I am working through a chapter of Sergiovanni’s wonderful leadership book – The Lifeworld of Leadership. In the chapter entitled “Deep change and the power of localism” the leader gets to know the organisation more intimately.
Ouchi (1980, as cited in Sergiovanni) thought there were three different types of organisations:
- bureaucratic
- market
- clan or community
Each of these is characterized by different ways of getting things done. Bureaurcracies get things done by having policies and rules to follow and people working towards goals to meet expectations.
Markets get things done by pay-off. People interact with each other, trading their contributions and compliance for what they want.
The third type is a clan or community organisation. This type gets things done by encouraging and enabling people to bond and commit to common values and beliefs (a school philosophy for example). The group accomplishes for the common good of the organisation.
If one can figure out which type of school organisations they are involved in, theoretically the person/TL would change their approach and strategies to bring about change to match this type.
Reading this section of the article, it struck me that some of the situations we face at school are due to the fact that the founding teachers and current parents view the organisation differently. This differing view is due in large part to a general change in society.
In the 1980’s when the school was established, the idea of community was a significant factor in society especially in the alternative school movement. But in the past 15 years, there has been a strong shift towards a ‘what’s in it for me’, consumer attitude.
Fee-paying parents see their contribution as the money and expect a ’successful student’ in return. They are much less interested in the values and beliefs of the school. This reality often becomes apparent when there are behaviour issues and ‘uninvolved’ parents must become involved. The lack of commitment or belief becomes apparent when the school requires parental support for the consequences (and therefore the common good of the school community) and it is not forthcoming.
How is change brought about in an organizational situation such as this? Is this a common issue facing independent schools, even public schools?
I read on …
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18854914@N04/2249949755/
Sergiovanni, T. (2000). Deep change and the power of localism. In The lifeworld of leadership: Creating culture, community and personal meaning (pp. 155-164). San Francisco: Jossey-Boss.
