Japanization and the Management of Education in Australia

In all forms of workplaces, especially in the English‐speaking world, administrators have been exhorted to introduce what are perceived to be the “best practices” operating in the more successful economies. The education “industry” in Australia appears to be no different in this regard from other industries, and the “best practices” appear to originate from Japan. Japanese management practices are promulgated as having abandoned the old methods of scientific management, offering new ways of managing workplaces in general, and schools in particular. Seeks to examine this proposition critically through an examination of two proposals which have been advanced as bringing “best practices” into the administration of schools. The two areas which have been given currency recently are the introduction of salary packages for teachers and the formation of work in schools. Concludes that these seeming innovations may not differ markedly from the principles advocated earlier this century by the proponents of scientific management. Nevertheless, they may still provide some means towards more democratic administrative practices.