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The Democratic Context of School Governance: External and Internal Stakeholders’ Perspectives

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School Effectiveness and Educational Management

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Abstract

The authors discuss the roles of stakeholders in educational systems in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Taking into consideration important differences between democratic education and education for democracy, as well as the role of education in the formation of political citizens within a democratic society, the authors analyse current tendencies, problems and required changes in the institutional, public and professional approach to education.

In the region of Southeastern Europe, the establishment of a legal framework, primarily under the influence of the European Union, which enables the development of a democratic form of school governance, is identified. However, schools and principals have still not recognised the importance and role of stakeholders, who are crucial in the process of decentralisation and democratisation of both educational systems and society itself.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    1. Halász, G. (2003). “Governing Schools and Education Systems in the Area of Diversity.” A paper prepared for the 21st Session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education on “Intercultural education.” Intercultural education: managing diversity, strengthening democracy (2003).

  2. 2.

    2. Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (2012). Strasbourg: Council of Europe; Council for cultural co-operation (CDCC). Project on “Education for Democratic Citizenship” (2000). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

  3. 3.

    3. Raković, Jelena (2012). “Autonomija škole i saradnja s roditeljima i lokalnom zajednicom”. In:Nastavnici u Srbiji: stavovi o profesiji i o reformama u obrazovanju, ed. Nataša Pantić & Jasminka Čekić Marković. Beograd. Centre for Education Policy

  4. 4.

    4. A. Peko, V. Mlinarević i V. Gajger: “Učinkovitost vođenja u osnovnim školama”. Odgojne znanosti, vol. 11, n. 2, 2009, str. 67–84. The empirical research was conducted on a sample of 265 respondents: 85 expert associates/pedagogues and 180 teachers from 48 primary schools in the region of eastern Croatia.

  5. 5.

    5. Action Plan for Development and Implementation of the Qualifications Framework in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period of 2014–2020 (accepted on 11 Feb 2015). Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Official Gazette, No. 28/15.

  6. 6.

    6. Osnovno obrazovanje u Bosni i Hercegovini: kvalitet, kreativnost, inovativnost. (2010) Sarajevo, Centre for Policy and Governance.

  7. 7.

    7. V. Kovač, I. Buchberger (2013), p. 523–545. This research included three groups of participants who evaluated characteristics of collaboration between schools and external stakeholders. The research included 624 respondents, of which 396 were primary and secondary school teachers, 116 teachers and associates at universities who participated in the implementation of Teacher Education study programmes and 112 decision-making agents at various locations and levels of decision-making.

  8. 8.

    8. Similar results were also expected due to a minor difference in the corellation coefficient: While the correlation between participation among stakeholders in the school and teaching co-ordination in Croatia is 0.25, in Serbia it is 0.26. TALIS 2013a Results: An International Perspective on Teaching and Learning, OECD 2014, http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/talis-excel-figures-and-tables.htm#Chapter3 (3 November 2015)

  9. 9.

    9. Research Parents views of parental participation in education (2008) conducted by proMENTE. Socijalna istraživanja – social research. http://www.promente.org/ESP2-bih-report-b.pdf

  10. 10.

    10. Reviews of National Policies for Education, OECD, 2003. 120–123.

  11. 11.

    11. Kurikulum Građanskog odgoja i obrazovanja (Citizenship Education Curriculas) (2012). Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency.

  12. 12.

    12. Law on education in Primary and Secondary Schools (introduced on 30 Dec, 2014) Republic of Croatia. Official Gazette, Nos. 87/08, 86/09, 92/10, 105/10, 90/11, 5/12, 16/12, 86/12, 126/12, 94/13, 152/14.

  13. 13.

    13. Teaching and Learning International Survey. Results available on: http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/talis-excel-figures-and-tables.htm#Chapter3 (3 November 2015)

  14. 14.

    14. Tehnical Reports with complete database regarding teacher-student relations, teaching practices and participation among stakeholders are published on: TALIS (2013), Results – Complete database (2014). OECD. http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=talis_2013%20 (15 November 2015)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Split, Split, Croatia

    Marita Brčić Kuljiš & Anita Lunić

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  1. Marita Brčić Kuljiš
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  2. Anita Lunić
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Split, Croatia

    Nikša Alfirević

  2. Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia

    Josip Burušić

  3. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business, Zagreb, Croatia

    Jurica Pavičić

  4. University of Split, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Split, Croatia

    Renata Relja

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Kuljiš, M.B., Lunić, A. (2016). The Democratic Context of School Governance: External and Internal Stakeholders’ Perspectives. In: Alfirević, N., Burušić, J., Pavičić, J., Relja, R. (eds) School Effectiveness and Educational Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29880-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29880-1_8

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