School-based Management In Australia

School-based management (SBM) is a form of educational management featuring decentralization, shared decision-making, and autonomy. Australia is one of the first countries to adopt this democratic management model, generating extensive knowledge of the system over the past several decades. Therefore, it is significant to analyze Australia’s SBM in order to gain a greater understanding of China’s ongoing education reform.Victoria is one of the eight States and Territories of Australia where school-based management has been implemented most widely and school autonomy highly achieved. This thesis, through a critical analysis of the development and implementation process of school-based management in Australia with Victoria as a focus, aims to present a holistic view of Victoria’s SBM.The study commences with an introduction consisting of definitions and theories surrounding SBM, a literature review of the Australian SBM, and a methodology depicting the research strategies of the thesis. The second chapter describes the historical and social driving forces in Australia that contributed to the development of SBM. Followed by the emergence of SBM in Australian Capital Territory, other jurisdictions, facing criticism on undesirable school performance, embarked on education reform from centralized governance to devolved administration, featured by the establishment of school councils as school-based governing bodies. In the third chapter, Victoria’s SBM is taken as a case study for observing, in detail, how SBM is implemented. In addition to the historical events of SBM in Victoria, its current practice, including frameworks of curriculum, workforce, funding and accountability are elaborated respectively. Within government ordinances, Victorian self-managing schools enjoy a high degree of autonomy and flexibility in managing school issues. The fourth section investigates the characteristics and limitations of the SBM in Victoria, followed by the final chapter which presents some conclusive remarks.The findings of this thesis allege that the diversification of faculty and community members-through school councils, sub-committees as well as school programs-constitutes an indispensable and significant element of shared decision-making, the essence of SBM. In addition, a clear and targeted vision, effective communication strategies, close partnership with external businesses, and administrative flexibility are highlighted and exalted as advantages of Victoria’s school-based management.However, there are some issues with Victoria’s SBM. For example, there is no conclusive evidence that school-based management leads to improved student performance. This is largely due to the fact that academic success is linked to a variety of intertwined factors such as local conditions, student backgrounds, and faculty resources and it is difficult for scholars to separate them to do studies. Furthermore, the SBM in Victoria has widened the gap and therefore caused residualization and inequity between schools of high and low socio-economic status, which is particularly to the detriment of students from poor families. This is an area to explore in future research.