Patterns of Managing Secondary Schools under Reforms: Sociological Analysis Experience

Abstract

The article provides results of a sociological study of management patterns applied to secondary schools in modern Russia. Focus groups with school principals were organized in eight pilot regions of Russia in October — November 2014. The project aimed at constructing a typology of management patterns, which we regard as a configuration of relations  associated with teaching process management. Four basic patterns were singled out: “authoritarian manager”, “democratic manager”, “authoritarian leader” and “democratic leader”. They were built together following the merge of two criteria: delegation regimes, i. e. steady patterns of interrelation between principals and other subjects and agents of management, as well as subjectivity of principals, i. e. their ability to independently determine and implement the organization’s mission. Each pattern is described based on the example of FGOS (Federal State Educational Standard) introduction in elementary schools. It is demonstrated that the choice of a specific management pattern is determined by a wide range of factors and is situational, i. e. depends on the goal and context of management activities. Potential of the identified management patterns is discussed in terms of efficient implementation of reforms.