How do schools maintain momentum with change and enter new cycles of growth when they are attempting to do things differently? This article draws on a two-year evaluation of the "Positive Behaviour for Learning School-Wide" initiative to identify key factors that enabled schools to engage in a long-term and iterative change process.…

The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as "messes"--complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of…

A systems approach to developing and designing social work curricula is discussed. Systems principles are discussed in connection with both the process and the outcomes of curriculum building. Pragmatic principles that can guide and enable complex systems to change are stated. (Author/MLW)

Introduces design, integrated with systems thinking, as a necessary if not sufficient means for meeting the challenge of how to create or recreate organizations and institutions. The limits of problem-solving strategies when applied to complex organizational change, the designer's role, and the creative process of design are discussed. (Contains…

Examines how school counselors can apply systems theory and social ecology to problem conceptualization and intervention planning. Also explores the implications of this broadened paradigm for the school counselor's role. Asserts that in order to achieve broad-based change, schools, families, and communities must engage in collaborative problem…

An essay on the changing decision-making and organization skills needed by librarians to cope with the new interdisciplinary knowledge, the great increase in types of media and services available, and uncertainty. (JAB)

The Florida Assessment and Diffusion System (FADS) represents a systematic approach to organizational change, emphasizing the interpersonal communication dimension of the change process. FADS encourages a systems approach to change, but is flexible enough to allow for procedural changes in response to specific user needs. The model assumes a…

This paper focuses on the systems approach in family therapy and attempts to further the development of this approach by defining its assumptions and delineating the relationship between the assumptions and their operationalization in assessment and therapy. The first section identifies two basic assumptions of a systemic approach, i.e., that the…

This paper explores the dynamics of managing collective problem solving and decision making, and the application of tools and strategies to deal with the emergent complexity of systems in which educators work. Schools and educational programs are complex adaptive systems that respond to changes in internal and external environments. Functioning…

This paper was presented at a symposium bringing together persons with experience and expertise associated with organizational development in schools. The Improving Teaching Competencies Program at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory has been developing 15 sets of training materials to be used in organizational improvement strategies…

Successful educational improvement efforts stem from processes and forces that are indigenous to a given setting. Efforts at problem-solving stimulate and are reinforced by a closely related phenomenon: the individual and professional growth of the persons involved. Developmental efforts in education must proceed from a substantially different…

Describes a social development program for elementary school children that was developed using systems methodology. All school members were involved. Both students and teachers reported positive changes, as well as improved school attendance. The problem-solving approach included: needs assessment, specifying objectives, generating alternative…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how, from 2004-2006, a New Zealand research team experimented with the "change laboratory" learning process to create a new method of government policy development and implementation, referred to as "practice-making". The apple industry in Hawke's Bay was chosen because of the…

Systems thinking involves seeing relationships between the parts to the whole within the school improvement effort. After providing the key principles and examples of systems thinking, the article emphasizes the importance of staff development, highlighting experiences at a Wellesley (Massachusetts) middle school and an Alaskan high school. (SM)

Outlines innovations associated with development of a learning environment designed around problem-solving/situation-improving strategies for farming and other agricultural systems at Australia's Hawkesbury Agricultural College. The situation at the school is described; observations and reflections are noted; and conceptualizations and actions for…