School administration: its objectives and functions

The role of the school administration has changed over time, while its routine work was limited to controlling order within the school, following up on students’ studies, their attendance and absence schedules, choosing the teaching methods that teachers should follow, and paying attention to the cleanliness of school buildings and other office work, and now this is no longer enough, especially after the great development What the administrative sciences witnessed so that the school administration became the focus of the educational process that activates and revitalizes the rest of the other elements and creates and supervises all aspects of educational activity within the school.

Her work did not only take place within the school; Rather, it has gone beyond it to enter into the depth of the society in which the school is located, and thus the school administration has become a science and an art and has principles and rules that are taught.

The school administration:

School administration is one of the modern administrative sciences that originated first in the United States of America in 1946 in particular; As the University of “Kellogg” provided a grant to American universities to study and develop this science, and after the United States of America came the United Kingdom; It carried out studies to develop school management, and then this science moved to the rest of the world and became one of the main educational sciences.

So the school administration is part of the teaching and educational administration, as it is not independent by itself as some people think; Rather, it is a unit responsible for implementing what the general educational administration decides, as it is a purposeful, organized activity that includes all the efforts, activities, and operations that the principal undertakes with the teachers and administrators in the school to prepare the learner in all mental, psychological, moral, emotional, and physical aspects so that he becomes an active member of the society in which he lives. and achieves adaptation and adaptation to it.

There are several educational studies related to school administration, and we will present in this article some of the definitions I mentioned:

1. Ibrahim Esmat Mutawa:

It is the unit that implements the educational policy. It is headed by a superintendent or a principal whose main responsibility is to direct the school toward the performance of its mission and the implementation of educational laws and regulations issued by the Ministry.

2. Mohamed Mounir Morsi:

It is a very intentional and purposeful organized activity behind which the educational goals desired from the school are achieved, and the school administration is not an end in itself; It is a means to achieve scientific goals educational.

3. Muhammad al-Saghir:

It is how the school is run in a society according to its ideologies, and economic, social, political, and other cultural forces, to achieve its objectives within a climate in which sound human relations, concepts, tools, and modern methods of education are available to obtain the best results with the least effort and cost.

4. Salah Abdul Hamid Mustafa:

It is a set of functional operations that are practiced to carry out certain educational tasks by others through planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling, and evaluating their efforts. This function is performed by influencing the behavior of individuals and achieving the desired goals.

5. Muhammad Hussein Al-Ajmi:

All efforts, activities, and operations, such as planning, organizing, directing, and controlling, that the principal undertakes with his teachers and administrators; With the aim of building and preparing the student in all respects mentally, morally, socially and physically, so that he can successfully adapt to society, preserve his surrounding environment and contribute to the progress of his society.

So the school administration is every activity that is achieved through educational purposes, and it coordinates and unifies efforts within the school to move forward in achieving the general educational goals of societies and countries on sound foundations.

School management objectives:

The school administration is the shining ray that illuminates the way for the learner and the teacher to present everything that is distinguished and successful, and the role of the school administration is growing day by day, and the goals of the school today differ from one society to another and from one-time stage to another; several factors affect these goals, including the size of the school, the educational stage, the age of the students and staff, the quality of their qualifications, and their personal preferences.

• Work to provide the material and human resources necessary to carry out and spread the school’s mission.
• Creating the appropriate conditions for the conduct of the educational process and its improvement.
• Work to link the school with the external community, the more this link is strengthened, the better the school will be able to perform its mission.
• Developing students’ tendencies and skills by providing them with the necessary knowledge.
• Introducing the student to his duties and rights towards himself, his family, his community, and his country.
• Encouraging students and helping them to establish good human relations with others and to cooperate with them constantly.
• Instilling virtuous values ​​and morals in the learners.
• Introducing the learners to the sources of national wealth and how to preserve it.

School administration functions:

• Monitoring important social and economic trends in society.
• Provide suggestions and contribute to the development of appropriate curricula for students.
• Management and organization of the school building, including classrooms, a library, laboratories, and its assets of teaching aids and sensitive equipment.
• Providing the learner with various experiences, knowledge, and sciences that are commensurate with the changes of age, contribute to his upbringing and education, and achieve his full growth.
• Effective communication with students’ parents and creating an appropriate atmosphere for new students to join the school.
• Analyzing students’ grades, interpreting their meaning, and monitoring the necessary needs of each of them to improve their achievement.
• Adapting the educational program within the school to the changes that occur in society, in addition to organizing environmental programs.
• Investigating the needs of all school workers, including administrators and teachers, expressing them to the concerned authorities, and paying attention to their job satisfaction.
• Identifying the needs for professional growth for teachers and continually assessing their competence.
• Evaluation of educational plans through the design of actual programs.
• Translating the general education plan into a realistic plan.
• Choosing suitable workers from guarding and maintenance services for schools.
• Identify the positive and negative aspects of the school and take appropriate decisions to enhance positivity and improve negativity.
• Delegate responsibilities to the appropriate people in the school.
• Identifying the problems faced by the school’s organizational framework, identifying them accurately, and finding appropriate solutions quickly; To maintain the educational and educational role of the school and to continue working with it.
• Manage students’ affairs by organizing them into organized formations, organizing their admission in terms of registration and follow-up, managing their classroom and extra-curricular activities, and setting up an accurate system for school records so that these records are kept in an orderly, sound, and safe manner.
• Taking into account the individual differences between the students and working to try to reduce them, and working to take into account the individual differences among the working members when distributing tasks in a way that suits the tendencies and preparations of each individual.
• Providing effective communication between the different classes and educational staff within the school by possessing effective communication skills.
• Creating a comfortable atmosphere of human relations and working to raise the morale of all workers by creating psychological and work-motivating conditions.
• Providing health care to students and school guidance and counseling services.
• Organizing and managing examinations and issuing their results and documents accurately.
• Inventory of the school treasury to ensure the correctness of its operations.

Characteristics of school administration:

• The school administration is purposeful: it proceeds according to a plan drawn and planned, as it is not a random plan and is implemented in arbitrary ways.
• The school administration is positive: it plays the role of a leader who works to overcome the negatives and adhere to the positives of the situation.
• The school administration is democratic: it is an administration that realizes the public interest and works to achieve it, and always emphasizes the need for everyone to participate in decision-making.
• The school administration is humane: it is an administration that works to listen to the problems of both students and school staff and to help and support them constantly.

School management obstacles:

• Not clearly defining educational goals.
• The duties of the members of the school administration are not precisely defined.
• The lack of qualified human cadres trained like school work.
• Poor financial capabilities, including school buildings equipped with classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and educational aids necessary to achieve the educational goals of the school.

in conclusion:

The school administration is the basis upon which society relies in achieving its strategic goals. To achieve the educational goals and objectives as soon as possible and with the least effort; To get the best possible result.

The school administration works to improve the level of performance of the employees by introducing them to their duties and responsibilities, directing them to proper educational guidance, coordinating school work, supervising the programs of various school activities, and making decisions for students.