UMass Boston

Course Overview

Description

This required course, taken in the first spring semester, helps participants develop a diverse set of perspectives for analyzing organizations. Practitioners who are interested in leadership roles in schools and other urban educational settings function in a variety of roles in many large and small organizations: teachers and classroom administrators in buildings or programs, members of a department or team, students in a graduate classroom, union members and leaders, parents of school-aged children and part of a school community. Practitioners also play roles in organizations outside of schools-in community groups, sports teams, religious groups, etc. The course helps look at those organizations and the roles played within them, by offering a broad set of perspectives drawn from the extensive literature on organizations. Learning to understand and use multiple perspectives for analyzing organizations allows us to reflect on our roles in them, even as it expands the set of possible choices for taking action and leadership within them.