ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT ADAPTATION

Teacher-Principal Behavior: Open to Closed *Halpin and Croft s pioneering study of elementary schools.

Table 7.1 Selected Items from the OCDQ Item Response Categories Administrative paperwork is burdensome at this school RO SO OO VFO The principal uses constructive criticism RO SO OO VFO Teacher talks about leaving the school..RO SO OO VFO The rules set by the principal are never questioned ..RO SO OO VFO The principal does personal favors for others . ..RO SO OO VFO Responses: RO- rarely occurs SO- sometimes occurs OO- often occurs VFO- very frequently occurs

Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire -OCDQ

measure generally taps the social standards component of the school s culture, defining appropriate behaviors. y It is usually administered to the entire professional staff of each school. With each respondent asked to describe the extent to which each statement characterizes his school. The responses to each item are scaled along a four point continuum. y The final version of the OCDQ was administered to seventy-one elementary schools. Using factor-analytic techniques, the sixty-four items were grouped into eight factors, or subtests. Four of the subtests described various components of the teacher-principal interactions. These eight clusters of items were named and designated the eight dimensions of school climate
y This

Table 7.2 The OCDQ Subscales Characteristics of Faculty Behavior Hindrance refers to the teachers feeling that the principal burdens them with routine and duties, committee work and other requirements that the teachers perceive as unnecessary busywork . Intimacy refers to the teachers enjoyment of warm and friendly personal relations with one another. Disengagement refers to the teachers tendency to go through the motions without an actual commitment to the task at hand. Esprit refers to the morale growing out a sense of both task accomplishment and social needs satisfaction. Characteristics of Principal Behavior Production Emphasis refers to close supervisory behavior on the part of the principal. The principal is highly directive and not sensitive to faculty feedback. Aloofness refers to normal and impersonal principal behavior; the principal goes by the book and maintain social distance from the staff. Consideration refers to the warm, friendly behavior by the principal. The principal tries to helpful and do a little something extra for his faculty when he can. Thrust refers to dynamic principal behavior in which he can attempt to move the organization is made through the example that the principal sets for the teachers.

Figure 7.1 Profile of a School Climate: An open Climate

y The school profiled in Figure 7.1 is relatively high in esprit,

thrust, consideration; relatively low in hindrance, disengagement, production emphasis, aloofness; and average in intimacy; a profile that Halpin and Croft subsequently label an open organizational climate. y They also identified six basic clusters of profile, that is six basic school climates that are arrayed along a rough continuum from open to closed: open, autonomous, controlled, familiar, paternal, closed. y Table 7.3 roughly indicates the pattern of these six prototypic climates. Using this information, it is possible to sketch a behavioral picture of each climate.

Table 7.3 Characteristic Profiles for Climate Types

CLIMATE TYPE Autonomous Controlled Familiar Paternal Closed Low High Low Low High Low Low High Average

Climate Dimension Hindrance Intimacy

Open Low

Average High

Disengagement Esprit Production Emphasis Aloofness Consideration Thrust

Low* High* Low Low High High*

Low High Low High Average Average

Low High High High Low Average

High Average Low Low High Average

High Low High Low High Average

High* Low* High High Low Low*

* Salient characteristics of the open and closed climates

Open Climate y The distinctive feature of this is its high degree of thrust and esprit and low disengagement. This indicates a climate in which both the principal and faculty are genuine in their behavior. The principal leads through example and teachers work well together and are dedicated to their responsibilities. Given the realitycentered leadership of the principal and a committed faculty, there is no need for burdensome paperwork (hindrance), close supervision (production emphasis), or impersonality of rules and regulations (aloofness). y The open school is not preoccupuied exclusively with either task achievement or social needs satisfaction, but both emerge freely.

Closed Climate y This is virtually the antithesis of the open climate. y Thrust and esprit are low and disengagement is high. The principal stress unnecessary busywork (hindrance), and the teachers responding at minimal levels. And his ineffective leadership is further seen in his close supervision (production emphasis), formal declarations and impersonality (aloofness), as well as a lack of consideration for his faculty and an inability or unwillingness to provide a dynamic personal example. y The behavior of the principal and teachers in the closed climate is least genuine when authenticity pervades the atmosphere of the school

OCDQ: Some research findings y Tempting question: Do students perform better academically in schools with open climates? Findings: Allan F. Brown: such a question traps us in the cognitive fallacy -that it does not necessarily follow that positive teacher-principal relations lead to better cognitive results on student achievement tests. Dynamic leadership, like other healthy organizational dynamics, enhances the probability of institutional policies being successfully implemented, regardless of whether they are good or bad. Conclusion: Healthy, open organizational dynamics make a contributing impact because they facilitate the process of the organization, not necessarily its product-openness cannot make a poor program good.

y On the other hand some research is starting to suggest that

openness in school climate and affective characteristics of school are related in predictable ways. It sometimes indicates that the more open the school s climate, the less the sense of student alienation toward the school and its professional personnel. y As one might expect, studies that examine relationships between characteristics of the principal and the climate of the school often indicate that more open schools have stronger principals who are more confident, self-secure, cheerful, sociable, and resourceful. Teachers express greater confidence in their own and the school s effectiveness. Finally, such principals have more loyal and satisfied teachers.

MANEGERIAL SYSTEMS:EXPLOITATIVE-AUTHORITATIVE TO PARTICIPATIVE y Rensis Likert has developed the theory research, and specifics of such an approach in two important volumes, New Patterns of management and The Human Organization. Likert clearly says that the perspective is applicable to other kinds of organized human activity such as the public schools.
y He developed a continuum along which organizations are placed

according to the character of their subordinate-subordinate relationships.

System 1 Exploitive Authoritative Organizational Characteristics Leadership Process

System 2 - BenevolentAuthoritative

System 3 Consultative

System 4 Participative

Authoritative Non Supportive Motivational Forces Low Communication Weak Process Distorted InteractionCold Influence Process Distant Decision- making Unilateral Process Goal Setting Unilateral Control Process Hierarchical Performance Goals Average and Training

Participative Supportive High Strong Accurate Warm Close Shared Shared Collegial Extremely High

Table 7.4 Organizational Characteristics and Continuum of System Types

y System 1- Exploitive- Authoritative

This is the system which there is little confidence and trust in either superiors or subordinates and little supportive behavior toward each other. Organizational members tend to be motivated by threatened or applied sanctions.Communication is initiated from above and flows downward. Decisions are made unilaterally at the top with little sharing of decision-making responsibilities. Interaction patterns among organizational members, especially between hierarchical levels, are limited and viewed with suspicion. The control structure is concentrated in top management, and performance goals of members are not high.

y System 2- Benevolent- Authoritative The Benevolent- Authoritative system has most of the trappings of the Exploitive- Authoritative system only to lesser degree.

y System 3- Consultative

The Consultative system is well along the way toward developing the characteristics of the participative system.
y System 4- Participative

The participative system is at the other end of the Likert spectrum of organizational types. Supportive leadership and highly motivated employees who share in the decision- making process characterized this kind of organizational structure. Forces generally reinforce one another rather than conflict. Interpersonal relationships are close, warm, and friendly.

Ten thousand new teachers each year enter the New York City school system as a result of retirement, death, and job turnover. These new teachers come from all over the country. They represent all religions, races, political persuasions, educational institutions. But the amazing thing is that after three weeks in the classroom you can t tell them apart from the teachers they replaced.

CLIMATE TYPE
Climate Dimension
Hindrance Intimacy

Open
Low Average

Autonomous Controlled Familiar Paternal Closed

Low High High Low Low High Low Low High Average

Disengagement Esprit Production Emphasis Aloofness Consideration Thrust

Low* High* Low Low High High*

Low High Low High Average Average

Low High High High Low Average

High Average Low Low High Average

High Low High Low High Average

High* Low* High High Low Low*