Democracy, chaos, and the new school order / Spencer J. Maxcy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maxcy, Spencer J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education--United States.

Education.

United States.

Educational change--United States.

Educational change.

School management and organization--United States.

School management and organization.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 197 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Corwin Press, [1995]

Summary:

School reform is a hot issue among educators, administrators, politicians, and parents. Reform theories abound and are debated by these groups on a daily basis. Some are being implemented today in our schools, and only time will tell which works best.

Democracy, Chaos, and the New School Order takes an investigative look at these various theories. Author Spencer Maxcy challenges competing and contradictory views of educational organization and social change. He contends that current educational reform is incomplete and ill-suited to democratic nations because it lacks inspiration, moral purpose, and heart. Forces such as the American educational bureaucracy, the resistance of teacher unions, an entrenched administration, and the threat of external pressure groups to change schools into self-serving enterprises are proving to be obstacles to today's reform efforts.

This bold new book speaks to students and teachers of educational administration and leadership, principals, government policymakers, and others with an open mind and a keen interest in school restructuring and educational reform.

Democracy, Chaos, and the New School Order is more than a theoretical study; it offers unique solutions that go beyond the simple reordering of status quo educational components of the system. Maxcy presents a useful set of recommendations for changes in administrative practice that create a "new school order," where school reform in a democratic society results from leadership merging with moral and ethical processes.

Contents:

The Problem of School Restructuring ix

Design of the Text xv

General Plan of the Book xvii

1. How Did the Schools Get This Way? 1

Frameworks of Organization 2

The Critique of Frameworks Thinking 9

Poststructuralism, Pragmatism, and Restructuring of Schools 13

The New School Order 29

2. Chaos Versus Order and Our Schools 32

Chaos Theory and School Order 33

An Analysis of Chaos Theory 38

Applying Chaos Theory to Schools 42

The Politics of Chaos 44

Chaos and Social Organization 46

Beyond Chaos and Structure 49

3. Democracy and Educational Organizations 57

Democracy 57

Postliberal Democratic Values 62

Chaos and Democracy 68

Democracy and School Design 70

4. Three Efforts to Restructure Schools 75

On the Receiving End of Structure 75

Historical Efforts to Restructure Schools in the United States 78

Three Levels of School Organizational Change 82

Critiques of School Restructuring 96

A Postliberal, Postmodernist-Poststructuralist, and Critical Pragmatic Critique 98

Leading the Organization of the School 105

New Ways to Think About Leadership in Schools 105

5. Cultural Diversity, Democracy, and Reconstructed Schools 110

Diversity and School Reform 110

Confronting the Chaos of Diversity 117

Critiques of Cultural Restructuring 121

A New Cultural Democracy 123

Cultural Meanings 131

Cultural Interests in Democracy 134

6. Moral Artistry in the New School 141

Experience 144

Value Approaches to Organizational Life 146

Aesthetic Sense and Schools 156

Aesthetic Tools 160

Valuation and School Reconstruction 163

Constructing the New School Order 167

Schools as Social Spaces 172

Educational Appraisal 173

Suggestions for School Reconstruction 178.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 182-192) and index.

ISBN:

0803961987

0803961995

OCLC:

31377790