A Systems Approach to Organization and Instruction in Schools

An examination of the school as a community naturally leads us to note the relationship between systems and communities. Communities are systems by virtue of the interconnectedness that characterizes their interpersonal and intrainstitutional connections. Some systems are not communities, such as armies, industries, commercial enterprises, hospitals, and so forth (Sharan, Shachar, & Levine, 1999), although as happens frequently, communities may be formed spontaneously within those systems. The news media have a penchant for citing “the international community” of nations, even though anyone would be hard-pressed to identify how they constitute a community in light of the competition or animosity so rampant between many nations. A quick glance at the UN and its proceedings will verify that view.