Teachers and administrators in school systems across the United States and Canada have been inundated during the last several decades with silver bullets and quick fixes in an effort to improve ...education. The reforms have had limited success and little long-term effect on schools and school systems. This article proposes that organizational learning (ongoing learning in a deliberate manner with a view to improvements supporting the organization's goals) has the potential to help schools and school systems renew themselves from the inside out and to improve learning (for students and adults), teaching, and leading in school systems. The authors identify 6 interrelated conditions that appear to foster organizational learning and provide a practical illustration of the conditions in the form of a fictional school created from examples in the literature. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Educational researchers have long been concerned with role stress among teachers. In education, research on the consequences of such role stress for teachers has largely concerned outcomes valued by ...individuals such as job satisfaction and reduced stress. Less research has focused on examining the effects of role stress on outcomes valued by the organization, such as employee commitment and employee retention. In examining the role stress-outcome relationship, research suggests the importance of taking into consideration the work orientations of individuals as possible moderators of the role stress-outcome relationship. Using a sample of elementary and secondary teachers, this study empirically examined, first whether three role stresses - role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload - are related to two individually and two organizationally valued states and second, whether teachers' higher-order need strength moderates these role stress-outcome relationships. The study found that role stresses relate to individually- and organizationally-valued outcomes among both elementary and secondary teachers.
An oral, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device uses radiofrequency identification technology to allow patients direct, controlled access to medication at the bedside. Twenty oncology inpatients ...participated in a pilot study to evaluate the device's design function and patient, nursing, and pharmacy satisfaction. The referring oncology physicians ordered oral pain tablets or capsules on an as-needed basis; the drugs were dispensed by the device with a specified lockout time interval and with a provision for administration of an immediate dose, if desired. In all, 95% of the patients reported that use of the device provided better pain control, since it allowed them to receive medication directly without delay. Further, 100% of the patients preferred using the device to calling a nurse for each dose of as-needed medication. All patients desired to use the device again during future hospitalizations if they required oral breakthrough pain medications. More than 80% of nurses surveyed stated that the device was reliable and easy both to program and to query about medication-dispensing data. In addition, more than 90% of nurses reported that patients' pain appeared to be better controlled when the device was used; they also indicated that the device saved them nursing time. Pharmacy staff agreed that the device's disposable medication tray was easy to fill; however, it did not save them time. The results of a Cronbach's-alpha statistic calculated for patient and nursing questionnaires showed these surveys to be reliable tools that featured consistent responses. The overall conclusion from this pilot study was that the oral PCA device was a useful, functional device that should improve pain management in selected patients in the acute care setting.
For school-site management to succeed, it must be developed with the specific goal of creating a professional work environment for teachers. Otherwise, school-site management could become another ...bureaucratic mode of control masquerading as real reform.
This study examined the job and growth satisfaction of secondary school administrators. Three sets of variables (job, organizational, and personal characteristics) were tested in terms of their ...impact on 2 related but distinct dependent variables: job and growth satisfaction. The participants included 153 school administrators, 66 principals, and 87 assistant principals. Some analyses combined these groups, and others examined them as separate samples. Strong support was found for the association of job characteristics and some organizational characteristics with job and growth satisfaction, but there was generally a weak association of personal characteristics with these outcomes. Implications follow from study findings. (Contains 5 tables and 5 footnotes.)
This study examined the job and growth satisfaction of secondary school administrators. Three sets of variables (job, organizational, and personal characteristics) were tested in terms of their ...impact on 2 related but distinct dependent variables: job and growth satisfaction. The participants included 153 school administrators, 66 principals, and 87 assistant principals. Some analyses combined these groups, and others examined them as separate samples. Strong support was found for the association of job characteristics and some organizational characteristics with job and growth satisfaction, but there was generally a weak association of personal characteristics with these outcomes. Implications follow from study findings.
While providing stability and uniformity, organizational routines can foster continuous change. Using Feldman's (2000) performative model of routinized action theory, coupled with leadership ...succession research, we examined how three successive administrations in a California high school revised a student attendance (tardy-monitoring) routine over 7 years. Although the changes made by the different leaders did not translate into large shifts in action and behaviors, each administration altered the way that tardies were monitored, thus demonstrating routines' continuous and dynamic nature. Administrators also shifted resources to accommodate changes. Given our findings, we draw implications to help new leaders better understand change in daily school routines. (Contains 3 notes and 1 table.)
Routines in school organizations Conley, Sharon; Enomoto, Ernestine K
Journal of educational administration,
02/2005, Letnik:
43, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose - This paper presents routinized action theory as a way to examine the regular, habitual activities that occur in school organizations. Using this theoretical lens, school routines were ...analyzed in order to understand organizational stability and change.Design methodology approach - Using case study methods, three discrete cases are presented, a K-12 public school setting, a private international school, and a central office in an educational system. Cases were selected for their descriptive detail and illustrate different aspects of the theory.Findings - Routinized action theory posits that alterations in routines occur for different reasons: failure to produce desired outcome; producing new possibilities, and or falling short of ideal targets. In these case studies, routines were altered by management to address problems, repair what did not work, and strive toward new targets. Management also shifted resources accordingly. While these actions can help the organization survive environmental changes, routines may also restrict the organization's response to change.Practical implications - By analyzing the resources associated with routines, school administrators can understand the possibilities for accomplishing necessary work in ways that reduce environmental influences. Routines might be a useful lever for change.Originality value - Routinized action theory may have been overlooked as a viable means to analyze educational organizations. The systematic application of this theoretical lens to schools holds significant implications for practitioners and researchers because schools are deeply routinized organizations.
