Attitudes and Perceptions of School Principals about the Contribution of Evaluation to the Efficient Operation of Schools Both at the Administrative and Educational Levels

Abstract

Evaluating teachers and educational work is now mandatory in the Greek educational system. The current study aims at investigating the attitudes and perceptions of principals of Piraeus Secondary Education units regarding the contributions of this evaluation law to the orderly functioning of schools in terms of administrative and educational aspects. For this qualitative research, a semi-structured interview was chosen as the results collection method. The interview questions included respondents’ demographic information and interview questions corresponding to three thematic axes according to the research questions. The convenience sample consisted of twelve (12) principals of secondary school units from the greater Piraeus area. All interviewed principals recognized the need for the evaluation process in education and agreed on the importance of their roles and responsibilities for the effectiveness of the proper functioning of their units. Nine respondents underlined the need for training teachers on new technologies, six considered internal evaluation reports as a means of weaknesses identification and improvement and five believed the evaluation imposed by the Ministry of Education creates negative feelings. As concluded, evaluation is of great educational importance, as it contributes to teachers’ professional development and schools’ educational quality improvement. However, when implemented suddenly or imposed by the state, it causes pressure, stress, fear, nervousness, and insecurity.