Bureaucratic or systems thinking organizational profile: Perceptions of principals and teachers

This study examines the organizational profile of schools when measured upon the bureaucratic-systemic continuum, where, the bureaucratic-hierarchical model is on one pole and the systems thinking model on the other. It is meant to explore the perception of a school's organizational profile along this continuum, and to determine whether that perception varies from the bureaucratic-hierarchical model in certain areas to the systems thinking model in others. Additionally, it endeavors to determine whether different groups of educational leaders within the school view the organizational profile of a school in an identical or different manner. The study examines 28 schools, in which 350 principals and members of administrative staff, homeroom, and subject-matter teachers are employed. The factors examined were: a) does the perception of a school's organizational profile tend more towards the bureaucratic-hierarchical model or the systems thinking model, b) does that perception depend on school level, and c)does it depend on faculty role? Results indicate that administrative staff members tend more towards a systems thinking model, and homeroom teachers tend towards it somewhat. Furthermore, perception of a school's model varies considerably based upon one of seven diagnostic factors, and that school-level influences the perspective of the faculty, with elementary schools tending more towards a systemic thinking model. Finally, the role of faculty in conjunction with educational level combined have an effect upon perception. In conclusion, the findings of the study reflect the complexity of the organizational profiling of schools among faculty members.