Reviews several general conceptual models that facilitate consultant's conceptual work. Notes that fundamental to effectiveness of consultation is consultant's ability to empower consultees conceptually. Presents and discusses several principles related to achieving this objective. Concludes with discussion targeted to objective of integrating…

Describes several approaches that could be used to test methods of promoting community, including initially using simple group and single-system research designs, operationally defining concepts, developing practical ways to measure these concepts, and focusing on evaluating the outcomes (and not the processes) of promoting a sense of community.…

The planning wheel considers the interaction of six components of program planning. Within a macro/micro systems approach, the model incorporates internal and external forces that influence economic development by capturing political, social, cultural, technological, and economic forces. (SK)

Examines a sample of the frameworks used to model human performance in organizations with respect to change orientation, theoretical basis, organizational results level, unit of analysis, and performance analysis. Contrasts organizational system and performance system frameworks with systematic process models of performance improvement. (Contains…

Knowledge management depends on understanding organizations as three-dimensional systems or environments with mechanistic, organic, and dynamic features. Knowledge managers must understand the nature of chaos and the methods and culture that use the ability of chaos to organize itself. (Contains 36 references.) (SK)

The authors present a theory of stochastic interactive parallel processing with special emphasis on channel interactions and their relation to system capacity. The approach is based both on linear systems theory augmented with stochastic elements and decisional operators and on a metatheory of parallel channels' dependencies that incorporates…

This contribution suggests a conceptual framework for using complexity to understand human interactions in learning organizations. The particular lens adopted for this purpose is that of the Chaos perspective. The following general concepts are described: discontinuous growth, attractors: their basins and landscapes, the chaordic properties of…

This article challenges misperceptions about the definition of systemic change in school districts. While many contemporary change efforts are described as "systemic," in fact, they are not. The author also argues that a special instance of systemic change known as systemic transformational change is required to transform entire school…

System Dynamics is a well formulated methodology for analyzing the components of a system including cause-effect relationships and their underlying mathematics and logic, time delays, and feedback loops. It began in the business and manufacturing world, but is now affecting education and many other disciplines. Having inspired by successful policy…

Informatics is a branch of computer science that concerns itself, in actuality, with the use of information systems. The objective of this paper is to focus on the business curriculum for graduate students and their gaining proficiency in informatics so that they can understand the concept of information, the access of information, the use of…

A challenge for career theory informed by constructivism is how to apply it in practice. This article describes a career counseling intervention based on the constructivist Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development and the qualitative career assessment instrument derived from it, the My System of Career Influences (MSCI; M. McMahon, W.…

This article provides a feminist poststructural analysis of the authors' academic labor during a State of the Field Literature Review of Gender and Adult Learning for a government-funded educational body. Drawing on Foucault and feminist theorists, the authors pay particular attention to how power seeps down through the system to our bodies in our…

This article explores the concept of recovery in the wake of a loved one's death, using a cultural and developmental systems approach to understanding child, adult, and family bereavement outcomes as evolving, interdependent adaptive responses to changed circumstances of development within highly specific contexts in intergenerational time and…

Rates of overweight in youth have reached epidemic proportions and are associated with adverse health outcomes. Family-based programs have been widely used to treat overweight in youth. However, few programs incorporate a theoretical framework for studying a family systems approach in relation to youth health behavior change. Therefore, this…

This article discusses the contributions to this special issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly." At the core of all the contributions is the compellingly urgent realization that humanity is facing, and must deal with, enormous ecological and social problems and challenges. This situation has created an urgent and compelling need centered…