Effective School Management

Figure 4.1
Steps in decision-taking
DEFINE THE SITUATION
(Problems, opportunities, date, aims)
ESTABLISH CRITERIA (Essential/desirable)
GENERATE ALTERNATIVES
EVALUATE and TEST
SELECT

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4 8
EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
Often it can be useful to restate the problem in as many different ways as
possible. The more specific we can be, the better. ‘A lot of parents are
complaining that their children’s property has disappeared’ may be able to be
restated as ‘Ten parents have complained that valuable items (six pens and
four calculators) have gone from form rooms over the lunch-hour’ or even
that ‘Children have no secure place to leave valuable items over the lunch-
hour’. Such restatements often suggest possible solutions.
Similarly, a problem which appears as ‘Parents are complaining that they
have to wait around between appointments to see staff on parents’ evenings’
can be restated as ‘Parents get bored between appointments’. This quickly
suggests the solution of introducing displays of work, refreshments,
opportunities to try the computers, etc., rather than playing with
appointment schedules.