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Education Administration and Leadership 635
Organizational Analysis
Fall 2005 (Sept 8 - Dec 1)
Instructor:
Phone:
Alison Taylor
492-7608
Office: 7-142 Ed N
E-mail: alison.taylor@ualberta.ca
Website:
http://www.ualberta.ca/~ataylor/index.htm
Class:
Thursdays, 2 - 4:50 pm,
Office Hours: By appointment
Rm 7-140
Course objectives:
Our objectives in this seminar are to enhance our understanding of organizational theory and to
develop an understanding of theoretical tools that may be useful in our own research. Some
readings in the course outline different theoretical perspectives while others present the results of
empirical studies rooted in these perspectives. We will consider the questions that underlie
different theoretical perspectives, key concepts and assumptions, and their usefulness in helping
us to make sense of organizational practices.
Format:
Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. A “lead”
discussant will be assigned for each session (see “assignments” below).
Readings:
A reading package is available at the bookstore.
Optional texts: (On reserve in Coutts library)
Morgan, G. (1996). Images of Organization. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Clegg, S. & Hardy, C. (eds) (1999). Studying organization: theory and method. Thousand Oaks:
Sage.
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ASSIGNMENTS:
1.
Seminar participation
20 percent
Evaluation of this component is based on student contributions to class discussion
throughout the term. Students are expected to take primary responsibility for selected
required readings in class. This involves providing a brief summary of the article, your
response, and questions for discussion. This exercise is intended to allow students to
examine selected articles in more depth and to encourage a more engaged class
discussion. We will assign the readings for the following week to students at the
beginning of each class. You may wish to prepare a one-page handout and guided reading
questions as part of this assignment.
2.
Research paper
80 percent
Develop an organizational analysis that draws on your knowledge of a specific
organization or type of organization. Analyses can adopt different theoretical and
methodological approaches, which should be informed by course readings. For example,
you could choose to focus on a particular school or college, or all schools or colleges in
Alberta. You could focus on a particular incident or crisis in the life of the organization,
or look at ongoing issues. Alternatively, you may choose to do a more theoretical
analysis. If your work is empirical, a variety of methods may be used. However, if you
conduct interviews or surveys, an ethical review must be completed before you begin
data collection. See me about this early on. Also, if you choose to adopt theoretical
approaches that are not addressed in detail in the course, see me first.
This assignment has 2 parts:
Part 1: Proposal
(20 % of 80)
You are required to develop a proposal for your research paper including a brief
introduction to the topic and why it interests you, a review of relevant literature, and
outline of the paper. The review of relevant literature should include one or more class
readings and at least two other scholarly articles. An opportunity for you to receive
feedback on your proposal from the instructor and colleagues in the class will be provided
during the week of November 3.
Maximum length: 2,000 words (5-6 pages, double-spaced)
Due: November 7, 2005.
Part 2: Research paper:
(60 % of 80)
This second part comprises the fully-developed paper which you began working on in
part 1 (proposal). Prior to submitting this assignment, you will have a second opportunity
to present your work to your classmates on December 1 and receive feedback.
Maximum length: 5,000 words
Due: December 6, 2005
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CLASS SCHEDULE:
Sept 8
Introduction to course and participants.
Sept 15 and 22: Management theory
Readings:
Morgan, G. (1998). Images of Organization: The Executive Edition (Ch 2: Organizations as
Machines, pp. 17-33). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Callahan, Raymond. (1962). Education and the cult of efficiency (Ch 4: “American Educators
Apply the Great Panacea,” pp. 65-94). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Brown, P., & Lauder, H. (1992). Education, economy, and society: An introduction to a new
agenda. In P. Brown & H. Lauder (eds.) Education for Economic Survival (pp. 1-44). London:
Routledge.
Kelly, Carolyn. (1997). Teacher compensation and organization. Educational Evaluation and
Policy Analysis, 19(1): 15-28.
Watkins, Peter. (1986). From managerialism to communicative competence: Control and
consensus in educational administration. Journal of Educational Administration, 24(1): 86-106.
Smyth, W. John. (1987). Cinderella syndrome: A philosophical view of supervision as a field of
study. Teachers College Record, 88(4): 567-88.
Sept 29 and Oct 6: New institutionalism/resource dependency
Readings:
DiMaggio, P. & Powell, W. (1983). The iron cage revisited. Annual Review of Sociology, 48:
147-160.
Tolbert, Pamela & Zucker, Lynne. (1996). The institutionalization of institutional theory. In S.
Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. Nord (eds), Handbook of Organization Studies (pp.175-190). Thousand
Oaks: Sage
Oliver, C. (1991). Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of Management
Review, 16: 145-179.
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Frooman, Jeff. (1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. Academy of Management Review, 24(2):
191-205.
Sipple, J. (1999). Institutional constraints on business involvement in K-12 education policy.
American Educational Research Journal, 36(3): 447-488.
Davies, S. & Quirke, L. (2005). Providing for the priceless student: Ideologies of choice in an
emerging educational market. American Journal of Education, 111 (4).
Oct 13 and 20: Organizations as Cultures
Readings:
Morgan, G. (1998). Images of Organization: The Executive Edition (Ch 5: Organizations as
Cultures, pp. 111-146). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Schein, E. (1985). Organizational culture and leadership (Ch 1: defining organizational culture,
pp. 1-22). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Firestone, W. & Seashore Louis, K. (1999). Schools as cultures. In J. Murphy & K. Seashore
Louis (eds)., Handbook of Research on Educational Administration (2nd ed) (pp. 297-322). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Weis, Lois. (1985). Faculty perspectives and practice in an urban community college. Higher
Education, 14: 553-574.
Prasad, Pushkala. (1991). Organization building in a Yale union. Journal of Applied Behavioral
Science, 27(3): 337-355.
Lumby, J. (2003). Culture change: The case of sixth form and general further education colleges.
Educational Management and Administration, 31(2): 159-174.
Oct 27: Critical theory
Readings:
Benson, K. (1977). Organizations: A dialectical view. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21: 121.
Alvesson, M. & Deetz, S. (2000). Ch. 4: The critical tradition: Critical theory and
postmodernism. In Doing critical management (pp. 81-111).
Oakes, L., Townley, B. & Cooper, D. (1998). Business planning as pedagogy: Language and
control in a changing institutional field. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43: 257-292.
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Nov 3: Politics
Readings:
McLendon, M. (2003). The politics of higher education: Toward an expanded research agenda.
Educational Policy, 17(1): 165-191.
Baldridge, J. Victor. (1971). Images of the future and organizational change: The case of New
York University. In J. V. Baldridge (ed.), Academic Governance (pp. 532-555).
Pusser, B. (2003). Beyond Baldridge: Extending the political model of higher education
organization and governance. Educational Policy, 17(1): 121-140.
* There will be an opportunity to share proposals (work-in-progress) during this class.
Nov 7:
**Proposal for research paper due.
Nov 10:
No class, Fall term class break
Nov 17: Politics
Readings:
Mintrom, M. (1997). Policy entrepreneurs and the diffusion of innovation. American Journal of
Political Science, 41(3): 738-770.
Kingdon, J.(1995). Chapter 4/9 in Agendas, alternatives, and public policies.
Hardy, Cynthia. (1996). Chapter 6: The University of British Columbia. In The Politics of
Collegiality (pp. 101-115). Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s.
Nov 24 and Dec 1: Governmentality (Foucault)
Readings:
Miller, P. & Rose, N. (1990). “Governing economic life,” Economy and Society, 19(1): 1-31.
Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality, power and rule in modern society. London: Sage.
Popkewitz, T. & Brennan, M. (1998). Restructuring of social and political theory in education:
Foucault and a social epistemology of school practices. In T. Popkewitz & M. Brennan (eds),
Foucault’s challenge: Discourse, knowledge and power in education (pp. 3-35). New York:
Teachers College Press.
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Shore, C. and Wright, S. (2000). “Coercive accountability: The rise of audit culture in higher
education,” in M. Strathern (ed.) Audit Cultures: Anthropological Studies in Accountability,
Ethics, and the Academy, London: Routledge, 57-89.
Spencer, B. (2004). Just One More Way to Fail: The ‘Conditions of Impossibility’ of
Standardized Literacy Testing. Presented at the American Educational Research Association
meeting, San Diego. (Note: not in reading package)
Dehli, K. and Taylor, A. (forthcoming). Toward new government of education research:
Refashioning researchers as entrepreneurial and ethical subjects. In J. Ozga (ed), World
Yearbook 2006. (Note: not in reading package)
Dec 1: Presentations of work-in-progress by students and wrap up