24 Need and Importance of Research in Educational Administration

Ms. Harpreet Kaur

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Learning outcomes

3. Importance of Research in Educational Administration

4. Areas of Research in Educational Administration

4. Summary

1. INTRODUCTION

The unique purpose of administration is to direct the utilisation of limited resources of time, people, space, equipment, supplies and work technique in the realisation of coherent operation of an enterprise. It involves activities and processes which require specialisation of effort and sophistication in use. These have been very frequently identified as activities which include planning, programming, budgeting, staffing, evaluating and such processes as leadership, organisation, communication and coordination. Some additional attributes are added such as human relationship, cooperation, logical positivism and staff morale. It encompasses whatever and wherever education is administered, whether it is at the level of an educational institution of an organisation controlling several of the same or different types of educational organisations or whether it is for a smaller or bigger geographical units and whether the management consists of an individual or individuals involving a private or semi government or government agency.

There has long been a need for the development of research related to problems of educational administration but, until recently, most departments giving instruction in that had almost no capability for conducting or supervising research. The need to stimulate research has long been recognised by professors of educational administration and one important step taken by them to meet this need was the formation of the University Council for Educational Administration. This organisation has done much to stimulate interest in educational research in the field of administration.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this unit, learners will be able to:

Discuss the need to conduct research in the field of educational administration
Build the understanding of need and importance for research within the administration of school education
Explain the need to conduct empirical studies in the field of educatio nal administration related to Indian Environment and Culture.
Identify the research trends in Educational administration.

Topic 1: IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

The promotion of research on problems of educational administration is a far larger problem than that of finding competent research workers willing to do research in the area. For research workers willing to do research in the area, considerable differences exist concerning how one should go about conducting such research.

However, the primary need of research in educational administration is to bring efficiency in school administration and thus helping for the betterment of educational standards. The following points highlight the need to conduct research in the field of Educational Administration:

Research in educational administration is essential as it would enable educationists and educational administrators to plan improved developmental programmes and to modify the administrative pattern and organisational structures in accordance with the changing needs and demands of the society. Constant research endeavors and appraisals are essential to help further reorganisation and improvement.
The present decade has been categorised by a flow of literature taking the position but more precisely formulated theories of educational administration are needed before research can be conducted. So there is need to conduct research so that more precise theories concerning educational administration can be developed.

According to Travers, “Theories have to be based on the kind of substantial knowledge that is derived from research. Although one cannot expect to derive a theory of administration from the kind of research that has typically been pursued it has tended to be focused on specific and local problems, there is still the possibility that the ideas on which a theory of administration may be based can be derived from research in social psychology and sociology. Certainly business management has long drawn from knowledge derived from such fields in order to develop theories of management. The impact of social psychology and sociology on business management has been far greater than on school administration, perhaps because business has been so highly dependent on research for many aspects of its development”.

There is need to conduct research so that alternative instruments for studying administrative behaviour can be constructed. The future enrollments in schools and consequent increase in the number and size of schools will demand well qualified leaders as headmasters, principals, inspectors and other officials. There is need to conduct research so that the appropriate ways in the form of standardised tools to the already existing resources of identifying, preparing and guiding educational leaders in the country can be devised. This will help in choosing the right kind of leaders in all the fields who are capable of facing new tasks of education in changing India.
There is need to evolve proper courses and methods for educational leadership.
There is need to conduct research so that Teacher Education Programmes can be reoriented to the new national tasks beginning with the country’s independence.
Moreover, now-a- days we have to deal with schools which have diversified curriculum, children from varied backgrounds and the communities around the schools who are literate, intelligent and sensitive to their rights and obligations. The emphasis is not merely on formal training but on practical knowledge, creative thinking and citizenship training. Under this kind of educational revolution in India, will the graduate training institutions be able to face new challenges? Are their programmes and courses adequate for the preparation of the future educational administrators and leaders? There is need to conduct research in order to:

1.1 find out the adequacy of the programmes being run by present teacher education institutions.

1.2 reorient the present programs according to new national tasks.

1.3 evolve proper courses and methods for training educational leaders.

There is also need to conduct empirical studies related to India’s environment and culture.
The studies in job analysis, administrative role, leadership behaviour, performance, decision making, power structure, group dynamics etc. need to be conducted.
The research available in the field of educational administration is either descriptive or historical. It is based only on empirical evidences collected through questionnaires and interviews. The scientific method of incorporating a hypothesis or a theory is conspicuous by its absence. So, there is need to conduct research in this field in a systematic manner right from the level of locating the problem of research till its solution.
Most of the research conducted in the field concentrate only on school administration and exclude university administration. There is need to conduct research in college and university administration. The findings of the researchers will provide significant insights for local level administrators whose area (school, college, district) is being studied.
There is need to conduct studies to know how much of feedback reaches such administrations.
There is need to conduct action research and do lot of experimentation so that required changes could be brought about.
There is need to conduct in-depth studies with respect to planning administration especially of large educational institutions, including universities. The studies should have greater dependence on data collected from direct primary sources rather than using any secondary data. Moreover, research should use multiple techniques and methods in order to get a better, deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the issues and factors involved.

In a nutshell, there is need to conduct research in the field of educational administration in order to:

establish standards of Educational Administration and ensuring efficient performance.
standardise methods of work.
take decisions or solve problems and reduce interpersonal, intergroup or interdepartmental conflicts.
improve existing situations.
meet the challenge of time.
prepare standardised tools.
provide opportunities for individual members to realise their individual capabilities of growth and enjoy both social need and job satisfaction.

There is need to conduct research on the following problems with the scientific approach in the field of education in general and for school administration in particular.

Topic 2: AREAS OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

Research in educational administration is important in order to gain an evidence-based understanding on the following:

2.1 Role analysis of educational administrators at different levels.

2.2 Comparison of roles of administrators in education, business government and other social institutions.

2.3 Studies in values and attitudes of educational administrators.

2.4 Case studies of administrators in education.

2.5 Finding impact of specialised training on administration behaviour.

2.6 Tests for measuring mental health and aptitude of education administrators.

2.7 Criteria for selection, recruitment, and appointment of educational administrators to various specialised jobs.

2.8 Measuring impact of physical facilities and working conditions, administrative behaviour, efficiency and success.

2.9 Influence of culture on administrative behaviour.

2.10 Studies in morale of educational administrators.

2.11 Democratic values and appropriate administrative leadership education.

2.12 Group dynamics and its impact on administrative behaviour.

2.13 Forms of organisation (line and staff), methods of control (centralisation and decentralization) and their impact on educational administrators.

2.14 Community power structure, internal politics, informal and formal groups and their influence on educational administrators.

2.15 Administrator’s personal philosophy and its impact on his administrative behaviour.

2.16 Analysis of the administrative process suited to educational system.

2.17 Studies in decision making process in education departments, schools, colleges and universities.

2.18 Factors or criteria of effective decision- making in education.

2.19 Effective planning by educational administrators.

2.20 Methods of planning (individual or group, rational or irrational, realistic or theoretical) and their impact on educational administration.

2.21 Staff participation in educational planning and administration.

2.22 Forms of organisation, organisational structure and hierarchy and their impact on educational administration.

2.23 Delegation of authority and responsibility in education administration

2.24 Significance of communication in effective educational administration.

2.25 Studies in the use of community resources by educational administrators

2.26 Studies in staff relation maintained by administrator within their institutions.

2.27 Measures for evaluating the outcomes and returns of educational administration.

2.28 Studies in problems and difficulties faced by the departments of education, inspectors, headmasters and managements.

2.29 Studies in supervisory and inspection procedures in education.

2.30 Studies in the administration of teacher welfare programmes.

2.31 Administration of medical inspection and remedial programmes.

2.32 Studies in the morale of subordinates working under education administrators.

2.33 Studies in coordination among different administrative units groups involved in educational administration

2.34 Analysing concepts like educational administration, inspectors’ supervision, school management, administrative behaviour, human relations, leadership and so on.

2.35 Historical studies in the development of administration education at various levels.

2.36 Documentary analysis of administrative policy, laws, codes with reference to educational administration.

SUMMARY

Educational administration is regarded as a dynamic, ever changing and ever expanding process in which new developments take place continuously depending upon the changing needs of the nation. Educational Administration has been recognised as a potential subject of study and research with professors, researchers and postgraduate students in the field rigorously involving themselves into the in-depth study of the subject.

Refernces:

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