SITUATIONS, NEEDS AND GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP IN THE DIGITAL ERA OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS UNDER BUENG KAN PRIMARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE
Abstract:
The leadership in digital era of the school administrators is significant to support the digital
technology for applying in school administration in accordance with the policies and goals covering
the mission to affect the effectiveness of education. The purposes of this research were (1) to study
the current situations and the desirable, (2) to assess the needs, and (3) to develop the guidelines of
leadership in digital era of the school administrators under Bueng Kan Primary Educational Service
Area Office. The sample group consisted of 317 school administrators and teachers followed the
percent criteria in the sample size specification, and they were selected by Stratified Random
Sampling. There were four research instruments: (1) a current situation questionnaire about leadership
in digital era of the school administrators with the Index of Item Congruence (IC)between .80-1.00,
the discrimination between .37-.79, andthe reliability of .96; (2) a desirable situation questionnaire
about leadership in digital era of the school administrators with the Index of Item Congruence (IC)
between .80-1.00, the discrimination between .26-.96, and the reliability of .97; (3) a structured
interview form with the Index of Item Congruence (IC) of 1.00; and (4) an suitability and possibility
assessment form about leadership in digital era of the school administrators with the Index of Item
Congruence (IC) of 1.00. The statistics employed in data analysis were percentage, mean, standard
deviation and modified Priority Needs Index (PNIModified).
The research results revealed that (1) the overall current situations and the desirable
situations of leadership in digital era of the school administrators were at the high level and the
highest level, respectively. (2) The needs of leadership in the digital era of school administrators
which revealed higher than the overall average, namely creating learning culture and professional
development. (3) The development guidelines of leadership in digital era of school administrators
consisted of 5 aspects as follows: 1) vision, school administrators should have a vision, strategic
planning and ongoing evaluation; 2) technology management, school administrators should provide
information technology system, online measurement and evaluation, and behave oneself to realize the
importance of digital technology; 3) participation and team-work, school administrators should allow
staff to participate in expressing opinions, making decisions, and working according to their
expertise; 4) creating learning cultures, school administrators should create learning organizations by
holding meetings, managing online learning networks with other schools and communities; and 5)
professional development, school administrators should have constant learning and adapt to changing
situations. The overall guidelines for developing leadership in digital era of the school administrators
under Bueng Kan Primary Educational Service Area Office revealed the suitability and the possibility
at the highest level.