School climate assessment toward improving the quality of educational institutions

Abstract

The systematic study of a complex phenomenon of school climate has been initiated in the 60-ties of the last century and the academic schematization of this significant field is being continuously intensified ever since. The school climate issue has been tackled on the basis of different theoretical positions which resulted in quite a variety of definitions of the meaning and content of the term. Due to such pluralism of theoretical approaches, numerous assessment models have been suggested focusing on different elements of this complex construct, a number of instruments and different research approaches. On the basis a comprehensive review of a rich foreign literature, the paper offers a summary of the basic ideas and accomplishments of the most influential models of school climate assessments, as well as techniques that may be successfully implemented in wideranging projects aiming to advance the quality of educational process in school settings.

Sistematsko istraživanje kompleksnog fenomena školske klime započeto je 60-ih godina prošlog veka, a akademska tematizacija ove značajne oblasti od tada se kontinuirano intenzivira. Problemu školske klime pristupano je iz različitih teorijskih pozicija, što je rezultiralo veoma raznolikim određenjima značenja i sadržaja ovog pojma. Iz takvog pluralizma teorijskih pristupa predlagani su brojni modeli procene, fokusirani na različite elemente ovog kompleksnog konstrukta, veliki broj instrumenata i različitih istraživačkih pristupa. Na osnovu obuhvatnog pregleda bogate inostrane literature, u radu se sumiraju temeljne ideje i dometi najuticajnijih modela procene školske klime i tehnike koje se mogu uspešno primeniti u obuhvatnim projektima unapređenja kvaliteta obrazovno-vaspitnog rada u uslovima školske sredine.