FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION 

By David A. Gualin 

Posted on October 7, 2017

I.    Introduction

    Do you desire to be a school administrator?  Multiple literature attests to the difficulty of fulfilling the functions and roles of school administrators.  This is because school administration has always been entangled on the one hand with school management and on the other hand supervision of educational activities.  A school administrator’s role is many, varied, sometimes overlapping with other school officials and others are simply essential, without which the school will not run.  It takes a lot of preparation and personal qualities, like high intelligence and sociable attitude among others, to positively fulfill a school administrator’s responsibilities.  Add to that, we are in a country where school administration, mostly public school administration is tied up with politics.  “Undeniably, administrators of state run institutions solicit financial support from politicians who can sustain their school projects. There is nothing wrong with this. However, if the support given by politician must be equated by some favors from school officials, this becomes a major concern by everybody” (Durban and Catalan, 2012).  If given the chance to be a school administrator, how will we define the demarcation line between purely creative school administrative functions and that of other less productive activities?  Capper (1993) stated “common right now are school administrators who functions as technocrats committed to the maintenance of the status quo alone.”  Williams (1983) observed that school administrators have been overlooked in today’s emphasis on school reform.   Are school administrators really accidentally overlooked or is it because of the authoritarianism that represses teachers’ questions and inquiry that has left school administrators untouchable?  These are the challenges that we face as we look into the functions of school administrators.

II.    Highlights
•    Meaning of Function
•    Major Functions of School Administration
•    Conclusion
•    Recommendations

III.    Meaning of Function

•    Purpose or activity to be accomplished by creative educative process.

•    Functions are fulfilled by providing some ends or goals.

•    The school administrator may find most of his time and energy devoted to the care of an administrative detail that gives him little opportunity for direct supervision.

•    The principal is often compelled to delegate to his associates the actual supervision of the instructional program and focus on his functions as school administrator.

IV.     Major Functions of School Administration

•    Administration is job centered and the nature of work to be done makes a reference to policies.

•    Effectiveness of administration is reflected in the quality of job performance.

•    In short, School Administration efforts “should be to release the maximum time and energy of the staff toward the attainment of the school's goals and objectives as envisioned by the collective group” (Williams, 1983).

•    Zepeda (2007) goes further by saying that “a school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation and stewardship of a vision…that is shared and supported by the community.”

•    Building a vision is an ongoing reflective and iterative process that begins with the instructional leader looking within for the core values and beliefs that motivate her to act based on these values and beliefs (Zepeda, 2007).

•    Zepeda (2007) furthers “what distinguishes effective instructional leaders from others is not the distinctive set of characteristics but an approach to their work that is guided by a distinctive set of beliefs about what is possible.”

•    The nature of school administration is undergoing almost constant change, and the best way to study the function of school administration is to analyze the administrative role in its own environment (Williams, 1983).

•    School administration should view their functions in terms of responsibility that has been assigned them (Williams, 1983).

•    Primarily school administrators need to devote a significant portion of their time determining and refining primary and secondary institutional goals (Williams, 1983).

•    Gregorio (1961) mentioned multiple major functions of school administrators, Williams (1983) a more timely source, also identified the functions of school administrators:

1.    Instructional leader

    Create a climate for change, experimentation and openness.

    Lucid, candid and convincing of their explanation of educational programs.

    Inspire confidence by the successful application of the knowledge and skills of their profession.

    Sense of responsibility to public education.

    Sense of logic

    Review and evaluate the curriculum.

    Visit classrooms

    Pursue programs that will upgrade the learning process for the students

    Attend important workshops and learning seminars.

2.    Planner and Organizer

    This includes planning, which is “the activity of devising and selecting courses of action directed toward the achievement of educational goals and objectives” (Gregorio, 1961).

    Planning includes the following:

a)    General aims and objectives to be achieved.

b)    Sequence of appropriate learning experiences.

c)    Procedures to be used in accomplishing them.

d)    Criteria employed to determine the degree of success of any program

    Also includes Organizing (Gregorio, 1961) which is about turning plans into actions.  It is about assigning personnel and appropriately allocating resources to accomplish a specific task. 

    In short organizing involves the following tasks (Palmer, 1998):

a)    Examine the tasks involved in the work

b)    Communicate the plan to everyone concerned and allocate tasks to individuals

c)    Ensure that the necessary resources are available

d)    Get the job started

e)    Keep the momentum going

3.     Manager

    Effective utilization of staff, time and money.

    Management experts who should not only build but sustain an organization – the school.

    Understand theory of management blended with philosophical concepts confirmed through vital experiences in working with pupils, teachers and parents.

    Sensitivity to the stream of cultural change.

    Schedule in-service meetings

    Meet with faculty advisory group

    Study staff morale

    Supervise food, transportation and health services

4.     Expert in Human Relations and Group Dynamics

    Need to develop a cooperative team effort.

    Need to delegate responsibility and authority to those who can or will try to do the job at hand (Gregorio, 1961).

    Provide democratic leadership for the staff (Gregorio, 1961).

    Encourage guidance and counseling activities

5.     Communicator and Specialist of Public Relations

    Needs to have effective speaking and writing skills to keep faculty, parents and students informed.

    This includes giving opportunity for the community to involve themselves and participate on the school programs.

    Articulating to the community what the school can do and are doing. (Gregorio, 1961).

    Democratic principles should be observed (respect for opinions, rights, abilities, and feelings of others) to elicit sympathy and understanding between the school personnel and the public (Gregorio, 1961).

    There should be a cooperative work between school and the community on common problems and projects.

    The best school publicity stems from a strong school program (Gregorio, 1961).

6.     Representative of the Board of Education

    Expected to communicate and implement policies and regulations (Williams, 1983).

    School administrators “often find themselves in direct center position in the district organizational structure with the central administration and the board of education in one side and the school staff on the other side” (Williams, 1983).

    To be effective, they need to receive loyalty and support from both sides.

    They can also expect to be the victim of intense conflicting pressure from each zone of influence until a resolution is reached.

    Gregorio (1961) emphasized the use of democratic leadership to keep things in harmony.

    Democratic leaders are willing to learn from their co-workers.

    Democratic processes should be utilized because the process in itself recognizes the peculiar abilities of co-workers and it enriches their personalities.

    Democratic leadership gives teachers and pupils “a feeling of security and belonging” (Gregorio, 1961).

    Responsibility of mediation of conflict should be shared with other leaders within the school and the school system (Williams, 1983).

    Multi-leadership structure at the school level will lead to greater harmony and constructive action at all levels (Williams, 1983).

    Therefore, school administrators “should be prepared to occupy several different roles at one time that will lead to the satisfaction of contradictory expectations” (Williams, 1983).

7.    Evaluator

    Develop a plan of continuous improvement and renewal.

    Evaluating is important for helpful feedback and further improvement of educational personnel and programs.  Evaluating is simply determining how well educational purposes have been achieved (Gregorio, 1961).

    Evaluation is important in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching personnel (Gregorio, 1961).

    Reasons for teacher evaluation (Gregorio, 1961):

o    Eliminate incompetent teachers.

o    Improve teaching through in-service training.

o    Identify merit promotion

8.    Personnel Manager

    Responsible for hiring, training, and evaluating school personnel.

    Also dismissals as what Gregorio (1961) said “eliminate incompetent teachers.”

V.     Conclusion

    School administration is not an easy role.  The job description and function of the school administrator is not for the faint hearted or the double-minded.  There is too much at stake in the position of a school administrator to just hire anyone who so desires.  Often, the desire for this position is fueled by the prestige and the authority, compensation and power that this position brings.  But as was told to Spiderman, so also with School Administrators:  “Great power comes with great responsibility” (Genter, 2007).  And, the mistake or success of a school administrator can make or break a school.  All the functions of the school administrator mentioned above, both by Gregorio (1961) and Williams (1983) are correct.  Gregorio’s (1961) focus on democratic leadership is noteworthy.  Democratic practice in leadership fosters a positive atmosphere in an organization.  Williams (1983) also notes that effective leadership is more of down upwards rather than top-down.  Meaning, the decision making comes more from the collective member of the academic community – teachers and students rather than from School Boards.  I therefore conclude that school administration focus more on this democratic process.  Leadership in schools needs to be shared – so also the great responsibility that entails it.  Of course, some functions are solely of the school administrator himself (like mediation of conflict between lower personnel – teachers and staff and that of higher management – school boards, district supervisors), nevertheless – the more the school administrator become transparent and articulate his needs – the more the community at hand, with their various skills and expertise, get the opportunity to help.  It seems that the school administrator just needs to articulate these needs to those people around him and explain how the fulfillment of these needs bring them closer to the realization of the school’s mission and vision. 

What basically is needed in selecting school administrators is an in-depth case study of each candidate.  It would also be wise to consult with the school community at hand if they have anyone in mind because it is better to get someone from inside the school system so that adjustment for both newly appointed school administrator and personnel will be minimal.  A letter of recommendation from reliable sources within the school and the school community’s officials would also add credibility on the candidates’ background.  Finally, values of the candidate and the values of the school’s vision, mission and educational and instructional goals should be the same (i.e. we cannot hire an atheist scholar in a Christian School just because of his scholarly background). 

VII.     References

Capper, Colleen A. ed (1993) Educational Administration in a Pluralistic Society. State University of New York Press: USA p. ix

Durban, JM and Catalan RD (2012). Issues and concerns of Philippine education through the years: ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES Vol 1, No. 2 May p. 68

Genter, Robert (2007). ‘‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility’’: Cold War Culture and the Birth of Marvel Comics: The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 40, No. 6, p. 953

Gregorio, Herman Cruz (1961). School administration and supervision.  Garcia Publishing: Philippines pp. 29-36

Palmer, Sally (2013). People and Self Management. CRC Press: USA

Williams, Stanley W. (1983). School Administration: Leadership and Interaction. Irvington Publishers: USA p. 56, 66

Zepeda, Sally J. (2007). The Principal As Instructional Leader: A Handbook for Supervisors. Eye On Education: New York

(*Kindly give credit when credit is due by citing this article with the name of the author and the date it was posted in this blog.  Thank you! - David A. Gualin).