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1
Introduction
2
EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
(7) If I have a problem I like my boss to take over and sort it out.
0
1
2
3
4
(8) I like to be told exactly how I am to do my job.
0
1
2
3
4
(9) If my boss is going to take a decision affecting me or my department I like
him or her to consult me first.
0
1
2
3
4
(10) It is difficult to appreciate the logic behind many education office
decisions.
0
1
2
3
4
Interpreting the questionnaire
As you neared the end of the questionnaire you probably realized that there
was a relationship between Questions 1 and 6, 2 and 7, etc. In fact, the first
five questions all relate to the way in which we manage others or believe that
we ought to manage others. Questions 6–10, on the other hand, are concerned
with the way in which we believe we are or ought to be managed.
It seems logical that we should manage others in the way that we like to be
managed. However, you will be among the vast majority of those who have
answered this questionnaire if you have, by a ‘4’ grading, firmly asserted that
‘if anyone finds any fault at all with my work I would rather he or she told me
to my face’ (Question 6), yet have at the same time suggested by a ‘3’ or a ‘4’
that ‘One should ignore certain faults in the work of subordinates in order
not to discourage them’ (Question 1).
Answers by a typical group of fifty headteachers of all types to the
questionnaire gave the average results shown in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1
Scoring sheet for management principles questionnaire
I N T R O D U C T I O N
3
In looking at your own scores or at the above scores, two objections may
emerge:
(1) ‘The questions are not exact matches.’ This is true – but necessary in the
interests of not making the correspondence too obvious during the
answering of the questionnaire. The match is close enough to make the
point.
(2) ‘The way in which you manage or wish to be managed differs from level
to level. Headteachers do wish to be told of their faults (and can safely be
told of their faults as they will be too mature to be discouraged!), but this
is not the case with less senior staff.’ However, this questionnaire has
been given to groups of school staff at all levels and the mean response
has been almost identical.
In the case of Question 10, the wording was changed to ‘Many of my
headteacher’s decisions …’ The responses still clearly made the point
that at any level we believe that we are keeping others informed of the
reasons for change. However, in the vast majority of cases we are living
in a fool’s paradise.
INSTINCT, COMMON SENSE, SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES
From what we have seen above, it would appear that our ‘instinct’ for
managing others may be less reliable than we think. We may, in fact, be
rationalizing ourselves out of facing up to issues with our colleagues or
subordinates when, in fact, this sort of evasiveness of real issues is frustrating,
destructive and time-wasting for all concerned.
Most of what we shall say in this book may well appear to be common
sense, as it indeed is once the issues have been thought through.
Unfortunately, as we often see in others, people sometimes do not behave in
accordance with principles which should be obvious to them. The remedy is to
be clearly aware of
(1) the pitfalls;
(2) the guiding principles which will help us to avoid the pits – or to get out
of those we do happen to fall into; and
(3) the early warning signs of trouble.
Practice at reacting in the light of these principles will develop our management
‘skills’.
Finally, the book will suggest certain techniques and ‘tools’ that we can use
to improve the effectiveness of the ‘team’ for which we are responsible or of
which we are members.
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT? WHO IS A MANAGER?
As all teachers will know from their university days, a great deal of ink can be
expended in defining one’s terms. Definitions of management are so many
4
EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
and varied that we could spend the next twenty pages on this subject alone.
Our aim, however, is not philosophy but practical guidance. Let us therefore
be brief.
What management is not is carrying out a prescribed task in a prescribed
way. As we discussed in the Preface, management in its broadest sense is
about
(1) setting direction, aims and objectives;
(2) planning how progress will be made or a goal achieved;
(3) organizing available resources (people, time, materials) so that the goal
can be economically achieved in the planned way;
(4) controlling the process (i.e. measuring achievement against plan and
taking corrective action where appropriate); and
(5) setting and improving organizational standards.
As all teaching jobs contain at least some element of ‘management’ in this
sense, one can argue that every teacher is a manager.
More restrictive definitions of management argue that a manager must
additionally ‘direct’ the work of others. Again, in their classroom role, this
definition could apply to all teachers and, indeed, almost all principles of
management do have very direct application to ‘managing’ the classroom.
However, our prime concern will be with school ‘managers’ in the more
conventional sense, i.e. those teachers who have some responsibility for
planning, organizing, directing and controlling the work of other teachers.
THE MANAGER AND THE ORGANIZATION
The ‘organization’ – be it department, school, college, university, education
authority or, indeed, the educational system in toto – expects of its ‘managers’
three things. These are that they will
(1) integrate its resources in the effective pursuit of its goals;
(2) be the agents of effective change; and
(3) maintain and develop its resources.
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