Page 256 - DEDU503_EDUCATIONAL_MANAGEMENT_ENGLISH

Educational Management

Notes 2. The Principle of Coordination : Cooperative determination of policies, procedure, structure
and relationship of machinery raises the important administrative problem of coordination.
‘’Coordination of this huge list of services and of persons must be achieved for the greater good
of the teaching-learning situation.” A good educational programme demands unity of purpose
and effort on the part of all workers. This is a difficult task for the educational leader to achieve.
Leadership is best exercised by full participation of all concerned. For exercise of leadership
and responsibility, rules, procedures, mechanisms and their relationship should be determined
by the group and not imposed from above. This will develop favourable attitude towards the
activity. The leader should coordinate the energy and effort of all persons engaged in the
educative process. Duties and responsibilities should be shared by administrators, supervisory
staff, teachers and students. They should all develop likemindedness and identity of purposes.
Coordination will help exercising initiative and getting things done without duplication of
activity and wastage of energy.
3. The Principle of Leadership : Democratic procedure is slow but sure. We have seen earlier that
in a democratic organizaton authority is replaced by leadership and power and responsibility
are shared by all school officials, administrators, teachers, pupils and the community. Of course,
the chief responsibility rests with the people occupying positions of leadership, but it is shared
by all and not centred in any one person. The leaders should encourage initiative in leading. It
should be remembered that authority is derived by persons from the situation. We have to
understand what the situation is, and what its needs and demands are. We have also to consider
what resources of men and material are available and what known facts of educational theory
are applicable to the situation. Centralised authority should be replaced by democratic authority,
which means that it should be shared by all, either by delegation or rotation. “Since the function
of organization has been established as a means and not an end, the value of all agents, agencies
and organization forms and practices should be determined on the basis of their contributions
to the achievement of educational objectives.”
A democratic organization can be run only by a democratic leader. For this, he needs to possess
particular qualities and characteristics, Briefly stated these are :
(1) A domocratic leader knows that he is not selected because of his seniority or social or political
power, but because of his superiority of knowledge and skill, some special ability or fitness
for a particular job. He should have ability and power better than those of the other members
of the group. As jobs differ from situation to situation and require different patterns of
abilities, it is not necessary that only the legally appointed leader would exercise leadership
on all occasions. It follows that any member of the group may become the leader at a given
time for a given situation.
(2) A democratic leader must be able to create the necessary climate of cooperation. For this, he
should suppress his own urge to dominate ; rather, he should have the urge to help, inspire
and guide the other members of the group in defining, analysing, understanding and solving
problems. He should draw personal satisfaction from other members’ activities and
contributions.
(3) A leader must be able to gain sympathetic insight into the thoughts, motives, attitudes,
ideals and aspirations of the other members of the group. With an understanding of the
level of his colleagues he works patiently to improve it and waits for the result of his efforts.
(4) A leader should be willing to recognise the intelligence and unerstanding of the other members
which are superior to his own and regard them as his own asset. He is willing to recognize
ability, creativity and leadership in others and not regard these as his exclusive possessions.
He is willing to listen to and understand the proposals of others and welcomes their
contributions.

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