Arthur Blumberg

The Craft of School Administration and Some Other Rambling Thoughts.

In this article, personal reflections, leading to the notion of the craft not art, not Science of educational administration are set forth. Following a growing personal disenchantment with the science of administration and a consideration of adminstration as an art, the craft aspects of administrative work became apparent to the author. The implications of conceiving of administration as a craft for preparation programs are then discussed in the light of this view of administrative practice.

Changing Climate in a Complex Organization: Interactions between a Learning Design and An Environment

This study contributes to the growing evidence relevant to the “laboratory approach” to organization development (OD). A pilot study revealed major changes in the climate of a small organization un...

Supervision: What Is and What Might Be.

My interests in problems of supervision in the schools have tended to focus on the interpersonal and organizational relationships that impinge on and affect the way teachers and supervisors deal with each other. This interest was stimulated some years ago when I started teaching graduate courses, not in supervision, but in interpersonal and group relationships to students who were, for the most part, public school teachers. Almost inevitably, at some time during each semester, the discussion would turn to the supervisory relationship, what it was like, and how effective it was. In a way, each of these discussions was a near carbon copy of others that preceded it. When the topic first came up, for example, smiles could be seen on the faces of the students and some snickers

The Substance of Trust Between Teachers and Principals

Can you define trust? Vague responses to this question prompted the authors to undertake a study to determine how teachers view trust. Their results, while reducing some of the ambiguity attached to the word, indicate that more research is required.

The Laboratory Approach to Organization Change: “Confrontation Design”

This study reports one “spin-off” from the basic technology of sensitivity training, which is now widely used for inducing attitudinal and behavioral change in organizations. Changes in attitudes o...

An Inner-City School That Changed--And Continued to Change.

An observant “over-forty” visitor to most public schools today will be struck by the singular fact that what goes on in them is markedly similar to what transpired in the schools he attended as a youngster. This is not to say that math O* science, for example, are not being taught differently (for better or for worse) in Some cases. Nor is it to suggest that new courses with attractive and “relevant” titles have not’ been introduced into the curriculum (again, for better or for worse). But it is to take note of the fact that, for the most Part, the basic structure of the school, the way decisions are made, the character of the relationships between administrators and teachers, teachers and teachers, and teachers and students, tend to be what they used to be. And this despite the fact that large Sums of money and astronomical numbers of person hours have been devoted to trying to induce change in the schools so that they might become more responsive and open social systems.

The Principal as Practical Inquirer: Looking for Workable Answers

Here is an article designed to encourage principals to think about how they might help teachers use the findings of educational research in their classrooms, and how they might help their schools generate their own situation-specific research that has immediate application to school administrative or classroom problems.

Persistence of Attitudinal Changes Induced By A Confrontation Design: A research note

The use of a brief “confrontation design” had significant short-run effects on attitudes toward interdepartmental relations in a complex organization, as an article previously published in this jou...

To Skip a Stone--Or, Learning About Leadership on a Beach at Cape Cod.

our Principals’ Center to help them deal with growing expectations, and growing pressures, are required. The BJE Principals’ Center is changing, too. We have replaced our original advisory councils with a new Executive Board, which not only provides input on programming but takes some responsibility for implementation and goal setting. This Board increases the principals’ &dquo;ownership&dquo; of the centers and their self-direction.