Abstract:

Non-public schools were dynamically established in Poland after 1989 as a result of the political transformation. The founders of these schools preferred a school management style that was based on autonomy and socialization. The article aims to present research on the autonomy of non-public schools in the opinion of the founders and principals of these schools and to answer the question of whether the founders and principals implemented autonomy, if so, how the process was shaped. Autonomy is a changing phenomenon that "becomes" a process, and in order to look at it, context must be taken into account. Therefore, a qualitative strategy was used in the research, and the tool used during the research was an interview with the founders and directors of Polish non-public schools. The autonomy of schools depends on the external environment, primarily the legal one, and internal authorities. One of the most important conclusions resulting from the research on the autonomy of non-public schools is the gradability of the process of autonomy towards school authorities, then teachers, parents, and students. In addition, individual educational entities, in the first place, undertook independent activities in their typical areas of operation, with time expanding their activities to non-traditional levels. The undertaken issues and the attempt to trace the implementation of autonomy in Polish non-public schools contribute to the development of the sciences related to the management of education in the process of transformation.