Impact of changes in the education system on the management of an educational institution in Poland : case study

In organizations, change is a phenomenon that is inherent in their functioning. In the modern world this is one of the most important challenges for managers, and the concept of change aims to concentrate all activities around uncertainty. The main factor of change in public organizations is the influence of its environment. In educational institutions, such as public schools, this influence is exerted mainly through political and legal elements, which by their actions introduce changes at every level, which becomes a difficult task for the headmaster to master. As a result of political and economic changes, there was a need for a thorough reconstruction of Polish education. The introduction of the market economy and the emergence of the labor market resulted in a change in the way of thinking about the chances and opportunities for career. The rapid changes in the science, technology, and communication technology in particular, was a further indication of change over the twenty-thirty years. The 1990s and the period after 2000 saw the emergence of a new kind of challenges, caused not only by globalization but also by the formation of a new type of society called the knowledge-based society, which was formed under the influence of the development of modern information technologies. In the new society, the importance of both general and specialist knowledge as well as skills related to information management has increased. At the present time, in the continental and global competition, a well-functioning national education system has become particularly important. In the considerations contained in this paper, the problems of changes taking place in Polish education and introduced by the reform of 2017 were taken. The analysis refers to the state and major transformations made during the implementation of educational reform and its consequences for the education and upbringing of pupils. The aim of the study is to diagnose changes in an educational institution in connection to the reform introduced in 2017 of eliminating middle schools and their impact on the management of the primary school. The research was based on an analysis of documents, a standardized interview with the director and a questionnaire addressed to the school's employees. Conclusions from the study led to the formulation of specific recommendations that may be useful for heads of schools and people interested in school management