1.4 Theories of educational management  (Page 21/29)

Ambiguity or Rationality?

Ambiguity models make a valuable contribution to the theory of educational management. The emphasis on theunpredictability of organizations is a significant counter to the view that problems can be solved through a rational process. Thenotion of leaders making a considered choice from a range of alternatives depends crucially on their ability to predict theconsequences of a particular action. The edifice of the formal models is shaken by the recognition that conditions in schools maybe too uncertain to allow an informed choice among alternatives.

In practice, however, educational institutions operate with a mix of rational and anarchic processes.The more unpredictable the internal and external environment, the more applicable is the ambiguity metaphor:“Organizations . . . are probably more rational than they are adventitious and the quest forrational procedures is not misplaced. However, . . . rationalistic approaches will always be blown off course by the contingent, theunexpected and the irrational”(Hoyle, 1986, p. 72).

Cultural Models

What do we mean by culture?

Cultural models emphasize the informal aspects of organizations rather then their official elements. Theyfocus on the values, beliefs and norms of individuals in the organization and how these individual perceptions coalesce intoshared organizational meanings. Cultural models are manifested by symbols and rituals rather than through the formal structure of theorganization (Bush, 2003):

Cultural models assume that beliefs, values and ideology are at the heart of organizations. Individuals holdcertain idea and vale-preferences, which influence how they behave and how they view the behaviour of other members. These normsbecome shared traditions, which are communicated within the group and are reinforced by symbols and ritual. (p. 156).

Beare, Caldwell, and Millikan (1992) claim that culture serves to define the unique qualities of individualorganizations:“An increasing number of . . . writers . . . have adopted the term "culture" to define that social andphenomenological uniqueness of a particular organisational community . . . We have finally acknowledged publicly thatuniqueness is a virtue, that values are important and that they should be fostered”(p. 173).

Societal culture

Most of the literature on culture in education relates to organizational culture and that is also themain focus of this section. However, there is also an emerging literature on the broader theme of national or societal culture.Walker and Dimmock (2002) refer to issues of context and stress the need to avoid“decontextualized paradigms”(p. 1) in researching and analyzing educational systems and institutions.

Dimmock and Walker (2002) provide a helpful distinction between societal and organizational culture:

Societal cultures differ mostly at the level of basic values, while organizational cultures differ mostly at thelevel of more superficial practices, as reflected in the recognition of particular symbols, heroes and rituals. This allowsorganizational cultures to be deliberately managed and changed, whereas societal or national cultures are more enduring and changeonly gradually over longer time periods. (p.71)