Effective school management: Synthesis of research studies in Greek schools

1. Effective school management: Synthesis of research studies in Greek schools Sofia Petrou, Giota Xatzikiprianou & Michalis Koutsoulis Intercollege, Cyprus

2. Effective school management • Greenfield (1995): • Effective administration is the situation which has succeeded in providing the appropriate education and learning for all, pupils and teachers, at school • a situation in which the morality of pupils, teachers and the other members of the community is of a high standard • where the parents and the other members of the community as well as the school administration judge that school successfully applies the policies suggested by the authorities • Reid: Successful school management is related with: • structure and way to exert authority, status, prestige, attitudes and expectations of the training staff, syllabus and mechanisms, communication at every level in and out-of-school, educational results etc • Johnson and Holdaway (1990): There is a close linkage between school and principal effectiveness • Effective school management = effective schools Effective school management

3. Vision • OFSTED: effective principals need a vision of the curriculum and a real personal sense of appropriate standards • strength of personality and the interpersonal tack needed to engage with teachers in raising standards, and administrative drive necessary to plan programs of improvement and see that they are carried through • Harris (2002): One of the basic characteristics of the school leader is the initial creation of the school vision in order to put all the necessary energy for success • Pashiardis (2004): Beyond the vision is the ability of the leader to inspire high expectations for the teachers and the students • Nooman(2003): Need for the leader to communicate his/her vision to colleaguesin order to be active participants of this vision Effective school management

4. Establishment of the culture • Need to work in a friendly environment, with collaboration and support with colleagues • Zhang (1994): The major elements of a school culture are: • Surroundings: the utilities and facilities of the school. • Atmosphere: how teachers and administrators feel about the school as a workplace. • Framework: the school administrative hierarchy and the structure of the programme. • Environment: neighbouring schools as competitors and institutions in the society as customers". • The principal should make sure that all stakeholders feel comfortable by providing this open, trusting school climate • Matsaggouras (2002). Factors of school culture are: • the relationship between the principal and the students • the relationship among the faculty of the school • students’ involvement in decision making • the acceptance of the role of each member of the school and finally the school building Effective school management

5. Transformation leadership • Duke (2004): For successful innovations at school the leader should be open to changes • Glatthorn (1990): The principal must introduce a support system into the organization, which includes the physical environment, the time provided for teaching, and the funds allocated for professional development • Hallinger & Heck (1998): Transformational leaders – principals - focus on increasing the organisations' capacity for change • They can build the organisation’s capacity to select its purpose and to support the survival of changes • Principals who aspire to lead change require having vision and inspiration, decision-making skills and ability for careful planning, effective communication, confident conflict management and sensitive handling of people involved in or affect by the change Effective school management

6. School effectiveness and school change • Hopkins and Reynolds (2001): School improvement efforts should focus on among other things on student achievement, empowering in aspiration, research based context specific etc. – Not only on the school level • Riley, Heneveld and Harris (2002): School effectiveness and school improvement are under five headings: Supporting inputs, children’s characteristics, school climate, enabling conditions, teaching/learning process, and student outcomes. • The more powerful mechanism for transformational leadership is shared vision among all involved parties especially the teachers, high levels of motivation and commitment, collaborative cultures, and extensive use of formative evidence widely shared (Leithwood et al., 2004) • Harris (2004): School leadership and school improvement is a complex, messy and unpredictable enterprise, as we do not know exactly what focus of leadership result in school improvement across different school context and in different types of schools. Therefore: • Effective change can be implemented in the school by the teachers and the administrators, when they must feel owners and active participants of the change effort (Oromaner, 1998). Effective school management

7. Objectives • What is the focus of the research in Greek schools? • What are the major conclusions of this research? Effective school management

8. Methodology • Meta-analysis of research articles. • Qualitative comparison of the research articles concerning the • Objectives • Methodology • Conclusions and • Suggestions Effective school management

9. Analysis of the articles Theophilides, Cr. & Stilianides, M. (2002). Deficits in the administration of elementary schools in Cyprus • Objectives: Principal effectiveness • Methodology: Questionnaire through mail to teachers and principals • Conclusions: Principals consider themselves more effective than the teachers do • Suggestions: Need for training for the principals Effective school management

10. Theophilides, Cr. & Stilianides, M. (2004). The philosophy and the practice of elementary school administration in Cyprus • Objectives: School administration in elementary schools: The opinion of the principals • Methodology: Questionnaire through mail to teachers and principals • Conclusions: Principals label their management style as participatory • Teachers disagree on that. They believe that principals management style is mostly directive Effective school management

11. Aggelopoulos, Η. & Karagiannis, P. & Fokas, Ε. (2002). Principals’ perceptions for the role of the modern school principal. Qualitative and quantitative research • Objectives: • What is the quality of the school management? • What is the role of the school principals in Greek schools? • Methodology: Questionnaire and interviews to principals • Conclusions: • Self improvement of the leadership role through training • Emphasis on the school climate – need for collegiality and democratic leadership • Interested for their relationship with the Ministry of Education in comforting with the regulations • Principals do not emphasize the link between the school and the local community – even though in the face to face interviews they believe on the importance of this linkage • Suggestions: Need to have an autonomous teacher, In-service training, and collaboration with other neighboring schools Effective school management

12. Saitis, Cr.,Tsiamasi, F. & Hatzi, Μ. (1997). School principal: Manager-Leader or a traditional bureaucrat? • Objectives: Is the school principal a manager? • Methodology: Questionnaire to principals • Conclusions: • 90% of the school principals stated that they never attend a seminar on school administration • The duties of the school principal are: communication with colleagues, monitoring of the school building, teaching, correspondence and communication with parents • Suggestions: • Need for In-service training • Exemption of teaching load • Need for the principal to evaluate the teacher – to have a sort of authority • Need for incentives Effective school management

13. Saitis, Cr. & Gournaropoulos, G. (2001). The preparation of administrative executives: The need for planning • Objectives: Is there a need for a single training program for school administrators? • Methodology: Questionnaire to principals and teachers • Conclusions: • Teachers’ knowledge on school administration is minimal • The likelihood for teachers to get training is also minimal • Suggestions: • There is a need for a training program for school administrators Effective school management

14. Koutsoulis, Μ. & Christou, P. (2006). Management styles of the elementary school principal in Cyprus • Objectives: What is the role of the school principal? • Human resource manager or operational manager? • Methodology: Questionnaire to teachers • Conclusions: • Teachers believe that for effective management the principal needs to establish positive relationships among teachers • Teachers do not value the vision of the principal as an important component for effective management • Teachers don’t consider teaching as major part of the principal’s role • Teachers are not satisfied with the principal in isolating the demands of the parents • Teachers “enjoy” their autonomy from principals! They are not happy with their principals but they are happy with the school management! • Suggestions: Need to open channels of communication between teachers and principals Effective school management

15. Conclusions • Research in Greek schools is on initial steps and focusing on defining the “perfect” management style for the school principal • Studying the attitudes of the teachers towards school management • The school principal appears to be mostly directive and administrative and doesn’t share high prestige among teachers • The vision, the transformational role of the principal or the innovations for school improvement look very distant for the school principal (Not even the research studies are looking for those components) • All researchers agree on the importance of the principal’s role but there is no agreement on the role of the principal today in Greek schools • There is a need for improvement on how school principals are selected, and what is their role in the school building • School change should pass through change in the top management scale of the school Effective school management