| Summary: | From the middle of 2003 to the beginning of 2004, this research was carried out by Craig
McGregor, a student in the Master of Teaching and Learning Programme at the
Christchurch of College of Education. The purpose of the research was to investigate and
analyse an After School Study Centre that had been set up in a local school as part of a
New Zealand government initiative towards its policy of closing the digital divide
between less affluent and more affluent schools. This research used the Soft Systems
Methodology that was developed by Checkland and Scholes (1984, 1990, 1999) and
other writers. The purpose of the methodology was to provide suggestions for
improvement and change in the Study Centre. A further purpose of the research was to
explore and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology. In general, the
research had the overriding aim of creating learning, both in the use of the methodology,
and about the Study Centre, rather than explanation.
A literature review charts the course from where systems thinking developed, and how
this developed into the Soft Systems Methodology. Such areas as components of
systems, development of systems theory, hard and soft systems, and Soft Systems
Methodology are discussed. Writers such as Carter, Martin, Mayblin, and Munday
(1984), Checkland and Scholes (1984, 1990, 1999), Davies and Ledington (1991), and
Dick (2002) are focused upon, with their own unique perspectives on systems thinking
and Soft Systems Methodology. Although the research started out by using the seven
step approach set out by Davies and Ledington (1991), it soon became quite clear that a
more holistic model for the methodology was needed to explain the various reiterations
that were required of several of the steps. As learning about the Study Centre developed,
previous steps in the methodology were revisited and refined. Checkland and Scholes
(1999) made it clear that this was how their own practice of the methodology had
developed in their 30 year perspective on their work, and refined their own model of the
methodology to a four stage approach.
In gathering data in the Study Centre, which was defined in the methodology as the
problem situation, participant observations and informal interviews were used. To
analyse this data, three main analytical techniques were used: an Intervention Analysis
looked at the data in terms of what potential problems had shown up as areas that could
require improvement or change; the Social and Cultural Analysis looked at the roles,
norms and values of the people who were identified as the "actors" in the Centre; a
Political Analysis looked at power and influence in the Centre. The information gained
from these analyses was set out in a "Rich Picture" as a holistic representation of the
Centre.
By using steps within the methodology, root definitions of three critical systems within
the Centre were created and checked against the mnemonic, CATWOE. The root
definitions are word statements that encapsulate the essence of the Homework
Completion System, Information Literacy System and the Infrastructure Maintenance
System. Through using systems thinking, and looking at the logically dependent
activities in the systems, models were created of how these three systems would operate
in an ideal world. A process was used to compare the ideal world models with how the
systems operated within the real world of the Study Centre. From this, recommendations
for improvement and change were developed. When discussing these recommendations
with the Principal and Centre Teacher, it was found that there was a high degree of
agreement on the changes that need to be implemented. The area that particularly needed
attention was in the Information Literacy Model, where the Principal felt that the
recommendations need to be instituted school wide. All of the comparisons revealed
recommendations need to be implemented in the control systems.
The discussion and conclusions section of the research looked at how effective the
methodology had been in providing the recommendations for improvement and change.
It was concluded that the actioning of the Soft Systems Methodology in the research
followed more in the model outlined by Dick (2002), where the methodology was
explained as a dialectic between four stages. While doing the Intervention Analysis, it
was discovered that not only was it useful to look at the problems from the angle of who
were the people who held a particular point of view, but also who held the point of view
as the most relevant point of view. The Political Analysis of the problem situation did
not show the full picture, and a diagram was developed that graphically showed the
informal and formal lines of influence. When checking the root definitions and models
against the CATWOE, it was found that the weltanschauung was the most difficult area
to incorporate. A model was developed within this research to create a typology of world
views that would help gain understanding of weltanschauung.
With the reporting back of the recommendations, although they were well received, it
was felt that a better disclosure was needed on how each suggestion was received. To
this end, a table was created to better explain the reactions to each of the
recommendations. In creating these recommendations as a starting point for discussion,
much thought had to be given to avoid value judgments that might be implicit in the
recommendations. Great care was taken to explain that the recommendations were a
starting point for discussion, not a value judgment as to how effectively the Centre was
operating. This was particularly important when explaining the need for control subsystem
activities within all of three of the systems. Care had to be taken to avoid the
inference that the suggested activities were low-trust devices.
The discussion also centred upon checking the validity of the research through looking at
what constitutes acceptable practice in systems modeling, and results of a similar
research. Parallels were also drawn between the SSM and Action Research, and SSM
and Futures Studies.
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