Administrators role as a supervisor and motivator - Essay Example

We are now in the midst of the greatest period of change in school administration since its origin in American education. Through the energizing role of the Cooperative Program in Educational Administration, the whole profession has undergone the most penetrating examination and revision of practice. The underlying concepts of the functions and process of administration have also been critically examined. As a result, school administration now is quite different from what it was ten years ago.

In all probability, it will be much, much different fifty years from now. It is our purpose, of this paper, to discuss school administration in relation to the findings of this critical examination and revised practice. The approach will not be very familiar to those who are acquainted with the traditional texts on the subject. It is, however, the normal outgrowth of some of the newer books that have put increasing emphasis on the process and the personnel aspects of administration. This emphasis accomplishes a dual service: (1) it presents the changing and improved practices in the field, and (2) it gives impetus to the swing toward the newer concepts of administration.

The concept of school administration, particularly of the role of the chief school administrator, advanced by Davies, deals with three components: the administrators job, the man he is, and the social setting in which he functions. Defined very briefly, the job includes the administrators tasks and responsibilities, which vary in importance and emphasis as time passes, and encompasses all that is relevant to the administration of todays schools. The man brings to the job certain capacities of body, mind, emotion, and spirit.

He has beliefs, values, expectations, behavior patterns, energy reserves, and skills. While the job shapes him, he also shapes the job. The social setting encompasses the pressures and compulsions of society.