THE ROLES OF

SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
Educ 203-A
MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY –
GENERAL SANTOS CITY

NOR ARA ZYRAH CANACAN ADTUD DR. CORNELIO ROLLO

DISCUSSANT Professor
►Terminal Objective:
At the end of the session, the participants will be able to
define the ROLE of school administrators, identify the three
categories that are crucial for carrying out the roles and
responsibilities of school administrators, and discuss the
categories of task dimensions for school administrators.

Enabling Objectives:
1. Determine the major function of school administrators
2. Identify the three categories that are important to perform
the functions and roles of School Administrators
3. Discuss the two categories of tasks dimensions
a. managerial tasks
b. building cultural linkages
SITUATION A

Given that your school is located in a rural place and

that the majority of the teachers are elderly and
inexperienced in the use of technology,
you are now a new school principal sent to a location
with a very low enrollment and with many broken and nearly unusable classroom.
The teachers only complain to the DepEd and the government because the salaries are
not enough and the teachers are overworked.
The mental health of the teachers is also affected because the teachers are doing their
best but the issues at school seem to be their fault.

► As the head of the school, how will you resolve this problem?
QUESTION

1.Do you intend to work as a

school administrator someday?

2.What do you think you can do to

lead the school in the best possible way?
UNLOCKING OF WORDS
► Planning- generally is understood to be the identification,
development, and implementation of strategies designed to
attain, efficiently and effectively, the educational needs and
goals of students and society
► Organizing- refers to how schools arrange the resources of
time, space, and personnel for maximum effect on student
learning.
► Leading- the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and
energies of teachers, students, and parents toward achieving
common educational aims.
► Monitoring- to collect information that will inform and
facilitate improvement in classroom practice.
VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
► Behavioral Profiles
► Leadership Functions
► Administrative Roles
► Management Skills
► Task Dimensions
► Human Resource Activities
FOUR FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATION
PLANNING
 Plans and the goals on which they are based give purpose and direction
to the school, its subunits, and contributing staff.

Example: increase the number of students reading at grade level by 20

percent by the year 2018
 School counselors, social workers, school psychologists, library media
specialists, department heads, and teachers would set and synchronize
individual objectives with those of the building principal
 Planning is important because it provides staff with a sense of purpose
and direction, outlines the kinds of tasks they will be performing, and
explains how their activities are related to the overall goals of the school
 becomes the basis for monitoring and evaluating actual performance
ORGANIZING

• Once principals have developed workable plans and the methods

for attaining them, they must design an organization that will
successfully implement the plans

• Organizing involves three essential elements

i. developing the structure of the organization,
ii. acquiring and developing human resources,
iii. and establishing common patterns and network
LEADING
Once plans are formulated and activities are organized, the next
step is leading staff members to achieve the school's goals. Planning
Organizing Leading What to do? How to do it? Why would staff want
to do it?
 leading function is also called facilitating, collaborating, or
actuating
 No matter what it is called, leading entails guiding and
influencing people
 Principals cannot do all of the work in schools alone. They must,
therefore, influence the behavior of other people in a certain
direction
 To influence others, the principal needs to understand something
about leadership, motivation, communication, and group dynamics
MONITORING
►  When principals compare expected results with actual results,
and take the necessary corrective action, they are performing the
monitoring function
►  Monitoring is the responsibility of every principal. It may simply
consist of walking around the building to see how things are
going, talking to students, visiting classrooms, talking to faculty,
or it may involve designing sophisticated information systems to
check on the quality of performance, but it must be done if the
principal is to be successful
►  The success with which principals carry out these functions
determines how effectively the school operates
ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES
PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES
►  What do principals actually do to plan, organize, lead, and
monitor on an hour-to- hour, day-to-day basis?
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
The necessary skills for planning, organizing, leading, and
monitoring have been placed in three categories that are
especially important if principals are to perform their
functions and roles adequately:
* Conceptual
* Technical
* Human
CONCEPTUAL SKILL

►  One's mental abilities to acquire, analyze, and interpret

information received from various sources and to make complex
decisions that achieve the school's goals
►  Conceptual skills provide upper-level administrators with the
ability to anticipate changes or to estimate the value of school
district strategies.
►  To think "strategically" — to take a broad, long-term view
HUMAN SKILLS
 Principals spend considerable time interacting with people in
scheduled and unscheduled meetings, telephone calls,
hallway/classroom tours, and other face-to- face contacts
 human skills: the ability to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead,
communicate, manage conflict, and get along with others
 effective principals are cheerleaders, facilitators, coaches, and
nurturers of champions
 Effective human skills enable principals to unleash the energy
within staff members and help them grow, ultimately resulting in
maximum performance and goal attainment.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
►  The ability to use the knowledge, methods, and techniques of a
specific discipline or field is referred to as a technical skill
►  Department heads and team leaders in schools are examples of
people with technical skills — they are recognized as experts in their
disciplines and are presumed to have the ability to supervise others
►  A successful principal must:

(a) understand the work that is to be performed (leadership functions)

(b) understand the behavior needed to perform the job (administrative
roles)
(c) master the skills involved in performing their role (management
skills).
TASK DIMENSIONS
TASKS

TASKS -Building Bureaucratic Linkages creating and enforcing policies, rules, procedures, and authority relationships.
Building Cultural Linkages establishing behavioral norms, using symbols, instituting rituals, and telling stories
HUMAN RESOURCE ACTIVITIES
A study of twenty effective administrators and twenty-one ineffective
ones emphasizes the importance of being able to work effectively with
others. The shortcomings of the ineffective administrators that were
found are as follows

►  1. Insensitive to others; abrasive, intimidating, bullying style

►  2. Cold, aloof, arrogant
►  3. Betrayal of trust (failure to accomplish stated intentions)
►  4. Overly ambitious; thinking of the next job, playing politics
►  5. Over-managing: unable to delegate or build a team
►  6. Unable to staff effectively
►  7. Unable to plan and organize work
►  8. Unable to adapt to a superior with a different style
►  9. Unable to adjust to new and changing conditions
►  10. Overdependence on an advocate or mentor
► What do you think is the most important function of a school
administrator?

► In your own way, how would you become an effective school

administrator?

► How would you deal to those teachers that are not performing well?
e.g. late submission of requirements, substandard outputs, have
hard time abiding school rules and regulations

► In a work from home set-up, how would you ensure the school is
still running smoothly?
CONCLUSION
 Every principal’s goal is to ensure high performance of students
and faculty in achieving the school’s mission. High performance
requires the effective use of organizational resources through the
leadership functions of planning, organizing, leading, and
monitoring.
 In order to perform these functions and roles, principals need
three skills – conceptual, human, and technical.
 Effective principals engage in two categories of tasks dimensions
1. managerial tasks – creating and enforcing policies, rules, and
procedures, and authority relationships
2. building cultural linkages – establishing behavioral norms, using
symbols, instituting rituals, and telling stories designed to build the
cultural foundations of school excellence .