The 'science' of school administration

As in any type of management in any professional endeavor, school administration is considered a “science” more than an art that requires deep and thorough understanding of administrative processes, especially if one deals with personnel or people relationships.

Majority of school administrators and staff believe that in the fundamental principles of school administration and supervision, for it to be effective, must be scientific. Thus, it must be emphasized that the use of scientific principles and that the solution of problems should be based on facts where the focus of efforts is to discover rather than to prove. :

Therefore, best way for an administrator to determine whether a thing is present or not,is to “look and see” and be factconscious. In scientific administration and supervision,basic rules and principles are not only discovered but also organized and applied to the teaching learning situation. :

Research on school administration also notes that school administration and supervision must be based on accepted educational philosophy, in which a background of theory of knowledge and beliefs explains and justifies a selected way of life. Educational philosophy affects the thinking and resultant action of the leaders who control public school’s administration and supervision. An example is the Dewey’s educational philosophy that “education is life, growth process and a reconstruction of human experiences” which become now the guiding a social philosophy of educational system.

School administration and supervision must also be creative. In the science of school administration, the term creative means initiating, suggesting, devising, inventing, experimenting or producing something new that encourages growth.

As a science, school administration provides opportunities for teachers and pupils to grow through the exercise of their talents and abilities under expert and professional guidance and encouragement.