Stephanie Chitpin
Stephanie Chitpin is an Associate Professor of Leadership in the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada. Dr. Chitpin’s principal contribution to leadership and the professional development of principals rests on her rejection of the inductive method. She argues that knowledge is acquired by hypotheses deductively validated as “falsifiability criteria”. Her research includes the analysis of the Objective Knowledge Growth Framework (OKGF) based on Popper’s critical rationalism.
Biography
Stephanie Chitpin is an Associate Professor of Leadership, Evaluation, Curriculum and Policy Studies at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Canada. Dr. Chitpin is known for her work in professional development of teachers using the Popperian approach (Karl Popper - Postpositivist). Her works include Decision Making in Educational Leadership: Principles, Policies, and Practices (2015), Popper’s Approach to Education: A Cornerstone of Teaching and Learning (2016), Confronting Educational Policy in Neoliberal Times: International Perspectives (2018), Understanding Decision-Making in Educational Contexts: A Case Study Approach (2020). She is also Series Editor of Educational Leadership and Policy Decision-Making in Neoliberal Times published by Routledge. Dr. Chitpin is currently exploring the use of critical rational models of decision making for principals.Education
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B.A. (Hons) University of Guelph
M.A. University of Toronto
Ph.D. University of Toronto
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Dr. Chitpin's areas of research include decision-making in educational leadership, educational leadership and administration, professional development, and epistemology. She is best known for her application of Karl Popper’s critical rationalism to the field of educational leadership and teacher professional development. Her current funded research by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) deals with principal decision-making as it relates to reducing achievement gaps and investigates dilemmas faced by educational leaders in school and hospital settings.
Dr. Chitpin is also the Founding Director of the Canadian Principal Learning Network (CPLN), a research unit for Organizational Learning and Leadership at the University of Ottawa. The CPLN was established to focus on organizational expertise and knowledge in relation to various aspects of leadership.
Furthermore, she is a member of a number of editorial boards of education and management journals, including the Journal of Clinical Case Reports, Journal of Advances in Education Research, and Creative Education.
Personal Interests
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Outside of her research and teaching interests, Dr. Chitpin enjoys volleyball, tennis, and yoga.
Books
Articles
Elephants and Riders in the Postmodern Era
Published: Dec 06, 2018 by Educational Philosophy and Theory
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
This chapter begins by describing how educational leadership has been defined over centuries past. The chapter then considers how educational leadership is being redefined in our postmodern age. At issue here is how new brain based research has begun to change how leaders work.
Redesigning Decision-Making in Pre-Service Teacher Education: Encouraging Engagement and Knowledge Growth
Published: Jan 01, 2018 by Teacher Education & Practice
Authors: Brianna McElroy & Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
In this article, we use the Objective Knowledge Growth Framework (OKGF), a model based on the critical rationalism of Sir Karl Popper, to show how the instructor has used the OKGF in redesigning two sections of the Curriculum Design and Evaluation course at the University of Ottawa. The redesign of the course attempts to support pre-service teachers' knowledge growth, based on student feedback, different curriculum delivery approaches, and assessment methods.
Overcoming irrationality: the Popperian approach
Published: Jan 01, 2017 by International Journal of Educational Management
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
This paper illustrates that Popper's approach on associationism is robust and applicable in an educational organizations and a variety of contexts, and suggests that the approach showcases our irrationality, and helps us understand when and where to make erroneous decisions.
Questioning Clerkship: Applying Popper's Evolutionary Analysis of Learning to Medical Student Training
Published: Jan 01, 2017 by Internaltional Journal of Educational Management
Authors: Jeremy Sebastian Chitpin & Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
Through a series of critical discussions on Karl Popper's evolutionary analysis of learning and the non-authoritarian values it promotes, the purpose of this paper is to advocate a Popperian approach for building medical student knowledge.
Leading school improvement: Using Popper’s theory of learning
Published: Oct 05, 2016 by Open Review of Educational Research
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
The current provincial education policies across Canada require that principals focus on (1) increasing the proportion of students who meet educational expectations and (2) reducing the ‘achievement gaps’ amongst sub-groups of students within the public school system. This article is concerned with how school can adopt Karl Popper’s theory of learning for school improvement efforts.
Making Just Tenure and Promotion Decisions Using the Objective Knowledge Growth Framework
Published: Jan 01, 2015 by Internaltional Journal of Educational Management
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
The purpose of this paper is to utilize the Objective Knowledge Growth Framework (OKGF) to promote a better understanding of the evaluating tenure and promotion processes.
Leadership in a Performative Context: A Framework for Decision-Making
Published: Jan 01, 2015 by Educational Philosophy and Theory
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin & Ken Jones
Subjects:
Education
This paper examines a model of decision-making within the context of current and emerging regimes of accountability being proposed and implemented for school systems in a number of jurisdictions. These approaches to accountability typically involve the use of various measurable student learning outcomes as well as other measures of performance to do with teachers and schools in general, often having high-stakes consequences.
Principals and the professional learning community: Learning to mobilize knowledge
Published: Jan 01, 2014 by International Journal of Education Management
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
The paper presents the inception of the CPLN, to assist principals in making decisions and resolving common problems. Second, the evolution of the CPLN web site is presented and recount the challenges faced and collaborative solved by principals. Finally, the paper describes the OKGF based on the critical rationalism of Karl Popper and how principals, engaging and interacting in an online learning community (CPLN) informed their decision-making process.
Should Popper's View of Rationality Be Used for Prompting Teacher Knowledge?
Published: Aug 01, 2013 by Educational Philosophy and Theory
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
The intent of this article is not to persuade educators to adopt Popper’s approach uncritically to build their professional knowledge. Rather, it presents a discussion on the need for teachers to adopt a critical approach in eliminating what is inadequate and preserve what is adequate by modifying or abandoning whatever traditions or practices that are inadequate to improve their teaching practice.
Can Mentoring and Reflection Cause Change in Teaching Practice? A Professional Development Journey of a Canadian Teacher Educator
Published: Jan 01, 2011 by Professional Development in Education
Authors: Stephanie Chitpin
Subjects:
Education
This article explores elements of the professional development of a pre-tenured teacher education professor. I am that professor and I trace my journey of growth, which was aided by peer mentoring. It documents my struggles to improve my teaching at the university level. In narrating my journey I am not presenting a model of best practice but, rather, highlighting how mentoring allowed me to reflect on and improve my teaching practice.