The School as a Social System

The School as a Social System

What is an organizational theory?- A set of interrelated concepts, assumptions, and generalizations that systematically describes and explain regularities in behaviour in educational organizational. (Kerlinger, 1986).

What is a hypothesis?- A conjectural statement that indicates a relationship between at least two concepts or variables.

Assumptions and

Generalizations

Concepts Concepts

HypothesesVariables Empirical testing

Principles

Theory

FIGURE 1.1 THEORY-RESEARCH RELATION

A SYSTEM PERSPECTIVEEarly system analyses of the school viewed organizations as closed systems which means sealed off from the outside world.

There are three competing systems perspective have emerged and continue, each with its share of advocates which are:

Rational-systemsNatural-systemsOpen-systems

Rational-Systems Models : Closed to Open

-Views organizations as formal instruments designed to achieve specific organizational goals.-A set of actions is organized and implemented to achieve predetermined goals with maximum efficiency.-Rational systems were considered closed.

The Beginning – A Rational & Closed Machine Model

(A Contemporary View of Scientific Management)

•Goals--Organizations exist to attain collective goals•Division of Labor for efficiency•Specialization for expertise•Standardization for routine performance•Formalization for uniformity and coordination•Hierarchy for unity of command and coordination•Span of Control for effective supervision•Exception Principle to free superiors from routine•Coordination for administrative effectiveness•Formal Organization is the official blueprint of the

structure that guarantees efficiency and effectiveness. The formal organization is the key to organizational effectiveness.

Natural-Systems Models : Closed to Open

Views organizations as more akin to organisms than machines.Its early roots in the human relations approach of the 1930s.

The Beginning – A Natural & Closed Organic Model

Contemporary Natural System (Human Resources View)

•Survival--organizations are more than instruments for goal attainment; they are social groups that adapt and survive.•Individuals are more important than the structure.•Needs motivate performance more than role demands .•Specialization can promote boredom and frustration.•Formalization produces rigidity and rule fixation.•Informal Norms not formal rules are critical to performance.•Hierarchy is ineffective because it usually neglects talent.•Span of Control is dysfunctional because it fosters close and authoritarian supervision.•Informal Communication is more efficient and open than formal communication. •Informal Organization--informal structures are more important than formal ones just as informal leaders are more influential than formal ones. The informal organization is the key to effectiveness.

OPEN SYSTEM: AN INTEGRATION

Open-systems model views organizations as not only influenced by environments but also dependent on them.

At a general level, organizations are easily pictured as open systems.

Organizations take inputs from the environment, transform them, and produce outputs.

Social Science: Interdependence, Integration, and Contingencies

Max Weber Theory of BureaucracyChester Barnard Functions of the ExecutiveHerbert Simon Administrative BehaviorTalcott Parsons Social Systems Theory

Interdependence is a fact of organizational life. All organizations are open systems whose parts interact and depend on each other and are dependent on their environments.

KEY PROPERTIES OF OPEN SYSTEMS

Inputs people, materials, and resources from the outside

Transformation the process transforming inputs into something of value by the system.

Outputs the product of the transformationFeedback how the system communicates to

its parts and the environmentBoudaries systems are differentiated from

their environmentsEnvironment anything outside the systemHomeostatis a steady state of equilibriumEntropy tendency for all systems for run

down and dieEquifinality same end can be achieved many

ways

Inputs People Materials Finances

TransformationProcess

Outputs Products Services

Environment

Open System with Feedback Loop

Feedback

SOCIAL SYSTEMS MODEL: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

• Social systems are open systems.• Social systems consists of interdependent parts, which

interact with each other and the environment.• Social systems are goal oriented.• Social systems are peopled.• Social systems have structure.• Social systems are political.• Social systems have cultures.• Social systems have norms.• Social systems are conceptual and relative.• All formal organizations are social systems, but not all social

systems are organizations.

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

Structure: roles are expectations of positions that are arranged in hierarchy.

Individual: the individual is a key unit in any social system; regardless of position, people bring with them individual needs, beliefs, and a cognitive understandings of the job.

Culture: represents the unwritten feeling part of the organizations: its shared values

Politics: informal power relations that develop spontaneously.

Core: the teaching-learning process is the technical core of schools.

Environment: everything outside the organization; source of inputs.

Outputs: products of the organizations, e. g. educated students.

Feedback: communication that monitors behavior.

Effectiveness: the congruence between expected and actual outcomes.

W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011

Transformation ProcessTransformation Process

Structural SystemStructural System(Bureaucratic Expectations)(Bureaucratic Expectations)

Cultural SystemCultural System(Shared Orientations)(Shared Orientations)

Political SystemPolitical System(Power Relations)(Power Relations)

Individual SystemIndividual System(Cognition and Motivation)(Cognition and Motivation)

Learni

ng

Learning Teachin

g

Teaching

OutputsOutputsInputsInputs

EnvironmentEnvironment

Internal Elements of the System