2 – Work file 16: Governance and management in a school⁴⁶

A school can also be measured by looking at the way EDC/HRE processes are reflected in the way it is governed. In this respect the term “democratic school governance” is used. In this context two kinds of processes are relevant and have to be distinguished from one another:

Governance		Management
Openness of school and educational systems “We govern things or beings, the behaviour of which cannot be predicted totally.”		Technical and instrumental dimensions of governing“We manage things or beings, the behaviour of which is easier to predict.”
We negotiate, persuade, bargain, apply pressure, etc., because we do not have full control of those we govern.		We instruct and order because we think we have strong legitimate power to do so.

Management, therefore, describes the organisational aspects and technical as well as instrumental dimension in a school or educational system. Through introducing more and more open processes in schools which are characterised by different needs and interests, the term “governance” is used (Council of Europe, Democratic Governance of Schools, 2007, p. 9).

The benefits of democratic school governance can be summarised in the following points (ibid., p. 9):

• to improve discipline;
• to reduce conflict;
• to make school more competitive;
• to secure the future existence of sustainable democracies.

46. For evaluating a school in terms of EDC/HRE we have presented indicators in Work file 11.