A Case Study of the School Management of a Child-Centered School

[[abstract]]This study aims to examine the management of a child-centered school. This case study chooses a private and small school named Star-star as the research subject. Star-star school caters children of junior high school, elementary school and kindergarten. Observation, interview and document analysis are used to collect empirical data. There are four main purposes of this study: (1) to investigate the educational concept of the child-centered school; (2) to understand how the educational concept is practiced in school management; (3) to identify the problems encountered during the process of practicing educational concept in school management and find out some possible solutions; (4) to provide suggestions on educational reforms according to the findings of this study. The findings of this case study are as follows: 1. The child-centered concept focuses on adaptive learning, developmental stages, maintenance of rights and interests, and influence of environment. 2. Educational leadership focuses on the promotion of child-center concept, the supervision after practicing the concept, and the professional development of teachers. 3. Administrative operation helps to carry out the child-center concept by cooperation among every department and some supportive measures. 4. Multiple curriculum arrangements and special teaching models strengthen students’ subjectivity in their learning process. 5. Appropriate space and time arrangement is helpful to children’s physical and mental development. 6. The integration between system and people is the key factor that influences the practice of educational concepts. 7. High mobility of teachers and difficulty in internalizing educational concepts are the main problems encountered in the school management of Star-star school. 8. Improving ways of communication and providing various rewards are important strategies to solve the problems. 9. The key leader adapts the direction of school management to different contexts. Based on the research findings, several suggestions for educational administrative authorities, elementary and junior high schools, and further studies are as follows: 1. Suggestions for elementary and junior high schools: （1）Suggestions for Star-star school. （a）Enhance staff’s identification with the educational concept of the school. （b）Enhance interpersonal communication and exchange of information. （c）Set up learning communities. （d）Plan future development of the school and searching for assistance. （2）Suggestions for other schools. （a）Pay attention to students’ subjectivity in the learning process. （b）Set up a platform for sharing educational concepts. （c）Evaluate the practice of educational concepts regularly. （d）Build up a mentoring system. 2. Suggestions for educational administrative authorities: （1）Promote the educational concepts of other schools. （2）Give proper subsidies to schools with different educational concepts and features. （3）Setting appropriate standards of evaluation for different types of schools. 3. Suggestions for further studies: （1）Explore the practice of educational concepts from a micro viewpoint, such as teachers’ or students’ points of view. （2）Conduct surveys on schools with different educational concepts and features. （3）Adopt action-research approach from a participant’s point of view.