The communication system in the school operation and development: The case of the Greek educational legislation

Abstract

According to the theory of social systems of Niklas Luhmann, communication is regarded as an open process and the only authentic social function which allows the interface of mental as well social systems, with a view to autopoiesis, that is the reproduction of communication itself. Therefore, only communication can affect communication, just because whatever is not communicated cannot contribute to communication and the function of society. The operation of an organization - as it is the school for example - as well as the interaction of all its members cannot be achieved without the communication system, the level of its systemic maturity which indicates correspondingly the level of the organizational maturity of the organization. Therefore, the educational system, because of its complexity, is a self-rational organization of communication energetics. This paper, based on the systemic approach, aims to study the role of communication in the organization, operation and school development using as a research tool a prototype categorical system of content analysis of two of the five dimensions of complexity; the social and cognitive dimension of complexity in order to make a systematic study of the written texts of the legal framework of primary education in the post-dictatorship Greece. Through the communication indicators of the two dimensions mentioned above we will emphasize the degree and the kind of communication relations developed by the school, both internally and with the important environmental systems. Moreover, we will find out whether the "communications" of the school allow it to become a learning organization.