Educational Administration and Participatory Learning in Indonesian Higher Education: A Conceptual Review

Abstract

Purpose: Participatory learning is a central element of higher-education reform in Indonesia, particularly under the Merdeka Belajar-Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) policy, yet its administrative foundations remain under-theorised. This article examines how educational administration, framed through George R. Terry's planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling (POAC) functions, can enable participatory learning in Indonesian higher-education institutions (HEIs). Methods: The study uses a qualitative conceptual-analytical design through a narrative review informed by PRISMA 2020 principles. Sources were identified from Scopus, ERIC, Crossref, and Google Scholar during March–May 2026, with supplementary searches in September 2026. Studies were screened using explicit eligibility criteria, appraised with a five-criterion rubric, and thematically coded using a documented codebook. The final corpus comprised 22 sources, mainly published between 2022 and 2026: 20 peer-reviewed articles, one institutional policy report, and one doctoral dissertation used only as an illustrative source. Sixteen sources concerned higher education and eleven directly addressed participatory administration. The sources were mapped onto Terry's POAC functions to develop a framework linking administration with a participatory learning ecosystem, shared governance and quality culture, and andragogically grounded learner agency. The absence of complete screening records and the use of a single coder are acknowledged as limitations. Findings: The synthesis indicates that planning supports flexible and co-designed curricula; organizing distributes authority among lecturers, students, and administrative units; actuating repositions lecturers as facilitators; and controlling, through internal quality-assurance (SPMI) cycles, supports continuous improvement. These relationships are interpretive propositions rather than empirically validated causal effects. Their implementation is constrained by bureaucratic rigidity, uneven institutional capacity, and limited lecturer readiness for participatory pedagogy. Research Implications: Educational administration should be viewed not merely as a supporting function but as an active enabler of participatory learning. The framework provides guidance for HEI leaders and policymakers seeking to strengthen participatory practices under MBKM. Originality: The article proposes an integrative framework linking Terry's POAC functions with participatory-learning enablement in Indonesian higher education. Its contribution lies in translating a participatory learning management perspective into a higher-education administrative framework and generating propositions for future empirical testing rather than claiming a validated model.