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Systems thinking in school organizations – perspectives from various leadership levels

Lars Norqvist (Department of Political Science, Centre for Principal Development, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden)
Helene Ärlestig (Department of Political Science, Centre for Principal Development, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 8 September 2020

Issue publication date: 4 February 2021

2126

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how leaders within a school district system understand their own and others' leadership positions from the perspectives of systems thinking and systems thinking skills.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings are based on interviews with superintendents, area managers (deputy superintendents), principals and first teachers in Sweden. Sets of systems thinking skills guide the analysis, specifically how various leadership positions are related (their structure and relationships), how leaders understand themselves in relation to the whole and the parts (mindset), what they think about how the organization is organized (content) and how they relate to the organization's history and future (behavior).

Findings

Leaders at all levels in the school organization have regular communications, but a wider systems thinking perspective is underdeveloped. The systems are hierarchical, with each level taking responsibility for its subsystem to such a high extent that it does not use or learn from other levels. We also found that change in the investigated schools is subtle, and in the schools, it did not seem important to understand change over time or the nature of important leverage points; the organizations' histories and futures were emphasized less than current issues and relations.

Practical implications

Increased knowledge on systems thinking skills can provide insights as to whether mindsets, content, structure and behavior are supporting each other or not. These perspectives can help actors on all levels to learn together.

Originality/value

In addition to the study outcomes, this paper offers a unique approach for studying the leadership positions of the governance chain and their impact on an organization's work and results. It obtains a broader picture of school districts' systems when various members of the governing chain express how they understand their organizations, in relation to systems thinking.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

We would like to show our gratitude to our colleagues at Centre for Principal Development, Umeå University, who have supported us in the research and writing process. Thank you for all the fruitful discussions and comments regarding this paper. Special thanks to Frida Grimm, the third researcher in the data collection and research process. We would also like to show our gratitude to editors and reviewers of this special issue for comments and reviews that helped us finalize this paper.

Citation

Norqvist, L. and Ärlestig, H. (2021), "Systems thinking in school organizations – perspectives from various leadership levels", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 59 No. 1, pp. 77-93. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2020-0031

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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