Purpose: Follett's relational process theory illuminates key aspects of interdependence among organizations in the field of education that are essential to fostering capacities for interorganizational resilience. The article argues for the necessity of developing mutualism in systems of education as essential preparation for times of instability…

Purpose: The article asserts that systems thinking and its concurrent organizational processes are central organizing structures in schools, yet "hide in plain sight" and are therefore underexplored and underutilized in leadership theorizing. Design/methodology/approach: By exploring the theoretical literature concerning school…

Purpose: This paper explores the emergence and shift in critical theories and problems-of-practice over the last 50 years. Design/methodology/approach: Quipu is an Incan record-keeping system used across the Andes. Using multiple strings of different colors, hundreds of different knots were used to count, record historical events. The underlying…

Purpose: Seashore Louis has enjoyed a long and productive career, contributing many key understandings to the field; among them, foundational theorizing regarding professional community, organizational learning and the role of principal leadership in organizational and student learning. In each, the role of organizational change and its bearing on…

Purpose: Improvement science (IS) has become a popular approach to organizing school-university partnerships because of IS's potential to increase schools' capacity for sustainable improvement. However, little research has directly examined whether and how specific elements of IS support school improvement, particularly during and post-COVID-19…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is for the author to recount how his use of organizational theory to understand educational reform in the USA led to a change of mind. Design/methodology/approach: My shift resulted from my conclusion, derived from the new institutionalism, that only marginal changes can be made in schools and, thus, fundamental…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent to which human resources (HR) decision making is influenced by the social context of school systems. More specifically, this study draws upon organizational theory focussed on the microfoundations of organizations as a lens identify key aspects of school HR decision making at the…

Purpose: Concepts of values-based leadership posit that school principals' professional practice must be informed by values to ensure coherently purposeful activities. Contingency models stress the contextual dependency of professional practice and the need to match activities to local opportunities and constraints. The purpose of this paper is to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the author's commentary on the special issue of "Journal of Educational Administration" entitled "Systemwide Reform: Examining Districts under Pressure". Design/methodology/approach: In framing her reflections, the author has looked across the five articles in the special issue,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an exploratory study of New York's Children First Networks (CFNs); to examine what is known about the CFNs thus far, drawing on new empirical research, as well as document review and analysis of secondary sources. Design/methodology/approach: Organizational learning theory guided this…

Purpose: The purpose of this end piece, framed in aesthetic and critical theory, is to review the author's own approach with graduate students regarding the omnipresence and significance of emotion in organizational leadership, and to comment on the contributions to emotional theory found in this volume of the "Journal of Educational…

Purpose--This study aims to present the opinions of public elementary school principals in Turkey about the current organisational justice practices among teachers from the distributive, procedural, interactional, and rectificatory dimensions. Design/methodology/approach--The opinions of 11 public elementary school principals in Ankara about…

Purpose--The paper aims to provide a theoretically-based set of skills and practices that develop organizational members and leaders while building organizational capacity. Design/methodology/approach--The paper advances four arguments about learning and leading, drawing on classical and contemporary scholarship of organizational learning theory…

Barnard differed from other theorists before him in that he conceived of organization as far more complex than was generally admitted. He saw organization as a plethora of systems, or processes, all interrelated and all potentially limiting. (Author/IRT)

Offers a brief listing and critique of attempts at process analysis of administration and suggests a version (P3M3) which would avoid errors of logical typing. This model postulates a nonrigid and elidible sequence from philosophy through planning, politics, mobilization, and management to monitoring and evaluative feedback. (Author/JM)