Like most terms in the social sciences, no definition has been universally accepted in relation to management in Education. However, some Scholars and Practicing Managers have all attempted to provide definitions based on their understanding of the prevailing situation. Some define management as the force that runs on enterprise and others claim that management is the performance, conceiving and achieving desired result by means of group efforts, consisting of utilizing human talents, resources and skills.
Others state that management is the satisfaction of Economic and Social needsthrough production as a result of human efforts. Others summaries management as planning and implementation. According to Leon magison et al (1983), “Management is working with people to determine, interpret, and achieve organisational objectives by planning, organizing, leading, controlling and staffing.”
Definition of Management in Education System
It is important to know that Henry Fayol’s, definition (Cole: 1986) is closely related to the above definition. Fayol was the first to give comprehensive and summarized Definition of Management in Education. He defined Management as: “to forecast, plan, organize, command, coordinate and control”.
In Fayol’s view, to forecast plan mean to examine the future and draw up a plan of action. To organize means building a structure of both material and human in an organization. To control, means to ensure everything is in conformity with the plan and standard.
Therefore, Management is the Process Of Planning, organizing, leading and controlling the effort of organisational members and using all other resources to achieve stated organisational goals.
A process is a systematic way of doing things, hence we define management as a process because all managers regardless of their particular attitude or skill engage in certain related activities in order to achieve their objectives.
In order to achieve the objectives of the organisation, it is necessary to bring together all available resources called “Six Ms” of management i.e. men, machine, material, methods, money and market. These resources are brought together and related in harmony and honesty so that end result may be accomplished by all within the determined constraint of time, effort and cost.
In Education Define Managerial Functions of Management
The major functions are management include the following:
Planning: Planning is the first of the five basic managerial functions. It is argued to be the most important function of a manager. Planning, therefore, means setting objectives and determining what should be done to accomplish them, i.e. today’s design for tomorrow’s action. Planning is an applied problem solving and Decision Making Effortsthrough which managers act to insure the future success of their organisation as well as themselves. It could be considered as, deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, where to do it, who should do it, and when to do it, in order to achieve effectiveness at every level of responsibility.
As a Foundation Of Management Process, planning identifies what should be done and set the stage for further managerial efforts at organizing, leading and controlling. In other words, planning is the function that answers four questions.
I. Where are now? –This questions is concerned with assessing the present situation and forecasting how the situation may change in the future. 2. Where do we want to be/- Answer to this question involves determining the desired objective in terms of the present and future. 3. What is the difference between where we are and where we want to be? 4. How can we get there?- This question required an outline of action and a careful analysis of future implication of present decision.
Organizing: Harold Koontz (1980) defined organizing as that part of management that involves establishing an international structure of role for people to fill in an organisation. It is international in the sense of making sure that all the tasks necessary to accomplish goals are assigned and specially, assigned to people who can do them best.
Organizing can be viewed as the process of identifying and grouping of work to be performed, by defining and delegating responsibility and authority and establishing relationship for the purpose of enabling people to work effectively together in order to accomplish the objective. In a simpler way organizing is the process of arranging people to work with one another towards their common goal. It implies first of all that there is a collection of people combining their common goal.
It implies first first of all that there is a collection of people combining their effort to accomplish what none could be alone. This is sometimes referred to as synergy, i.e. the concept that the whole organisation as it works harmoniously and cooperatively is greater than some of its parts.
Coordinating: Coordinating is perhaps the closet word to a true Synonymy of Management. The challenge of coordinating is to capitalize on individual difference while maintaining control. Harmonizing and synchronizing all efforts of individuals and units to achieve a common objective.
Coordinating can also be seen as the process of integrating the objectives and activities of the separate units (departments or functional areas of Education) of an organisation, in order to achieve the organisational goal efficiently. Without coordination, individuals and departments would lose sight of their role within the organisation. They will begin to purpose their own personal interest often at the expense of the larger organisational goals.
Commanding: Another function of management is directing or leading. Commanding is influencing people so that they will contribute to organisation and group goals. A manager’s leading ability i.e. manager’s ability to motivate, influence and communicate and subordinate will determine manager’s effectiveness. For managers to command effectively, three basic elements have to be considered jointly: leaderships, Communication and Motivation in Education.
Leadership: It Means headship. People tend to follow those who offer means of satisfying their needs, wishes and desires. On t he other hand, leadership is the relationship in which one person-the leader, influences others to work together willingly on related tasks to attain that leader desires.
Communication: It deals with the acts of developing and attaining understanding. It can be verbal and non-verbal in Education. Communication is a mans to an end. It makes possible the management process and serves a a lubricant for a smooth operation. Effective communication enables manager to obtain data for decision making.
Motivation: How can I get my members to care more about their work? What kind of condition brings the best out of them? What motivates employees to do their best and derive their satisfaction from the work? Questions such as these are foremost on most managers mind. In the opinion of many, the key to performance is motivation.
Motivation is the desire within an individual that simulates him or her to action. Motivation of people deals with the way of removing conditions, which mae people dissatisfied with their work. Each employee has his own acceptance zone. Instructions falling within this zone will be carried out to the best of his ability while those outside it this zone.
Controlling: Management control is the process through which managers are sure that the actual activities conform to the planned activities. Controlling is making sure that every thing happens according to plan. In the plan of an organisation’s activities, the fundamental goals and the objectives and the method of attaining them are established. The control process measures progress towards these goals and enables managers to detect deviation from the plan in time and to take corrective action before it is too late.
Staffing: At times some people will treat staffing separately s managerial function while some will refer to it under coordination. However, staffing involves filling, and keeping the filled position in the organisation structure. This is done by identifying work-force requirement, recruiting, selecting, planning, promoting etc, candidates and Current Job Holders to accomplish their task effectively and effectively.
Defining the Level of Management in Education Portal
There are three levels of management in all formal organisations and there are clear differences in information requirements and decision making at each level. The three levels of management are : top or strategic management, middle or tactical management and junior or operational management.
Top or Strategic of Management in Education
This is the peak of the management levels in Education. It consists of the corporate officers that are elected by the board of directors. In the education industry, they are the ministers, commissioners appointed by the President/Governor, Chief Executive Officers (CEO), chairman, general manager and their deputies etc. for the ministers, pastorals and agencies. It has to do with policy formulation or gathering data to meet up with their prevailing situation in an organisation. In Nigeria for instance, policies on higher institutions, nomadic education, primary and post primary institutions are strategic policies. Also, Post UME Policy that was introduced in 2006 is an example of strategic policies. In summary, the functions of strategic level managers include:
Formulating broad policies, Working out long range planning, Determining organisation objectives and goals, Appointing other top level officers, authorizing new facilities and launching research and development projects.
In Education, Middle or Tactical Level of Management
In Education System, middle level managers are in between the top and lower managers. Mangers at this level spend most of their time analyzing data, preparing information for decisions and translating Top Level Management overall policies and strategy into operational policies, procedures and methods of work. Vice chancellors, Provosts, rectors, Administrators, Principals,
Proprietors/Proprietress etc of various schools ar good examples of tactical managers. Tactical Level Management functions include:
Assigning top level managers in executing their functions, Transferring information and materials between different work groups, Preparing plans and programs for various departments, Management and control of activities of lower level manager.
Lower or Operational Level of Management In Education Organisation
Operational level is the supervisory level. The supervisors do not manage other managers but spend more of their time with subordinates and peers to oversee the activities of the front line employees and ensure that they carry out their daily tasks as expected. The Heads of Departments inEducation (HOD) in schools are good examples of lower level managers in education. The operational level of management functions include:
Directing all workers to accomplish their departmental goals, Maintaining discipline and order, Taking decisions to meet up with the challenges in his domain, Executing the policies of top management level through middle level management.
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