Findings of a study that examined the role of the governing body in the independent school's self-renewing processes are presented in this paper. From the holistic paradigm, the school is viewed as a self-renewing system that is able to maintain its identity despite environmental changes through existing structures that define and create expectations. The school is a living system whose primary concern is to maintain its identity. The sample included five schools in the Sydney Anglican Diocese whose heads belonged to the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. Methodology involved participant observation, interviews with 56 heads and members of governing bodies, and document analysis. Findings indicate that the governing body participates in the mechanisms that stabilize structures of expectations temporally, sociopolitically, and materially. A conclusion is that a school's identity cannot be imposed externally and that administrators must recognize their schools' internal processes, viewing the school as an autonomous, living system. Two figures are included. (Contains 20 references.) (LMI)