ABSTRACT
Soft systems thinking suggests that the problems that school leaders face are ill-defined, not easily quantified, and have multiple complex solutions (Jackson, 2003). Utilizing equity as an exemplar, this chapter will illustrate how conceptualizing schools as soft systems can aid school leaders in their work. The literature suggests that inequalities in schools fall along racial and socioeconomic lines, including lack of access to experienced teachers, advanced curriculum, lack of funding, discipline disparities, and deficit perspectives about low-income families and students of color (Adamson & Darling-Hammond, 2012; Darling-Hammond, 2004; Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010; Valencia, 1997). As such, addressing equity within schools and school districts presents problems that do not exist independent of school leaders, teachers or students and their families, are deeply contextual and situational, and open to interpretation. Surfacing divergent views including those related to problem definition and potential explanations or resolutions are a hallmark of the soft systems approach to organizational analysis and can be employed to foster equity leadership in schools.
