Examines intergenerational conflict as a precursor to substance use among second-generation Asian-Indian adolescents. Based on systems theory, a structural model depicting the linkage and temporal sequelae of mediating factors is presented. Identifies risk and protective factors unique to Asian-Indian adolescents. Examines the impact of gender…

Current views on leadership and leadership competencies overlook nonrational and unconscious aspects of human functioning. Six perspectives on group work leadership are presented, with suggestions for competencies derived from the fields of systems thinking and psychodynamic psychology. Outdoor leaders could benefit from developing their intuition…

Considers strategies for the implementation of quality improvement in libraries. Highlights include structured quality improvement, especially Total Quality Management; organizational change; customer focus; continuous improvement; data-based decision making; systems thinking; employee involvement in decision making; diffusion of innovation;…

Presents an overview of a course in systems engineering and creative systems at Loughborough University. Explains the way that creativity is encouraged, the use of systems understanding, and a model for design processes. Includes examples of projects and student work. (DDR)

Illustrates how the Dick and Carey systems approach model (1990) can still be used as part of the instructional design and developmental process in an inquiry-based online constructivist learning environment. Focuses on the Shell Island Dilemma, a scientific inquiry simulation on the Carolina Coastal Science Web site. (AEF)

If the goal is to fundamentally change the culture inside schools, people need to move beyond the superficiality of professional learning communities and focus on a system of learners. Professional learning communities are in fact about establishing lasting new collaborative cultures. Collaborative cultures are ones that focus on building the…

System theory, which attests that any change in one component of a system will change other components, is fundamental to the communication discipline. Students are often provided with verbal metaphors (e.g., the machine metaphor) when learning about this theory but many times are not shown its complexity in an engaging manner. Additionally,…

The article analyses the system of institutional quality assessment at universities and lays foundation to its functional, morphological and processual parameters. It also presents the concept of the system and discusses the distribution of systems into groups, defines information, accountability, improvement and benchmarking functions of higher…

People's mental models are viewed as being significant in achieving organizational outcomes, on the assumption that mental models influence people's acts. A fundamental issue in the area of organizational learning, then, is the relation between mental models, learning and performance. We contend that a fruitful line of work is to study persons as…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review a systemic organizational change initiative for improving collaboration, innovation and value creation at a global telecom. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive internal assessment Telenor identified core issues and challenges in supporting collaboration after several years of…

Addressing educational change through systems design allows disciplined inquiry into the complex and emerging social structures of this dynamic system. One such method, narrative story, provides a way to examine the historical and current-lived practice of those engaged in the educational system. As a design conversation, it encourages the…

This article offers an introduction to the central concepts and principles of the Systemic-Structural Theory of Activity (SSTA), an activity-theoretical approach specifically tailored to the analysis and design of human work. In activity theory, cognition is understood both as a process and as a structured system of actions. Building on the…

Educational leaders continually must be vigilant about their actions as they speak volumes about the values that the leader supports. It is impossible for an educational leader to take an action without generating some comment about how things should be done--which by definition is moral action. What's more, everyone is watching--especially the…

Student data are gaining increased attention in education, spurred by accountability policies such as those contained in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. Student data are useful for informing classroom practice, and user-friendly technologies for organizing and accessing data are enabling access by all teachers. In this study, we…

Approximately 900,000 people with active symptoms of serious mental illness are booked annually into U.S. jails. Of these, about three quarters have a co-occurring substance use disorder. When these people return to the community they have multiple, complex and interrelated treatment needs, which are often exacerbated by release into the…