QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICE â€“PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE TEACHERS IN HIGH SCHOOLS FROM SUCEAVA COUNTY, ROMANIA

Laura Mirela Pintilie

doi:10.12955/cbup.v5.1021

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine the main variables that are part of the management strategies for quality assurance in higher education. The study was conducted in 2016 on a representative sample of secondary schools in Suceava County, Romania. The research methodology has mixed quantitative analysis of collected data using a questionnaire applied to teachers from seven schools in the Suceava County (268 respondents) and qualitative analysis of public documents referring to performances in the secondary education system. To achieve the questionnaire, an adaptation of the SERVQUAL method was used, specific for the services domain. It was aimed at establishing the differences between perceptions and expectations of teachers on human and material resources necessary to ensure the quality of services in education. The results were correlated with data on studentsâ€™ performances in high school and / or professional school.Changing the mentality of the teachers, self-assessment and objective assessment of the work performed and working conditions can lead to increased quality of educational services with direct effects in improving school performance of direct beneficiaries of education, the students.

Highlights

In education, compared to the industrial or economic sectors, main studies on the concept of scientific management are just at the beginning, both in theory and especially in practice
The research performed in this study was based on the interest of identifying specific variables of educational management and of quality management in high schools and/or vocational schools in Romania, given the particularities of systemic, social, economic and educational nature which the education system in this country is confronted with
This study shows an alternative to assess the quality of education by adopting a representative method for measuring and assessing the quality of public service, the SERVQUAL method

Summary

Introduction

In education, compared to the industrial or economic sectors, main studies on the concept of scientific management are just at the beginning, both in theory and especially in practice. In Romania, the scientific approach to the educational management affirms since the 1990s, namely after the 1989 revolution that led to the change of the political regime. In another work, targeting the quality management in a school organization, the same author states that "Education quality management should focus on processes and not on people" quality being both the "responsibility of the supplier and of the recipient; a mental attitude, a way of life of each and of all vocational schools" (Toca, 2010). The research performed in this study was based on the interest of identifying specific variables of educational management and of quality management in high schools and/or vocational schools in Romania, given the particularities of systemic, social, economic and educational nature which the education system in this country is confronted with

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Conclusion