Eureka! Institutional Repository

The educators’ involvement in the process of taking decisions is a crucial factor in exercising participatory administration in a school unit. The importance of collaboration in the participatory model of management is implicit. When existent, the ideas, the values, the beliefs of each member come together to create a common vision. In this quantitative research, 136 high school educators presented their views on the existence of participatory administration, in regards to their role as members of the teachers’ council in their schools throughout the region of Larisa. Our research tool of preference was a questionnaire. The present project consists of two parts. The first part includes the clarification of the terms and the bibliographic review of educational leadership, participatory management of school units, a school’s administrative bodies and the factors that influence the school’s effectiveness. The second part is about the research made for this project’s purposes. We begin with presenting the method, research tools and the sample that was examined and continue on with the description and presentation of the results, as concluded by the questionnaires’ statistical analysis. Right after is the reflection and the possibilities of expanding the research’s findings, targeting the improvement of all functions of the teachers’ council, that is the most important institution in terms of administrating all schools of our country. Results showed that, in the vast majority, collaborative administration is successfully applied. There is positive energy throughout the teachers’ council meetings, as well as respect towards different opinions. The decisions for school function issues are collectively agreed upon and applied by all members of the teachers’ board. Only a few times were they called to validate a principal’s already taken settlement. Important factors that affect the function of the teachers’ council are, as mentioned above, the positive environment and the leadership. When it comes to teachers taking initiative about creative activities, the main inhibitory factors stated were the mandatory motility most of them have to work through, as well as “bad” leadership. However, the majority of educators stress over the need to improve the role of the teachers’ council, proposing mainly the correct election of school manager, the need for clear separation of jurisdiction between teachers and principals, the offer of motive and the possibility of bigger flexibility in school units.