School-Based Management as School Reform - Literature review Example

School-Based Management Student’s name Course name 13th June 2011 Introduction Decision making democratization in many public schools worldwide has emerged as the most popular phenomenon undertaken in education reforms (Levin 1997). Since, 1960s various strides have been made towards increasing the participation of different groups in the process of decision making in public schools. In this regard, authority and power have been devolved to the community level in order to increase the participation of the local or immediate communities in the formulation of policies intended to govern public schools. From 1980s to data, the purpose and the focus of school based or participatory management has changed drastically to incorporate the need for improvement in student’s performances and also bringing change in public school administration. The most important areas that have continued to be addressed through school based or participatory management include decision making and broader participation, professional instruction and development, decentralization of public school structures and substituting bureaucratic regulations with accountability and professional responsibility (Lingard, Hayes & Mills, 2000). The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of school-based or participatory management in Victoria. The assumption of the leader regarding the values and beliefs towards power and the manner in which a leader articulates such values and beliefs is vital in shaping the culture of the organisation. Leaders have always assumed and believed that their main responsibility is to guard and protect the power they are bestowed with. However, in the contemporary world such beliefs and assumptions have been badly outpaced by time due to the increasing need for reforms in different sectors. Griffith (1959) observed that power is just one of the main ingredients in the process of decision-making. According to Gamage (2001) the process of decision-making in any given organization can be made effective only when maximum participation of the stakeholders is enhanced. In this respect, Gamage (p.45) noted that in Victoria, school leaders have made significant strides in the integration of the school-based or participatory management because communities and the staff in Victoria district are empowered to undertake serious managerial functions in public schools. Structures created in public schools in Victoria Some of the structures that have been created in public schools in Victoria in order to enhance the process of decision making comprise of committees bestowed with different functions and responsibilities in the school system. These committees comprise of stakeholders who are not included in the governing body of the schools. Examples of the committees which make up the newly created structures in public schools in Victoria include budgeting and finance committee, grounds and buildings, curriculum, student uniforms, discipline of students, committee on fundraising, canteen and sports committee. Among the primary functions of these committees include carrying out individual research activities which can enhance the function and performance of the public schools in the relevant disciplines for which they participate in decision making. For example, the committee on finance and budgeting must carry out relevant research on the best methods of utilization of school funds to achieve the maximum utility from the resources available to a public school (Mohrman, Wohlstetter & Associates 1994). The committee on sports undertakes relevant research on different sporting activities students can engage in and it also identifies talents in students in order to ensure that students grow and develop into all-round individuals. The grounds and building committee undertakes the required research on the necessary buildings that must be put up in school in order to enhance or improve performance of the students. For example the ground and buildings committee may recommend the construction of a laboratory to enhance the practical teaching of science subjects. In addition, the committee also identifies the proper ground for construction of different buildings in public schools. The school uniforms and student’s discipline committees undertake intensive research on the best methods of administering disciplines to the students as well as the best dressing modes necessary for particular seasons of the year. The canteen committee explores ways of improving the type of foods sold to the students in the school canteens. The purpose of this committee is to ensure that students remain healthy by taking healthy diets. It is evident from the above explanations that in Victoria intensive structures have been created in public schools to enhance the performance of the students in these schools. After undertaking relevant research in a particular area, the committees are required to submit their recommendations to the board of directors or the board of governors for approval and consideration. Devolution of decision-making processes As stated above, decision-making processes in public schools in Victoria have been devolved to different committee levels. The governing body which is the top organ of the public school structure in Victoria performs different functions such as formulating the school’s mission statement, adopting the required code of conduct which must be followed by the students in the schools, supporting the educators, principals and other school staff in undertaking professional roles, determining the days when the students should be given holidays as well as opening and closing dates for schools, administering and ensuring that the school property is taken care of, encouraging educators, learners, parents and other stakeholders on the need to volunteer their services and resources to the public schools in order to enhance and improve the performances of the students, recommend hiring of non-educators and educator staff and allow the use of the school resources or properties for any other function which might benefit the school (Summers & Johnson 1991). One of the greatest aspects of devolution that characterise the school governing bodies in Victoria is that the chairmanship of the bodies is given to the parents (Leacock 1995). This means that parents are now able to participate directly in the decision making processes in public schools in Victoria due to the participatory or school-based management approach that has been incorporated by the school administration. The form of school-based or participatory approach According to Beck and Murphy (1995) the most ideal forms of school-based management found in most schools include professional control, administrative control and the parent/community control groups. In the administrative control structure or model, the school principal performs all the functions involved in decision making. In the professional structure or control model, the decision process is undertaken by the teachers while in the parent/community control mode the decision are made by the members of the immediate community. Victoria is one of the good examples where devolution of decision making processes has resulted into the parent/community control model because the communities or the parents are the major decision makers in the matters pertaining to the running of the schools. This is made possible through the formation of the committees mentioned above where the parents make the majority of the members of these committees. In Victoria, the extent of devolution through the school-based management approach has given the members of the community the power to make decision on how resources should be distributed, make the necessary recommendations for hiring, removing and promoting the school principals and developing the most appropriate plans that can steer the performance of the schools forward (Serrat 2002). In short, the school-based management model adopted in Victoria has modified the bureaucratic old management style where the principals have been the major decision makers to incorporate the members of the community in making major decisions regarding the schools around them. The school-based or participatory management approach has brought a greater level of flexibility, autonomy, accountability, shared mode of decision making and it has also enhanced the proper execution of transformational leadership in many schools in Victoria. The school-based or participatory management has also brought significant implications particularly in the change of attitudes of the principals towards the parents, students and the teachers because all the above stakeholders are involved in one way or the other in making decisions which enhance the performance of the students. Wohlstetter (1995) observed that the participation of the communities in the school decision making processes in Victoria is a profound change in the culture of decision making in many other organizations where the stakeholders and the shareholders are given the priority in driving the organizational processes forward. From the extensive research studies conducted on the effectiveness of the school-based approach in education in Victoria it is evident that through the involvement of more than one stakeholder in decision making and developing more structures necessary for education democratization the performance of students has gained momentum because all the stakeholders are involved in designing the reforms necessary to drive education forward. In this respect, school-based management is the most appropriate direction that need to be taken in order to drive performance of students forward. Conclusion The espoused objectives and goals of school-based or participatory management adopted in the Victorian school system include productivity, efficiency, accountability, flexibility and autonomy which are also the core objectives of profit-making organizations. The aim of democratization and decentralizing of the policies of education in Victoria is to create and develop schools with effective learning and teaching environments where students can achieve their goals whether through their talents or professional careers. In this regard, different structures have been developed in the Victorian school system to ensure that the communities and other major education stakeholders are involved in the process of decision making. The new structures developed are in form of committees in different school such as finance and budgeting, grounds and buildings, sports, students’ discipline and uniforms committee to mention a few. Such committees are entirely composed of community members which have enabled many schools to reach a greater level of devolution in terms of school administration. The old bureaucratic styles of leadership of school management previously witnessed in Victoria school system has slowly faded away due to the deterioration in performance of the schools since the principals of the schools undertook all the decision making processes without incorporating the teachers, parents and other stakeholders. Hence, the participatory or the school-based management has emerged as the most preferred method of school management in Victoria in the recent past. References Beck, J., & Murphy, L. (1995). School-based Management as School Reform: Taking Stock. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Gamage, D. (2001). School-based management: Theory, research and practice. Studies in International relations, 22(1): 63-91. Griffith, J. (1959). School-based management: Setting the framework for education quality in Victoria. Education review journal, 24(2): 123-124. Leacock, R. (1995). Local Management of Schools: Analysis and Practice. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Levin, N. (1997). The lessons of International Reform. Journal of Educational Policy, 12(4), 253-266. Lingard, B., Hayes, D. & Mills, M. (2000). Developments in School-Based Management: The Specific Case of Queensland, Australia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA., April 24-28, 2000. Mohrman, S., Wohlstetter, P. & Associates. (1994). School-based Management: Organizing for High Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Serrat, F. (2002). Is there a way out? A critical analysis of participation, leadership, and management in Australia schools. International journal of Leader Education, 5(4): 303-322. Summers, A. & Johnson, A. (1991). A Review of the Evidence on the Effects of School-Based Management Plans. Panel on the Economics of Educational Reform and Teaching. Wohlstetter, P. (1995). Getting school-based management right, Phi Delta Kappan. September. Read More