Question No. 26
Which schools of management supports
informal organization
Answers
Answer:
The bell rings, lockers slam, conversations end, and classroom doors shut as the school day
begins. We are all familiar with these signs that the formal school day is about to start. Schools
provide the framework for meeting certain goals of societies and preparing young people for
future statuses and roles. School organizations, just as other organizations, have formally stated goals,
criteria for membership, a hierarchy of offices, and a number of informal goals, such as friendship and
sharing of interests. Although individual schools around the world share a number of similarities in
their structures and roles, they also have their own distinct personalities.
This chapter begins our analysis of the formal and informal parts of educational organizations: the
structure, stated goals, and what “really” happens in schools. Organizationally, schools are divided into
classrooms, the day into periods, teachers into subject areas and rank, and students into groups by
grades or performance results on examinations (Hurn, 1993; Parsons, 1959). Like other formal orga-
nizations, schools have memberships composed of individuals holding different status positions
necessary to carry out the functions and goals of the school. Each position holder has certain roles to
perform—administrating, teaching, learning, and providing support functions such as driving the bus
and preparing the meals. These activities are the processes of schools, the means to meet goals.
The broad functions and goals of schools are common knowledge and shared by many people as
pointed out in the reading in this chapter by Mary Haywood Metz. However, there is conflict over how
to carry out those functions and goals—what curriculum to teach, what courses to offer, and how to best
prepare all students for society. As discussed in the previous chapter, conflicts can occur between the
school and its environment, between the school and school board, with different groups in communities,
and between schools and the government. Even religious and political interest groups want a say in what
schools teach and how they teach it. These conflicting goals can be seen in readings throughout the text.
Although the organizational goals of schools call for educating all students, not all students meet the
requirements for passing to the next grade level or for graduating, especially when exams are adminis-
tered to promote and graduate students. However, to give up on the students—that is, to “fire” them—
would be to lose societal resources. Therefore, schools cannot be run by the same rules and under the
same efficiency model as business organizations. Schools are expected, according to their goals, to
prepare students for the next generation by transmitting shared knowledge, societal values, and ideal