The general concept of management is associated with the function of organized systems (biological, technical, social) to ensure their safety, maintain a mode of activity and contribute to the implementation of the goals of the program of activities. When teaching students of pedagogical universities, management is considered in the application to educational systems: schools, pre-schools, centers of additional education, etc. The concept of management is not only studied theoretically and is fixed by solving managerial problems at seminars, but is also worked out as part of pedagogical practice. Students have the opportunity to study and describe the management structure of the educational institution where they begin their teaching activities, and when reporting, compare several systems, their structure and effectiveness.
The concept of management takes on more specific meaning when the principles of management are studied, i.e. those well-established and established ideas that determine the direction of the relevant activities:
- The principle of unity of command and collegiality, in which the head of the institution relies on a collective decision, involving all the participants in the educational process with the help of the council of teachers, the council of the institution, parents, etc.
- The principle of scientificness, in which the management process is built on the basis of scientific knowledge, research results and innovation in the management sphere.
- The principle of planning. Here, the concept of management is considered as the process of implementing the plan in time, i.e. becomes a technological concept with the division of the plan into stages and time periods.
- The principle of incentives, when the head at work relies on all types of stimulation of subordinates: motivation, gratitude, praise, bonuses, moderate frustration, competition, etc.
In the classroom, students learn to distinguish between the concepts of management and system management. The term “management” always refers to a system. The latter is a combination of individual parts or elements that are in a logical relationship with each other. The concept of a management system means creating conditions not only for preserving the pedagogical system, but also translating it into a new, more advanced quality. The concept of "leadership" includes the process of preservation and development of a single element, and not the whole system as a whole. The etymology of this term makes one pay attention to the composition of the word: “hand” and “drive,” which indicates a personal relationship in the structure of individual elements, whereas management always refers not to subjects, but to objects of the educational process.
The education system can be represented as a combination of various educational institutions, the activities of which are united by general principles, both state and educational. The network of educational institutions provides:
- education of preschool children;
- general secondary education of schoolchildren;
- extracurricular education and upbringing of children of different ages;
- professional scientific and technical education;
- secondary special education;
- higher specialized education;
- retraining of scientific and pedagogical staff;
- improving the qualifications of teachers.
The concept of management can also be attributed to pedagogical activity, which is organized in a separate class. The teacher should be able to not only lead the children, but also manage the team, the educational process. Therefore, in the course "Management of Pedagogical Systems", students learn not only to manage the institution, but also study the psychology of the interaction of people in a team, the methods of regulating relationships, resolving conflicts, and applying different management styles in different teams.