Initiating and implementing an innovation through the process of cooperative and collaborative planning

Abstract

This thesis explores a process followed by the R. C. St. John's School District in their plight to introduce and implement an innovation within their school system. The innovation involved the examination of new programs dealing with discipline as a result of widespread problems being experienced throughout the district.

After extensive research across Canada and the United States, the St. John's R. C. School District chose, Cooperative Discipline: A Thinking and Caring Approach by Dr. Linda Albert. The school improvement division of the school district were impressed with the program's policy and guideline development, outlined procedures to follow, and strategies that could be used within the educational setting to combat misbehavior. Furthermore, the cooperative discipline program is structured to involve teachers, students, parents, and/or administrators in a cooperative and collaborative manner.

The program has a number of attractive features that appealed to the R. C. St. John's School District. The program has an inservice package, it is interactive and user friendly, it pinpoints the reason for misbehavior, it has a large number of strategies for teachers to use, it corrects behavior in a proactive manner through action planning, and it can be adapted or modified to suit each school's needs.

The school improvement team followed Michael Fullan and Keith Leithwood's models as processes to follow in bringing about change within the St. John's School District.