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This action research inquiry, undertaken in partnership with the Independent Schools Association of British Columbia (ISABC), was guided by the question: How might the ISABC’s Team Leadership Program support the leadership development and thriving of emerging and middle leaders throughout and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic? Data were collected with a survey and two focus groups involving 52 participants from 16 independent schools. Arts-based approaches included photo elicitation and found poetry. Key findings indicated the pandemic has magnified the human side of educational leadership and thriving as being a middle leader requires communication, relationship building, and the prioritization of followers’ needs. Recommendations addressed strategies to (a) develop self-awareness, coaching, and interpersonal skills amongst emerging leaders; (b) capitalize on existing leadership networks to foster a stronger sense of belonging within the ISABC; and (c) offer leadership-focused professional development and resources accessible to the broader ISABC community. Keywords: arts-based research, found poetry, K–12, independent schools, leadership development, middle leaders, photo elicitation, thriving at work

The purpose of this action-oriented inquiry was to explore personal leadership practice and team learning among health care leaders, applications of design thinking as a framework for ongoing leadership development, and inform future strategies for leadership programming. The primary research question asked, “How might Fraser Health leaders leverage their existing personal mastery capabilities to foster team learning?” Study findings revealed existing leadership development programing within the organization promotes a strong foundation for personal mastery and team learning capabilities. Findings also suggest Fraser Health leaders have an opportunity to further draw on these foundational leadership skills and capabilities to navigate common challenges and advance team learning. Further, the findings from this study support recommendations that Fraser Health seek to galvanize existing practice supports for leaders within the system in support of leadership practice development and team learning. Keywords: health care, leadership, leadership development, personal mastery, team learning, design thinking, autoethnography

Effective leadership and a supportive organizational culture are integral for an authentic culture of quality and patient safety to develop. I aimed to understand the essential leadership competencies deemed necessary for the evolution of an organizational culture focused on quality and patient safety from the perspectives of frontline providers, including knowledge translation strategies developed to assist with implementation of the results. The primary inquiry question guiding this study was: “How might paramedic leaders foster a safe to fail culture in paramedic care environments for the purpose of quality improvement and patient safety?” Several leadership competencies were found to be related to ensuring the psychological safety of frontline providers. Effective leadership at all levels of an organization was highlighted as a key success factor in building a robust organizational culture focused on improving quality and safety for the patients served.

This story is a recollection and discussion of the personal, social and historical creation and operation of the Our Sustenance program; an Indigenous food sovereignty and security initiative at the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Southern Ontario, Canada. This dissertation includes a discussion of Indigenous food connection as a framework for understanding the social, cultural, and community connections to food, food knowledge, and how that fits into operating a food security initiative. Growing food connects to culture, language, community building, and social inequities within a positive experience that creates trust and knowledge transfer. The themes of this discussion include Indigenous ways of knowing, food knowledge transfer, community building, and the creation and inclusion of food sovereignty, security, and the promotion of health and well-being for all facets of whole-person health. The Six Nations specific research also discusses the potential for the use of similar approaches across communities and cultures. The autoethnographic creation of knowledge uses a Haudenosaunee mound garden to ‘grow a garden’ of understanding that layers the social and personal to understand Six Nations community food system.

Pressed specimen of Arbutus menziesii. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25200/Avender.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

This case study explores the conditions and motives that led to the formation of a local Chapter of environmental educators and documents the successes and challenges that occurred during the Chapter’s first year as the Salish Sea Environmental Educators Provincial Specialist Association (SSEEPSA). The thesis also explores the challenges experienced by the writer as a public-school environmental educator and highlights the learning and identity-forming experiences that occurred while she worked in collaboration with teachers who shared similar interests and passions. Details of the events that SSEEPSA organized offer best practices to implement when establishing a professional network or Chapter of a Provincial Specialist Association (PSA). In a year that was marked with additional isolation and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the thesis highlights the importance to teachers of professional communities in which to share their passions and knowledge and collaborate on projects and practices that extend beyond their classrooms.

Adhering to the Royal Roads University Research Ethics Policy, this thesis studied the research question, How might aquatic professionals advance their commitment to keep communities safe in, on, and around the water? In collaboration, the partner organizations were the BC/Yukon Branches of the Lifesaving Society (LSS) and the Canadian Red Cross (CRC). Research participants included LSS and CRC program staff, LSS and CRC instructors and trainers, aquatic professionals, and aquatic professionals in training. This study’s methodology was an integration of elements of Action Research Engagement (ARE), Participatory Action Research (PAR), and appreciative stance. Depending on the roles of the research participants, they either took part in a focus group or a 1-2-4-All large group method. Participants shared their experiences from across the BC/Yukon region on motivators, barriers, and potential achievements related to the World Health Organization’s strategies and interventions on drowning prevention. Emergent recommendations concentrated on practical action steps that have scale-up ability to include other provinces and territories in Canada. Keywords: community, community of practice, drowning, generational cohort, learning, safety, World Health Organization, youth

Pressed specimen of Rudbeckia fulgida. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25202/Golobic1.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

This case study will critically examine lessons learned during COVID-19 to inform how we advance change towards socially sustainable public spaces. Through the lens of equity, access to public space for vulnerable populations during COVID-19 in Victoria, British Columbia, is explored. A stakeholder analysis is presented to illuminate the nature of stakeholder engagement within the City of Victoria, followed by a review of the intersectoral response that led to the activation of ERCs and the mobilization of hotel rooms to accommodate people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Furthermore, this case study will discuss how participatory processes, such as equity-centred design, placemaking, and equity mapping, can facilitate community and citizen engagement. This case highlights the emergence of leisure-related innovations as catalysts for social change—an increasingly important area of leisure research. In addition, this case study outlines the urgent need for research related to the intersection of COVID-19, equity, public space, and leisure. For broader audiences, such as local governments, not-for profit organizations, and leisure service providers, the value of this case study is underscored by the relevance of co-creation in the context of inclusive land-use planning, policy, and design. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25231/Broderick.pdf?sequence=3

Pressed specimen of Erica carnea. https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/25210/Treulieb1.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y