SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND EDUCATIONAL RITUALS: A CASE STUDY OF PARTICIPATIVE DECISION MAKING

Abstract

In recent years, a number of what could be described as “educational rituals” have come under challenge in many New Zealand secondary schools. These rituals include school assemblies, the prefect system, and school uniforms. This article recounts a recent attempt on the part of a New Zealand secondary school to resolve a challenge to the tradition of compulsory school uniforms. The course of events contained many of the elements of participative decision making, and is none the less significant for having failed to bring about immediate change. The article also questions the validity of some assumptions which are implicit in much of the contemporary writing about educational decision making.

Citation

BARRINGTON, J.M. and MARSHALL, G.N. (1975), "SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND EDUCATIONAL RITUALS: A CASE STUDY OF PARTICIPATIVE DECISION MAKING", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 92-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009724