Theory Z School: Beyond Effectiveness. INSTITUTION National Middle School Association, Columbus, OH
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 246 523 EA 016 948 AUTHOR George, Paul S. TITLE Theory Z School: Beyond Effectiveness. INSTITUTION National Middle School Association, Columbus, OH. PUB DATE 83 NOTE 113p. AVAILABLE FROMPublications Sales, National Middle School Association, P.O. Box 14882, Columbus, OH 43214 ($5.95; quantity discounts). PUB TYPE Books (010) Viewpoints (120) -- Information Analysed (070) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Class Organization; Classroom Techniques; Curriculum Development; *Educational Change; Educational Environment; Educational Strategies; Elementary. Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Goal Orientation; Industry; Instructional Development; Leadership; Mastery Learning; *Models; *Organizational Development; Organizational Objectives; Participative Decision Making; *ProductivitY; Reference Groups; Relevance (Education); School Community Relationship; *School Effectiveness; Student Teacher Relationship IDENTIFIERS Japan; *Theory Z ABSTRACT American schools might improve their performance by emulating certain successful businesses that, while distinctly American, have much.in common with Japanede corporations. William Ouchi attributes Japanese business success to worker involvement; the typical Japanese corporation, he asserts, unifies its employees around .a corporate philosophy transmitted through a corporate culture. Most American businesses, by contrast, .are plagued with instability, as workers seek career growth at the expense of the company. American "Type Z" corporations, however, have attained prosperty and stability because, like Japanese corporations, they are people-centeied and purposeful organizations. Meanwhile, despite growing criticism of American education, school effectiveness - research has found examples of highly successful schools. The "Type Z" school is a new model that draws on both these analyses. The characteristics of such a school include: (1) a. clear philosophy stressing excellence, equity, and enrichment in an optimistic. environment; (2) a curriculum reflecting community goals and values; (3) classroom practices congruent with-the school philosophy; (4) a sense of community among and between teachers and students; and(5) a strong principal providing symbolic leadership, instructional leadership, and group facilitation. (MCG) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that, can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** ',,traDir,ArttiastiT,oriipuci( goNATicAmAciiiirituTei*Eoupd. ivEgoarsoNm:HEsooricEsiocino -This' doeurnent'Oula-, bne,odtc dyed from the 'person or drgan . originating it, Minor changes have been made toInipon reproduction quality. Points ol view or opinions stated in 01400 ment do not necessarily represent officla(fill Position or policy.' .... : ;;;,=.il;,.',VP-.4.` leEmossipN ToNge,NopupgitNis 49:EntAC: IN miqiftincHE4 ,`644Y B N.GRANTED:04,0werpr ,svoy,:;25: s,r : " tiAtiV Rot AmAtiikytE YER (E' -,PfrAvogfwo ,;4,4-,"'47,,,M400.610M NATIONAL Mid& SCI104 ASSOCIATION At a time when the public's concern is being focused on education with renewed intensity, it is well that the education profession itself was already astir with proposals for reform. In this significant publi- cation, several of the the recent major research efforts underlying pro- posals for improving American schools are reviewed succinctly. A solid philosophical base is laid for the detailed presentation of a Theory Z school. While the specific illustration is of a middle school; this mon- ograph is of value to educators at all levels. Especially important is the way this model deals, with basic effec- .tiveness, but does not stop there, fOr no matter how important fun- damental skills are, America needs schools that go beyond basic skills. The Publications Committee and NMSA are especially grateful to Paul George for preparing this timely manuscript. Dr. George, Pro- fessor of Education at the University of Florida, Gainesville, is one of the nation's foremost authorities on the middle school and his cogent style and sound scholarship are evident in The Theory Z School: Beyond Effectiveness. John H. Lounsbury for the Publications Committee Copyright '1'1983 by the National Middle School Association, P.O. Box 14882, Columbus, Ohio 43214 $5.95 Discounts available' on quantity orders to a single address. All rights reserved. No part of thispublication,may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews or articles. Printed by OmniPress of Macon, Inc., P.O. Box 6555, Macon, Georgia Contents Preface iv Introduction 1 PART ONE: PRODUCTIVITY IN CORPORATIONS AND SCHOOLS The Japanese Experience 4 Theory Z 6 Sumo' Effectiveness 25 PART TWO: THE THEORY Z SCHOOL Introduction 40 Vital Philosophy 43 Curriculum Alignment r.. 52 Classroom Congruence 61 Group Involvement 70 Spirited Leadership 85 Afterword 99 References 102 iii 5 Preface Our society's institutions, all of them, are in disarray at the very time when the demands upon those institutions are increasing at a dramatic rate. If America is to be rebuilt before the. 21st century, American schools must be renewed today and tomorrow. Schools must enter the next century as places where whole human befngs, learn effectively and grow as persons. Educators cannot afford to be trapped into treating pupils as though they were inanimate products. This manuscript is intended as a guide to authentic educational productiv- ity, for 1984 and for 2001. A number of people have assisted in the development of The Theory Z School, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few of them. Special thanks go to Linda Kramer, my graduate assistant, who put in long hours in the library searching for .materials, and who is responsible for the first draft of the section on curriculum alignment. I also wish to thank Celeste Lasky, a doctoral candidate at the Uni- versity of Colorado, for generously sharing information regaredrig her dissertation on Theory Z in school districts. Thanks also to the staff and, students of Lincoln Middle School, Gainesville,Florida, for de- veloping an almost perfect "Z" school. I would like to thank Ted Hippie for his generous, gentle, and helpful editing of the first draft of this manuscript. Finally,' I want to indicate my warm appreciation of John Lounsbury for directing the production of this publication. Paul George Gainesville, Florida iv Introduction Productivity has become the watchword, of tit,' eighties. Following a long period of overconfidence and prodigal mist', e of the nation's phys- ical and human resources, Americans entered the decade of the sev- enties in a state of mind which President Jimmy Carter described unpopularly, as a "national malaise." No longer convinced that our national and individual futures were invulnerably secure, we realized that the coming years might be far more difficult than anyone previ- ously had foreseen. Most popular assessments of American society con- tinue to conclude that our industrial, social and educational institutions are in a state of widespread disarray. It seems apparent. that, if we want more productivity, nationally or individually, we will have to accomplish it with less. Insecurity rims ram ant. Mistrust is, unfortunately, the constant traveling companion of in- security, and the American public has made it abundantly clear that all of our major institutions are suspect. Corporatibns, governing units, churches, and schools suffer from the public's belief thvt1, they are in- effective and unproductive. Daily reports in the media, convey the con- viction that those institutions are in the hands of a' slothful, wasteful and even criminal group of managers and staffs. At best, the public declares that our products, whether steel or students, are not as good as they used to be. There is little hope that, in this climate of opinion, additional re- sources will be targeted toward assisting educators to become more productive; there is even less likelihood thathe pressures for improv. ing educational productivity and effectiveness will abate. Educators in particular, if the past is indeed prologue, will be faced with the chal- lenge of achieving more with less. Smaller, leaner, school systems will be asked, if not ordered, to prepare American society or the twenty- first century. This monograph is based on the assumption that it is possible, though far from certain, that educators v;dill accomplish this mission. I-low shall educators proceed? Does our obligation endwith produc- tivity, or are educators bound, by the nature of schooling,to move beyond the current fascination with what is calledeffectiveness?.Ad- vocates of the middle school philosophy, and others, havelong argued that it is possible to organize schools so that bothquality and caring are parts of the process. TheTheory Z School is based on the proposition that it is possible to have the best of both in Americaneducation, to aim for both productivity and personal growth. Other American institutions, particularly corporate ones, areat- tempting to respond to the same demand for increasedproductivity, and the literature exploding from these efforts indicates thatbusiness management has begun to learn that what is reallybest for produc . tivity is also likely to be best for the people involved.American industry nas begun to approach