View article

To maintain relevance, institutes for vocational and professional education (VPE) need to be responsive to changes in society and industry. This requires leaders and educators in VPE to keep developing themselves and their practices. In institutes for VPE many decisions regarding program curriculum and teaching practices are made at the department level. Yet, the preparation of department chairs in post-secondary contexts rarely focuses on improving teaching and learning. A substantive knowledge base regarding leadership of teaching and learning in VPE is lacking. A model of leadership for learning in VPE is proposed as comprising three elements: (1) developing a shared vision and goals; (2) promoting instructor learning; and (3) leading the educational program. The study explores ways in which seven chairs and associate chairs from western Canadian VPE …