Understanding the environments in which schools operate (Part 4): The political environment

How well do school managers understand the political environment in which they work? They have to begin this process of understanding by examining the nature of power, their perspective of power and the political culture of the environment in which their schools are located.

To understand the nature of power, the school manager must have an understanding of the concept of politics. Because, at the heart of politics is power. If one asks many Jamaicans to attempt a definition of politics, one will get responses such as: Politics is dirty. It’s what the politicians do. It is voting in elections. It is violence and, from these responses, one will realise that the concept connotes lots of negative sentiments. These Jamaicans will tell you that they are not interested in politics, so why do they have to talk about it.

Many managers of schools take this position. Politics is what the politicians do and much of what they do is not good. So, only “special” people engage in it. What many of these managers of schools do not realise is that everyone engages in political activities or will engage in political activities in their lifetime.

From H. D. Lasswell way back in 1936 we get the idea of politics [as] who gets what, when and how, the title of his book. Inherent in this view of politics is the idea of decision making. Governments, families, schools, religious organisations, individuals, businesses – everyone – has limited resources. We have to make a decision in terms of how we allocate these resources, to whom and when. This is no easy task. Some sectors, individuals, projects will get more resources than others. And this will engender conflict. In addition to allocating resources the political process is supposed to manage conflicts. Thus, it is said that politics involves bargaining and compromise.

The education sector is only one of the sectors in the society which is competing for scarce resources. Each sector gets some resources which they allocate to their various responsibilities. Schools get some resources which they allocate to their different responsibilities. And, at each level of the system there will be conflict because there will be the perception that the amount of resources allocated to them is not enough.

The school managers may not get enough resources to do their jobs but their understanding of the external political environment and some of its working should help them to put actions that government makes as regards their schools in perspective.  

Managers of schools should also realise that the decisions that they make daily on the job are political decisions at the micro level, that is within their schools. They make decisions about how to allocate the scarce resources that they get according to their perceived need of each area of their responsibility.

Government has power to make decisions in society because the electorate gives them that power by electing them to office. School managers have power to make decisions as regards their areas of responsibilities because they were appointed to do so. What exactly is this power? Power is the ability to participate in decision making but it is also the ability to influence others usually towards accepting values/goals that are deemed to be “good” for society.

What is the perspective of school managers on power? What have they taken from the “theories” of power? Do they share a pluralistic view of power? Do they believe that everyone in the society (or their school community) possesses a measure of power in that they participate or they can participate in decision making if they wish to do so? Do they allow them to participate in decision making?

Or, do school managers hold an elitist view of power?  Do they believe that only individuals in society who possess desirable resources such as education, wealth, eminent positions and so on control power? Do they put themselves in this group?

 Or, do they believe that power is concentrated in the hands of only those who own the means of production? That is, today's business elite.

The elitist and the Marxist views of power privilege only a select group of people in society as controlling power and using it for their benefit. The pluralist view of power privileges everyone in society with possessing power to the extent that they take part in decision making.

So, do school managers see themselves, being the elites that they have become by virtue of their positions, as the sole possessors of power in their organisation to use as they see fit, or do they recognise the inalienable rights of members of staff and students to having a voice?

What managers of schools should realise is that at the heart of politics in democratic society is the idea of bargaining and the arrival at compromise in order to reduce conflicts. If groups have the distinct feeling that they are being marginalised they may take action which runs counter to the “good” of the organisation. Thus, managers of schools have to develop their political skills in dealing with their school community as well as those outside of their school communities.

The individuals within and outside of the school community are steeped in a political culture that’s been fermenting for a number of decades. This political culture refers to the ideas and beliefs that these individuals have about politics and the extent to which these ideas have influenced their lives.

This political culture is evident within the school. It is evident among members of staff and it is evident among students. Many managers of schools in Jamaica are working in environments that are rife with political polarisation. They are working in communities that the ideology of one party or the other dominates. While many members of staff can control their political antagonisms, many students cannot. One student or students expressing political views which are divergent from those held by other students may inadvertently cause conflict as has happened in the past.

Therefore, managers of schools have to develop strategies to keep their schools free of the polarising ideologies of the political culture that members of the school community take to schools with them. And even, those managers of schools who work in environments where political sentiments are restrained need to develop strategies to develop healthy attitudes as regards tolerance of political ideological difference.

Managers of schools, by virtue of their positions, have power. Many of them have not yet examined the nature of the power that they possess. However, they know that they have power.  And this knowledge determines their interactions with their subordinates. Do they exercise a coercive power, an expectation that compliance will be got as soon as they "snap their fingers"? Or do they possess the kind of power that facilitates the development of possibilities? The latter is recommended.

Read the other parts of this article at the following links:

Part 1
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Part 3
Part 5
Part 6}}