Other Approaches to Schools as Organizations
Keywords:
organizational theory, deep and sustained change, teacher learning, school developmentAbstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the role that the analysis of the school as organization can play in discussions on other education, including the contribution to this discussion of organizational theory, organization research and development in schools, and voices from the field. The question is whether other education implies other organization of learning and working in schools, including other perspectives on the school as an organization. As a first step, a narrow and a broad perspective on schools as organizations are distinguished. Next, the broad perspective is further elaborated, leading to the conclusion that an intrinsic relationship exists between pedagogical and didactical aspects of teaching and learning, the social and power relationships, and the material and immaterial conditions for teaching and learning in schools. This discussion leads to the search for alternatives to the traditional organization of teaching and learning. This search is illustrated by an example from the Netherlands.
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