ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Leadership in Education
From Compliance to Responsiveness: The Interplay of Cultural and Operational Factors In Developing Schools as Living Systems
Provisionally accepted
- 1Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden
- 2Mittuniversitetet - Campus Ostersund, Östersund, Sweden
- 3Mittuniversitetet, Sundsvall, Sweden
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This grounded theory study examined how cultural and operational factors interact to create responsiveness in schools understood as living systems. Using a Straussian Grounded Theory approach within an Interactive Research Design framework, researchers partnered with practitioners at an independent PreK–8th grade school in the United States, engaging participants through workshops, arts-based interviews, and document analysis. The resulting Dynamic Interplay Model illustrates responsiveness as a continuous cycle where culture informs systems and systems reinforce culture, sustained by “life force variables” like psychological safety, teaming, reflection, and feedback loops. Misalignments between ideals and structures were found to be generative, fostering learning and adaptation. The study concludes that responsiveness is not a static condition but a living process of alignment that has the potential to help schools to move beyond compliance toward adaptive, human-centered communities of continuous growth.
Keywords: AttractiveQuality, Living systems, responsiveness, School leadership, Strength-based inquiry
Received: 16 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Johnson, Snyder and Sten. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Michael Ian Johnson
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