This document contains two extended papers and one shorter commentary that reflect a continuing debate between two schools of thought on literacy that have been called the "autonomous" and the "sociocultural.""The Persisting Power and Costs of the Literacy Myth" (Harvey J. Graff) argues that current discourse on…

This paper examines and analyzes a Human Services reform initiative in West Virginia and shows how various components responded to the reform particularly in identity construction. The analysis used an immunological metaphor within a Foucauldian understanding of power and knowledge. The study gathered data through participant and observer…

Evaluators frequently experience the dilemma of how to empower a program staff if the staff and other stakeholders are compelled to participate in activities that they don't believe they need or believe may actually harm the program. A framework is proposed to empower program staff and other stakeholders and to reduce potential dilemmas. The…

Schools have been intractable to change and the attainment of goals set by reformers. A major failure has been the inability of reformers to confront this intractability. As a result, each new wave of reform learns nothing from earlier efforts and comes up with recommendations that have failed in the past. Nine chapters explore why reform efforts…

Strategic planning is a rational, private-sector planning model that results in a document outlining the "ideal vision" for the individual, organization, and society. Public schools gained familiarity with strategic planning through the American Association of School Administrators, who sponsor the activity as a combination of rational…

The loosely coupled organizational approach is evaluated in this paper. This essay evaluates this line of research by focussing on an analysis of schools, which are usually considered to be the epitome of loosely structured organizations. It is argued that distinguishing the mode and degree of organizational coupling and control depends on where,…

This paper raises important questions about proposals for empowerment and shared governance in U.S. schools. Holding that consent is the key to understanding power and empowerment, the paper defines these concepts, discusses the purposes of empowerment, describes the types of empowerment being attempted, and outlines some predictable consequences.…

The bases of subunit power and the effects of that power on organizational decisionmaking are examined in a large midwestern State university. Departmental power is found to be most highly correlated with the department's ability to obtain outside grants and contracts. (Author/WM)

Department chairs occupy what is arguably one of the most important administrative spots in a higher education institution. As a group, they set the academic tone of the institution and greatly facilitate or hinder the accomplishment of its mission. The various types of department chairs are described: hopeful, survivors, transient, and…

The school principal must secure maximum performance from teachers to achieve the goals set forth by the district superintendent and the school board. To accomplish this, the principals' authority must be accepted by the faculty. The extent of faculty members' response to orders or directives issued by authority figures is determined by each…

The questioning of hegemonic discourses has become an essential element in many feminist, afro-centric, and literary theories of discourse. Scholars in these areas have explicated various indictments of the phallocentric, eurocentric, and essentialist linguistic strategies defined and perpetuated by dominant population groups, and some have begun…

University administrators must realize that past management styles they used to acquire their positions of campus power often become the future incarnations of their failure as administrators. The conundrum of power is that the less power a leader grants to people, the less powerful the leader becomes in the eyes of the people. Individuals have a…

Mother-child interactions involving power were examined among 240 middle class mother-child dyads in which children were either 8 or 11 years old. Defined as exchanges occurring around decision-making points in which the mother and child had divergent aims, power interactions were classified according to whether they were symmetrical or…

To explore the specific types of power that emerge in the communication messages chief executive officers (CEOs) use when interacting with others--particularly superiors, peers, and subordinates--15 CEOs were asked to respond to three hypothetical situations. During 60-minute tape-recorded interviews, they were asked what they would say to…