Management of Special Education

School administration officers oversee the daily operations of schools, colleges, universities, day care centers and preschools. A school administrator’s specific responsibilities differ between organizations, but often these administrators are an important link between students and local communities.

• Educational administration as a discipline
• Roles of Educational Administrators
• ·         Educational Administration as a Process of Management

Educational Administration:

The Educational Administration has the following nature:

1. Educational administration doesn’t refer to any single process rather different processes or aspects constitute administration. These are planning, organizing, directing, Coordinating and evaluation.

2. Educational administration is a non-profit making task.

3. Educational administration is primarily a social enterprise as it is more concerned with human resources than with material resources.

4. Educational administration is more an art than a science. The reason is that human relationship prevailed here can’t be maintained by any set of formulae.

5. Educational administration is similar to general administration in many ways, but it is also dissimilar to general administration in many more ways.

6. Educational administration is a complex affair.

Objectives of Educational Administration:

As we know the very fact that educational administration needs integration and co-ordination of all the physical and human resources and educational elements. Besides this it requires a great efficiency with it based on human sympathy, understanding, knowledge and skill. The physical resources mainly contribute building equipment’s and instructional material

The human resources include pupils, teachers, supervisors, administrators and parents. The additional elements comprise the various aspects of educational theory and practice including philosophy of education, objectives of education, curriculum, method of teaching, discipline, role of the teacher, rules and regulations etc.

These elements are “parts, made into whole” and are components brought into harmonious relationship. So the purpose of doing such vital task is to fulfill different purposes which are known as the objectives of educational administration.

1. To provide proper education to students:

This objective seeks to mention the fact that good education doesn’t mean education at a very high cost as is practiced in modern public schools. Rather it means the right type of education from the right type of teachers within reasonable cost. This objective also implies quantitative expansion and qualitative improvement of education.

2. To Ensure Adequate Utilization Of All Resources:

For adequate realization of the various purposes of educational programme there is the need of ensuring adequate utilization of all available resources-human, material and financial.

3. To Ensure Professional Ethics And Professional Development Among Teachers:

As teachers are the senior and mature human elements to accelerate the programme in time their role is highly felt in this regard. They are to be encouraged and given the facility to devise and try out innovative ideas on instruction and to participate in service education programmes. In this context, it can be visualized that educational administration should aim at developing a desire for hard work, dedication and commitment for their job among teachers.

4. To organize educational programmes for acquainting students with the art of democratic living and giving them excellent training in democratic citizenship.

5. To mobilize the community:

Like general administration, educational administration seeks to maintain and improve the relations with the community. For this it should seek community support and co-operation for quantitative expansion, qualitative improvements, smooth and fair examination in the educational system.

6. To organize co-curricular activities effectively for developing talents of students and work efficiency of educational teachers.

7. To get the work done:

The most important objective of administration is to get the work done effectively, efficiently and with satisfaction to the individuals and benefits to the society.

8. To prepare students for taking their places in various vocations and avenues of life.

9. To train the students in developing scientific attitude and objective outlook among them towards all aspects and activities of life.

10. To ensure qualitative improvement of education:

Good education can be provided to students by bringing qualitative improvement in instruction. Regular supervision of teaching and guidance of teachers help to ensure quality teaching in schools.

Scope of Educational Administration:

1. The educational administration encompasses all the levels of education in its jurisdiction.

These are:

a. Pre-primary or pre-school Education.

b. Elementary or primary Education.

c. Secondary Education.

d. Higher Secondary or Post secondary Education and,

e. Higher or tertiary Education.

It is educational administration that determines what should be the nature and system of administration for all the above levels of education.

2. It covers all forms of education such as:

a. Formal Education

b. Non-formal Education and Adult Education

c. General Education

d. Vocational Education

e. Special Education

f. Teacher Education

g. Integrated Education and

h. Technical and professional Education including Engineering, Medical, MBA, and Computer Education.

Here the educational administration sets the systems of administration in accordance to the objectives and nature of all the levels of education.

3. It includes all types and strategies of management that encompasses the following:

a. Democratic Administration

b. Autocratic Administration

c. Nominal Administration

d. Real Administration

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Directing
4. Coordinating
5. Supervising
6. Controlling and
7. Evaluating

5. Educational Administration takes place at various levels such as:

1. National  level
2. Regional level
3. District level
4. Ward level
5. Institutional/ school  level

For this, the following activities and programmes come under the scope of educational administration at the institutional level:

1. Deciding the purposes of the institution or school.
2. Planning for academic or curricular and co-curricular activities.
3. Preparing the time table and the time schedules for various activities.
4. Assigning duties and responsibilities to the staff members.
5. Organizing curricular and co-curricular programmes.
6. Directing and motivating the staff of the institution.
7. Coordinating by efforts of people to achieve the purpose.
8. Exercising control over the staff.
9. Conducting periodical reviews about the progress, achievements and failures of the institution.
10. Taking measures for staff development.
11. Maintaining order and discipline.
12. Management of materials.
13. Management of finance.
14. Maintaining records and registers up to date.
15. Maintaining human relationships.
16. Supervision of the work of teachers and other employees.
17. Giving feedback to the teachers performing well and taking remedial measures for teachers not performing well.

 Skills and Functions of a School manager

The five functions of management ensures the organization runs smoothly. these five functions are :

• planning
• organizing
• staffing
• coordinating
• controlling

The basic skills needed are:

• Calmness
• Maturity
• Friendliness
• Tolerance
• Appreciable
• Tolerable
• Adorable
• Frank
• Determined
• Neutral towards means & end etc.

Theo Haimann, the leading management expert has explained three basic concepts of management as under:

b.        Management as a discipline

The term management is used as a subject of instructions. It is a specific branch of knowledge which is studied in campuses and schools like economics, sociology, mathematics, political science etc. the scholars of management have found that the information and management are used in practical life for better functioning.

c.        Management as a noun:

As a noun, the term management is used as single name of  managers, board of directors, managing directors, departmental managers etc are included in management.

Concluding Statements

According to Okumbe (1999), educational administration is a process of acquiring and allocating resources for the achievement of predetermined educational goals. Educational administration is the operation and management of learning institutions such as public schools, child care centers, colleges and universities. From small preschools to prestigious universities, educational administrators manage organizational structure, administrative processes and educational programming. Because it involves children, educational administration contains a wide range of ethical standards and customary practices.

Educational administration as a process of management”, means, among others, that one of educational administration’s key to success is practicing at least the basic processes and principles in management like operating through functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading/directing, controlling/monitoring and motivation.

Educational administrators must perform the manager’s three (3) basic roles:

• Interpersonal: roles that involve coordination and interaction with employees.
• Informational: roles that involve handling, sharing, and analyzing information.
• Decisional: roles that require decision-making.

To do well as educational administrator, one has to acquire and demonstrate the management skills:

• Technical: used for specialized knowledge required for work.
• Political: used to build a power base and establish connections.
• Conceptual: used to analyze complex situations.
• Interpersonal: used to communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate.
• Diagnostic: ability to visualise most appropriate response to a situation

Administration in the Nutshell

The key to understanding of what administration means lies in the following picture:
It represents functioning of schools administration as “People running processes based on rules using tools”