Sedimentation and Standards: An interpretation of the 2018 Alberta Leadership Quality Standard from a Gadamerian perspective

Abstract

This dissertation is an interpretive document on the Leadership Quality Standard policy that was released in Alberta, Canada in 2018. In it, I examine the tensions, contradictions, and possibilities that emerge in this policy document. Using the hermeneutic philosophy of Hans Georg Gadamer I hope to gain insight into how people interpret policy. As well, this dissertation presents a metaphor of sedimentary layers as a way to understand and question policy formation, interpretation, and experience. The analysis done in this dissertation is informed by analytic auto-ethnography. Out of this process, the hermeneutic nature of policy becomes clear and emphasizes the importance of leaders to honour the voice of the individual. Ultimately, this analysis shows that leaders with a sense of hermeneutic wonder will be able to care for human complexity and recognize the importance of being wrong. This will allow for the generation of ideas and increase possibilities around policy. New and established leaders may use this work to help support the implementation of the LQS in Alberta.