Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to draw on empirical data to interrogate the correlation between participation in leadership development programmes by individual leaders and the ability of higher education institutions to learn organisationally from such participation. Design/methodology/approach: Applying a multi-stakeholder perspective,…

This integrative literature review synthesizes the concepts and process of organizational knowledge creation with theories of individual learning. The knowledge conversion concept (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka, Toyama, & Byosiere, 2001) is used as the basis of the organizational knowledge creation process, while major learning theories relevant…

Discusses how schools are seen as powerful sources of health promotion in South Africa and how organization development is a potent strategy for managing change and enhancing the school's growth towards becoming a healthy learning environment. Addresses the implications for the role of school psychologists in contributing towards the development…

Describes the importance of school culture and its relationship to school climate. Summarizes research about the key features of school culture and climate, their links to student performance, and the principal's role in improving school climate and culture. (LMI)

Using the literature and experiences of theorists and practitioners from several interrelated areas (knowledge work, organization learning/development, sociotechnical systems design, and quality improvement), this article proposes a new instructional supervision paradigm called Knowledge Work Supervision aimed at improving school systems'…

Summarizes key themes described in the learning organization literature and discusses ways in which each theme illuminates how schools might be better organized to deliver services for students with disabilities. Addresses organizational learning, knowledge, authentic communication, vision, steward leadership, systems perspective, and…

Education reform solutions often ignore the people involved and concentrate solely on the systems in which they work. This paper presents an overview of invitational education theory and Total Quality Management (TQM) theory and describes their uses for improving education. Both theories are holistic approaches; stress the cooperative nature of…

Purpose: This paper provides an example of how organization theory can be linked with other literatures in a complementary and productive manner. Establishing a bridge between the organization theory and learning environment literatures, the authors seek to provide an example of how such literature-bridging can enrich our understanding of the…

This book traces the first year of a magnet school called Mega Center for Learning, established in 1990 in a large midwestern urban school district. It focuses on how the primary metaphors embedded in school documents and in stakeholders' perceptions and practices helped or hindered reform. Data were obtained from classroom observation; informal…

When school psychologists adopt an organization development perspective they are acting on a cluster of related concepts: (1) that because schools are social organizations, school effectiveness depends on the school's organizational culture; (2) that attempts to institute educational reforms only work when the reforms and the school culture mesh;…

Compares two Rockefeller Foundation efforts to further the advanced professional education of prospective faculty members of Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, and National University, Zaire. Emphasizes the contrasts between the two efforts and the diversity among developing nations. Notes the effects of the sociopolitical-cultural environment…

Although it has yet to make a major impact on education and training in the United Kingdom, interest in eLearning is growing. To facilitate eLearning, a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is usually employed containing four main elements: courseware (self study learning materials, simulations, multimedia components); supporting materials…

The nature of educational settings and the relationship between educational settings and educational change is discussed. It is suggested that the standard linear organizational structure within most school settings is detrimental to the implementation and development of creative change strategies. The rigidity of this type of organizational…

Based on recent school effectiveness literature, this paper suggests local policies to stimulate and facilitate school reform. After discussing the goals of the effective schools movement and briefly reviewing the literature, it presents a two-phase model for school improvement projects, based on the premise that a school's culture primarily…

This report discusses the structural conditions under which organizational development (OD), as employed in the school systems of the United States and Canada, is more or less applicable to schools. The first section (chapters 1-6) reviews papers and books, concerning either OD in general or the ways in which the ideas of OD have been used in the…