Educational Vision: Best Practices in School Governance and Management

N Pangkhao Konyak

Educational vision is an image of the future of students we seek to create. It is a vision which fosters the skills, mindsets and attributes required for students to be effective learners and find success in an increasingly unpredictable world. Educational vision is a statement or planning ahead to teach all children to acquire and develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to succeed at all stages of their education and equip them with high aspirations for their future lifelong learning. It is the capacity of creating futures of the learners that leads to commitments and goals. It also refers to a standard that guides an institution or school’s internal decision-making and aligns with its goals. Educational vision aims for an institution’s high-level goals for the future or what we hope to achieve if we successfully fulfill our organizational purpose through the best practices in school governance and management. Vision for education, as a teacher should hope to help the students learn how to combat the negative feelings and stereotypes that plague our society. Rather, empowering them to see that they have the ability to be a great generation. Our responsibility in their lives is to ensure that our students are getting the best education we can provide tapping into the resources of our school, parents and the community so that they can succeed in whatever area they choose.

In Nagaland, the availability and accessibility of quality education is linked to long-term learning outcomes at it still remains a major issue. Teacher related issues like, irregularity in performance of duties in government schools, engagement of proxy teachers, irregular capacity building and training of teachers, lack of updated knowledge base as well as new teaching techniques by the teachers that could benefit in-classroom and out-of-classroom student teachers’ interaction are the challenges faced by the state towards improving the quality of education. 

The untimely transfer of teachers during the academic session results in disturbance and affects the schools’ academic activities. Teacher shortage has been a common challenge at the school, higher and technical education levels. In Nagaland, there are excess teachers in many government schools. But some schools especially in remote areas are run only by one or two teachers. There is a major shortage of science and mathematics teachers at the upper primary level (classes 6-8) and the high school level (classes 9-10) which lands to the appointment of unqualified and untrained private teachers to take up the particular subjects in the government schools. As a result, every year it also leads to poor performance in HSLC and HSSLC state board examination.

There is a lack of participation by civil society, village council chairman and members, VDB, VEC and the parents of students, particularly in rural areas where parents are less educated and may not see value in contributing to their children’s schooling. In government schools, there are often delays in school- related supplies like, delivery of textbooks and other teacher and student materials.

Best practices in school governance

School governance has an important role in ensuring that schools in particular perform well and continually seek to improve overall quality of education and also aims to transform the education system in the state. School governance is perhaps the largest collective voluntary endeavor in the state or country. Every school has a governing body and the ways in which schools are governed needs to change because of new approaches and methods of teaching and learning. The new National Education Policy aims to facilitate an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach which takes into consideration field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices. It is a progressive shift towards a scientific approach to education. If implemented in its true vision of education, the new curriculum structure can bring our state, Nagaland at par with leading states in the countries of the world.
There should be five different steps that need to be followed for a school to be well governed.

The first step is to be efficient and effective. Efficiency is getting the best result from the resources, students or people in the school and in the community. The school board and the staff of the school led by the head teacher or headmaster need to make sure that they run a good school which teaches pupils to learn diligently. The students, parents, community members, neighborhood and the students’ body or unions can all help the school to run successfully. 

The second step is accountability which is a fundamental requirement of good school governance. The school needs to be accountable to parents, community members, school community, staff and its learners for parents-teachers meeting, school board meetings, annual general meetings, periodic evaluation of students’ performance, planning of academic calendar, and reports on pupils’ progress.

The third step is transparency which means being open, honest and easy to see. Transparency practice in school governance can be used to stop corruption. Common forms of corruption in education in the state are bribery, fraud, extortion, abuse of discretion, favoritism, nepotism and improper political contributions. School governance can ensure transparency by doing assessment and monitoring, access to information, ethics and integrity, institutional reforms and targeting specific issues. 

The fourth step is equity which is about fair treatment. People are different and sometimes they have different needs. For example, a disabled learners who needs to use a wheelchair might need a ramp and other things to get into the classroom and around the school. The school must recognize that some children will have special needs in their learning. Equity practices at school means that the school needs to be a place that can help everyone to be treated fairly. The school’s rules and practices must allow everyone, rich or poor, disabled, male or female to be included in discussions and decisions for the school and for children’s safety and education. School must become responsible for successful, changes and for development in children’s learning. 

The fifth step is community involvement and citizen participation. A school that works well needs the support and active participation of the citizens in the community so that it can go on working well and serving the community. To achieve learning and positive impact at community and school level, where parents are more involved in the welfare of their children, the school’s governance practices is monitored and relevant information is available to all citizens and learners are prioritized. 

Best practices in school management

The success of every school depends on the way it is managed. The need for the efficient management of school has placed much more emphasis on the nature and quality of the work of the head teacher and head master as the leader of a team of professional educators and as the manager of the supply and effective use of resources like human, financial and material. The school head therefore needs to gain clear understanding of all the forces and factors which contribute towards management of the school. 

School management may be defined as an art and science in coordinating human and material resources of the school in such a way as to attain the objectives to optimal level of satisfaction of those served and with a high degree of morale and sense of attainment on the part of those rendering the service. School management also refers to the managerial process through which efforts of people in the educational system are controlled, directed and supervised towards the accomplishment and realization of educational goals and objectives.

The practices in school management can be done in four different categories 

1. Management of human resources: The human resources are the school personnel which include the principal or the headmaster, teachers, office staff, librarian etc. Human resource management is concerned with policies, systems and practices of the school for the employees or teachers or other school personnel. The internal environment of the school must be developed in such a manner that enhances human growth and motivates the school personnel for higher achievements. The knowledge, skill, experience and creativity of all the human resources of the school should be utilized properly. The management must ensure that the school personnel should get job satisfaction. 

2. Management of material resources: The material resources of the school are its building, equipment, furniture, library, laboratory, audio visual aids etc. the building of the school should be situated in a neat and healthy environment. Games field, ventilation in the room, seating arrangements should be managed properly. The school buildings should be kept clean and sanitary fittings should be proper and hygienic. Classroom materials like furniture, blackboard, whiteboard should be maintained properly.

3. Management of financial resources: The management of the financial resources can be done through budget, securing revenue and managing expenditure and auditing. The proper planning of budget is very essential for the smooth functioning of the school. For the preparation of budget, the various activities should be done. Preparing for educational or field trip, excursion and tours, making the plan of expenditure for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as organizing events, clubs, sports etc.

4. Classroom management and supervision: Classroom management involves the management of resources of the class. Supervision is a service for helping the teachers become better and bring coordination between various school resources. The main aim of the supervisor is to provide leadership and develop the leadership quality among the teachers. Therefore, for efficient management of the school, efficient leaders are necessary. Leadership should be associated with power, position, and ability to influence the group functioning. The school heads as an executive leader should be able to direct, guide and influence the behaviors and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. So, leadership quality is needed for effective school management in the state.

As a government school teacher in Nagaland, educational vision for the best practice in school governance and management is very essential for the development of children learning. A government school in Nagaland heeds to be a school where deep exploration goes hand-in-hand with high expectations. A school where students are encouraged to build skills that sets them for success in kindergarten and beyond. Schools need to provide a safe, developmentally appropriate, nurturing environment that promotes social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth, as well as a positive self-image. 

We should ensure assessment, pedagogy and curriculum are student- centered, develop and inclusive classroom atmosphere in which all student learn to appreciate and respect the diversity in their class. Educational vision for a school in Nagaland needs to implement, believing that the student who walk out of our school should be capable of deep thinking, collaborative problem solving, and virtuous living. The vision for education at school in Nagaland needs to be implemented so that students will leave having not only mastered the disciplines, but more importantly learned to process the ability to use good judgement to live reverently, to make decisions with kindness and justice, and to engage in thoughtful citizenship. We believe that the success of a good school is to be found in the practices of wisdom, kindness, honesty, and serving to others.

Vision for utilization of technology in education shall be the central component that serves as a link between all curricular areas and is utilized as a common tool for students and teachers to communicate, collaborate, and construct learning inside and outside the walls of the classroom. As the educational vision statement provides the idea regarding learning process and the future outcomes for all students, the vision developed for schools in Nagaland should aim at providing an effective, inspiring learning environment, in which the team of well-trained, creative and enthusiastic teachers could ensure high quality teaching practice in well-resourced school settings to meet the needs of our students in partnership with the parents and the community.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 covers classes 1-8 for free and compulsory education for the children between the age of 6-14 years. The state government needs to give due importance to classes nursery A and B which are not covered under the RTE Act, 2009. Anganwadis and schools should have a strong coordination channel of communication which will help in improving learning outcomes while providing continuous movement of students from anganwadis to primary schools. In Nagaland due to lack of special education, specially trained educators, equipment and resources needed for learning disabilities, many disabled children are lacking behind and not able to get opportunity to access education. A learning disability is a lifelong challenge. However, with the right support and encouragement, children with learning disabilities can succeed in school and can go on to lead a successful career in life. The educational vision for the school in Nagaland needs to include and implement inclusive education with sufficient equipment and resources and specially trained teachers to give special education for the children with learning disabilities.

In conclusion, educational vision for effective school is one provides with a framework to build school and community education. It is a process, the chief goal of which is to bring about changes in human behaviors. Every child or individual should have access to a type of education that permits maximum development of his potential capabilities. For any educational vision or programme to be effective in school governance and management, the purposes and objectives are to be clearly stated. The best practices and instructional programmes would help to promote the school’s vision. Hence, the proper leadership processes that needs to be used by the head teacher or headmaster would help to make the educational vision for a school in Nagaland into a reality. This reality would bring hope to the government school teachers in Nagaland to improve overall quality of education and transform the education system with new innovations, methods and approaches which our children or students will benefit from. 

This is an excerpt from the winning entry of the essay competition for Government School Teachers conducted by Nagaland Education Project-The Lighthouse (NECTAR)