Glenn Borthistle, MEd, BAE

Area of Study / Keywords

Decision Making Uncertainty Leadership Organizational Theory

About

I am a lifelong educator having experience in leadership positions at the school and district level in public education in British Columbia and in an international setting in China for three years. I am enjoying very much my current activity in the post-secondary world as a PhD student, sessional instructor, and research assistant and look forward to future opportunities to help students find success. From these past and current experiences I have built my educational philosophy on finding success for all, addressing student priorities as the top priorities, and that we are all learners all of the time. Gandhi said "learn as if you were to live forever" a quote which appears on the masthead of my website Learn 4 Forever and expresses my personal commitment to learning.

Research

My proposed research project is about uncertainty, decision making, and social practice in organizational decision making in two provinces. The intent is to answer the central question about the processes in decision making by senior educational leaders under conditions of uncertainty in Alberta and British Columbia. Current knowledge bases accessed include cognitive psychology, organization theory, educational administration & leadership, and pragmatic philosophy. Analysis will include sources and nature of uncertainty, how decisions are made and what evidence gathered, and how other members of the organization and community are involved in making meaning of this evidence toward a decision. 

Teaching

Courses taught include:

• EDUC 5280 Capstone Paper Supervision, Masters of Education, Thompson Rivers University
• EDUC 5460 Educational Management, Masters of Education, Thompson Rivers University
• EDPS 410 Ethics and Law in Teaching (Graduate Teaching Assistant), Faculty of Education, University of Alberta
• LDRS 410 Developing Administrative Competence, Trinity Western University