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Self‐organisation and capacity building: sustaining the change

Alan Bain (Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia)
Allan Walker (Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, Hong Kong)
Anissa Chan (St Paul's Co‐Educational College, Hong Kong)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 27 September 2011

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to describe the application of theoretical principles derived from a study of self‐organisation and complex systems theory and their application to school‐based capacity building to support planned change.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a case example in a Hong Kong School to illustrate the application of the principles and discuss their potential to sustain the effect of capacity building in schools.. The descriptive case study is used to illustrate six theoretical propositions of self‐organization. The case is then unpacked using each of the propositions to illustrate the application of the theory to capacity building in a secondary school setting.

Findings

The case illustrates the way each of the principles are reflected in a design process undertaken by the school's principal and its leadership team to create a self‐organizing approach to capacity building.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is threefold. First it shows the way in which capacity building can be theorized for practical benefit in school settings. Second, the theoretical approach described in the case study addresses the longstanding and largely unresolved issue of the sustainability of capacity building efforts in school settings. The case analysis links theory to practical strategy that can be used by school leaders to design their own capacity building efforts that disperse control to the community, are sustainable, and self‐organizing within the school.

Keywords

Citation

Bain, A., Walker, A. and Chan, A. (2011), "Self‐organisation and capacity building: sustaining the change", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 49 No. 6, pp. 701-719. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231111174839

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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