Intuition and critical thinking skills of administrators of proprietary schools

Abstract

This study focuses on an examination of current views, attitudes and uses of critical thinking and/or intuition in the decision making process by administrators in post secondary proprietary education. Those administrators/educational leaders included the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] at the corporate level and the school president and the academic dean at the local campus level. The study was limited to proprietary schools in the southeastern United States. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of how decisions were made utilizing critical thinking or intuition or both at the upper managerial level of the proprietary educational setting. Therefore, qualitative inquiry, based on the grounded theory approach, was the research method used. During the interviews, the administrators discussed their decision making process, explored their leadership skills and determined how they used critical thinking or intuition in the day-to-day operation of their school. Most of the decisions made by school presidents and academic deans were routine in nature, such as book purchases, the various reports requested and budget items. They usually made their decisions based on similar events that had previously occurred from which they were able to intuitively draw from their experience. The CEO's, on the other hand, utilized more of their critical thinking skills as they created and developed various strategies in leading their corporations toward obtaining prescribed goals. Some of those goals included increased corporate profits and positive returns for shareholders. However, in nearly every case, emotions influenced the decision-making process as well as spirituality and individual managerial style. A passion among the administrators for their students' success was also revealed. However, most realized their responsibilities were two fold: they had a responsibility to the success of the business and the shareholders and they had a responsibility to the students and their future. Intuition and critical thinking were the decision-making tools that each of the administrators' admitted to using, depending on the situation, to obtain those objectives.