The Circular Thinking : An Alternative Framework for Research in Educational Administration(Restructuring Educational Management Studies)

Abstract

This article firstly examines the framework of research on educational administration and then searches for an alternative framework. Many research on educational administration conducted in Japan are based on the linear thinking. To understand the phenomenon of an organization, the thinking makes a clear distinction between cause and effect factors, and explains that the most superior factor decides all other factors. In these research the organizational goals of schools are regarded as the most superior factor. However, the greatest fault of the thinking is that the organizational goals which are powerful enough to lead the school organization as a whole to take decisions unilaterally cannot really be set. If the present complexity of schools and the recent findings of research (the unintended consequences and paradox of educational phenomena) are taken into account, it is obvious that understanding of the uncertainty and complexity, and sensitivity to the possibilities of getting unexpected and undesirable effects are required. It is here that theories like the loose coupling theory and the garbage can model respond to the requirements. The framework of these theories is the circular thinking, which explains that the organizational phenomenon cannot be considered as a simple cause and effect relationship because all factors are in mutual causal relationships. From the perspective of the circular thinking, the self-fulfilling prophecy is an important concept in understanding the organizational phenomenon. The image management and the school identity strategy such as changes of school uniforms and school names conducted widely in recent years are the strategies used to raise the self-fulfilling prophecy. Finally, this article also provides some implications of the circular thinking for the management of schools.