THE COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD EDUCATION (TLE) PROGRAM IN REGION IV-A, PHILIPPINES

Managing is one of the most important human activities. It is an act, it?s a science, it?s making sure that people do what they supposed to do. It is the process of designing and maintaining an environment with individuals working together in groups. Hence, managers are expected to ensure greater productivity or continuous improvement among its constituents (Koontz and Weihrich 1990). This study investigated on a comparative management of the public and private schools in one of the regions in the Philippines specifically in the area of Technology and Livelihood Education. It considered looking on the educational leaders? various management practices of the secondary schools in terms of curriculum, instructional supervision, staff development, instructional material development, facilities, equipment, budget allocation, and organizational culture. Moreover, it investigated on the comparative advantages of schools in terms of management practices. There were 120 teacher-respondents involved in this study from 15 selected public and 15 private schools offering Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE). They were typically skillful teachers handling TLE major subjects. Their school leaders? management practices were examined to reveal the significant difference on the management practices in terms of curriculum, instructional material development, facilities, equipment, budget allocation and organizational culture. In terms of curriculum, the results revealed that in private schools, teachers fully practiced integrating the use of technology to enhance the curriculum whereas the public schools practice curriculum revision on a regular basis. In terms of instructional supervision, the private schools involve teachers and students in formulating policies while the public schools similarly practice planning and making sound decisions on instruction with teachers and students respectively. Results show no significant difference in management relative to staff development between public and private secondary schools. The same result was recorded in terms of instructional materials development. With respect to improvement and appropriateness of facilities, the private schools consult teachers in identifying the areas for improvement, while the public schools ensure that facilities meet the required specifications of the government as well as monitoring its appropriateness in teaching. When purchasing equipment and tools, both the private and public schools consult colleague?s prior purchase and they both assess budget allocation to priority needs, and control and release funds subject to audit of proper authorities. As to organizational culture, both the public and private schools maintain good relationship with students, teachers, and parents, and guide individual teachers and staff to the development of moral and social behavior. This study leads the researcher towards the development of a model of best practices to enhance the management of the TLE program; hence, it is recommended to use the model along with its best management practices in order to further strengthen/develop the TLE program not only in Region IV-A, but in the entire country, Philippines.