EXAMINE THE BUREAUCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND RELATE EACH OF THE CHARACTERISTICS TO SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Educational management (PDE 5111)
Bureaucratic principle is one of the principles of educational management which can be referred as the orderly arrangement of manpower, money, and materials and using them effectively to achieve institutional goals and objectives. These principles were propounded by a German Sociologist , Max Weber (1946).


Characteristics of bureaucratic principles include:
-Stipulated Rules and Regulation
-Division of Labour
-Hierarchy of authority
-Impersonality in Official matters
-Employment and promotion of staff based on technical knowledge
-Emphasis on Written Documents

Relating the above characteristics to school management;

STIPULATED RULES AND REGULATIONS:
Rules and regulations are very important in school management because it will cover the rights and duties of staff and curb human excesses. In schools, rules and regulation should cover curricular and co-curricular activities to guide the limit of activity of everyone, teachers, students, and school community as a whole. Early resumption of duty cannot be overemphasized. It is a good reflection of level of discipline and commitment to work. It also serves to inculcate this fundamental quality in the pupils and as such making them better persons in the near future. There should be minimum decorum or moderation in dressing amongst teachers and students. Furthermore, the school should charge and empower the members of the ‘Parents-Teachers Association (P.T.A)’ to ensuring these. Lack of stipulated rules and regulations will lead to disorganisation, indiscipline and inability to achieve set goals and objectives of the school.

DIVISION OF LABOUR:
Contribution of every cadre of individual is necessary in ensuring proper running of the school. Even the pupils have a greater role to play. This becomes apparent has Max Weber believes in job allocation according to expertise. In school system, the school administrator should ensure that both academic and non academic staff is assigned curricular and co curricular activities according to their specialization and interest to enhance performance and achieve meaningful output in the school programmes. Every one shoul

HIERARCH OF AUTHORITY:
Weber bureaucracy contends that the school system should have hierarchical arrangement. The seniority pattern would make the staff know the person they are directly responsible to, the person to report to or seek permission from. In a bureaucratic organisation, command and request areas are supposed to follow hierarchical pattern of upward movement for request and downward movement for command but this is not strictly applicable in school system because of the schools. For example a principal can send a memo directly to the teacher without necessary passing through the vice principal or the Head of department, on the other hand, a teacher can pass his request straight to the principal without necessarily passing it through his head of department. In school administration, hierarchy of authority help to maintain orderliness and discipline.

IMPERSONALITY IN OFFICIAL MATTERS:
The bureaucratic principle demands that an official should avoid personal interest, sentiments or biases in the way he relates with organizational members and others in official matters. There should be separation of the property belonging to the organization from personal property. In school management, this principle often brings about dilemma and crises if not properly handled. For example in a school where the members of the staff decides to improve the moral standard of the school by expelling any pupil who misbehaves, what will happen if the only child of the principal misbehaves?

Employment and Promotion of staff based on Technical knowledge:
In school management, employment and promotion of staff should be based on their qualification and competence. This is to enhance quality of education in schools and properly achieve set goals and objectives at appropriate time. There should be considerations of the influence of politics in the appointment and promotion of staff in school.

EMPHASIS ON WRITTEN DOCUMENT:
Proper documentation is of high necessity in the school system. The school administrator should be responsible for keeping essential records like the log book, cash book, etcetera, because such records reflect the history, traditions and financial position of the school, and they are for future use. He/she should also take proper account of teacher’s records of services to prevent lacking important information especially those that are for future use.
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