The planner's model requires people to be rational in setting educational policies and spending resources to implement those policies. It is assumed that if an organization has difficulty in planning, the fault lies with the people, not with the model. Two images of the school cover the conceptions commonly held by many people. The image of the…

In discussing what is meant by the concept "organization," the author raises the questions, "What is an organization that it can have such a thing as a goal?" and, assuming it appropriate to speak of organizational goals, "how do the goals of individuals bear on those of the organization?" The author submits that answers to these questions raise…

This article is a response to an earlier article, in which Daniel E. Griffiths argued that improved "homework" by organizational theorists offers a realistic prospect for establishing "a solid theoretical base for educational administration." This article argues that theory in administration treats the external trappings of organizations but fails…

There exists a body of theory and assumption that runs squarely at odds with that which has provided the ideological underpinnings of educational administration as it has been developed over the past two decades. The ideological conflict between these two views rests on two fundamentally different ways of looking at the world. One is the…

In searching for a concept of organization which recognizes its base in human action rather than in objective structure, the author draws on a European tradition stemming from the works of Max Weber. This tradition, combined with examples of organizational life in schools, serves to identify implications for those who attempt to design better…