Reports on development of a measure of thinking about leadership processes, as understood through the principles of ecology and systems thinking. Total sample consisted of 659 undergraduates and 16 faculty, staff, and graduate students. The resulting measure consisted of two, 14-item, orthogonal dimensions: Hierarchical Thinking and Systemic…

Examines formal diversity approaches, provides examples from the literature of successful diversity initiatives, identifies limited use of communication-based approaches in diversity training, and discusses the importance of integrating communication theory and practice in future training efforts. (Contains 52 references/notes.) (Author/JOW)

The concept of opposing entities and difference is deeply ingrained in society. To overcome it requires awareness of complementarity and synergy. Celebrating diversity is not about tolerance; it necessitates dynamic recognition of synergistic relationships. (SK)

Explains how television programs such as "Seinfeld" illustrate the organizational behavior concepts of the social psychological contract and the interdependence aspect of systems thinking. Describes to use "Seinfeld" in the management classroom. (Contains 18 references.) (SK)

The practice of education leadership has its challenges not only in myriad events that arise but also in working with various stakeholders in education, from children and their parents, to teachers, other administrators and support staff, to community members. With this practice comes an attending challenge of complexity to which the education…

Objective: To reduce the use of restraint and seclusion with children and adolescents in psychiatric inpatient units by promoting a preventive, strength-based model of care. Method: The State Mental Health Authority used data analysis, quality improvement strategies, regulatory oversight, and technical assistance to develop and implement system…

Portfolios are frequently used to assess teachers' competences. In portfolio assessment, the issue of rater reliability is a notorious problem. To improve the quality of assessments insight into raters' judgment processes is crucial. Using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach we studied cognitive processes underlying raters' judgments and…

In this paper, we consider how concepts from dynamic systems (such as attractors, repellors, and self-organization) can be applied to the study of young children's peer relationships. We also consider how these concepts can be used to explore basic issues involving early peer processes. We use the dynamical systems approach called state space grid…

This article outlines a framework for developmentally oriented policy research. Drawing from U. Bronfenbrenner's (1995) dynamic developmental systems theory, the authors suggest ways in which the key tenets of process, persons, context, and time can inform policy research in developmental psychology and can be used to support a causal…

Purpose: From an exploratory study of 37 large multinationals, this paper aims to report key findings, derive learnings for the design of corporate leadership systems and identify future research issues for a better understanding of individual leadership in corporate leadership systems. Design/methodology/approach: The study reported builds on ten…

Purpose: To propose an evaluation model for the quality implementations in higher education through an analysis of quality systems and program evaluation using a systems approach. Design/methodology/approach: Theoretical background, research and practice of the quality systems in higher education and program evaluation are analysed in conjunction…

Engineers have a set of powerful tools at their disposal for designing robust and reliable technical systems. In educational design these tools are seldom applied. This paper explores the application of concepts from the systems approach in an educational context. The paradigms of design methodology and systems engineering appear to be suitable…

The chaos theory of careers draws together a number of themes in current theory and research. This article applies some of these themes to career counseling. The chaos theory of careers is outlined, and a conceptual framework for understanding assessment and counseling issues that focuses on convergent and emergent qualities is presented. Three…

The implementation of high-quality evidence-based practices cannot occur without facilitative administration, systems-level partnerships, and decision-support data systems. The authors believe that understanding "what works" in program "implementation" is just as important as understanding "what works" in a program "model." Recently, researchers…

As the demand for online education continues to increase, institutions are faced with developing process models for efficient, high-quality online course development. This paper describes a systems, team-based, approach that centers on an online instructional design theory ("Active Mastery Learning") implemented at Colorado State…