Educational Administration: school management, educational leadership, educational policy, school administration, educational organization; Leadership: instructional leadership, transformational leadership, distributed leadership, ethical leadership, strategic leadership: Management: educational management, organizational management, resource management, financial management, human resource management: Governance: educational governance structures, governance models in education, decision-making in education, accountability in education: Principalship: school principal role, principal leadership skills, principal duties and responsibilities

1. Chapter 6:
Administrative
Work, Roles and
Tasks
• MR. VATH VARY (MA, TESOL, IFL)
• Email: varyvath@gmail.com
• Tel: 017471117
1

2. • In this chapter, the focus is
on the actual context and
nature of administrative
work as well as the roles
and tasks school
administrators actually
perform, shown by real-
world mapping using
work-activity research,
discussed next.
MR. VATH VARY 2

3. 1. What are administrative jobs in
schools really like?
2. What roles, tasks, and key
responsibilities actually make
up the administrator's job?
3. What administrative processes
and skills are used in executing
these responsibilities?
MR. VATH VARY 3

4. MR. VATH VARY 4
WORK-ACTIVITY RESEARCH
Deductive approach
Start with assumptions or
premises; theorize; extract
propositions; state and test
hypotheses; analyze results; draw
draw conclusions; reevaluate
premises; and redefine theory,
thus repeating the process.
Inductive approach
Begins with conclusions in which
which they are drawn and
theoretical statements are inferred
inferred when they can be
supported by empirical evidence.

5. MR. VATH VARY 5
WORK-ACTIVITY RESEARCH

6. MR. VATH VARY 6
 Lists of competencies and
common tasks for administrators
are typically compiled by studying
what administrators, particularly
successful ones, do, and on the
weight of expert judgment and
deductions gleaned from theory.
Deductive Inductive
 The actual activities of administrators are studied
systematically.
 Diary methods that record actual work of managers
and actual distribution of how their time is used,
activity sampling whereby the researcher records
actual observations of administrators at random
intervals, and structured observation of
administrators over extended periods of time are the
techniques typically employed.
 Work-activity research strives to develop an accurate description of the characteristics
and content of administrative work.
 The descriptions help provide such job information as where administrators work, how
long they work, what means they use to communicate, how they handle and send mail
and e-mail, and which work patterns exist day to day and week to week. The descriptions
also help provide such role information as what administrators actually do, what
activities they carry out, and why.

7. The Nature of Managerial Work:
Mintzberg
MR. VATH VARY 7
What is
a Role?
• A role can be defined as a set of
integrated behaviors associated
with an identifiable position.
• Mintzberg identified 10
administrative roles, which can be
grouped into three major
categories.

8. MR. VATH VARY 8
The Nature Of
Managerial Work:
Mintzberg
Interpersonal roles
School administrators
interact with people inside
and outside their work units.
Informational Roles
School administrators
receive and communicate
information with other
people inside and outside
the organization.
Decisional Roles
School administrators use
information to make
decisions to solve problems
or take advantage of
opportunities.

9. MR. VATH VARY 9

10. MR. VATH VARY 10

11. Informational Roles
MR. VATH VARY 11
• As monitor, the
administrator seeks
information from others
and at the same time is
bombarded by
information from others
that helps in
understanding school
and the school's
environment.
• Writing in 1973,
Mintzberg found that
information received by
the administrators
studied fell into five
categories:
1. Information about the progress of internal
operations and events gleaned from reports,
meetings, informal conversations, and
observational tours of the organization.
2. Information about external events concerning
parents and other community groups; other
schools; political, civic, and governmental
agencies; and new developments in education.
3. Information derived from the analysis of reports
on various issues from a variety of solicited and
unsolicited sources, whether internal reports,
policy memoranda from the state department of
education or the federal government, research
from state universities or professional
associations, as well as seemingly endless other
sources.
4. Information gleaned from conferences, formal
and informal meetings, and other sources that
helps the administrator to better understand
significant ideas and trends from the environment
surrounding his or her organization.
5. Information brought to the administrator in the
form of, or as a result of, pressures and demands
from a variety of sources.

12. Informational Roles
MR. VATH VARY 12
In the spokesperson
role, the administrator
transmits information
out to the school's
environment.
• The administrator is expected, for
example, to speak on behalf of the
organization, to lobby for the
organization, to serve as a public
relations figure, and to represent the
organization as an expert.
• The administrator must be an expert
on the affairs of the organization and
be able to activate this expertise in a
commanding and convincing manner,
as summarized and illustrated in
Figure 6.1.

13. Informational Roles
MR. VATH VARY 13

14. VARIATIONS IN ADMINISTRATORS' WORK
MR. VATH VARY 14
1.How appropriate
are the role
descriptions and
groupings?
2.Do the portraits
provided fit today's
scene?

15. VARIATIONS IN ADMINISTRATORS' WORK:
Types of Administrators
MR. VATH VARY 15
Hierarchical level within an
organization also seems to
influence the role
combinations.
 Chairpersons, principals, and
superintendents engage in each of the
roles but emphasize some more than
others, depending on level.
 The leader role might be dominant
for chairpersons,
 Resource allocator for principals, and
 Spokesperson for the superintendent
of a given district.
 Size of school, complexity of educational
programs, expectations of teachers and com
munity, and the personal idiosyncrasies of
individual administrators can also be expected
to influence the emphasis given to activities of
each role.

16. VARIATIONS IN ADMINISTRATORS' WORK:
Types of Administrators
MR. VATH VARY 16
1. What about men and
women school
administrators?
2. Are there different
patterns of roles
for each?
 In her book The Female Advantage,
Helgesen (1990), for example, argues
that because of their socialization,
women have an advantage as
leaders in schools.
 Noting that Mintzberg studied only
men, Curry (2000) compares
Helgesen's findings with those of
Mintzberg in Table 6.2.

17. VARIATIONS IN ADMINISTRATORS' WORK
MR. VATH VARY 17

18. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 18
• Mintzberg (1973, p. 127) suggests eight such styles, each of which emphasizes a
certain combination of key roles, as summarized here:*

19. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 19
Contact person
administrator
• Spends a great deal of time out side the organization, and the liaison and
figurehead roles dominate.
• Activities that characterize this style are doing favors for others,
winning favors in return, building a friendship network of support,
giving speeches, and attending a variety of functions.
• The emphasis is on public relations, and the intent is to build
favorable linkages with individuals and groups outside the
organization who are in positions of influence.
Political
administrator
• Spends much time and energy with outside groups and
individuals but not for superficial, polite, or ceremonial
reasons.
• This type of administrator, often caught in a complex web of
controversy, enters the outside arena with the intent to
reconcile conflicting forces acting on the school, using the
spokesperson and negotiator roles most directly.

20. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 20
Entrepreneur
administrator
• Seeks opportunities for change and for
introducing programs within the school, using
entrepreneur and negotiator roles
characteristically to implement this style.
Insider
administrator
• Is primarily concerned with the operation and maintenance of
smoothly running schools.
• Working primarily from resource allocator and leader roles,
she or he concentrates on overseeing school operations,
nurturing and developing internal programs, and supervising
the staff.
• Sometimes the insider is a lieutenant, responsible for running
the school or district, letting the superintendent or principal
tend to outside affairs or increasingly, letting the
superintendent or principal focus on issues of teaching and
learning.

21. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 21
Real-time
administrator
• is also oriented to the inside, but with interest in
building a highly effective, cohesive work group
characterized by high morale and mutual support
among teachers.
• By comparison, other roles are overshadowed by the
attention that team administrators give to the leader
role.
Team
administrator
• is also oriented to the inside, but with interest in
building a highly effective, cohesive work group
characterized by high morale and mutual support
among teachers.
• By comparison, other roles are overshadowed by the
attention that team administrators give to the leader
role.

22. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 22
Expert
administrator
• Is one who, in addition to assuming administrative
responsibility, continues to participate in the specialized work of
the school.
• Special education and art supervisors, teaching principals,
department chairpersons, and principals who are committed to
and skilled in providing instructional leadership are examples.
• Key roles here are monitor and spokesperson.
New
administrator
• typically lacks a network of contacts and does not
have sufficient information to get the job done
well. She or he often compensates by emphasizing
liaison and monitor roles.
• As network building is accomplished and information
becomes increasingly available, the new administrator
is less new and ready to assume other roles.

23. MR. VATH VARY 23
The Eight
Basic
Competenc
ies
The
manageme
nt of
attention The
manageme
nt of
meaning
The
manageme
nt of trust
The
manageme
nt of self
The
manageme
nt of
paradox
The
management
of
effectiveness
The
manageme
nt of
follow-up
The
manageme
nt of
responsibil
ity

24. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 24
The management
of attention
• is the ability to focus others on values, ideas, goals, and
purposes that bring people together and that provide a
rationale or source of authority for what goes on in the
school.
• Leaders manage attention by what they say, what they reward,
how they spend time, the behaviors they emphasize, and the
reasons they give for decisions they make.
The management
of meaning
• is the ability to connect teachers, parents, and students to
the school in such a way that they find their lives useful,
sensible, and valued.
• Even the seemingly mundane routines of schools are valued
and connected to larger purposes and meanings that define
who people are, why they are in the school, why the school
needs them, and why their participation with the school is
worthwhile.

25. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 25
The
management of
trust
• is the ability to be viewed as credible, legitimate, and
honest.
• It is not enough to make decisions; leaders have to
explain them and show how the decisions are linked to
the heart and soul of the school as well.
The management
of self
• is the ability of leaders to know who they are, what they
believe, and why they do the things they do.
• When a leader's behavior can be defended in such a
way that others at least understand and respect the
leader, then self-knowledge has been achieved.

26. MR. VATH VARY 26
 When leaders emphasize rigorous
standards without imposing
standardization or without
compromising local discretion;
 When leaders respond to adolescent
needs for independence while
providing disciplined safe havens
that they need in schools;
 or when leaders bring everyone
together in a common quest united
by shared values while honoring
diversity and promoting innovation,
they are managing paradox.
 Managing paradox is
easier when leaders look
to ideas as the authority
for what they do and when
leaders know the
difference between power
over and power to achieve
something.
 They distribute power
widely with the
understanding that its
purpose is to achieve
goals rather than to
control others.
The management of paradox is the ability to bring together
ideas that seem at odds with each other.
Eight Styles

27. MR. VATH VARY 27
• When effectiveness is
managed well, schools get
results and more.
• Success involves learning and
cultivating relationships,
building the capacity of
teachers, figuring out better
pathways to success, and
providing the support that
teachers need to come
together as communities of
practice.
• The management
of effectiveness, in
the language of
economics, focuses
on increasing
human capital by
paying attention to
developing not
only intellectual
capital but social
capital in the
school as well.
• The management of effectiveness is the ability to focus on developing a
school's capacity so that it improves performance over time.
Eight Styles

28. MR. VATH VARY 28
But to be successful we need to go on
to the next step.
• Who will do what, by when, and with
whom?
• What training will be needed to enable
success?
• Is there a system of supervision in place to
monitor what is going on and to provide in-
class and on-call professional
development?
• When teachers need help do they get it on
the spot—when they need it?
• What kinds of assessments will be needed?
Who will be responsible for all the day-to-
day details?
• Leaders, in
other words,
need to
competently
manage
follow-up to
accomplish
leadership
goals.
• The management of follow-up seeks to emphasize the steps that will get
us from here to there. First emphasize trust, and then vision. Next comes
strategy, followed by action plans.
Eight Styles

29. MR. VATH VARY 29
 Professionals know the power
of extrinsic rewards and the
power of intrinsic rewards in
motivating people.
 They comprise two widely
accepted motivation rules:
 what is rewarded gets
done and what is
rewarding gets done.
 But there is a third
motivational rule that
needs to be considered:
what one feels a duty or
obligation to do gets
done.
 When people feel
obligated to do
something, they do it
even when the going gets
tough.
 They do it whether it is
pleasant or not and
whether they want to or
not.
 This motivational rule is
important because duty
and obligation are
stronger than the other
motivational rules and
sustain themselves over
time.
• The management of responsibility involves internalizing purposes and
values that obligate people to meet commitments.
Eight Styles

30. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 30
Mintzberg (1973) believes that administrators can
make sense out of this complexity through the process
of self-reflection. In his words,
 "The manager's effectiveness is significantly influenced by his
insights into his own work. His performance depends on how well
he understands and responds to the pressures and dilemmas of the
job. Thus managers who can be introspective about their work are
likely to be effective at their jobs" (p. 59).
 In this spirit. Exhibit 6.1 provides a series of self-study questions
from Mintzberg to help administrators sort out the environment that
characterizes their work and provide them with more solid footing
for initiating reasonable administrative action.

31. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 31

32. Eight Styles
MR. VATH VARY 32

33. Conclusion
MR. VATH VARY 33
Relying on the work of Mintzberg, 10 administrative roles
characteristic of most administrative jobs were identified
and grouped into three major categories: interpersonal,
informational, and decisional.
Eight administrative styles were identified, each
resulting from a distinct combination of role
emphasis.
What is needed is a better balance and integration of
both views, suggesting a likely direction for research
and development efforts in educational administration.

34. MR. VATH VARY 34