Social system perspective which belongs to systems theory has been elaborated comprehensively using its founders' ideas, and characteristics of schools have been explained consulting to this perspective. The course of social system idea has been reviewed along with its relation to other systems. How researchers who assumes schools as social…

The overarching goal of this special issue is to consider peer victimization involvement and corresponding interventions for youth with disabilities from a social dynamics perspective that situates risks for being a victim, perpetrator, or both within a person-in-context framework. The focus here is not on a specific age range or type of…

In recent years, many studies have clearly documented that mixed-race people are currently engaged in the process of self validation (DaCosta. 2007; Dalmage, 2003; McQueen, 2002; Root, 1996 & 2001; Spencer, J, M., 1997; Spencer, R., 2006a; Thorton, 1992). There is not a lot of empirical research that examines how schools influence the racial…

In this dissertation, I study how Taiwanese vocational students as an oppressed group within the higher education system perceive, interpret, adapt or resist, and struggle to change the inequitable social structure. The theoretical framework in this research is constructed from Paulo Freire's ideas in "Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"…

In this paper the main focus was placed on the relationships between three educational branches that exist at the local level as well as their relationships with the surrounding environment. (Author)

This document presents the results of a major study of the relationship between elementary school social systems and educational outcomes. This research sought to identify factors associated with academic climate which could account for the variance in achievement levels in a random sample of Michigan elementary schools. The main hypothesis of the…

A study investigated the experience of being a gifted student at a public residential high school by using ethnographic and phenomenological inquiry. The social system that emerged, one that the students judged as atypical, is described. Contextual factors are presented in an effort to understand the students' experience. (Contains references.)…

The change processes involving schools that are currently experiencing turbulent social reconstruction in eastern Europe are examined in this paper, which calls for the development of a new paradigm for social change. The first section describes recent educational reform activities and their flaws in three eastern European countries--Russia,…

The education literature has not adequately considered the notion of change at its most fundamental level. This paper considers notions of institutional or social change from the ontological perspective of H. R. Maturana. The pattern of organization in living systems is defined by Maturana and Varela (1980) as "autopoiesis," a coined…

Banks (2002) stated that to implement multicultural education successfully, we must think of the school as a social system. Therefore, if educational equity and excellence are to be provided to all students, a systemic Total School Environment [Banks (2001) "Cultural diversity and education: Foundations curriculum and teaching, 4th ed." Allyn and…