Role models of educators in the context of systemic bureaupathologies

Abstract

Systemic bureaupathologies have become a barrier in the development, functioning and manageability of Russian education in the increasingly complex social and geopolitical conditions, as well as a new object of sociological research. However, there is not yet enough data at the disposal of scientists on the social consequences of bureaupathologies in the human dimension: deformation of values and attitudes, well-being in the workplace, contradictions in the social and professional adaptation of workers in education. These consequences are latent, but real. Due to the prevailing passivity of the staff, they are not revealed in educational statistics and mandatory reporting, but are obvious in sociological studies. The article reveals the typical role models of employees in the context of bureaupathology and their scale in the professional environment. The article is based on the research conducted in 2018–2023. (Russian Science Foundation grants 18-18-00047, 23-28-10010) using a questionnaire survey on an interregional sample (St. Petersburg, Novgorod region, Altai Territory), in-depth interviews, content analysis of documents in educational institutions of various types, workers load timing. The role models of educators as a reaction to the daily manifestations of bureaupathologies were grouped according to the key parameters "activity - passivity" and "assistance - opposition". They include active facilitation ("effective managers", "over-administrators", "paper parasites"), passive facilitation ("show-offs", "failed administrators", "burnt out"), passive resistance ("escapists", "adapters"), and active opposition (“questioners”, “reasonable masters”, “nihilists” and “leaving the profession”). Models focused on counteracting paper pressure constitute a social resource for bringing education out of the crisis, but are not characteristic of the majority of staff, and therefore deserve social and organisational support and further study, including within the framework of scientific events of the national project “Education". The article continues the disclosure of the topic of bureaupathology from different angles, serves to assess the social effectiveness of education management and the prospects for overcoming bureaupathology.