Abstract:
This article is an interpretive study of the theory of irreversible and dissipative systems process
transformation of Nobel Prize winning physicist Ilya Prigogine and how it relates to the
phenomenological study of leadership and organizational change in educational settings.
Background analysis on the works of Prigogine is included as a foundation for human inquiry
and metaphor generation for open, dissipative systems in educational settings. International case
study research by contemporary systems and leadership theorists on dissipative structures
theory has also been included to form the interpretive framework for exploring alternative
models of leadership theory in far from equilibrium educational settings. Interpretive analysis
explores the metaphorical significance, connectedness, and inference of dissipative systems and
helps further our knowledge of human-centered transformations in schools and colleges.
