Schools as Ecosystems

Independent and international schools are amazingly delicate ecosystems, where small disruptions in one area can quickly spread to create profound turbulence elsewhere. Parent goodwill and loyalty, faculty support and morale, and leadership for the common good are easy factors to put into disequilibrium. As with biological ecosystems, disruptions can take a long time to restabilize in a new balance.Heads and boards too frequently over-estimate the durability of their schools' ecosystems. They assume that disruptive events--however necessary--will be minimally traumatic, and become surprised at "over-reactions" from parents and teachers. This is not to argue that disruption is to be avoided at all costs; rather, to make the point that happy, successful schools should not be taken for granted, particularly when estimating the risks associated with certain strategic and managerial actions.Messing with a biological ecosystem can drive some species toward extinction with even small variations in the environment. The same is true for schools.