Heads of Mechanical or Living Schools? How We Attend to Our Daily Reality.

This paper presents a holistic conceptualization of the school as an autonomous system. Two major scientific paradigms, reductionism and holism, are outlined and their impacts on educational administration are discussed. Findings of a study that investigated the participation of the governing bodies of independent schools in the schools' self-renewing processes are presented to illustrate the holistic approach to educational administration. The sample included five independent schools in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Results indicate that the governing body participates reflexively as well as directly--an adaptation that allows the school's self-renewing processes to function. However, to place the two paradigms of reductionism and holism in opposition is to create a false dichotomy. Administrators must recognize when it is appropriate to operate within one paradigm or the other. Differences exist in how school heads view their schools--as machines to be maintained or as something with lives of their own. (Contains 16 references.) (LMI)