Eureka! Institutional Repository

The present paper explores the model of management and leadership practiced in primary school units and whether this is integrated within an authoritarian leadership. Initially, the term leadership and the main models of leadership that may occur in school units are analyzed, and the work focuses on exploring the possibility of authoritarian leadership by examining how managers motivate staff, manage conflicts, and have vision. The research questions are then formulated and investigated using the interview method. The analysis of the results shows that a director may have the characteristics of a democratic leader but within an ambiguous administrative context he is forced to operate authoritatively, as he concentrates all the administrative functions of the educational unit on his face. The Teachers' Association is the dominant decision-making body but remains unaffected by its participation in the proceedings. The conclusions of the work highlight the weaknesses of participatory management and designate the head of the school unit the only administrative body responsible for multiple roles. In essence, it is found that the only system of leadership that can be applied is the authoritarian centralized de facto system. Within such a system, which is based on participatory decision-making and designates the teaching staff as the dominant body, the implementation of a participatory administration fails and the manager is called as a simple management body to perform all the functions of the administration. The only administrative system that ultimately finds application is authoritarian.