Understanding school districts as learning systems: Some lessons from three cases of complex transformation
- 683 Downloads
- 7 Citations
Abstract
We report on a study of three school jurisdictions in the province of Alberta. The original premise for the research on which this report is based was to investigate the diverse ways that school districts had administered resources that were provided through a major initiative to improve learning in the province. This account is not centrally concerned with how funds were utilized; rather, we report on how districts’ strategies and emphases within the initiative offer windows into the their systemic characters. The range of manifest characters, we argue, is a useful construct to inform policy, ensure the presence of necessary supports and structures, implement appropriate accountability measures, and set reasonable goals for large-scale initiatives in education.
Keywords
Complexity and systems thinking Educational changeReferences
- Barabási, A. L. (2003). Linked: How everything is connected to everything else and what it means for business, science, and everyday life. New York: Plume.Google Scholar
- Davis, B., & Sumara, D. (2006). Complexity and education: Inquiries into learning, teaching, and research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
- Davis, B., Sumara, D., & Luce-Kapler, R. (2008). Engaging minds: Changing teaching in complex times. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
- Fusarelli, L. D. (2002). Tightly coupled policy in loosely coupled systems: Institutional capacity and organizational change. Journal of Educational Administration, 40(6), 561–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Hargreaves, A., Crocker, R., Davis, B., McEwen, L., Sahlberg, P., Shirley, D., et al. (2009). The learning mosaic: A multiple perspectives review of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement. Edmonton: Alberta School Improvement Branch.Google Scholar
- Johnson, S. (2001). Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software. New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
- Kelly, K. (1994). Out of control: The new biology of machines, social systems, and the economic world. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.Google Scholar
- Mitchell, M. (2009). Complexity: A guided tour. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
- Morrison, K. (2002). School leadership and complexity theory. London: RoutledgeFalmer.Google Scholar
- O’Day, J. (2002). Complexity, accountability, and school improvement. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 293–329.Google Scholar
- Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J., & Kleiner, A. (2000). Schools that learn: A fifth discipline fieldbook for educators, parents, and everyone who cares about education. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
- Waldrop, M. M. (1992). Complexity: The emerging science on the edge of order and chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
- Watts, D. (2002). Six degrees: The science of a connected age. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
- Weaver, W. (1948). Science and complexity. American Scientist, 36, 536–544. Available online at http://www.conceptualinstitute.com/genre/weaver/weaver-1947b.htm.