Tenured and non-tenured school principals in Greece: a historical approach

ABSTRACT

This study deals with the question of tenure/non-tenure of the Greek school principals and its possible impact on their role in the light of the international influences. In developing our theoretical perspective, we draw on the tenure/non-tenure discourse and the centralised bureaucratic and new public management model. After examining the relevant legislation issued from 1836 up to 2015 by following the qualitative content analysis, we find out that in the 1836–1981 period, tenure had become an integral part of the centralised educational system. Since 1981, the introduction of decentralised policies along with the abolition of tenure has resulted in the renewal of the same politics. By linking in a direct way the tenure/non-tenure topic with the international policies, we support the view that in the Greek centralised educational system, school principals have limited power to bring about effective changes at schools regardless of their tenure/non-tenure status.

KEYWORDS:

• Centralisation
• bureaucracy
• new public management
• tenure
• non-tenure
• school principals
• Greece

Acknowledgments

Each author jointly contributed to the preparation of this paper. All authors have seen and approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Amalia A. Ifanti is a Professor of Educational Planning and Policy in the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education at the University of Patras, Patras, Greece. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Joannina, Greece, and underwent her postgraduate studies at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. She holds the Diploma in Education, Master of Education and Ph.D. from the University of London Institute of Education. She is an active member of CIES, BAICE, CESE and of Greek Educational Societies. She is acting as a Reviewer for international and Greek peer-review journals as well as an Editor for the International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies. She has published books in Greek, several papers in international and Greek peer review journals as well as chapters in books and proceedings of international conferences. Her research interests are focused on specific educational policy and comparative education topics, that is, the politics of the school curriculum and the educational changes, educational planning and control, globalisation and the school practices, teachers’ professionalism and professional development, health promotion education policies and practices.

Eleni A. Katsigianni is a secondary education teacher and holds a Master’s degree in education from the University of Patras, Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education. She is currently a Ph.D. student and member of the research team of the Educational Policy Unit of the Laboratory of Sociology and Education at the University of Patras Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education, Patras, Greece.

Notes

1. Constitutions, laws, decrees and ministerial decisions used are published in the Greek Government Gazette and derived from the Greek National Printing Office. All the circulars and a number of laws and decrees are derived from the three collections of educational legislation of S. Parisis. The 1985, 1992, 1994 Preamble of Bills are derived from the archives of the Hellenic Parliament (in Greek). The Preamble of Bill of Law 4327/2015 is displayed on the web page www.hellenicparliament.gr [online]. Available from: http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/2f026f42-950c-4efc-b950-340c4fb76a24/%20e-pdte-eis.pdf [Accessed 14 March 2016] (in Greek).

2. Lefas (1921, p. 8), Decree 31 December 1836, Decree 18 October 1850 cited Parisis (1884, p. 255), Circular 5619/7 September 1857 cited Parisis (1884, p. 303), Decree 15 August 1868 cited Parisis (1884, pp. 346–347), Decree 26 November 1885 cited Parisis (1886, pp. 82–85), Circulars 6776/26 August 1867, 7764/24 September 1877, 8423/3 October 1877 cited Parisis (1884, pp. 341, 398–399), Law 1264/26 July 1885 cited Parisis (1886, pp. 57–58), Decree 7 March 1892 cited Parisis (1893, p. 180).

3. Decree 4 November 1885 cited Parisis (1886, p. 81), Decree 27 May 1886 cited Parisis (1886, p. 95).

4. The related information on Greek governments since 1909 is displayed on the web page of the General Secretariat of the Hellenic Government [online]. Available from: http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?page_id=776&sort=time [Accessed 8 December 2015] (in Greek).