As instructional leadership involves attempts to understand and improve complex systems, this study explored principals' perceptions regarding possible contributions of systems thinking to instructional leadership. Based on a qualitative analysis, systems thinking was perceived by middle and high school principals to contribute to the following…

To ensure that curriculum development staff are focusing on student needs, this article suggests a question matrix showing the holistic relationship in the planning, implementation, and outcomes processes and in five interrelated program components (curriculum design, instructional means, resources, staff development, and learning experience).…

Describes Direction 2000, a high school holistic school improvement project based on the American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy Report (1989). Despite scarce funds, students need more time to learn through discovery, evaluation, and application of information sources. Libraries must be an integral part of…

Naturalistic evaluation aims to portray a program holistically, summarizing and interpreting concerns and issues, and presenting consideration beyond the data from respondent and evaluation input. This article shows how this approach was used to evaluate certain Getty Institute Discipline-Based Art Education training programs. (MLH)

The proposed "classroom" approach identifies the school counselor as a primary participant in students' overall development. This model enhances students' mental and emotional well-being by providing a preventive/developmental context, normalizing developmental struggles, increasing awareness of self and others, encouraging appreciation of…

Describes a young, future-oriented high school in New Hampshire aiming to foster student thinking, honor teamwork, inspire teacher self-reflection and teaming, and provide a caring learning environment. Key personalization ingredients include appropriate mindset, consistent focus on mission, creation of a respectful and caring environment,…

Future school curricula are likely to be less departmentalized and more integrated and holistic. This article summarizes new trends and emerging issues, such as telecommunications; computer literacy; nuclear, environmental, and AIDS education; nutrition and exercise, aging education, and futuristic study. Includes 18 notes. (MLH)

Developing an effective program for at-risk students calls for identifying needs that can be addressed through the existing curriculum and using a holistic planning approach. A workable strategy involves establishing a cooperative learning climate, developing an advisory system, providing a good behavior recognition system, and extending student…

Universities ought to promote administrator preparation programs designed to develop more holistic, intuitive thinking. Such programs should focus on the thought processes that are most prevalent during the creative cycle. This article illustrates this approach by presenting a Creative Leadership Preparation Model. Includes four references. (MLH)

To understand the dynamics of moving from fragmented work units to an integrated whole, a recent study examined the work cultures of 28 schools involved in major change efforts. This paper presents findings from three participating high schools that represent different phases (fragmentation, differentiation, and integration) of the development…

Marshall McLuhan and George B. Leonard saw the world of 1989 as a place where "children can learn far more, far faster in the outside world than within schoolhouse walls." Their dream of graduates as enlightened explorers and researchers has not been realized. Education in the future must embrace both values and factual knowledge.…

Urban educators must highly value the diversity of language, culture, and cognitive styles their students bring to the classroom. Holistic, interactive instruction builds on youngsters' interpretations of various forms of intelligence, whether musical, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, bodily kinesthetic, or spatial. Cooperative learning…

Until recently, teaching at Virginia Tech meant 1 professor in a room with 20 randomly assembled educational administration students enrolled in an isolated, narrowly defined course. program. Under the NASSP Alliance project, professors have developed a holistic, team-approach to instruction and benefit from a reading program that encourages idea…

Michael Polanyi's 1958 book "Personal Knowledge" explains how models and world views form the core of human life. The paradigmatic context in which today's schools function derives from an outmoded 19th-century agrarian economy. The new millennium context turns around the explosion of information technologies and the globalization of…

Discusses three cultural categories studied by Margaret Mead: pre-figurative (slow-changing); cofigurative (moderately changing); and post-figurative (rapidly changing). Schools must help our young persons recognize different ways of life throughout the world. We can no longer assume that our own practices, beliefs, and standards are superior to…