A theory is a tentative way of explaining something. “It consists of a set of assumptions, concepts, relationships, and logic that are combined to explain a phenomenon of interest (Johnson & Kruse, 2009).” “Theories come from science and research. The purpose of theory/theorizing is to understand and control the world in which we live by describing and explaining it. Education is saturated with theory (Johnson, 2015). Theory can be both normative and descriptive. The normative explains the “ought” while the descriptive explains the “is”. Each practitioner’s goal is to marry the two as closely as possible (Johnson, 2015). A theory represents an idea that is research based with the premise of helping society by better understanding some …show more content…
The two models for strategic planning are rational and political. The rational model requires vision and commitment because it is a model for logic and sequence. Goals compel polices that dictate programs, and it is these programs that are comprised of the specific actions that allow for the goal to be met. This model deals with the normative. This top down logic does not exist in the political model, which is more descriptive and politically viable (Johnson, 2015). More general policies are the effect of issues and problems that occur. Both of these to models can produce change, positive and negative. They both are highly dictated by politics and should be the product of strategic thinking. They contrast in the level of detail and the practicality. They function within the same reality and must be part of a practitioners …show more content…
The steps and actions required for planning should be goal identification, identification of policies to realize the goal, development of programs, action-plan development, and goal monitoring. The political context of every issue should be on the forefront of every administrator’s mind. I do not think it is possible to separate the political from the rational and why would you. Schools and the people in them are products of politics and to try to separate the two in naïve (Johnson & Kruse, 2010). Strategic leaders are always mindful of the political implications for every decision. The strategic thinker should seek an advantage in using the politics of issues to be increasingly effective. 6. Context in an invaluable concept that gives meaning to all ideas, statistics and data. Without context we limited to very abstract ideas. Decision context refers many dynamic and variable factors such as the following: Cultural, social, organizational, resource, temporal, risk, etc. (Johnson & Kruse, 2011). All the different factors that have led to that decision, are influenced by the decision, and influence the decision are the ‘context’. As a middle school administrator my context are the school system, teachers, students, cultures, demographics, politics, etc. Experience pays dividends when dealing with decisions that are rich in context. Every decision is made up of factors that
According to Blase, Blase, and Phillips (2010) educational leaders in high preforming schools effectively balance administrative and instructional leadership and provide stability, predictability and support. The current paradigm of educational leadership is management of facility, budget, school safety, and student discipline. Administrators must place more emphasis on methods to balance the responsibility of instructional leadership. It will require effective leadership characterized by their ability to redesign their schools into an effective organization. This can be done by a leader’s willingness to take risk. Risk taking would involve the leaders’ commitment to work collaboratively with teachers to set school wide and classroom goals suited to meet the unique needs of the students. It would require educational leaders to refuse to adopt a manufactured educational program but to make a commitment to their students and teachers to create a learning environment that is unique and relevant. Educational leaders would evaluate teachers on the effectiveness of their instructional practices. Each teacher would be held accountable for data that supports the need for goals developed for their classroom and methods used to track progress, use of instructional strategies, how assessment will be incorporated to drive instruction and monitor learning, and the effective use of assessment
theories can be defined as a way that a student grows, progresses, or increases his or her
In science, a theory will refer to an explanation of an important feature of the world supported by testing and facts that have been gathered over time. It’s there scientific theories that allow scientists to make predictions about untested and unobserved concurrences in the world. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has this explanation of what a theory means to those in the science field, and it is as follows, “A scientific theory is a well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts......Such fact supported theories are not guesses but reliable accounts of the real
First of all, through this assignment, I have learned that a theory is an interrelated set of concepts and propositions, organized into deductive systems that explain relationships among different aspects. It is an overall explanation of the person in environment configuration, and helps explain why a problem is occurring. It will also provide a social worker with a set of ideas that will help the social worker get a better understanding of the problem. In addition, there are many different theories, and perspectives that are used in the social work field to empower people and to promote a positive society for all. This particular case is associated with bio-psychosocial approach
Theory: A general statement about some parts of the world that fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related
There are many definitions to theory. According to Akers (2009) “theories are tentative answers to the commonly asked questions about events and behavior” (Akers, (2009, p. 1). Theory is a set of interconnect statements that explain how two or more things are related in two casual fashions, based upon a confirmed hypotheses and established multiple times by disconnected groups of researchers.
Leaders in the school have hard decisions to help make on a daily basis. They need to evaluate their decisions to make sure they are ethical and effective. Administrators need to listen to all sides of a situation and evaluate all options before they make a decision. This process is difficult because administrators need to make sure that all parties involved are satisfied with the decision that was formed.
Theories can help explain why a problem is occurring and where the most effective intervention should take place. Theories can be obtained from research and from facts. According to Michael Tropeano “a theory is a statement backed by evidence gathered through the scientific method intended to explain something. Theoretical approaches for social work are often used to explain human behavior and serve as starting points for practice models and treatments.”
Decisions are a constant in administration. Principals and school leaders alike are faced with decisions all day every day. Decisions that not only shape and mold the school culture and climate, but the shape they students that attend our schools and their families. It’s critical that school leaders are aware of the ethical ramifications of the decisions they make and are cognoscente of the moral and ethical implications of their decisions. Educational leaders are not only leaders of schools, but leaders in the community.
... a theory should be able to explain a wide variety of things, not just only what it was intended to explain.
As a leader candidate, I can understand the challenges and multiplicity of complications that administrators must face each day. However, I will not accept any remote possibility that the students must be affected by some flaws of the school organization. We all as leaders, must be strategic with people, time, and money to guide our students towards an academic success.
Turbulence theory allows school leaders to understand both micro and macro level issues that can negatively influence our public schools. Gross (2006) suggests school leaders who effectively apply turbulence theory to their practice will be engaged in reflective action plans in anticipation of pressure from their school based decisions. He states, “Turbulence theory therefore gives us an enhanced ability to calibrate the severity of the issue at hand. It further aids us in our attempt to contextualize a given problem as we construct strategies to move to less troubled waters” (p. 51). In relation to equity, a school leader may use turbulence theory as a strategy to inform their practice. For example, a school leader who plans on implementing professional development using Courageous Conversation can use turbulence theory as a way to recognize possible resistance that this action may attract and create structures in place to provide a greater opportunity of success. So, turbulence theory can be a useful tool for school leaders to more adequately manage equity
Stam’s (2010) view of theory as a systematic representation of critical problems. Systematic observations are developing explanations of problems, describing different strategies, and providing outcomes. A theory is an observation and unified hypotheses, a cycle of statements, or a pictorial model, and specific methods in yielding results of said process. Theories are used as a construct in researcher work to explain a phenomenon. Practitioners utilized theory based on observation and frame the problem in an actual practice environment. According to Stam (2007), a theory is a systematic arrangement of knowledge useful for problem solving, in clarifying these different observable truths. The usefulness of theories used by practitioners is
A theory is a set of statements that describes, explains and predicts human behavior. Development of behavior starts during the prenatal stage up to late adulthood. Three theories that help describe behavior are the perspective of Freud, Erikson and Paget’s. All three theories have several similarities as well as differences. By comparing I hope to gain a better understanding of all three theories.
If asked what strategic planning is one could interpret it as simply a road map that can guide the organization in the right direction. It is very unlikely that an organization would know which direction to take without a sense of direction. Managers are faced every day with decisions that have a major impact on the direction the organization must take, therefore, strategic planning can play an important role in guiding managers in the right direction. In other words strategic planning is a tool that management can use to give them a sense of direction that will guide them in doing a better job and to ensure that all the members of the organization are working toward the same goals