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  1. Cliff R. Parks
    13 February 2013 @ 9:57 pm

    Just as teachers’ work orientations contain varying mixtures of attention to their own classroom practice and interest in and collaboration with other teachers’ practices, so to, school cultures vary between those with a more restricted definition of the teacher role and those that encourage and facilitate teachers’ broader involvement with peers in their school or beyond. These two poles of work culture are embodied in contrasting organizational structures that are designed to address two fundamental needs of social organization (Aldrich & Marsden, 1988). Hierarchical, bureaucratic structures are characterized by differentiated roles and responsibilities which enable individuals to take clear and authoritative actions based on the expertise that comes from specialization. However, autonomous decision-making may create a norm of private practice–of non-interference. In contrast, participatory and fluid organizational structures evolve from the goal of integrating individuals into a cohesive common culture. Such structures produce norms of collaboration, mutual assistance, and collective responsibility and decision-making.

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