Growth enhancing environments in educational organizations

1. Growth-Enhancing Environments in Educational Organizations

In Search of A Paradigm

Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals and groups act in organizations.

Lewin's Equation

It states thatBehavioris a function of thePersonand his or herEnvironment . The equation is the psychologist's most well known formula in social psychology, of which Lewin was a modern pioneer. When first presented in Lewin's bookPrinciples of Topological Psychology , published in 1936, it contradicted most popular theories in that it gave importance to a person's momentary situation in understanding his or her behavior, rather than relying entirely on the past.

It follows thatorganizational environmentis a key to influencingorganizational behavior .

The behavior of the people in an organizational life arises from the interaction between theirinner motivational needs and characteristics(temperaments, intelligences, beliefs, perceptions) and characteristics oforganizational environment.

Organization and its environment is a socially constructed reality. It is not tangible.

Building is tangible, furniture and equipment, files and other artifacts that make up the physical entity that we often call school. But this is not the organization.

Organization exists largely in the eye and themind of the beholder , it is in reality pretty muchwhat people think it is .

Bureaucratic

Human Resources Development (HRD)

Classical/traditional/ factory model of organization

Epitomized by the 18 thcentury army of Frederick the Great with its characteristically mechanical regimentation , top-down authority, going by the book.

On this view an organization is though as an old fashioned clockwith all the various parts articulated so that everything works smoothly and predictably.

Up to this day this is the most common ideal of an organization.

Five mechanisms for dealing with controlling and coordinating the behavior of people in an organization.

1. Maintain firm hierarchical control of authority and close supervision of those in the lower ranks.(role of administrator as an inspector and evaluator)

Establish and maintain adequate vertical communication .(assure that good information will be transmitted up the hierarchy to the decision makers and orders will be clearly and quickly transmitted down the line for the implementation.)

Develop clear written rules and procedures to set standards and guide actions.(these includes curriculum guides, policy, handbooks, instructions, standard forms, duty rosters, rules and regulations ad standard operating procedures)

4. Promulgate clear plans and schedules for participants to follow.(these includes teachers lesson plans, bell schedules, meeting schedules, budgets, special teacher schedules, lunch schedules, and many others)

Add supervisory and administrative positions to the hierarchy of the organization as necessary to meet problems that arise from changing conditions confronted by the organization.(new positions appeared as the need arises)

The overwhelming widespread acceptance of these preferred mechanism for exercising control and coordination in schools is illustrated by the reform movement that burst upon the scene in the earl 1980s in America.

The effectiveness of the school arose as the major theme in the agenda on education in 1980s to joined the linked duo that had been inherited from the 1970s

In 1982 a virtually unrelated reform movement suddenly eruptedthat seized the center stage and strongly influenced numerous efforts to improve the functioning of schools.

In 1983 , A Nation at Riskand other reports brought recommendations that resulted in

longer days, focus on time on task, more homework, career ladders, call for stronger school leadership of the principal, tougher curriculum, longer school calendar and others

Virtually all of the reform proposals have assumed a top-down strategy similar to this: that is, decision are made in the legislature or another place in the hierarchy, such as the state department, and handed down to be implemented by teachers in their classrooms.

It simply doesnt work that way.The impulse to reform the schools from top down is not working.

The model for such reform was the factory; Frederick Taylors Scientific management. It created an environment whose principal characteristics were pyramidalthe teacher was the worker on the assembly line, the student, the product; the superintendent, the chief executive, the trustees and the taxpayers are the shareholders.

It doesnt work because factory (business and industry) and schools are completely different organizations.

To present a different set of assumptions about the organizational characteristics of schools and the behavior of teachers in their classrooms;a view that places the teacher foremost in creating instructional change.Be the cha to

They call it theHuman Resources Development Views.

Human Resources Development (HRD) views the teacher as foremost in creating instructional change.

HRD uses newer concepts such as loose coupling (allowing subunits autonomy) and the power of organization culture to influence behavior.

HRD exercises coordination and control through socialization of participants to the values and goals of the organization, rather then through written rules and close supervision.

On this view, close inspection and supervision are far from the only means of assuring the predictable performance of participants.

Personal identification with the values of the organizations culture can provide a powerful motivation for dependable performance even under conditions of great uncertainty and stress.(What is it that causes an individual to join an organization, stay in it, and work toward the organizations goals?)

Douglas McGregor

Assumptions underlying the assumptions that one holds about the people in organization.

this can be use as a guide to action in dealing with employees in the organization.

Theory Xrests on four assumptions that an administrator holds about people in organization.

They dislike work, must be supervised closely, will shirk responsibility and seek formal direction, and have a little ambition.

Theory Yembraces four different assumptions administrators hold about the nature of people at work.

They view work as satisfying, exercise initiative and self direction if committed to the organization, learn to accept responsibility and seek it, and have the ability to make good decisions.

People in our culture, teachers among them, share a common set of needs to belong, to be liked, to be respected.

2.Although teachers desire individual recognition, they, more importantly, want to feel useful to the school.

3. They tend to cooperate willingly and to comply with school, department, and unit goals if these important needs are fulfilled.

In addition to sharing common needs for belonging and respect, most people in our culture, teachers among them, desire to contribute effectively and creatively to the accomplishment of worthwhile objectives.

. The majority of teachers are capable of exercising far more initiative responsibility, and creativity than their present job or work circumstances require or allow.

These capabilities represent untapped resources which are currently being wasted.

The administrators basic task is to make each teacher believe that he or she is a useful and an important part of the team.

The administrator is willing to explain his or her decisions and to discuss teachers objections to his or her plans. On routine matters, teachers are encouraged in planning and in decision making.

Within narrow limits, the faculty unit or individual teachers who comprise the faculty units should be allowed to exercise self direction and self control.

The administrators basic task is to create an environment in which the teachers can contribute their full range of talents to the accomplishment of school goals. The administrator works to uncover the creative resources of the teachers.

The administrator allows and encourages teachers to participate in important as well as routine decisions. In fact, the more important a decision is to the school, the greater are the administrators effort to tap faculty resources.

. Administrators work continually to expand the areas over which teachers exercise self-direction and self-control as they develop and demonstrate greater insight and ability.

Sharing information with teachers and involving them in school decision making will help satisfy their basic needs for belonging and for individual recognition.

Satisfying these needs will improve teacher morale and will reduce resistance to formal authority.

The overall quality of decision making and performance will improve as administrators and teachers make use of the full range of experience, insight, and creative ability that exists in their school.

Teachers will exercise responsible self-direction and self-control the accomplishment of worthwhile objectives that they understand and have helped establish.

Management is seen as having no trust in subordinates.

Decision imposed made at the top

Subordinates motivated by fear, threats and punishment.

Control centered on top management.

Little superior-subordinate interaction

People informally opposed to goal by management.

Management has condescending confidence and trust in subordinates.

Subordinate seldom involved in decision making.

Rewards and punishment used to motivate

Interaction used with condescension

Fear and caution displayed by subordinates.

Control centered on top management but some delegation

Management seen as having substantialbut not complete trust in subordinates

Subordinates makes specific decisions at lower level.

Communication flows up and down hierarchy.

Rewards, occasional punishment, and some involvement are used to motivate.

Moderate interaction and fair trust exist.

Control is delegated downward

Management is seen as having complete trust and confidence in subordinates.

Decision making is widely dispersed.

Communication flows up and down and laterally.

Motivation is by participation and rewards.

High degree of confidence and trust exists.

Widespread of responsibility for the control process exists.

Is generally defined asthe characteristics of the total environment in a school building.

According to the work of Renato Tagiuri the total environment of an organization, that is the organizational climate, are comprised by 4 dimension.

1. Ecology refers to physical and material factors in the organization:for example the size, age, design, facilities, and condition of the building or buildings. It also refers to technology used by people in the organization: desks and chairs, chalkboards, elevators, everything used to carry out organizational activities.

2. Milieu is the social dimension in the organization. This includes virtually everything relating to people in the organization .This would include race and ethnicity, salary level of teachers, socioeconomic level of students,education levels attained by teachers, the morale and motivation of adults and students, level of job satisfaction and others.

3. Social System refers to the organizational and administrative structure of the organization.It includes how the school is organized, the ways in which decisions are made and who is involved in making them, the communication patterns among people, what work groups there are, etc.

4. Culture refers to the value, belief systems, norms, and ways of thinking that are characteristics of the people in the organization.It is the way we do things around here.

Once a culture is established it is not only shapes peoples behavior, perception and understanding of events, it provides a template for learning. Culture exerts a profound impact on the induction and orientation of organizational members and on the way an organization responds to changes in its environment.

Schein describes the culture of a group as:

A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.

Physical and social environment

Includes the myths and stories about the organization, the architecture ,published lists of values, the norms of behavior, the technology, the style of dress, rituals, ceremonies, customs and languages

Most easily observed and readily visible but it is often difficult to interpret.

Testable in the physical environment.

Testable only by social consensus.

Less visible and very complex.

Sometimes encoded in written language such as mission statement statement of philosophy, or credo.

Relationship to environment

Nature of reality, time and space

Nature of human nature

Nature of Human activity

Nature of Human Relationships

to environment.

Nature of Relationship on time and space

Essence of culture

Assumptions are those unconscious taken for granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, underlying shared convictions that guide behavior and are the ultimate source of values and action.

Norms. An important way in which organizational culture influencesbehavior is through the norms or standards that the social system institutionalizes and enforces. These are encountered by the individual as group norms, which are ideas that can be put in the form of statement specifying what members . Should do. They are in other words ,rules of behavior which have been accepted as legitimate by members of a group. They are of course, unwritten rules , that nonetheless express the shared beliefs of most group members about what behavior is appropriate in order to be a member in good standing.

Assumptions. Underneath these behavioral norms lie the assumptions that comprise the bedrock upon which norms and all other aspects of culture are built. These assumptions deal withwhat people in the organization accept as true in the world and what is false., what is sensible and what is absurd, what is possible and what is impossible . Assumptions are tacit instead, unconsciously taken for granted, rarely considered or talked about and accepted as true and nonnegotiable.

Theory Zby William Ouichi (1981)

It was published at a moment when American corporate managers were groping for some solution to their difficulties in meeting Japanese competition.

Ouichi a Japanese-American compared and contrasted the management styles used in the two nations. He found that Japanese management practices tended to be quite different from American and that some of them (not all, due to societal differences) could profitable be adopted by American corporations.

Theory Z accepts the main assumptions of HRD:

Of all its values, commitment of a Z culture to its people- its workers is the most important . .Theory Z assumes that any workers life is a whole, not a Jekyll-Hyde personality, half machine from nine to five and half human in the hours preceding and following. Theory Z suggestthat humanized working conditions not only increase productivity and profits to the company but also self-esteem for employees Up to now American managers have assumed that technology makes for increased productivity. What theory Z calls for instead is a redirection of attention to human relations in the corporate world.

In Search of Excellence (1982)

Described eight management characteristics that sixty-two successful American corporation had in common. Cutting across the eight characteristics was a consistent theme: the power of values and culture in these corporations, rather than procedures and control systems, provides the glue that holds them together, stimulates commitment to a common mission, and galvanizes the creativity and energy of their participants.The values are not usually transmitted formally or in writing. Instead, they permeate the organization in the form of stories, myths, legends, and metaphors and these companies have people in them who attend to this awareness of organizational culture.

Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman.

A bias for action, active decision making getting on with it.

Close to the customer learning from people served by the business.

Autonomy and entrepreneurship fostering innovation and nurturing champions

Productivity through people treating rank and file employees as a source of quality.

Hands-on, value driven management philosophy that guides everyday practice management showing its commitment.

Stick to the knitting stay with the business that you know.

Simple form, lean staff some of the best companies have minimal HQ staff.

Simultaneous loose-tight properties autonomy in shop-floor activities plus centralized values.

Do various organizational cultures produce different outcomes, in terms of effectiveness, in the organization achieving its goals?

Measuring organizational effectiveness is a complex undertaking. Here you need to consider a lot of factors that is not sometimes quantifiable.

So instead of measuring organizational effectiveness researcher focused for defining and describing the variables of organizational culture or in some cases cautiously suggesting a possible relationship.

Suggests that Organizational Performance is related to the internal characteristics of the organization.

The performance of an organization is determined by a 3 link chain of causes and effect.

Under the control of administration

choose the design of the organizations structure.

can choose the leadership style

choose a philosophy of operation

Flows directly from the causal variables. Thus the nature of motivation, communication, and other critical aspects of organizational functioning is determined.

The measure of an organization success, depends heavily, of course on the nature and quality of the internal functioning of the organization.

Helped to clarify what culture is: a system of shared values andbeliefs that interact with an organizations people, organizational structure, and control systems to produce behavioral norms. They helped make clear that in practical terms, shared values means what is important; beliefs means what we think is true; and behavioral norms means how we do things around here

Steve Gruenert

School leaders who want to address morale in their buildings must know the distinction between culture and climate

Rosabeth Moss Kanter findings: most high performing companiesis found to have a culture of pride and a climate of success.

Culture of pride means there is emotional and values commitment between person and organization ; people feel that they belong to a meaningful entity and can realize cherished values by their contributions. With this feeling of pride in belonging to a worthwhile organization with a record of achievement, of being a member rather than an employee, the confidence of an individual is bolstered : confidence that the organization will be supportive of creative new practices and will continue to perform well.

School climate is a term that has been used for many decades. Its early use denoted the ethos, or spirit, of an organization. More recently, school climate is thought to represent the attitude of an organization. The collective mood, or morale, of a group of people has become a topic of concern, especially in our new age of accountability. It seems that a happy teacher is considered a better teacher, and this attitude influences the quality of instruction.

If happy people truly perform better, then leaders must create conditions in which happiness thrives. Unfortunately, some leaders do not research the most effective strategies for creating a happy school climate, instead relying on extrinsic rewards. Bringing doughnuts to the faculty lounge on Fridays may help a few teachers wake up quicker, but this act will not affect the morale of the building.

Activities designed to address low morale by creating a more positive climate need to be scrutinized using the following criteria:

How much of an investment of time, money, and energy is involved?

How much time will elapse before the activity begins to make a difference?

Is the activity designed to impact an individual or a group?

Is the activity built around intrinsic or extrinsic rewards?

What will the culture say about it?

The last criterion is significant because an organizations culture determines its climate.

Whenever a group of people spend a significant amount of time together, they develop a common set of expectations. These expectations evolve into unwritten rules to which group members conform in order to remain in good standing with their colleagues. Groups develop a common culture in order to pass on information to the next generation. That information, however, represents a set of beliefs that have been passed down by imperfect humans with personal preferences.

In schools, new teachers arrive with their own ideas about how to do their jobs. Through their schooling, they will have been immersed in theories of best practices and cutting-edge methodologies. If the culture of their first job does not embrace these new ideas, they will soon learn that to fit in they will need to assimilate. Because new teachers want to fit in and to feel like experienced teachers, they are vulnerable to the schools culture and all the unwritten rules that have been passed on through the decades.

An organizations culture dictates its collective personality. Continuing this analogy, if culture is the personality of the organization, then climate represents that organizations attitude.It is much easier to change an organizations attitude (climate) than it is to change its personality (culture).

The relationship between culture and climate can be observed through our perceptions of the days of the week. Typically in U.S. schools, Mondays are perceived as miserable and Fridays are thought of as fun. This viewpoint reflects the business models values and, thus, we learn that we are not supposed to want to come to school on Mondays. Teachers and students often talk about the weekend or the next holiday or vacation, often counting down the days. To come in on Monday morning, happy about being there andnot looking forward to the weekend would challenge the existing climate. As a result, we can expect the climate to be less positive on Mondays than it is on Fridays.

Placing a higher value on weekends is a particularly American phenomenon. There are many societies, or cultures, that do not place value on the day of the week. Cultures create the negative stigma of Monday mornings and we teach this preference to each generationit usually takes hold around the fourth or fifth grade for students. When the climate is negative, as is the case on most Monday mornings, it is the culture that dictates how members of the group are supposed to feel. The culture tells us that were supposed to feel miserable on Mondays.

CLIMATECULTURE

Monday versus Friday Gives Mondays permission tobe miserable

Attitude or mood of the groupPersonality of the group

Provides a state of mindProvides a (limited) way ofthinking

Flexible, easy to changeTakes many years to evolve

Based on perceptionsBased on values and beliefs

Feel it when you come in the doorMembers cannot feel it

Is all around usIs part of us

The way we feel around hereThe way we do things aroundhere

First step to improvementDetermines if improvement ispossible

Its in your headIts in your head

Climate is the main leverage point for any culture, which means that if school leaders want to shape a new culture, they should start with an assessment of the climate.

If the culture is ineffective, there are probably climate issues that were missed before they became rooted in the culture. In the doughnut example, if the principal brings doughnuts to the teachers lounge on Friday, the climate might change that day. If the principal brings doughnuts every Friday for a year, that behavior will become part of the culture, an unwritten expectation. The first Friday the principal doesnt bring doughnuts, however, the climate might change that day. You can replace doughnuts with a smile, formal attire, tardiness, a walk around the building, or practically anything.

The two concepts are also related in that they are both conceptual.

Everything around you, including what you see, hear, feel, and smell, are all artifacts of the culture. Reaction to each of these senses is influenced by the culture because culture taps into belief systems and helps to decide preferences, dislikes, who to trust, when to go home, what to wear, how fast to drive, and how to teach. The culture will provide you with information about customs and how you should react to certain situations.

How we behave in the light of student misfortunes is determined by the culture; conversely, how we reward student success must also fit within the social architecture of the group.

A holistic view of the statements in Table 1 reveals that changing the climate can be accomplished without much effort, suggesting that it is somewhat out of our control.

For example, events may transpire that will affect the attitude of teachers before they get to school. If happy teachers are better teachers, should we be concerned about what they are happy about? Or for that matter, what might make them sad? Would a teacher who won $10,000 from a lottery ticket on his or her way to work do a better job of teaching that day? Would a teacher who slipped on ice outside his or her home do a worse job of teaching that day?

The answer lies in what the culture expects them to do. Perhaps all that school leaders can do is attempt to create optimal conditions for staff and remain vigilant over those aspects that may sabotage their efforts.

Understanding the differences and similarities between culture and climate gives us a more precise instrument by which we might improve our schools . To implement a strategy designed to change our mood, or climate, is certainly not the same as one that targets our belief systems, or culture. Real school improvement has been boiled down by many authors as simply changing the way teachers teach. This will not be accomplished by bringing doughnuts to school.

Technology

Growth enhancing environments in educational organizations