The purpose of this dissertation was to apply a proposed classification system based on six categorical divisions of a seven circle pattern to the concept, administration. Its applicability was measured by comparison of this classification system with that of the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) concerning administration. The proposed system might prove more efficient in locating terms in this subject-field. For the purpose of the study, administration was viewed as a process for the accomplishment of goals. Six generic terms proposed by the researcher form the structure of a proposed septimal classification system which was applied to the administrative process. These generic terms were used: (1) permanence, (2) change, (3) value, (4) interrelationships, (5) structure, and (6) application. This structure provides a different sequence and order from the various designs of this concept as proposed by scholars of administration, from Fayol through Getzels and Halpin. The researcher selected six generic facets to categorize terms in administration which were cited as sub-processes of the administrative process. The generic categories used to categorize the major sub-processes of administration represent those derived from the cultural scope, knowledge and experience of the researcher; these generic categories could form the divisions of any single concept. They were projected to divide administration, but together represented a complete administrative process from goals to their achievement, and conveyed an understanding of the concept of administration. The proposed Septimal Classification System was applied by categorizing terms used to describe this process by selected authors. A comparative test of the proposed Septimal Classification System with the DDC was made; also, the terms used by authorities in the field to divide their subject matter were subjected to narrative analysis. An attempt was made to show the completeness of the concept of administration from its associative elements. In this analysis, the terms and content were developed from a review of authors on administration and were compared with those developed in the proposed classification system. A comparison of classification systems was made (with the DDC) by differential criteria. Each classification system categorized ideas in administration; the categories of the Septimal system provided a guide or structure for, and unified the process of administration for the student or practitioner in a way that was found lacking in the DDC. The results of the comparison were not conclusive. Whether the proposed system would improve the book classification of the DDC could not be determined by this study. This study showed the ideas within the concept, administration, could be classified into a meaningful process containing the terms of selected authors in the field in different categories. Its ease of use, however, was largely dependent on the selection and allocation by the user of the generic categories, proposed in the study. This led to the conclusion that the application of the Septimal Classification System, if perfected by other users in the field, could lead to an ordered view of the concept, administration, which would encompass the various cited approaches explaining this subject-field. Continued application of the Septimal classification and its generic categories as a structural model to classify subjects in other subject areas, could facilitate an understanding of any subject-field. The student of administration in fields other than education could discover new relationships by application of the Septimal Classification System.

This research study reviewed several disciplinary fields and their conceptualizations of conflict. The primary guiding question was, what is the best conflict education that is required for youth and adults to live in the world of a "culture of violence" in the list century? The general purpose of the study was to provide a critique that would initiate an expanded conflict imaginary, as educators and lifelong learners face a world of growing complex social and cultural conflicts. The "case" under specific critical analysis was identified as conflict management education (CME). CME provided the primary subject (text) for a critical discourse analysis of its conceptualizations of conflict. The main purpose of the study was to determine the hegemony of discourse in the text of a "representative" sample of 22 contemporary CME handbooks and manuals for youth and adults. CME was found to be a new social movement with a powerful "social technology" to change attitudes and behaviors, in order to diminish or eliminate violence. This study found there are virtually no systematic critiques of CME and no significant critiques that focus on the conceptualization of conflict itself. The discourse of CME's conceptualizations of conflict tended toward an ideological bias of consensus, unity, cooperation, 'peace and harmony;' and located within a politically conservative, pragmatist, social psychological discourse. The entire domain of conflict knowledge from critical pedagogies and the sociological conflict theory tradition was largely ignored in CME text. This has significant political and sociocultural implications in the biased shaping of conflict knowledge and the concomitant power relations of teaching, learning, and the constructing of 'democracy' itself. Without a critique of its own discourses, CME has limited means, as a discipline of knowledge, to establish how it may be perpetuating the very violence it is attempting to eliminate. 'Conflict' pedagogy is offered as an alternative to constructing a critical conflict education as counterhegemonic to CME. This report closes with a discussion of reflections on the study and recommendations for further research.

This research study reviewed several disciplinary fields and their conceptualizations of conflict. The primary guiding question was, what is the best conflict education that is required for youth and adults to live in the world of a "culture of violence" in the list century? The general purpose of the study was to provide a critique that would initiate an expanded conflict imaginary, as educators and lifelong learners face a world of growing complex social and cultural conflicts. The "case" under specific critical analysis was identified as conflict management education (CME). CME provided the primary subject (text) for a critical discourse analysis of its conceptualizations of conflict. The main purpose of the study was to determine the hegemony of discourse in the text of a "representative" sample of 22 contemporary CME handbooks and manuals for youth and adults. CME was found to be a new social movement with a powerful "social technology" to change attitudes and behaviors, in order to diminish or eliminate violence. This study found there are virtually no systematic critiques of CME and no significant critiques that focus on the conceptualization of conflict itself. The discourse of CME's conceptualizations of conflict tended toward an ideological bias of consensus, unity, cooperation, 'peace and harmony;' and located within a politically conservative, pragmatist, social psychological discourse. The entire domain of conflict knowledge from critical pedagogies and the sociological conflict theory tradition was largely ignored in CME text. This has significant political and sociocultural implications in the biased shaping of conflict knowledge and the concomitant power relations of teaching, learning, and the constructing of 'democracy' itself. Without a critique of its own discourses, CME has limited means, as a discipline of knowledge, to establish how it may be perpetuating the very violence it is attempting to eliminate. 'Conflict' pedagogy is offered as an alternative to constructing a critical conflict education as counterhegemonic to CME. This report closes with a discussion of reflections on the study and recommendations for further research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate