Education Planning and Administration Dr Brian Martin Credit Rating 20 credits, SCQF 11 Aims 1. To enable the critical examination of trends and directions in educational administration, planning and management in their social, educational and political contexts 2. To facilitate the critical appraisal of a range of theories relevant to the study and practice of administration, planning and management in education 3. To relate theoretical considerations to current substantive problems and issues. Teaching 10 x 2.5 hour sessions, utilising lecture, seminar and case study method. Assessment An essay of 4,000 words. Content The course will consider administration, planning and management in education as a whole pre-school; school and post-school - but allow each student to focus on the level/sector/s and issues of most interest to him/her. Efforts will be made to enable students to link themes and issues from other modules they have already taken, or are taking concurrently, to themes, issues and approaches in education administration, planning and management. An overview of the historical development of state administration of education in the modern age will help identify issues in administration, planning and management faced in the latemodern/post-modern context - such as challenges to the role of the state in the form of (eg) financial imperatives and marketisation on one hand and social justice on the other. Policy responses to such issues will be explored in terms of their impact on public administration of education, on educational planning and the management of educational services. The role of the state and specifically of central and local government in the administration, planning and management of education will be examined alongside an evaluation of the roles of parastatal and non-governmental organisations. The influences exercised by the resultant dynamic on educational institutions and on administration, planning and management within them will be examined in a series of case studies which will draw on current examples in Scotland which in turn will be appraised within an international context, drawing on comparative perspectives. Illustrative Content 1. Overview of selected accounts and critiques of the relationship between public administration, state planning and the management of education 2. Determining demand and the exercise of the planning function in the education sector 3. The relationship between administration and management in the education sector 4. Professionalism in the education sector and its effects on the manager 5. Strategic planning in educational settings 6. Notions of the "value chain" and "business process" in relation to planning and the management of resources in the education sector 7. "Re-engineering" and the management of educational organisations 8. Stakeholder analysis and educational planning 9. Output, outcome and impact assessment in the education sector, its management and implications for planning 10. Public accountability and educational administration, planning and management. Selected Reading Altrichter H and Elliot J (2000) Images of Educational Change University Bush T (1989) Managing Education: Theory and Practice University Buckingham : Open Milton Keynes : Open Dale R (1998) Markets and Education NSW : Allen & Unwin Lingard B et al (1997) Educational Policy and the Politics of Change London : Routledge Middlewood, D and Lumby J (1998) Strategic Management in Schools and Colleges London : Paul Chapman Publishing Samier E (ed) (2003) Ethical Foundations for Educational Administration London : Routledge Sayer J (1993) The Future Governance of Education London : Cassell Scott P (ed) (1999) Higher Education Re-formed London : Routledge Wagner RB (1993) Accountability in Education London : Routledge Wilmott R (2002) Education Policy and Realist Social Theory London : Routledge July 2009
