School Administration

(Russian, shkolovedenie), the branch of pedagogy that studies the means and methods of administering schools, reveals the distinctive features in the system of school management, and analyzes the specific problems involved in organizing such a system.

The field of school administration draws primarily on Soviet law, the administration and management of schools in the USSR and abroad, the pedagogical legacy of the past, and the conclusions and recommendations of pedagogical science. In addition to the basic principles of school administration and management, school administration scholars study the work of public-education agencies with respect to the operational, pedagogical, and economic management of schools; specifically, they examine the implementation of universal education, the various types of general-education schools, the building of an efficient network of general-education schools, the pedagogical needs that must be met when designing and constructing schools and school buildings, the financing of schools, and the various ways of providing schools with teaching equipment.

School administration specialists also deal with the activities of public-education agencies involving the educational work of schools; these activities include the organization of methodological assistance for teachers and the inspection of schools. Other subjects of research by school administration scholars include the Soviet schoolteacher, the organization of records and accounts of educational institutions, and school statistics.

The field of school administration is based on the progressive tradition in the administration and management of Soviet schools expressed in Leninist decrees on public education; this tradition has been enriched by the practical activity and theoretical pronouncements of education workers and public-education agencies. Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR have indicated that the management of schools must be carried out in a more scientific manner. Proceeding from these instructions, Soviet school administration specialists deal with organizational and pedagogical problems involving the implementation of universal secondary education, the organization of educational work in various types of schools, the management of schools, and the administration of education at all levels.