On Educational Management: A Description

Education itself is understood widely to be the dual process of sharing and learning necessary information. Depending on where it is being used, it can focus exclusively on student experience, and be defined as the act of gaining knowledge and experience. Alternatively, it can also focus on the educator’s experience and be defined as the act of disseminating knowledge based on your expertise. As we grasp the idea of education, we can better understand what “educational management” means.

Educational management, on the other hand, is the careful guidance of resources within an education system. Resources here may include funding or human effort. Together, these resources allow educational managers to direct the growth of the educational system or institute. To further expand, educational management is the overall direction of available assets to shape the educational landscape within one institution or many.

All in all, educational management impacts educational effectiveness and quality. This is most evident in its curriculum, extracurricular activities, and technological facilities, amongst other things. Typically, the various strategies and techniques of educational management apply to one or multiple academic institutions.

Segmenting Education Management

Because of how complex and full the “educational management” umbrella is, it is subdivided into four major approaches. This breakdown helps people understand and learn about educational management with more ease. Further, it enables one to fully explore all active elements of the “educational management” role. Each method comes with its benefits and pitfalls, which should be kept in mind as we learn them.

Centralized vs Decentralized Educational Management

You may have noticed above that we mentioned that educational management can be applied to individual institutes or a plethora of them. This explains why.

Centralized educational management is a top-down management style. Here, one higher-up has the authority to make decisions, which are then imposed on multiple institutions simultaneously. As you may have already figured out, this kind of authority typically stems from educational governing bodies like country- or state-backed centralized systems. It fosters standardization and effective group implementation of decisions. Besides, it encourages efficient, swift resource allocation. However, its drawback is that it can be rigid. It limits localized adaptation and has low flexibility.

Meanwhile, decentralized “educational management” leaves institutes and educators with a lot more power to make their own decisions. This freedom nurtures unique, creative solutions, better local adaptation, and increased autonomy. Even better, it increases support from the community and gives power to those who will be most impacted by decisions. Yet, it also allows quality and standard inconsistencies and makes coordination difficult.

External vs Internal Educational Management

The title is pretty self-explanatory. External educational management, as you may have guessed, passes the decision-making baton to outside entities. They typically include regulatory bodies, governments, or even private businesses. In the UAE, for example, some specialty companies offer school management services for new investors looking for expert help. The benefit of this system is the accountability and transparency it brings to the table. Additionally, it also ensures that institutions meet prerequisite standards. As with centralized educational management, it also limits innovation and independence.

On the other hand, internal “educational management” prioritizes in-house decisions, with institutes essentially governing themselves. They make the decisions and take responsibility. Successful internal educational management cases often see better institutional alignment with their founding values. Further, this system gives them the autonomy to craft unique curriculums, teaching styles, and how things are run. This does, however, depend on outstanding leadership in place to maintain fairness and quality.

Autocratic vs Democratic Educational Management

An interesting topic so soon after internal educational management. The autocratic approach speaks to a single authority figure managing an entire institution. Think Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. Typically, the principal or headmaster is empowered to make unilateral decisions. This works to make the institute uniform in discipline and efficiency. And yet, it does limit collaborative efforts and creativity. In turn, this makes students less equipped to think critically.

The alternative is democratic educational management, which stresses collaborative decision-making among multiple educators, from teaching staff to administrators, parents, and even students themselves. This inclusive approach encourages group effort and a sense of ownership. In students, it builds critical thinking combined with creative problem-solving. That being said, it does occasionally slow the process, given that so many voices must contribute.

Lastly, Creative Educational Management

This “educational management” style stresses the value of innovation, curiosity, and experimentation. Encouraging unique perspectives from teachers allows them to tailor their approaches to each student. As a result, student needs are better met, fostering a highly engaged classroom. This system best nurtures artistic talent and new technological ideas while supporting multi-discipline learning.

What does an educational manager do?

Now that you understand the complexities of educational management, perhaps it’s time to figure out what educational managers do. Their roles, be it governmental or institutional, include bridging education and management together. Sometimes called ‘master communicators’, these professionals need to be committed and competent at connecting with educators and managers. Their presence should help institutes maintain quality and even exceed it, with new, better achievements. A good educational manager can connect local needs with global standards of education. Additionally, they need a good awareness of the global and local zeitgeist to make this happen. Further, they also need to have a good grasp of what the students and staff of the institution need.

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