[Ous-lp-rp13] EDAD 6020, Answer to question #1

[James Ward]

When I look around at my district and school as a whole, I can identify
rational, natural and open/social systems. In a rational system, all
individuals involved are working towards the same goal without regard to
the personal interests of its workforce. One area that my school displays a
rational system is through the safety procedures for fires, tornados and
lockdown drills. My school has specific guidelines on how teachers are to
get the students from the areas they are currently at to the safest place
possible. We as staff members are responsible to these guidelines and are
to follow them to the best of our abilities because that is what has been
put in to place by our district and principal.

In regards to a natural system in my school, we have in place reading and
math committees. These committees, while wanting to see all students grow,
also have very different goals in mind. The reading and math committees
were set up this past year by our building principal and building
leadership team (BLT). The aim of the committees are to bring the
deficiencies that we observe our kids come to us with, and then coming up
with ways to address those weaknesses as a group. We are not under the
thumb of an administrator or the district to do what they feel is best, but
our committees are given freedom as a group to come up with different
strategies that we feel are best to help solve the deficiencies we are
observing.

For me to see an open/social system in action, I believe that I have to
look no farther than any public school district in the country. The
districts are given money via tax payer or community businesses to hire the
needed staff (teachers, cooks, custodians, principals, etc.). Students are
then brought to us beginning in kindergarten and some as early as
pre-school. Through standards and curriculum that is given to teachers by
the school district, teachers are then expected to help the students reach
their maximum potential until their set graduation date. After graduation
students are expected to be able to go out and be a productive individual
to society through the workforce, or advance to college, hopefully
obtaining a degree, and then coming out as a contributing member to
society.
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