Paper 9: Educational Administration
Q.8.
Briefly outline the responsibilities of a full time Principal.
Ans:
When the Principal of a high school is the official
leader, he can establish himself as a real educational leader only through the
use of democratic process and on the basis of the quality of his contributions.
He should establish his ability to act as a consultant to the teachers, one who
can aid them to solve their problems. He should try to develop the ability of
the staff lo work and think together. He should attempt to make changes in the
educational programme only through group evaluation and group planning. In
light of this let us now discuss the important duties of the Principal.
1. Principal's Supervisory
Duties
The officials of a high school may be classified as
"Extra-high-school and Intra-high-school officers." The
extra-high-school officials are those associated with the central office and
the intra-high-school officers are assistants to the Principal.
Their work is within the high school. The
extra-high-school officials arc the special supervisors, directors of curriculum
or instruction etc. The intra-high-school officers include the first assistant,
department heads, librarian, counsellors, teachers in charge of games, sports,
N.C.C., N.S.S., Red cross and other assistants. The Principal, being the
educational leader is to supervise the activities of both intra and
extra-high-school officers.
2. Supervision of
instruction
To improve the quality of teaching and learning in the
teacher -student system the Principal should pay regular visits to the
different classes in which the teachers are engaged. He should work as an
expert source of help through free discussion with them. Since teaching has
independent parts like planning, actualizing the plans, describing what was
actualized, analyzing what happened and generalizing in the terms of planning,
the Principal should work together with the teachers to improve the
"learning environment."
This will be possible through mutual esteem and trust,
which again depends upon contact and interaction. He should not interpret his
role as 'telling, rather he should accept cooperation, help and assistance as
a way of life.
3. Supervision of
Curriculum Development and Improvement
For the improvement of learning according to the changing
needs of the society, constant revision and improvement of the curriculum is
essential. Since the Principal is the educational leader, he is responsible
for developing the curriculum design, and coordination of the curriculum
improvement, stimulating innovation, developing demonstrations of new
procedures and practices, keeping information about new curriculum development
and conducting research that is appropriate to school system.
He should educational programme. He should also
evaluate the effectiveness of the educational programme. He should organize a
curriculum development team with the staff members and should consult pupils
and parents by conducting investigations of pupils’ progress and by promoting
follow-up studies of dropouts.
4. Supervision of
curricula rand Co-curricular Activities
The Principal should set-up separate committees with a
chairman to look to their progress. The curricular activities like
instructional programme guidance services, examinations and evaluation,
audio-visual educational programmes etc., and co-curricular activities like
games and sports, excursions, hobbies, debating and literary society, cultural
and social programmes, library and reading room, Red Cross and First Aid,
N.C.C. and N.S.S. etc., are to be supervised by the Principal with the help of
these committees. Distribution of activities should also be made by the
Principal. Thus, he can help the growth and development of the whole child,
mental, moral and physical activities.
5. Supervision of School
Hostel
Though the school hostel remains in charge of a
superintendent, who happens to be a teacher, it is also the duty of the
Principal to supervise carefully the hostel. He should try to create a homely
atmosphere in the hostel. He should pay occasional visits to the hostel to see
its management.
Thus, the Principal is responsible for the all round
progress and development of the school programme. Through democratic
supervision, he can become vigilant and manage the school affairs efficiently.
6. Administrative
Responsibilities of the Principal
The administrative responsibilities of the Principal
can be classified under two heads - external and internal. The external
responsibilities connect the Principal with some external authorities like the
government, the state department of education, the High School Education Board
and the governing body of the school. The internal responsibilities connect him
with the organization of internal responsibilities of the school, the school
office and administering the school budget and the school plant.
7. His relations with the
External Authorities
Education has now become the responsibility of the
state. Therefore, the government decides the educational policies, prepares
educational budgets, provides grant-in-aid to the schools and decides the
service conditions of the teachers. The Principal should be aware of these
regulations and other administrative developments at the level of the
government.
8. His relations with the
State Department of Education
The state department of education includes the
secretariat of Education and the Directorate. Rules and regulations regarding
"admission, withdrawal, attendance, school timings, promotion rules,
punishment, time tables, size of the class" etc., are fixed by the department
from time to time. So the Principal cannot work without his relation with the
State Department of Education or with the Board of Education.
9. Board of Education
The school certificate examination is conducted by the
Secondary Board of Education, ft prescribes and writes text-books for the
schools. Prepares curriculums, fixes the rules and regulations for the
examinations. The Principal cannot run the administrative machinery of the
school without being fully conversant with the details of the work of the Secondary
Board of Education. Therefore, he should keep contact with the Board.
10. The relationship with
the Managing Committee
Every non-government school has a managing committee
with a president, a secretary and a few members. This body has direct connection
with the state department of education and also with the Secondary Board of
Education. It is a very powerful body, which can appoint and dismiss teachers.
Of course this power of the management has been curtailed these days. For the
smooth running of the school administration, a Principal working in a
non-government school should have close contact with the managing committee.
Q.7.
“Principal as a leader”. Discuss with suitable examples.
Ans:
In the planning and execution of school programme, the
head of the institution, teachers, students and their parents have all to join
hands to attain common goals and purposes. The Principal may be described as
the Solar Orb, round whom all the teacher planets revolve.
A better analogy is given by W.M. Ryburn, when he
compares the Principal to the Captain of a ship, who like Captain in the ship,
holds the key position in the school. Ryburn wants a Principal to be a man of
faith. It is therefore, essential that he is not only a man of high character,
but a man of faith, "Faith in vocation, faith in his pupils faith in human
nature and faith in his staff'.
Also Ryburn lays emphasis on the inspiring qualities
of the Principal of the schools. "He must also be able to inspire the
staff in their day-to-day work, inspire pupils to use all opportunities
provided, drawing out the best that is in them inspire the society."
In the worlds of the Central Advisory Board of
Education, "No scheme of educational reconstruction will produce the
desired result, unless it is administered with vision and efficiency. The
person who plans with vision and executes with responsibility is virtually the
Principal". In fact, school is the lengthened shadow of Principal.
The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) opines on
Principal, "On him the proper working of school ultimately depends. The
reputation of the school and the position that it holds in the society depends
in a large measure on the influence that he exercises over his colleagues his
pupils and general public.
True, on his ability and skill, as a sound and
effective educational leader depends the success of a school system. A Role of
Principal and Teachers !Principal is the leader and the centre of the whole
organization of the school. P.C. Wren beautifully explains the role of the
Principal in the following words :
"What the mainspring is to the watch, the
fly-wheel to the machine, or the engine to steamship, the Principal is to the
school. The character of the school reflects and proclaims the professional
character of the Principal. He is the seal and the school is the wax."
"As the Principal, so is the school". There
is no denying the fact that everything in the school, the staff, the
curriculum, the method of instruction the discipline, the co-curriculum,
activities, the daily schedule and the general atmosphere and the tone of the
school is fashioned in the mould of the Principal. It may be recalled that some
schools in England are still named after their reputed Principal, i.e. Harrow
School, Rugby importance in the school programme. The whole programme of school
either grows or remains sterile according to equipment, training and competence
of the Principal. Everything in the school, Buildings, Furniture, Library,
Laboratory, Methods & Techniques of Teaching, Co-curricular activities and
human relationships bear the impact of the personality of the head and reflect
his leadership.
The role of the Principal as a man is perhaps the most
important. He is both human and human. He is also both trustful trustworthy. He
should always carry a young heart.
Q.10. Write
short note:
Ans:
Provisions for youth needs in the curriculum.
Q.2.
Academic freedom is vital to a free society. Explain
Q.4.
What should our schools accomplish? Enumerate.
