The complex history of the formation of political science, the diversity of existing approaches, views, and interpretations of political life are primarily determined by the complexity, ambiguity, and versatility of its very subject – politics. The dynamic, active nature of politics allows people to influence many aspects of their lives. Such a controlling influence on the economic life of society can be exerted through the establishment of priorities for economic development. Ellis (2021) argues that there are a large number of different levers of the legal infrastructure that influence policy-making. This essay will define the concept of politics, select an education policy, precisely the school’s micropolitics, and explain its development process.
The term “politics” has many meanings, but most often, both in theory and practice, it is used in two ways. First, politics is a purposeful activity of people in the sphere of power, state, class, and national relations. Second, politics is a characteristic of the attributes of the existence of state institutions and other political formations. Magstadt (2021) states that politics encompasses three main areas, which are power, order, and justice. Indeed, without power, no State will be able to make laws, regulate the economy, and provide security for the country’s people. Politics ensures order in relations between States and deters major interethnic and civil conflicts. Fairness in politics is a particularly acute issue, as it is challenging to achieve a situation that will fully satisfy everyone equally. In any case, without politics, the probability of complicating various negative situations both inside and outside the countries would be much more significant.
Politics exists in many areas of people’s lives, including education. Verger (2016) claims that governments are increasingly engaged in shaping school education policies. Schools, as an integral part of the educational process, also have their own micropolitics. The school’s micropolitics is formed from the parent-teacher, teacher-principal, and teacher-teacher relationships (Cooper et al. 2015). In this case, the micro-policy works towards strengthening and using the power of school leaders in their interests.
The process of forming a school micro-policy begins with the headmaster – the direct leader of the school. The director provides teachers with the necessary materials and documents to explain their work and direct them as necessary. It is also the responsibility of the principal to work on the productive results of the school’s micropolitics, including for these results to take place, the principal must eliminate conflict situations in the school. These situations may occur between the principal and the teachers, in non – agreements on the curriculum, student assessment methods, and any issues concerning the school staff (Colegio, 2018). The director needs to think through a strategy of behavior with the staff, perhaps to give teachers a certain number of rights to prevent conflicts. As for parents and students, in this case they are forced to become part of the school’s micro-policy created by the director. Naturally, they have the right to express their opinion on the micro-policy of the chosen school director, but these opinions will be thoroughly considered and discussed.
For the implementation of the school’s micropolitics to move faster, it is first necessary to speed up the decision-making process of the principal. Then, all the questions accepted by the director are submitted for discussion with the teachers. These actions can also be accelerated by reducing the time allocated for decision-making by teachers. The next stage of discussing innovations and changes with parents can be shortened by holding an instant vote right in the school. The decision will be made in favor of more votes.
In conclusion, the school’s micropolitics is not simple as well as the state’s policy. It has its own nuances, leaders, subordinates, and forced to agree with the majority’s opinion. In order for the school’s micro-policy to work not just for the benefit of the leader, that is, for the head of state, it is necessary to pay attention to the person who claims to be the head of the school.
References
Colegio, L. (2018). School micropolitics: understanding and preparing for common micropolitical challenges that novice principals encounter in k-12 schools [Dissertation, Texas State University].
Cooper, B. et al. (2015). Handbook of education politics and policy. Routledge.
Ellis, J. (2021). Education policy 101: What is education policy? Rethink together.
Magstadt, T.M. (2021). Understanding politics. Ideas, institutions and issues. Cengage.
Verger, A. (2016). The book of global education policy. Wiley Blackwell.