The radical economic, social and cultural changes experienced by the labour market within recent decades have helped to highlight the central role played by the learning process in individual career development and organizational success. In such fast-moving working contexts, skills and competencies rapidly become outdated and need to be…

In 2007, Tulsa Community College (TCC) joined the national Achieving the Dream (ATD) network, which is dedicated to developing data-informed interventions to increase persistence and completion among community college students. TCC's participation in the national initiative set it down a path for positive institutional change, but it was the…

Scholars representing the field of organizational science, broadly defined as including many fields--organizational behavior and development, management, workplace performance, and so on--were asked to identify what they considered to be the most exciting and imaginative work currently being done in their field, as well as how that work might…

This article presents the author's reflection on his experiences of teacher evaluation implemented in South Africa and his interest in researching this contentious topic in South Australia. He is of the opinion that his research will serve as a source of knowledge generation to teachers with respect to: a) "greater personal, professional and…

A substantial body of literature has highlighted many factors that impede faculty change, the most common of which are a lack of training, time, and incentives. However, there may be other barriers--unacknowledged and unexamined barriers--that might prove to be equally important. In particular, the tensions between a scientist's professional…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

This article deals with the question of how the restructuring of educational systems in Nordic countries affects teachers' working conditions. It is based on results from the project "Restructuring in Education: Reform policy and teacher professionalism in different Nordic contexts" in which the construction of the "New…

Since educational organizations must constantly change to meet the demands of a changing society, educational administrators might look to the social sciences for help in managing change and innovation. This paper argues that an organizational approach to educational innovation is likely to be more successful than an individualistic approach.…

Schools are essentially human systems; without people they are nothing but wood, concrete, and paper. Yet, the people who make up schools -- professionals, parents, service personnel, and students -- often form into ineffective and poorly coordinated groups, much in the way that employees in the bureaucracies of industry and government become…

Schools face frightening challenges in the decades ahead, and a fundamental question of education is how they will cope. Organization Development (OD), a process designed to help organizations meet the challenges of pervasive change, appears capable of helping in this situation. There have been several OD applications in schools, but no definitive…

In this publication, the authors suggest that the findings reported are sufficiently well supported by evidence to act as useful guides, even if tentatively. The central purpose of the program was to develop a theory and technology for structural and cultural change within the public schools. The program deliberately emphasized both formative and…

There is mounting evidence that the best way to serve the needs of both educators and of enlightened change is to adopt a highly flexible, interpersonal approach with a bare minimum of preconceptions and organizational props. (MM)

This paper argues that research on innovation and organizational change should shift its focus from the impact of individuals to that of organizational structure and environmental factors. The results of two research projects carried out in 1968-69 and 1969-70 on organizational change in school districts are presented to support the premise that…

Provides brief accounts of significant innovation and research in Australia. Topics covered include educational administration, participation of high school students in extra-curricular activities, and a cooperative venture in special education. (Editor/RK)

This project developed a conceptual framework for viewing educational planning. The original framework was based on a review of literature. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to school districts involved in systematic planning. Four of those districts, each with a distinctive approach to planning, were subjected to case study. The data…