Eureka! Institutional Repository

The purpose of this Master Thesis is to design an innovative and fully customized model of management of a School unit. The potential benefits of using Management tools are presented Through the literature review. At the same time, through the primary research (closed-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews), conclusions were drawn about the existing use of these management tools by high school principals, as well as their attitude toward them. Additionally, data was collected about the expertise and knowledge of principals and teachers in management subjects. The results largely confirmed the original hypothesis, as stated by Spanos and Papadopoulou (2018), that the role of the Principal is limited to internal issues of the School, the handling of bureaucratic and administrative (sometimes secretarial) tasks, everyday decision-making (micromanaging) and securing the day-to-day operation of the School in collaboration with the relevant bodies. Taking into consideration the data from the primary research and the limitations that prevented managers from using management tools as well as, of course, the relevant literature, an attempt was made to converge the two sciences and bridge the gap. This attempt led to the proposed innovative management model, which was the main purpose of this Thesis. The literature review was divided into two separate sections. The first part was the application and usefulness of the proposed management tools per se, in a business environment and other organizations. The second part, concerned the academia’s record of the effects (or potential effects) of these tools, particularly in a School unit, taken into account all the limitations and variations compared to the business world.