PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS In Plato’s Republics and in his other writings we see a development of idealism. According to him, every object of our experience is nothing but shadow. That is saying that it is not in a pure state of reality. Whatever we perceive is merely a poor copy of the reality that exists in another world which he designates as the world of Forms or Ideas. Thus Plato’s Idealism talks of two worlds: the world of shadows and the world of Ideas. The latter is replete with absolute perfection, real, unchangeable, universal and eternal realities whereas the former is the world of imperfect copies of things residing in the real world of ideas. The implication is that every material thing must have its true copy in the world of ideas. Idealist would say that even the pen you are having now is only an imperfect copy or a shadow of the ideal pen in the world Ideas. Though there may ne various strands of idealism, the basic tenet is the emphasis that existence is explained in terms of the mind and its function. Other Views on Idealism Since Plato, there have been many understanding of idealism. Descartes is one such Idealist. He holds that the most important element in the nature of knowledge is mind or spirit. This idea is beautifully expressed in his popular philosophical dictum. Corgito ergo sum (I think, therefore I exist). This idealistic statement has so much implication for Descartes who doubted the reality of anything having material nature and would only accept as reality the thought that he is thinking. Bishop George Berkeley also advanced the school of idealism in modern times by his easiest percipi (to be is to be perceived) . What is real is that which can be perceived, what cannot be perceived is unreal. To put it more correctly again, the central thesis of idealism is that true knowledge can be derived from reason alone since it is only the faculty of reason that can grasp or extract from material things their spiritual forms or essences. The faculty of the senses provides the mind with imperfect, unstable and changing knowledge of physical objects. Educational Implication of Idealism 1. For Plato, Education simply means stimulation of the mind to recall that which it already knows before its being in the world. He taught that the soul I born with innate knowledge which it lost with contact with the material world (human body). Thus the concept of school and education is to create an enabling environment where students are encouraged to recall and embrace the concept of the Good and the universal truth that already exist in their soul which has been forgotten. An idealistic educational system would concern itself with ideas of things. The goal of education should be connected with the lifetime work of searching for true ideas. It should be to cultivate the human mind. 2. Idealism prefers the world of the spiritual to the world of material things. Thus, in education, e

1. MEANING AND DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
 The term ‘Educational Administration is very
comprehensive.
 The word ‘administration has been derived from the
Latin word ‘minister which means, ‘service rendered to
others for their welfare.
 Educational Administration is regarded as the process
of integrating the appropriate human and material
resources that are made available and made effective
for achieving the purposes of a programme of an
educational institution. It is concerned with the
formulation, execution and appraisal of educational
policies.
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2. Nature of Educational Administration
 Educational Administration is the process of bringing men
and materials together for effective and functional teaching
and learning in the school. The focus of educational
administration is the enhancement of teaching and learning.
 Educational Administration is a non-profit making
task.
 Educational Administration is primarily a social
enterprise as it is more concerned with human
resources than with material resources.
 Educational Administration is more art than a science.
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3.  Educational Administration doesn’t refer to any single
process rather different processes or aspects constitute
administration. These are planning, organizing,
directing, motivating, controlling, coordinating,
decision making, and evaluating.
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4.  Administration is the organization and use of men and
materials to accomplish a purpose.
 As defined by Herbert A Simon. “ administration can be
defined as the activities of groups co-operating to
accomplish a common goals.
 As defined by E. A. Nigro
 “Administration is the organization and use of men and
materials to accomplish a purpose.”
 In its broadest sense, administration can be defined as the
activities of a groups co-operating to accomplish common
goals. 4

5.  As defined by Leonard D. White,
“The art of administration is the direction, co-ordination
and control of many persons to achieve some purpose
or objective.”
 As defined by J. M. Pfiffner
Administration means “the organization and direction
of human and material resources to achieve desired
ends.”
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6. What is the difference between educational administration and educational?
 The key difference between educational management
and educational administration is that educational
management involves creating and maintaining an
environment to promote and support an effective
teaching and learning process within educational
institutions, whereas educational administration
involves the maintenance. The key difference between
educational management and educational
administration is that educational management
involves creating and maintaining an environment to
promote and support an effective teaching and
learning process within educational institutions,
whereas educational administration involves the
maintenance of the overall process of a school or an
educational institution more smoothly to have successful
student learning. 6

7.  Both educational management and educational
administration collaborate in achieving the objectives and
goals of an organization.
 Management is a key factor in success and failure.
Management is the process of reaching organizational
goals by working with and through people and other
organizational resources.
 Educational management deals with operations that are
used in educational organizations. The main purpose of
educational management is to create an effective and
efficient environment in educational institutions. This
environment is created to promote and support effective
teaching and learning.
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8.  Management involves the process of coordinating and
integrating work activities so that they are completed
efficiently and effectively with and through other people
(Robbins, 1999).
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9.  The key difference between educational management and
educational administration is that educational management
involves working with human resources to meet the goals,
whereas educational administration involves managing and
directing people to achieve objectives and goals. While
educational management focuses on planning, staffing,
recruiting, and leading the organization to achieve the goals,
educational administration basically focuses on decision
making, policymaking, and laws and regulations of the institute.
Moreover, another important difference between educational
management and educational administration is that educational
management carries out the responsibility of the proper
functioning of the institution, whereas educational
administration prepares policies to guide decision-making
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10. What does educational administration mean?
 Educational administration is the management of a
school system. It involves providing leadership for the
education of students, developing curricula,
implementing assessments and managing human and
material resources to achieve specific goals.
 What is the role of administration in education?
 To frame rules for the budgeting, spending, and
controlling of the funds and resources available to the
school. To make sure that education is being provided
by making use of the financial and human resources
available within the country
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11.  What are the basic principles of educational
administration?
 The principles are: (1) Structural Democracy, (2)
Operational Democracy (3) Justice (4) Equality of
Opportunity (5) Prudence (6) Adaptability, Flexibility
and Stability.
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12. Edn Supervision
 “Supervision is assistance in the development of a better
teaching/ learning situation.”
 “Supervision has gradually moved from improvement of
instruction to improvement of learning.”
 “Supervision is an expert technical service primarily
concerned with studying and improving the conditions that
surround learning and pupil growth.”
Supervision is normally “see” or “oversee”. Supervision is more
concerned with administrative work instead of academic
work.Supervisor is not subject expert and normally their
position is autocratic. Supervision can enhance the teacher
leadership role in improving student learning. For the
positive outcomes, carefully plan the supervision.
Supervision is democratic, scientific, creative,professional.
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13. Objectives of
Educational Administration
To provide proper education to students.
To ensure adequate utilization of all resources.
To ensure professional ethics and professional
development among teachers.
 To organize educational programmes for acquainting
students with the art of democratic living and giving
them excellent training in democratic citizenship.
 To organize co-curricular activities actively for
developing talents of students and work efficiency of
educational teachers.
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14. Types of Administration
 Democratic Administration
 b. Autocratic Administration
 c. Nominal Administration
 d. Real Administration
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