A study of Directors' perceptions of the effectiveness of their administrative role in public Institutes of Professional Training in Greece

Author(s):

Helen FragkouPanagiotis Giavrimis Adamantios Papastamatis Efthymios Valkanos

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 09, Leadership Development/ Instructional Improvement

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-27

08:30-10:00

Room:

AUDITORIUM XV, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

Cornelia Knoch

Contribution

To a large extent, success of adult and continuing education organizations depends upon the skill, knowledge and political savvy of individuals who hold the administrative roles. Becoming an effective and efficient administrator depends upon an individual’s ability to gain general knowledge of administration, to recognize what distinguishes adult and continuing education administrators from other types of administrators and to directly relate this knowledge and information to a specialized agency, organization or program.The aim of this paper is, on one hand, to examine the various aspects of being an administrator in adult and continuing education; on the other, to demonstrate the functions and skills of being and administrator and to determine the importance of each function and skill in their particular administrative role. The originality of work is related with the fact that no other relative research has been completed till today in Greece related to the perceptions directors and substitute directors of IEK regarding the effectiveness of their administrative role.

Method

In order to respond to these issues, we, firstly, conducted a bibliographical research to examine the important characteristics, functions and essential skills of an effective administrator. Secondly, we conducted a case study, which focused on public Institutes of Professional Training (IEK) of the prefectures of Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece. The research was based on the information that was given by a questionnaire which was developed to gather the directors’ and substitute directors’ perceptions towards the effectiveness of their administrative role. The questionnaire is scored on a five-point scale ranging from 1 Highest to 5 Lowest. The sample consists of 46 directors and substitute directors of 23 IEK in Greece. Additionally, we included demographic and sociological questions. In order to gather more information we conducted semi-structured interviews to investigate qualitatively their background, the way they cope with administration, their problems etc.

Expected Outcomes

We conclude by formulating proposals for future research on effective educational administration and educational planning.

References

Allen, P. & Nagy, E. (1995). Competencies defined [Online]. Bowling Green, Ohio: Career Services Bowling Green State University. Available: http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/careers/ process/competen.html Beatty, A. & Bramlet, C. (1999, March 11). The 7 steps of competency. Psychological Associates [On-line]. Available: http://www.q4solutions.com/art48.html Burke, A. (2000, February). How to accomplish organization-wide competency and education. Nursing Management,. Galbraith M. W., Sisco B.R. & L.M. Guglielmo (1997). Administering Successful programs for Adults, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Gatti, Mario et al (2002). The impact of information and communication technologies on vocational competences and training: case studies in Italy, France and Spain: synthesis report. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (2002). Validation of competences and the professionnalisation of teachers and trainers. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

Author Information

Helen Fragkou

UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA, GREECE

EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL POLICY

Thessaloniki

Panagiotis Giavrimis

AEGEAN UNIVERSITY, GREECE, Greece

Adamantios Papastamatis

UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA, GREECE, Greece

Efthymios Valkanos