The chapter presented the orientation and general overview of the thesis. In this chapter I outlined the problem and its context. Key concepts were summarily clarified, with the theoretical framework that underpins the study. The rationale for conducting the study including my personal interest in systems thinking was outlined. The primary and secondary research questions which will drive the study were presented. In the next chapter I will introduce the review of literature. In the literature review I will cover themes that address the main research question of this study. The outline of the broad sub-themes of the study will be explicated in detail for discussion and analysis.
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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction
In the previous chapter the scene was set for the study. The overview presentation outlined chapters of the envisaged study, starting from the review of literature on school development and systems thinking as the research framework and the research design. As stated in Chapter One this study seeks to examine the use of systems thinking approach to school development.
The study further examines the principal‘s understanding of systems thinking, the benefits of using a systems thinking approach to school development and the challenges of using a systems thinking approach in school development. In order to critically examine the use of systems thinking for purposes of school development, it is thus necessary to pursue first the review of existing literature the field of school development. This research is guided by the following critical aspects:
the principal‘s understanding of systems thinking
the implementation of school development using the systems thinking approach
the benefits of using the systems thinking approach in conducting school development
explore the challenges faced by principals in using the systems thinking approach to school development
Thus this chapter will review literature within the broad context of school development which relates to the last three aspects of this research. Chapter Three will examine specifically the systems thinking theory within which this research is located. I will present the review of literature concerning the first question in Chapter Three, as part of the theoretical framework that grounds this study. This review will endeavour to be guided in look at literature relating to the last three aspects both directly and indirectly. In that endeavour the review will not be pinned down to the sequence of questions, due to the limited literature that directly answers to these questions. However, this review will present the current debates and discourses in an attempt to indicate the shift in thinking based on school development.
The review presents the different strands on systemic education reform, to indicate the shift in thinking from that has been made from the previous decades of school effectiveness and
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improvement thinking. The discourse on systemic education reform is linked to the current debate which attempts to upscale school development, beyond the localised schools. This review enables us to develop an understanding of the progress in this field and its potential for future development. The weight of international research clearly shows the shift in thinking from reductionist reforms to system wide efforts in educational change. In this chapter I will therefore briefly review the historical evolution of school development and also draw the reader to the understanding of the concepts associated with school development. I will trace the evolution of debates on school effectiveness and school improvement from the early eighties and early nineties in this field. I acknowledge the relative limited nature of this study in tracing the historical evolution of school development, to the current thinking on the nature and future of educational reform. However, the main purpose of this study is to examine the use of systems thinking as a new perspective on school development. In order to acquaint the reader with the new thinking on education reform, I will discuss concepts that are related to the focus of the study. These concepts will also become clearer as the study unfolds.
There is overwhelming literature on the current debates about education reform, which cannot be exhaustively reviewed in such a limited study. Nevertheless, the reader will get an understanding why school development needs to be examined from a systems thinking perspective. It is argued that school development is steeped in the reductionist and linear frameworks that have constrained us in breaking away from the industrial age to 21st century thinking. The current total quality management and cascade models are some of the old frameworks that always rear their heads in practice, thus constraining systemic change in education (Cobb, 2003). In this review the reader should note the interchangeable uses of the concepts of school improvement and school development. The literature on school reform at times overlooks context or deals with it in a narrow manner. I will briefly acquaint the reader with the evolution of the school improvement and systemic eras, in order to show where are coming from, where are currently we and where we are going in terms of education reform.
By so doing, it will assist the study to clarify the current debates and discourses are during this era. It is argued in this study that the current education debates have an impact on the thinking regarding the way school development is conducted.
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