The Purpose of Education Management

Education management refers to the field of study and practice which is concerned with the operation of educational organizations. Educational Management, according to researcher Tony Bush argues that education management has to be concerned with the purpose or aims of education. These objectives or aims serve to provide a crucial sense of direction in managing educational institutions. At the heart of education management is the process of deciding on the goals and objectives of the educational institution. In some schools, universities and colleges, it is the principal or the president, whichever is the title of the organization's highest official, that decides these goals and objectives. Often, this is done with the help of the principal or president's senior colleagues and even the school board or its stakeholders, in the case of a private corporation. However, in many educational institutions, education management with respect to goal setting is a corporate activity done by formal bodies or informal groups or individuals.

The aims or objectives of a school are a direct influence of strong pressure from its external environment. Many countries have formulated their own national curriculum, which often leave little room for schools to formulate their own educational goals or objectives. Instead, these institutions may just be left with the residual task of dealing with external imperatives rather than formulating their goals and objectives based on their own assessment of what their students require. The important issue to be addressed in education management is the extent to which school managers have the control to modify government policy and develop alternate views based on school-level values and their vision.

In Education Management as a field of study, its main theories are classified into six major models. All of these major models have been given significant focus within the literature concerning educational education management. In addition, they have all been subjected to empirical verification. These education management models are as follows:

• Formal
• Collegial
• Political
• Subjective
• Ambiguity
• Cultural