ADMINISTRATVE SKILLS IN THE 21ST CENTURY OF ADMINISTRTORS IN SMALL - SIZED SCHOOLS AFFILIATED WITH SONGKHLA PRIMARY EDUCATION SERVICE AREA OFFICE

Abstract

This research aimed 1) to study administrative skills in the 21 century of administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office, 2) to compare administrative skills of administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office based on the teachers' opinions classified by their current education service areas, educational backgrounds, and years of working experiences as well as 3) to provide suggestions on administrative skills of administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office. The target samples in this study were 313 teachers who were selected by stratified sampling method utilizing education service areas. The main research instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire with an acceptable level of reliability at 0.98. The data were analyzed using different statistical techniques such as frequency, percentage, mean (), standard deviation (SD), t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The key research results were as follows:

1. Administrative skills in the 21st century of administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office were at
   a high level of satisfaction both overall and in classified-specific skills.


2. Comparisons of administrative skills in the 21st century of administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office based on the teachers' numeric responses demonstrated that the teachers in different education service areas, with different educational backgrounds and different years of working experiences had different overall opinions on administrative skills in the 21st century of administrators at a statistically significant level of .01, .05, and .01 respectively.


3. Recommendations on administrative skills that administrators in small-sized schools affiliated with Songkhla Primary Education Service Area Office in the 21st century should be focused were; fostering a communicative approach with some characteristics  such as friendliness, clarity, and relevance, emphasizing the utilization of interpersonal skills, adopting the role of neutral listeners to gather problem-solving guidelines from all stakeholders within educational institutions, promoting teamwork within the organization, integrating technology into educational administrative planning, and having  a visionary approach to administration.