Comparative study of the contemporary Spanish and Greek primary school principal’s selection system

• Dimitrios Papaemmanouil ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat d'Alacant

     Universitat d'Alacant

     Alicante, España

     
• Localización: Interdisciplinary Aspects of Educational Research for the Structuring of Knowledge / coord. por Antonio Cortijo Ocaña, Rosabel Martínez Roig, 2022, ISBN 9788419506832, pág. 63
• Idioma: español
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro (pdf)
• Resumen

  • In this research, an attempt is made to analyze the way of selection of primary educationdirectors in public schools between two Mediterranean countries, Greece and Spain. Thechoice was not random as both countries have recently passed new education laws thatplace new measures in education and are shuffling the deck by trying to develop theirown education system and within it the way of selecting education managers. Throughinvestigation of legislation and laws, it seems that the two systems already have a verydifferent mentality. On the one hand Spain has a decentralized character due to the autonomous communities and the way education is managed and on the other hand Greecehas a completely centralized character and a basic central education policy that changeswith each government and is applied inexorably without being able to have particularlybig changes and innovations from the side of the director. The Spanish system is distinguished by the obligation to design a management plan adapted to the needs of the educational center which the candidates are asked to undertake, something that does not existin Greece since the directors are appointed to each school based on a ranking table andmethod of “avalanche “. The Greek system is not interested in finding a suitable candidatefor specific schools that may have particularities, since the system itself does not allowthe director many initiatives on the policy that will be exercised as an executive body ofcentral decisions. It focuses more on a transparent and clear selection process for Principals who can staff schools locally in their permanent position without having training onschool administration which is mandatory in Spain, before officially taking up a position.In contrast to the more professional style of electing principals in Greece, the new Spanish law LOMLOE does not change the previous framework and thus the autonomouscommunities can have differences between themselves in terms of the way, the processand the evaluation of the candidate through the qualifications and the educational planthat will be submitted. Moreover, with the latest regulations, the educational communityacquires new possibilities and a strengthened role in the administration and organizationof the school and within them also decides on the choice of the director. Finally, bothcountries respectively try to pave the way for more teachers applying for managerial positions by reducing the time of educational experience in Greece or in Spain by establishingthe non-obligation of initial training in administration as conditions for candidacy