MY SCHOOL by Dr .Nilesh Gopal das Joshi (beginner reading books for adults .txt) 📕

and he/she plans the academic programmes of the concerned year through discussion with other members under the guidance of the principal. The academic plan is subjected to the approval of all the staff in specifically convened staff meeting at the beginning of the year. A good academic plan evolves from self-assessment, investigation of the world of work, and knowledge of the educational programme that link your strengths and assets to careers in the workplace. Resource mobilization Resource mobilization refers to all activities involved in securing new and additional resources for the school enabling its extension, expansion and upgrading. It also involves making better use of, and maximizing existing resources and to mobilize financial, physical and human resources for the support and development of infrastructure and programmes. Advance planning must be done to enhance quality of all the resources and to maximize its use. Conduct ongoing institutional assessment to identify weaknesses/gaps in capacity, structure, procedures, processes and environment as the basis for the development of improvement plans to enhance performance of the school. In conjunction with faculties and schools, develop minimum standards that reflect best practice from regional and institutional higher education institutions as benchmarks for quality performance. Facilitate the identification of appropriate performance indicators for every programme and sub programme of the school as a basis for keeping track of the school’s achievement in terms of its standards, goals and mission. Formulate and develop project proposals to meet priority developmental needs of the school through international and local institutional linkages. Monitor and evaluate the implementation of projects and programmes that are executed and managed at the individual, unit, departmental level with a view to preventing/minimizing time and cost overruns while ensuring that quality project outputs are realized. Identify management information needs; design appropriate data collection systems to support analysis and reporting requirements in order to enhance policy formulation and decision making. Contribute meaningfully and objectively to the decision making processes at various levels in the school system. Planning of co-curricular activities Co-curricular activities (CCAs), earlier known as extracurricular activities are the components of non-academic curriculum which help to develop various facets of personality development of the students and to supplement classroom learning. For all round development of the child, there is a need for emotional, physical, spiritual and moral development that is complemented and supplemented by co-curricular activities. The teachers must be good planners so that the different activities can be carried out systematically throughout the year to develop the student’s personality as well as to strengthen the classroom learning. They should be planned effectively in tune with academic activities. Through rich and diverse programmes, students should be able to experience safe, enjoyable and challenging activities which enable them to develop and grow into successful and happy young adults. Students should learn how to work collaboratively through being part of a team, whether it is a sports team, hiking in the hills, debating or playing in the orchestra. They will learn about commitment and responsibility to themselves and one another. By becoming involved and committed to co-curricular activities, it is hoped that students will learn integrity and self-discipline in coping with situations which they may not encounter in the classroom. Students will come to realize that involvement and success contributes to team spirit and allows all students to take pride in the success of the school within the community. Activities related to the kinesthetic and emotional developments of every student are integral part of the school’s curriculum. Co-curricular activities include individual and team sports such as football, basketball, table tennis, swimming, martial arts and athletics and performing arts such as music, dance, drama, arts, crafts and yoga. Competitive, educative and entertaining events such as quiz contest, creative writing, paper presentation, debate, public speaking, talent show, educational field trips and tours, celebration of religious festivals are all part of the school. Time allocation

It is the allocation of time effectively for different activities and specific school programmes. It is an important aspect of planning. Extreme care has to be taken to allot proper time for each and every aspect of curriculum.

Monitoring

Monitoring involves supervising the progress of actions designed according to plans. Monitoring the implementation of projects and programmes that are executed and managed at various levels is essential for quality outputs.

Evaluating

An organizational assessment is a systematic process for obtaining valid information about the performance of an organization and the factors that affect performance.  Organizations are constantly trying to adapt, survive, perform and influence. However they are not always successful. To better understand what they can or should change to improve their ability to perform, organizations can conduct organizational assessments. Evaluation helps determine the effectiveness of plans for both administrators and other stakeholders like teachers, staff, students and parents, and also the extended community. Evaluation is essential for obtaining valid information about the performance of an organization and the factors that affect performance. Frequent evaluation is organized for adaptation, changes and hence for survival.

Feedback

Focuses on:

Detailed analysis of strengths and opportunities for improvement Subsequent action plan to address priority opportunities Insight from all levels and groups in the organization Difference in perception of performance between different levels and groups in the organization Assessment findings and score which can be used to track your improvement over time and benchmark your performance against other organizations.

The School as a Social Organization

 

Schools are formal institutions where the younger members of the community are exposed to the values, skills and attitudes that make them useful to themselves and the society. The school is a social institution. It is an agent of social progress. Social organizations are human structures

designed to achieve common goals.

 

The school as a social organization is an extension of the larger society. It has forward and backward linkages with the society.Ajayi and Ayodele (2001) quoted Adepuju (1998) as having identified five key concepts which guide the operation and existence of the school as a social system as:

 

Interaction:

The school system interacts with the elements within and outside the system. It cannot operate in a vacuum.

Interrelationship:

A ‘mutual’ relationship exists between the school system and each of politics, economy, culture and prevailing technology around where the school is located.

Interdependence:

The strength of the social, economic, legal and political environment is a function of the survival of the school.

Cultural Entity:

 As a social institution geared towards social progress, the school possesses its own values, customs and ways of doing things.

Internal structure:

The school is formed in such a way that is allows formal and informal structures, channel of communication andauthority – subordinate relationship.

 

Summary

Thus organization deals with making systematic arrangements so that the purpose of the entire programme are achieved. The school has to function as an effective and efficient organization. Good organization ensures unity of action, efficiency, economy, optimum utilization of resources, well-being, all-round satisfaction and good results. Without proper organization there would be confusion, chaos and haphazard activity resulting into wastage of time, effort and resources. In this session on organizational process in schools, we discussed the meaning of school organization, the objectives, scope and importance and principles of school organization. Lastly, we dealt with school as a social organization.

 

Chapter: 5 Educational Leadership

Educational Leadership

INTRODUCTION

School leadership has become a priority in education policy agendas internationally. It plays a key role in improving school outcomes by influencing the motivations and capacities of teachers, as well as the school climate and environment. Effective school leadership is essential to improve the efficiency and equity of schooling.

Ten years ago, school leadership was noticeably absent from most major school reform agendas, and even the people who saw leadership as important to turning around failing schools expressed uncertainty about how to proceed. Today, improving school leadership ranks high on the list of priorities for school reform. A particularly noteworthy finding is the empirical link between school leadership and improved student achievement. Leadership focuses with great clarity on what is

essential, what needs to be done and how to get it done. Leaders are responsible for establishing a school wide vision of commitment to high standards and the success of all students.

An institution is bound to fail in case it does not have an efficient, resourceful and professionally sound leader. Leadership is a must at each level of hierarchy for effective and purposeful management. As regards principal, he/she is the leader, the hub of the school management. A lot of power vests in him/her, and power brings responsibilities. In order to run the institution well and realize the set goals, as compared to his/her subordinates, needs to be essentially better qualified, well-versed in subject, better conversant in up-to-date methodology of teaching and better updated on the developments in the field of administration. He/she should also be proficient in human relationship. For development and successful achievement of these qualities one is required to attend rigorous training sessions. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) enables them on a regular basis to negotiate the emerging issues and deal with the challenges in day to day managerial/leadership activities.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Effective school leadership is essential to improve teaching and learning within each school and to connect the individual school to the outside world. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Leadership is simply the ability of a person to influence and direct the behavior of a group for satisfying certain pre-determined objectives. Educational leadership is a term applied to school administrations that strive to create a positive change in educational policy and processes.

Educational leaders are trained to advance and improve educational systems or institutions. Educational leadership is a relationship that influences organizational members to work toward achieving organizational goals. Usually we talk about two types of educational leadership:

Instructional Leadership

 

Instructional leaders focus creating a learning climate free of disruption, a system of teaching clear objectives and high teacher expectations for teachers and students. If leadership is instructional, the relationship is oriented towards improvement of instructional, curricular and assessment practices to improve pedagogical utility and to raise student achievement.

Transformational leadership

It influences followers to go beyond normal work requirements and strive to reach their fullest potential to advance the work of the school. While principals are central agents in this type of leadership, teachers are equally capable and important inspirational sources. Transformational leaders are tied to such actions as engaging with their teaching staff and inspiring them; creating high levels of energy and commitment; creating a sense of moral purpose and establishing an environment in which people can collaborate together to overcome challenges and reach goals.

Principles of Leadership

Know yourself and seek self-improvement Be technically proficient Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions Make sound and timely decisions Set the example Know your people and look out for their well-being Keep your people informed Develop a sense of accountability, ownership and responsibility in your people. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised and accomplished.

Leadership responsibilities that have consistently been identified as associated with improved student outcomes

First, leadership focused on supporting, evaluating and developing teacher quality is widely recognised as a core component of effective leadership. Teacher quality is perhaps the most important school-level determinant of student performance (OECD, 2005). The leadership responsibilities associated with improved teacher quality include coordinating the curriculum and teaching programme, monitoring and evaluating teacher practice, promoting teacher professional development and supporting collaborative work cultures.

Second, school leadership that concentrates on setting learning objectives and implementing intelligent assessment systems has been found to help students develop their full potential.