Systems thinking, a framework for seeing the whole, is an effective means of dealing with real-world problems. This study explored the sources of systems thinking in school leadership. Qualitative data were collected via 82 semistructured interviews and 6 focus groups, among pre-service principals, novice principals and experienced principals. Data analysis included four stages: condensing, coding, categorizing, and theorizing. The analysis yielded four sources of systems thinking in school leadership: (1) managerial experience. (2) role model, (3) academic study, and (4) natural tendency. The findings expand limited existing knowledge about systems thinking in school leadership, and may assist in establishing ways to enhancing and accelerating the development of systems thinking among prospective and active school principals.
BenDavid-HadarI., & ZidermanA. (2011). A new model for equitable and efficient resource allocation to schools: The Israeli case.Education Economics,19(4), 341–362.
2.
BlizzardJ., KlotzL., PradhanA., & DukesM. (2012). Introducing whole-systems design to first-year engineering students with case studies.International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,13(2), 177–196.
3.
BlumbergM. (2008). Freaks of nature: What anomalies tell us about development and evolution.New York: Oxford University Press.
Capstones-The Israel Institute for School Leadership (2008). Perception of the principal's role in the state of Israel: Report by the professional committee to formulate policy recommendations for the Ministry of Education.Jerusalem, Israel: Avney Rosha.
6.
CarterH. M. (2012). Institutionalization of caring in an era of accountability: Creating a supportive environment for at-risk students’ retention in high school and access to college.New Educator, 5(2), 177–193.
7.
ChecklandP. (1999). Systems thinking, systems practice; Soft systems methodology: A 30 year retrospective, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
8.
CohenL., ManionL., & MorisonK. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
9.
ComberB., & NixonH. (2011). Critical reading comprehension in an era of accountabilityAustralian Educational Researcher,38(2), 167–179.
10.
CottonK. (2003). Principals and student achievement: What the research says.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
11.
Darling-HammondL., LaPointeM., MeyersonD., OrrM. T., & CohenC. (2007). Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs.Stanford, CA: Stanford Educational Leadership Institute.
DavidzH. L., & NightingaleD. J. (2008). Enabling systems thinking to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers.Systems Engineering,11(1), 1–14.
14.
DenzinN. K. (2006). Sociological Methods: A Sourcebook (5th ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine Transaction.
15.
DyehouseM., BennettD., HarborJ., ChildressA., & DarkM. (2009). A comparison of linear and systems thinking approaches for program evaluation, illustrated using the Indiana interdisciplinary GK-12.Evaluation and Program Planning,32(3), 187–196.
16.
EakerR. E., DuFourR., & DuFourR. B. (2002). Getting started: Reculturing schools to become professional learning communities.Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.
17.
EllerJ. F. (2010). An evaluation of a development program for new principals.The Qualitative Report,15(4), 956–965.
18.
EtheringtonK. (2004). Becoming reflexive researchers: Using ourselves in research.London, UK: Jessica Kingsley.
19.
FlickU. (2009). An introduction to qualitative research. (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
20.
FrankM. (2002). Characteristics of engineering systems thinking: A 3-d approach for curriculum content.IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Part C - Applications and Reviews,32(3), 203–214.
21.
FrankM. (2006). Knowledge, abilities, cognitive characteristics and behavioral competences of engineers with high capacity for engineering systems thinking.Systems Engineering,9(2), 91–103.
22.
FrankM. (2010). Assessing the interest for systems engineering positions and other engineering positions required capacity for engineering systems thinking.Systems Engineering,13(2), 161–174.
23.
FrankM. (2012). Engineering systems thinking: Cognitive competencies of successful systems engineers.Procedia Computer Science,8, 273–278.
24.
FrankM., & ElataD. (2005). Developing the capacity for engineering systems thinking (CEST) of freshman engineering students.Systems Engineering,8(2), 187–195.
25.
FullanM. (2005). Leadership and sustainability: System thinkers in action.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
26.
GharajedaghiJ. (2011). Systems thinking, managing chaos and complexity: A platform for designing business architecture (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufman n.
27.
GibbsG. R. (2007). Analyzing qualitative data.London, UK: Sage.
28.
HammondD. (2005). Philosophical and ethical foundations of systems thinking.Triple C,3(2), 20–27.
29.
HitchinsD. K. (2003). Advanced systems thinking, engineering, and management, Norwood, MA: Artech House.
30.
HobanD. F. (2002). Teacher learning for education change: A systems thinking approach.Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
31.
HordS. M., & SommersW. A. (2008). Leading professional learning communities: Voices from research and practice.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
32.
HungW. (2008). Enhancing systems thinking skills with modelling.British Journal of Educational. Technology,39(6), 1099–1120.
JacksonM. C. (2003). Systems thinking: Creative holism for managers.Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
35.
JenningsJ. L. (2010). School choice or schools’ choice? Managing in an era of accountability.Sociology of Education, 53(3), 227–247.
36.
KasserJ. E. (2013). Holistic thinking: Creating innovative solutions to complex problems.Cranfield, UK: The Right Requirement.
37.
KeatonS. A., & BodieG. D. (2011). Explaining social constructivism.Communication Teacher,25(4), 192–196.
38.
KenslerL. A. W., ReamesE., MurrayJ., & PatrickL. (2011). Systems thinking tools for improving evidence-based practice: A cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams.High School Journal, 95(2), 32–53.
39.
KinghamS. H. (2009). The perspectives of first-year principals regarding their experiences with mentors and the mentoring process within the Louisiana educational leaders induction (LELI) program (Doctoral dissertation). University of New Orleans.
40.
LevinT., & LevinI. (2013). Evaluating the pedagogical potential of hybrid models.Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching32(3), 303–320.
41.
LewkowiczD. J. (2011). The biological implausibility of the nature-nurture dichotomy and what it means for the study of infancy.Infancy,16(4), 331–367.
42.
LickliterR. (2007). The dynamics of development and evolution: Insights from behavioral embryology.Developmental Psychobiology,49(8), 749–757.
43.
MarloweB. A., & PageM. L. (2005). Creating and sustaining the constructivist classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
44.
MarshallC., & RossmanG. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
MerriamS. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
46.
MilesM. B., HubermanM. A., & SaldanaJ. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
NAESP - National Association of Elementary School Principals (2008). Leading learning communities: Standards for what principals should know and be able to do. Alexandria, VA NAESP.
48.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD (2011). Society at glance 2011-OECD social indicators. Retrieved from www.oecd.org/els/social/indicators/SAG.
49.
OrtlippM. (2008). Keeping and using reflective journals in the qualitative research process.The Qualitative Report,13(4), 695–705.
50.
OssimitzG. (2001, July). Stock-flow-thinking and reading stock-flow-related graphs: An empirical investigation in dynamic thinking abilities. Paper presented at the 19th International Conference of The System Dynamics Society, Atlanta, GA.
51.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluating methods.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
52.
PowellK. C., & KalinaC. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: Developing tools for an effective classroom.Education,130(2), 241–250.
53.
RichardsL., & MorseJ. M. (2013). Readme first for a user's guide to qualitative methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
54.
RichmondB. (1994). System dynamics/systems thinking: Let's just get on with it.System Dynamics Review,10(2-3), 135–157.
55.
RichmondB. (2000). The “thinking” in systems thinking: Seven essential, skills.Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications.
56.
RosenbergA. (2006). Darwinian reductionism: How to stop worrying and love molecular biology.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
57.
RossmanG. B., & RallisS. F. (2012). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
58.
SaldaňaJ. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
59.
SchmokerM. J. (2006). Results now: How we can achieve unprecedented, improvements in teaching and learning.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
60.
Schwartz-SheaP. (2006). Judging quality: Evaluative criteria and epistemic communities. In: YanowD., & Schwartz-SheaP. (Eds.), Interpretation and. method: Empirical research methods and the interpretive turn (pp. 89–113). New York, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
61.
SengeP. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Currency, Doubleday.
62.
SengeP. M., Cambron-McCabeN., LucasT., SmithB., DuttonJ., & KleinerA. (2012). Schools that learn: A fifth discipline fieldbook for educators, parents and everyone who cares about education.New York, NY: Crown.
63.
ShakedH., & SchechterC. (2014). Systems School Leadership: Exploring an emerging construct.Journal of Educational. Administration,52(6), 792–811.
64.
SpencerJ. P., BlumbergM. S., McMurrayB., RobinsonS. R., SamuelsonL. K., & TomblinJ. B. (2009). Short arms and talking eggs: Why we should no longer abide the nativist-empiricist debate.Child Development Perspectives, 3(2), 79–87.
65.
StermanJ. D. (2000). Busi ness dynamics: Systems thinking and modeling for a complex world.Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
66.
TaberT. D. (2007). Using metaphors to teach organization theory.Journal of Management Education,31(4), 541–554.
67.
ThurstonE. K. (2000). Enabling systems thinking in the “mesonic millennium”: The need for systemic methodologies for conceptual learning in undergraduate management education.Journal of Management Education,24(1), 10–31.
68.
Von BertalanffyL. (1933). Modem Theories of Development: An Introduction to Theoretical Biology. (J. H. Woodger, Trans.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
69.
Von BertalanffyL. (1960). Modem Theories of Development: An Introduction to Theoretical. Biology. (J. H. Woodger, Trans.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
70.
WalkerA., & QianH. (2006). Beginning principals: Balancing at the top of the greasy pole.Journal of Educational Administration,44(4), 297–309.
WellsC., & KeaneW. G. (2008). Building capacity for professional learning communities through a systems approach: A toolbox for superintendents.AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice4(4), 24–32.
73.
WoolseyA. M. (2010). New principals in the trenches: Does mentoring impact leadership development for new school leaders? (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.eom//docview/304727072.
74.
ZepedaS. J., BengstonE., & ParyloO. (2012). Examining the planning and management of principal succession.Journal of Educational Administration, 50(2), 136–158.
75.
ZmudaA., KuklisR., & KlineE. (2004). Transforming schools: Creating a culture of continuous improvement.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
76.
ZonnenshainA. (2012). Can we train for systems thinking? The 22nd Annual International Symposium of INCOSE - International Council of Systems thinking, July 2012, Rome, Italy. Retrieved from http://incose.org/symp2012/download/abstract/panel_5.pdf.
77.
ZulaufC. A. (2007). Learning to think systemically: What does it take?Learning Organization,14(6), 489–498.
