Strategic Development in Secondary Education – A Quality Management Framework for Hybrid and Digital Educational Projects

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to analyze the applicability of project management conceptual frameworks and previous research, in implementing digital and hybrid educational projects for secondary schools. Prior work: Services and products quality management represents an intrinsic component of the digital educational project implementation process, a defining stage in creating the identity of the curricular products and enhancing the operational flow. The Project Management Manual and Methodology, elaborated by Dick Michael and Loo Henry, in 2011, integrates the quality management stage during the implementation process, as a pivotal strategy preventing potential risks, inadequacies and facilitating change and performance optimization. According to Harvard experts, the Project Management Manual describes the optimization of the implementation parameters of the project (the quality management stage) as a subsequent phase that is inherent to planning and the operationalization of the project objectives (Harvard Business School, 1997). As mentioned in the quoted Harvard reference manual, the quality management stage implies a systematic and creative strategy for reorganizing resources and processes, therefore being defined as the essence of project management. The hybrid approach in designing and implementing educational projects integrates continuously quality parameters and evaluation criteria as a processual and structural framework, therefore pertaining to the pragmatic perspective of a continuously changing educational environment. Approach: The present study represents a theoretical approach to project management in education, analyzing the relationship between previous reference frameworks and the phenomenon of digitalization. Results: Digital educational projects imply strategic actions that open the organizational environment to dialogue, value transfer and interaction with external partners, identified within academic and socio-professional communities. Their long-term impact affects the quality of learning results, as well as the organizational culture and climate, constituting an unquantifiable variable of the organizational development process. Implications: The relevance of the analysis is demonstrated by the continuous change of perspective reflected by educational policies and reforms and it benefits from a comprehensive scientific literature that synthesizes multiple theoretical approaches to project management. Value: The present analytical study outlines the change of paradigm in education and the profound impact that the transition towards new learning approaches manifests in relation to the strategic management of schools.