivate a process leading to system-wide improvement.

Civil unrest in the1960s pitted Black citizens and police officers against each other (Kerner Commission, 1968). The Kerner Commission examined race relations and recommended the hiring of more Black officers to patrol Black neighborhoods. Recent shooting deaths of unarmed Black males primarily by White officers has led to renewed calls for police reform (Scholsser, Cha-Jua, Valgoi & Neville, 2015). This quantitative secondary analysis study utilizes data from the 2013 LEMAS survey to compare local police departments from three states (N=184) to examine whether police departments with a Black chief and/or a higher rate of Black officers reported more participation in community oriented policing activities than police departments led by Whites. The study’s hypothesis is that local police departments led by a Black chief and departments with a high rate of Black officers will report greater participation in community oriented policing activities. Descriptive data along with results from Pearson’s correlation, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis indicate there are some benefits to appointing Blacks as police chief along with hiring more Black officers. In this study, the race of the chief had a positive but not significant impact on the number of reported COP activities. The presence of more Black officers was positively correlated at a significant level with reports of higher rates of COP activities.

Une stratégie utilisée auprès des entraîneurs pour rendre le hockey sur glace plus sécuritaire est l'éducation sur les commotions cérébrales liées au sport (CCS). Cependant, l'apport de connaissances aux entraîneurs n'est pas associé à une modification des comportements liés aux CCS. L'objectif de cette étude était d'utiliser la Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) pour élaborer des vignettes axées sur les aspects clés de cette théorie et basées sur les expériences d’entraîneurs de hockey sur glace avec la CCS. Douze entraîneurs de hockey sur glace (n = 2 femmes, n = 10 hommes) d'équipes AA et AAA du Canada ont parlé de leurs expériences avec les CCS de leurs athlètes dans le cadre d'entrevues semi-structurées (M = 69,25 minutes). Les données ont été analysées en deux phases. Tout d'abord, nous avons effectué une analyse de contenu dirigée en utilisant trois thèmes dérivés du BCW (c.-à-d. capacité, opportunité et motivation). Ensuite, nous avons suivi les suggestions pour « creative non-fiction », menant à la création de deux vignettes. La première vignette dépeint un entraîneur expérimenté dans une situation de commotion complexe, où iel prend la décision de retirer un joueur vedette soupçonné de CCS, contre l’avis des parents d’autres joueurs. À l'inverse, la deuxième vignette met en scène un bénévole qui débute comme entraîneur de hockey sur glace. En se remémorant sa première saison, iel frémit de la façon dont il a géré la CCS d’une athlète et décrit comment iel aurait aimé gérer cette situation. Prises ensemble, ces deux vignettes constituent une nouvelle stratégie de diffusion pour l’enseignement des CCs. Ces résultats suggèrent qu'il est nécessaire de traduire l'information sur les CCS de manière efficace pour faciliter la formation d’entraîneurs de hockey sur glace sur les CCS. / Sport-related concussion (SRC) education is one strategy that has been used to make ice hockey safer, and coaches have been seen as key members of the sport environment who influence athlete safety. Unfortunately, providing coaches with knowledge has not been associated with changing SRC management behaviors. The objective of this study was to use the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to develop theory-driven vignettes based on ice hockey coaches experiences with SRC. Twelve youth ice hockey coaches (n = 2 females, n = 10 males) of AA and AAA teams across Canada talked about their experiences dealing with their athletes SRCs through semi-structured interviews (M = 69.25 minutes). The data were analyzed as part of a two phase process. First, we conducted a directed content analysis using three themes directly derived from the BCW (i.e., capability, opportunity and motivation). Second, we followed recommendations for creative non-fiction writing, leading to the creation of two vignettes. Coach Jodie’s vignette depicts an experienced coach in a complex SRC situation, whereby they made the decision to sit out a star athlete suspected of concussion against the wishes of other players’ parents. Coach Ollie’s vignette depicts a volunteer who is new to coaching ice hockey. In reflecting back on their first season as a coach, Ollie shudders at the way they managed one athlete’s concussion and describes how they wish they would have handled that situation. Taken together, these two vignettes are a new dissemination strategy for SRC education. Results of the present study suggest a need to translate information on SRCs in a more efficient manner through the use of more captivating methods, such as theory based vignettes, to facilitate the education of ice hockey coaches on SRCs.

Une commotion cérébrale liée au sport (CCS) est une lésion cérébrale traumatique dont les athlètes du secondaire sont susceptibles de présenter des symptômes graves en raison de la maturation cognitive pendant l'adolescence. En utilisant le modèle « Capability Opportunity Motivation-Behaviour » (Michie et al., 2011), nous cherchions à comprendre les expériences des étudiants-athlètes d’écoles secondaires et de leurs entraîneurs par rapport aux comportements liés aux CCS. Nous avons mené des entrevues semi-structurées (M = 72 min) avec des athlètes (n = 10), des entraîneurs (n = 4) et des enseignants-entraîneurs (n = 2) d'une école secondaire impliqués dans le hockey sur glace, le basket-ball, le volley-ball et le rugby. Nous avons effectué une analyse dirigée de contenu en utilisant le modèle COM-B. Les athlètes et les entraîneurs ont décrit des expériences ayant eu un impact sur leur capacité à divulguer les symptômes (athlètes) et à gérer correctement la CCS (athlètes et entraîneurs). De plus, les participants ont décrit des facteurs qui ont influencé les opportunités à améliorer les connaissances en matière de CCS (athlètes et entraîneurs), de les déclarer (athlètes), de les gérer correctement (athlètes) et de les identifier (enseignants-entraîneurs). Enfin, les participants ont indiqué leurs motivations pour les décisions concernant le signalement des CCS (athlètes), le retrait du jeu (entraîneurs) et la bonne gestion des CCS (athlètes et entraîneurs). Les résultats de cette étude pourraient aider les chercheurs à intégrer la théorie du changement de comportement pour créer des interventions d'éducation sur les CCS. / Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a traumatic brain injury that has regrettably become prevalent in many contact or collision sports. High school athletes are more vulnerable to experiencing more severe symptomatology compared to adults due to the cognitive maturation that occurs throughout adolescence. Using the Capability Opportunity Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model, the innermost ring of the Behaviour Change Wheel (Michie et al., 2011), we sought to understand the experiences of high school athletes and coaches with concussion-related behaviours in their sports. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews (M = 72 min) with high school athletes (n = 10), coaches (n= 4), and teacher-coaches (n= 2) from a rural high school in New Brunswick, who were involved in ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, and rugby. We performed a directed content analysis of the interview transcripts using the COM-B model as pre-determined codes. Athletes and coaches described experiences that we felt impacted their capabilities for symptom disclosure (athletes), and for both athletes and coaches to properly manage SRC. Similarly, we interpreted that opportunities to improve SRC knowledge (athletes and coaches), to report SRC (athletes), to properly manage SRC (athletes) and to identify SRC (teacher-coach) were impacted by factors described in participants’ experiences. Lastly, participants described the motivational factors that impacted their SRC reporting (athletes), removal from play (coaches) and proper SRC management (athletes and coaches) behaviours. The findings from this study will ideally assist future researchers in designing more effective behavioural interventions to improve concussion safety among high school sport participants.

The primary focus of RtI has been at the elementary school level. However, over the past few years there has been a shift, and RtI has been expanding to secondary schools. Through this expansion, it is unclear if RtI has been effectively implemented at the secondary level. The ultimate goal for any school implementing change is institutionalization or sustainability. Therefore, this qualitative case study examined the institutionalization or sustainability of RtI systems in one high school. This study was designed to deepen the understanding of secondary RtI and to add to the literature on RtI at the secondary level. The purpose was to understand how one secondary school addressed the complexity and uniqueness of the secondary environment while sustaining RtI practices. The participants in this study shared several research-based practices that they believed assisted struggling students to become academically successful. The findings regarding RtI practices and implementation were supported by researchers whose works were analyzed in the literature review. The study concluded that understanding the phases of change, the three major forces which influenced change and a clear, well thought out plan are vital components to success.

Abstract Research indicates that understanding the influence of leadership and partnership development can inform the need to improve public education (Penuel & Gallagher, 2017). Although leadership theory and change theory support the need for partnerships in education, less attention has been given to how such partnerships develop and the role that leadership plays in that process. Therefore, the present study explored the role of leadership within researcher-practitioner partnerships and the process of developing sustainable partnerships in education as documented in a set of federal grant proposals, their final reports, and other descriptions of their efforts. Grant documents examined were awarded from the 2013 funding announcement of the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships (RPP) in Education Research program. In-depth qualitative document analysis provided a means to unobtrusively examine and interpret comprehensive, historical data (Corbin & Strauss, 2008; Patton, 2002). Directed content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005; Kaid & Johnston-Wadsworth, 1989) of the documents directed the process of data collection. This process used key concepts from the literature on transformational leadership, shared leadership, and leadership for change as the initial framework for data collection. Data analysis employed Eisner’s (1998) process of educational criticism using description, interpretation, evaluation, and thematics. Hatch’s (2002) process of typological analysis led to four typologies to organize the data for description and interpretation: capacity building; strategies for partnership development; approaches to communication; and the role of reflection in partnership development. The evaluation dimension of educational criticism indicated that partnerships employed shared leadership with evidence of internal and external support and a cultivation of shared commitment. Themes indicated that partnerships focused on both rigorous research and reflective practice, leaders engaged partners in establishing the infrastructure and strategic plans of the partnership, and partnerships galvanized support to address complex social issues beyond their formal organizational structure. Recommendations for future research include the need: (a) to explore the dynamics of communication in partnership work; (b) to clarify and facilitate the process of change in grant and project development; and (c) to develop of a process for sustainability beyond a specific grant or project. Recommendations for practice include the need: (a) to explore the cultivation of relationships in support of partnership development; (b) to identify clearly the primary issue to be addressed in the work of the partnership, and (c) to clarify mutual outcomes. Conclusions from the present study indicate the importance of a focus on the deliberate development of the researcher-practitioner partnerships themselves, the importance of concrete strategies for sharing leadership, and the importance of the development of professional relationships that support sustainability in partnership development.