This study reinvestigates the systems approach, which is, among educators, a well-recognized approach reflecting the fundamental discourses of the industrial order. The pervasive discourses of the industrial order that failed to invite a holistic view for students have led to a conceptual division. This systemic thinking has thus started viewing…

This paper documents the initial development and validation of a brief quantitative measure of career development influences based on the Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development (McMahon & Patton, 1995; Patton & McMahon, 1997, 1999, 2006). Initial exploratory factor analyses of pilot study data revealed a six-factor structure based on…

This case study describes the journey of one school district as it focused for 5 years on affecting district-wide systemic change related to inclusive education for all students with disabilities, including those with severe disabilities. Information is provided about the district's efforts across 5 years, and data are provided across those 5 and…

This article has two purposes. First, it integrates the underlying principles of developmental systems theory (Ford & Lerner, 1992; Lerner, 2002, 2004) with the most recent research on immigrant youth. Second, based on an analysis of both theory and research, it offers implications for school counseling professionals' work with immigrant youth…

This article presents a model for the development of an environmentally oriented unit designed to be implemented as an integral part of the science core curriculum. The program's main goal is encouraging students at the junior high-school level to develop systems-thinking and environmental insight as a basis for environmental literacy. A…

A discussion of the complex interrelationships that impinge upon the community college, and how systems development might assist in the decision-making process. (Author)

A change in focus of much of the work of the Society for General Systems Research for greater impact, relevance, and productivity is suggested. Tentative unit concepts for 23 areas of study or disciplines are explored. A unit concept is defined as the central, pivotal concept around which virtually all other basic concepts in a field revolve. The…

The need for humanistically-oriented research may be viewed as the unfinished business of humanistic psychology. Additional research is needed to support some of the theoretical positions of humanistic psychology which have emerged from clinical practice, education, and management consultation rather than from laboratories and field studies. The…

The theory of stochastic processes deals with systems that develop over time in accordance with probabilistic laws. The basic concepts involved in two types of continuous-time processes are the idea of a constant probability of occurrence in the point event process and the extensions necessary for the discrete state process. The required…

Professional school counselors find themselves working in school organizations that are antiquated and are not a natural fit to the actual work of the counselors. However, lessons being learned from the new sciences and open systems perspectives may shed a great deal of light as to how schools can be restructured in order to best utilize the…

For any organization to become or remain competitive and provide incentive and fulfillment for the people who work there, management must be flexible and open to change and the needs of its employees. That is where a human resources system, complete with motivational techniques, comes in. (Author)

An exploration of systems concepts applied to argumentation and causal theory. (CH)

A systems view of geography, omitted from the final report of the High School Geography Project, is described as used to clarify the mission of the project and to approach current problems. (Author/KM)