Agile in School Administration

Abstract

In the BANI era, marked by brittleness, anxiety, nonlinearity, and incomprehensibility. School administration that relies on long-term plans and rigid procedures struggles to keep pace with change, undermining the confidence of teachers, parents, students, and the community. This synthesis article proposes ways to adapt Agile practices in schools to enhance flexibility and responsiveness, drawing on a review of Agile concepts, implementation lessons, and systemic constraints within Thai education. The conclusions recommend establishing cross-functional teams to shorten work cycles and improve decision quality, together with eight practical guidelines: (1) Introduce Agile into school management through experimentation, adaptation, and continuous learning; (2) Scale Agile across the whole school; (3) Assess the organization’s Agile fit and maturity; (4) Cultivate Agile leadership that builds trust, distributes authority, and listens; (5) Adopt Agile approaches to planning, budgeting, and review; (6) Align organizational structure and people management for agility; (7) Develop enabling processes and technologies; and (8) Tailor application to each school’s context. Emphasizing Agile budgeting, short evaluation cycles, and metrics focused on outcomes and team success can elevate learning quality, strengthen collaboration, and enhance schools’ long-term competitiveness.