How an Educational Organization is an Open System | EA 300
A system is an
organized collection of parts (a subsystems) that are highly integrated to
accomplish an overall goals. Or a system is a totally made up of interdependent
parts which are arranged in specific order so that they can work together
toward the achievement of common objective. System are divided into two major
types which are open systems and closed systems. Closed systems including non –
living things and all those systems whose survival do not depend on constant
adjustment with the environment. Closed system have hard boundaries through
which very little information is exchanged. On the other hand, open systems are
system which maintain themselves through constant exchange which their
environment that is there is a continuous outflow and inflow a building up and
breaking down of components, never being so long as it is alive, in a state of
chemical and thermodynamic equilibrium but maintained in a so called steady
state which is distinct from the latter. According to Wikipedia, Open System is
a system that has external interactions such interaction can take the form of
information, energy, of material transfers into or out of the system boundary,
depending on discipline which defines the concept. Generally, open systems are
those systems/organizations capable of exchanging matter which their
environment Examples biological organism and cell, and social organizations.
Social system such as a
school are generally regarded as open system. “Energy is transformed and
something new is produced, a product is exported into the environment, the
pattern of energy is cyclical; the product that is exported into the
environment is source of energy for repetition of the cycle of activities, the
system aims to maximize its ratio of imported to expended energy, and last
attribute the system exhibits differentiation, a tendency towards increased
complexity through specialization.[1]
Therefore all schools are open system although the degree of interaction with
their environment may vary.
According to Open System
views schools constantly interact with their environments. In fact, they need
to structure themselves to deal with forces in the world around them. An Open
System consists of five basic elements which are input, transformation process,
outputs, feedback and environment.[2]
The following are
characteristics of Open System which show the evidence Education Organization
is an Open System.
The first evidence is
importation of energy. Education Organization import some energy from external
environment. Systems such as schools use four kinds of inputs or resources from
the environment. Examples human resources include administrative and staff talent,
labour and the other financial resources are the capital the school/school
district uses to finance both ongoing and longterm operations and physical
resources include supplies, materials, facilities and equipment as well as information
resources are knowledge, curricula, data and other kinds of information
utilized by the school through this evidence show that Education Organization
is Open System simply because an Open System simply because it import some
energy from external environment and these are consumable resources with which
the system functions.
The second evidence
which show Education Organization is Open System is the through-put. This is
the process of transforming energy that goes through the system. It involves re
organization of inputs. The school administrator’s job involves combining and
coordinating these various resources to attain the schools goals – learning for
all. The interaction between students and teachers is part of transformation of
learning process by which students become educated citizens capable of
contributing to society. Work of some kind is done in the system to produce
output. The system adds a value added to the work in process.[3]
This transformation process include the internal operation of the organization
and its system of operational management some components of the system of the
system of operational management include the technical competence of school
administrators and other staff, their plans of operation and their ability to
cope with change. Tasks performed by school administrator within the
organizations structure will affect the school of school districts outputs.
Third, output; these
are the end product of the system. Open System exports some products into the
environment. It is the principal’s job to secure and use inputs to the schools,
transform them while considering external variables to produce outputs. In
social systems, output are the attainment of goals or objectives of the school
and are represented by the products, results, outcomes or accomplishments of
the system (graduates). Although the kind of outputs will vary with a specific
school, they usually include one or more of the following growth and
achievement levels of the school community relations and job satisfaction. A
school must provide satisfaction to members of the school community beyond the
physiological needs like salary, working conditions, job security.[4]
The output of one system can be the input of another system. Schools must
provide for employees needs for affiliation, acceptance, esteem, and perhaps
even self actualization if they hope to retain a motivated, committed work
force capable of performing at maximum levels.[5]
Forth, Education
organization as a cycle of events, the tendency of the activities to re-occur.
In an Open System the pattern of activities of the energy exchange has a cyclic
character. The products exported into the environment provide the source of
energy for repetitive of the cycle of activities. The concepts of cycle of
events can be applied to the understanding of educational organizations it is
obvious that the events have a repetitive nature they characterized by cycles
of inputs of materials or information; this involve activities like
advertisement, application, selection, admission, registration, orientation
and placement (allocation of the students into rooms. And transformation of
materials or information like teaching, inspection, meeting, seminars,
evaluation, testing, and examinations). This goes with feedback, a feedback is
crucial to the success of the school operation. Negative feedback, for example,
can be used to correct deficiencies in the transformation process or the inputs
or both which in turn will have an effect on the schools future outputs.
The last evidence is
environment. The environment surrounding the school includes the social,
political and economic forces that impinge on the organization. The environment
is in the Open System model takes on added significance today in a climate of
policy accountability. The social, political and economic contexts in which
school administrators work are marked by pressures at the local, state and
federal levels. Thus school administrators today find it necessary to manage
and develop ‘internal’ operations while concurrently monitoring the environment
and anticipating and responding to external demands.
The social, political
and economic forces that impinge on the school organization are not all state
and national however local school administrators also face a number of
challenges that are exclusively local in nature, such as bond referenda,
difficult school boards and teacher unions. These local political issues can at
times confound state mandate policies.[6]
For example school administrators often face mandated programs that do not meet
the changing demographics of their student’s population. Teachers are often
bound by union contracts that conflict with the norms of their particulars
school or school districts. Superintendent are expected to respond to federal
mandates even though it may require expelling a student to miss school for an
extended period of time. And education leaders are faced with ongoing pressures
to show good results on standardized achievement tests, while at the same time
dealing with a growing number of management duties such as budgeting, hiring
personnel, labor relations and management initiaties.
Basically, all schools
are Open System. An Open system consists of five basic elements which are
inputs, a transformation process, outputs, feedback and the environment.
Through technology and administrative functions the inputs undergo a
transformation process. In school the interaction between students and teacher
is part of the transformation or learning process by which student become
educated citizens capable of contributing to society. In school the output may
be student’s knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes. Feedback serves as a
control mechanism. Negative feedback from the outputs or environment can be
used to correct deficiencies in the inputs or the transformation process or
both. On the other hand, there is another system which is closed system, this
system including non living thing and all those system whose survival do not
depend on constant adjustment with the environment, closed systems can be
characterized by the hard boundaries through which very little information is
exchanged, also closed system do not depend on exchange of environment to be
survival and all system have boundaries can be difficult to identify because
system forms are very dynamic.
Written by;
Makoba Daud (Mwalimu Makoba)
Kilongo Secilia Joseph
Chimatu Baraka Mkama
Kalinga Apolinali
Kitalula Abubakari
Elisaria Goodluck
References
Katz D and Khan R.
(1969) Common Characteristics of open
system: England, Penguin Book LTD.
Scott, R. (2003). Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open
System. 5th Ed. New Jersey; Prentice Hall.
W. Richard Scott.
(2003). Organizations, Rational, Natural,
and Open Systems: Stanford University.
Fred C. Lunenburg.
(2010). School as an Open System: Sam
Houston State University.
Scott, R. W. (2008). Organizations and organizing: Rational,
natural, and open systems perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Shaw, P. (2006). The
four Vs of leadership: Vision, values, value added, vitality. New York, NY:
Wiley.
Maslow, A. H. (1998). Maslow
on management. New York, NY: Wiley.
Lunenburg, F. C., &
Ornstein, A. O. (2008). Educational administration: Concepts and practices (5th
Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
[1] Katz D
and Khan R. (1969) Common Characteristics
of open system: England, Penguin Book LTD.
[2] Scott, R. (2003). Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open System. 5th Ed. New Jersey; Prentice
Hall.
[3]
Shaw, P. (2006). The four Vs of leadership: Vision, values, value added,
vitality. New York, NY: Wiley.
[4]
Herzberg, F. (2009). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Boston,
MA: Harvard Business School Press.
[5]Maslow,
A. H. (1998). Maslow on management. New York, NY: Wiley.
[6]
Lunenburg, F. C., & Ornstein, A. O. (2008). Educational administration:
Concepts and practices (5th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.