Individual action is a basic analytical unit in educational action. This paper examines how individual and organizational actions in schools draw their true meanings from the institutional structure of education and complement each other in creating different structures of meanings in different practical educational situations. The paper argues for an emerging theoretical clarity in the relationship between the concepts of individual action and organizational action when the analysis is institutionally grounded. The paper explores the theoretical possibility that individual and organizational action in school may be conceptualized as embodiments of the institutional structure of education. The conceptual framework is based on the social life within institutions in order to explain the link between individual and organizational action. The paper concludes that actions of individuals who provide the service of education within schools are not solely determined by individual school organization. Individual actions are primarily influenced by the institutional structure of education. Any interpretation of teachers' and principals' actions must consider the historical, social, and cognitive aspects of the institutional structure of education. The institutional structure of education is not purely bureaucratic; rather, it is a system of meanings, ideologies, rules, and values that evolve in a world culture. (Contains 59 references.) (LMI)