Responsibility and education : a study of the meaning and application of the term 'responsibility' in educational discourse with particular reference to its bearing on educational administration and management
Creators: name: Hiller, PE
Publisher: name: University Of Tasmania
Year: 2023

description: The major objective of this dissertation is to survey and comment upon the usages of the term 'responsibility' in education with particular reference to the bearing of such usage on educational administration. It is a commonly held view that the concept of responsibility is closely linked with the concept of education and that it has application within the enterprises that we label 'educational'. With this view in mind . we tend to agree that educators should accept a heavy responsibility burden and in order to do this it is necessary for them to be very responsible people. Many educational theorists would also hold that to be regarded as responsible would be a positive and perhaps necessary attribute of the 'educated man'. The term 'responsibility' can have a variety of meanings and it seems that a lack of clarification or specification in this regard can lead and has led to a degree of practical and conceptual difficulty for those involved in educational decision making. It appears that the term is used not only too freely and in a loose and inconsistent manner but also that such usage has tended to obscure certain value-laden aspects of the concept of education. Abstractions such as those closely related to the usage of terms like 'responsibility', 'education', and 'society' are complex and fraught with conceptual difficulty. In an attempt to overcome the problems derived from such difficulty it will be necessary to make some general assumptions in relation to what is meant and what is desired.. Particular efforts will be made to emphasize areas where inconsistency, avoidable ambiguity, combined with disregard for logical argument have proved detrimental to the quality of education taking place. It is intended to briefly survey a number of issues and to deal more fully with those which appear to have specific significance and application to educational practices in the local situation. In the course work leading up to this dissertation, I was concerned at the apparent lack of liaison between the philosophical and the administrative aspects of our education system. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least being the difficulties of combining particular disciplines or areas of knowledge and enquiry in such a way as to make them more widely available and acceptable to educators in general. Those involved in administration often find that the continuing demands of the on-going task do not allow them time to involve themselves in philosophical considerations which could, on more careful analysis, be regarded as vital to the success of the schooling and educational enterprises for which they are responsible. The study has been undertaken with the practicalities of educational administration and management specifically in mind and some efforts have been made to curtail involvement in complex theoretical debate. To do this it has been necessary to bring together philosophical and practical issues in a discursive and meaningful manner. Some of the stipulations made in relation to the term 'education' will reflect my own views, and it is my main intention to aid, where possible, the understanding of those administrators or managers who are familiar with the local situation. Any attempts to put forward radical innovative educational theories, Or even to discuss alternative theories in detail, would tend to detract from the aim of the exercise which is to reveal the central importance of the concept of responsibility in the current management of education.