Because public school districts have highly permeable organizational boundaries, analyses of their structures and processes should include consideration of external as well as internal factors. Such analyses have become feasible with the application of general systems theory, which views organizations as functioning units that have continuous…

Four keynote ideas can help partnerships form between communities and their schools. The first keynote is a new "social contract" for education in each community, based on agreement on values, school objectives, and group roles. The second keynote is the "public good." There exists a breakdown of community, a loss of the sense…

Presidential use of television has significantly increased over the last 20 years, with most requests for air time being accepted. This has put out-of-power political parties at a disadvantage when attempting to gain support for their platform. Although Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 provides for some response time to uninterrupted…

Our teaching and learning habits are useful but they can also be deadly. They are useful when the conditions in which they work are predictable and stable. But what happens if and when the bottom falls out of the stable social world in and for which we learn? Is it possible that learning itself--learning as we have come to enact it habitually--may…

This paper is a draft of a chapter to appear in "Academic Power: Patterns of Authority in Seven National Systems of Higher Education," edited by John H. Van de Graaff. It traces the historical development of universities in Italy with emphasis on the relationships among students, professors, and towns. Consideration is also given to…

Presented at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (53d, San Francisco, February 28 - March 5, 1969).

Sexual harassment at work has recently received considerable attention. Working men (N=405) and women (N=827) in Los Angeles County responded to questions about respondent's work, job characteristics, and work climate. Other questions concerned the respondent's experience of socio-sexual behaviors on current and previous jobs, definitions of…

The increase in the 1970's state aid to independent colleges and the doubling of interest groups representing independent colleges in the states (39 state associations by 1978) are examined, and a demonstrable relationship is found between these facts. It is argued that the chief factor motivating states to act on behalf of independent colleges is…

A year-long seminar for elementary teachers in analytic thinking for children (ATC) is offered at the School of Education at Texas Wesleyan College. ATC uses philosophy and logic to help children understand how they think and to improve their reasoning. Four guidelines are given: (1) Discuss the nature and function of authorities and arguments…

A study was undertaken to explore the power structure in a Southwestern community of 93,000 and to determine which elements in that power structure had the most influence in a local school bond referendum. The data for the study were collected using two techniques. First, a panel of knowledgeable community members identified 85 politically…

This paper argues that ethnic status is a source of inequality conceptually independent from social class status. Many parallels exist between the development of measures and concepts for social class inequality and for ethnic inequality. Three measures of ethnic rank described in this paper correspond to dimensions of power, prestige, and wealth…

This book offers the premise that staff development plans are often based on politically naive assumptions about authority prerogatives. Three sources of authority: the public trust, the bureaucracy, and colleagues, are traced from colonial times through the progressive era. An analysis is given of the forces that have had an impact on educational…

FIVE PAPERS ARE REPRODUCED IN THIS REPORT. DR. DONALD D. JACKSON DISCUSSED THE CHANGING POWER STRUCTURE IN MODERN SOCIETIES, AS PREPARATION FOR THE EXAMINATION OF TRENDS RELEVANT TO CRUCIAL ASPECTS OF THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY. GORDON W. BLACKWELL DESCRIBED THE FORMAL POWER STRUCTURE, THE INFORMAL POWER STRUCTURE, AND AREAS OF TENSION IN STATE…

AN INVESTIGATION WAS MADE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTRASTING ORGANIZATIONAL TYPES CREATED IN THE LABORATORY SETTING AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF THREE TYPES OF ROLE STRAINS--ROLE UNCERTAINTY, ROLE DISPARITY, AND ROLE INCOMPATIBILITY. THE TWO ORGANIZATION TYPES STUDIED DIFFERED IN DEGREE OF SPECIALIZATION, EMPHASIS ON RULES AND REGULATIONS, AMOUNT…

A study of coordination modes in work group communication was conducted to evaluate and expand leadership contingency models. A total of 106 people in classes and workshops on organizational communication completed seven questionnaires resulting in nine measures of six independent variables representing the following contingency factors from…