Welcome, colleagues, to the on-line portal for the AERA OT-SIG:

The Organization Theory Special Interest Group (OT-SIG) is a community of scholars interested in promoting the use and development of organizational theory in the context of educational research.

Organizational theory is a multi-disciplinary area of study that provides the intellectual and analytical tools for studying the diverse set of context factors that shape school operations and outcomes.  As such, organization theory draws on ideas from sociology, social-psychology, political science, critical theory, economics and operations research to examine school phenomena at micro-, meso- and macro -levels of analysis. This means organization theory provides insight for answering a broad set of questions relevant to the study of schools as organizations. A very few examples of which include questions about how teachers’ interactions in teams, communities, and social networks affect their instruction; how school leaders understand their work and make decisions; how the design, structure, and culture of schools and districts affect practices and performance; how entrepreneurship can be encouraged and innovations brought to scale; and how environmental pressures, including neighborhood characteristics, market forces, and the broader culture influence schools.  If you’re interested in learning more about the kind of work OT scholars do, I encourage you to take a look at our most recent newsletter (see Key Initiatives below), which not only highlights a few recent articles in the field but also provides an overview of our recent AERA sessions and business meeting events.

A key part of the SIG’s work to promote the use and development of organizational theory in the context of educational research is fostering relationships among researchers, practioners, and policymakers who share an interest in this work. To this end, the membership has a number of formal and informal convenings throughout the year. This includes, of course, program sessions and our business meeting at AERA but it also includes informal gatherings in other venues, such as the annual meeting for the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), getting together for coffee with OT colleagues in our respective local areas, and keeping in touch virtually through our Facebook page and Twitter feed. If you’re reading this page and are not yet a member of the OT-SIG, I’d like to personally invite you to join our community so that we can get to know more about you and your work; you have questions about how to join, feel free to e-mail me.

I look forward to our next opportuinty to meet in person!

Sincerely,

Ebony N. Bridwell-Mitchell, Ph.D.