KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF OPEN LEARNING

EAP 401:EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

Martin Ogola
Nicholas Malau
Catherine Wanjau
Lilian Boit

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION, PLANNING AND

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

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 EAP 401: EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

Course Introduction

The school is an organization in which people live and work. Like other organizations, it has
specific goals, tasks, clear division of labour, a structure for coordinating activity, legal
authority invested in certain members and a set of management procedures. Organization
theory or management theory therefore, enables us to understand certain aspects of schools.
There is a lot of knowledge in management which has relevance for schools. Schools require
managers who are trained and competent in administrative technique. As a prospective school
manager you must be must be able to easily and appropriately transfer the skills and
knowledge you acquire from one situation to another.
Educational administration involves many people. As a school administrator you will need to
work with education officers, the board of governors and even parents. You must be able to
provide leadership, motivate personnel, communicate effectively, understand the structure of
the education ministry and oversee the overall management of the school organization Even
as a classroom teacher, you will soon realize that all teachers have management
responsibilities. For example, you will be charged with the responsibility of managing
children in the classroom. You will also frequently, take part in managerial activities of the
school such as decisions making.
This course aims to achieve the following objectives;
√ To acquaint the learner with the theory and practice of Educational Administration in
Kenyan schools /institutions.
√ To enable the students to develop the ability to apply various theories to fundamental
issues, concerns and problems in the practice of educational management(in general) and
school administration(in particular).

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Table of Contents

Lesson 1: Administration, Educational Administration and Theory:

Understanding the concepts by M Ogola

Lesson 2: Educational Administration Theories by M. Ogola

Lesson 3: Administrative Processes by M. Ogola

Lesson 4 : Theories of Motivation by Malau, N.

Lesson 5: Leadership Theories by C. Wanjau

Lesson 6: Communication by C. Wanjau

Lesson 7: Fundamentals of National Education Administration by L. Boit

Lesson 8: Secondary School Administration by L. Boit

Lesson 9: School Financial Management by N. Malau

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Lesson 1
ADMINISTRATION, EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND
THEORY: UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS

1.0 Introduction
In lesson one of this course, we shall try to understand the meaning of administration in
general and education administration in particular as a preamble to the discussion on
educational administration theories. We shall also study the concept of theory so as to
understand the importance of theory in educational administration. This will give us a basis
upon which to understand the nature of schools as organizations. Organization theory or
management theory enables us to understand certain aspects of schools

1.1 Objectives

By the end of this lesson you should be able to;

Œ
• Explain the concept of theory
• Define the term administration
• Describe the field of educational administration
• Show the importance of theory in educational administration

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1.2 Meaning of Administration

AWhat is the meaning of the term ‘administration’?

Administration is one of the oldest of all human endeavors. Consider the ancient Egyptian
civilization. More than 2000 years ago, the Egyptians organized vast and complex enterprises
that required planning, detailed coordination and skilled leadership. The construction of the
famous pyramids, which are still a wonder to behold many centuries later, required skillful
administration. Visualize the enormous amount of resources brought together for the purpose
of constructing the pyramids; without proper administration the task would never have been
completed.

Around this same time, the Chinese had highly systematic, large-scale systems that used many
of the management concepts used today. In the late 16th Century an elite corps of scholars,
who were chosen through competitive examination, rationally administered the Chinese Civil
Service.

The Catholic Church, at one time hundreds of years ago, had a far flung network of thousands
of clergy who were centrally administered.

The Sumerian priests, who lived during the Sumerian civilization around 3,000 BC, were in
charge of the formal tax system. In order to better control the society's resources, the priests
developed one of the first reporting and auditing procedures.
Therefore, even before administration became established as a discipline in the 20th century, it
had already been practiced as an art for hundreds of years. Administration as an art is much
older than administration as a science. The earliest forms of administration accompanied
man's first attempts at organized cooperation, but the rudiments of modern organizational
management seem to have evolved from early military structures.

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Before we discuss educational administration, let us first define administration in the more
general sense. Administration is the organizing and carrying out of a programme of activities
and functions to achieve desired and specified objectives. Owens(1998) defines
administration simply as the art of getting things done through others in an organization.

Administration involves getting things done to accomplish defined objectives. The science of
administration is therefore the system of knowledge whereby man may understand
relationships, predict results and influence outcomes, in any situation where men are
organized at work together for a common purpose. The administrative process is
accomplished through the behaviour of administrators in interaction with others.

Administration is an important activity because it maintains an organization and directs the

activities of staff in their relations towards the accomplishment of the organization's purposes.
No group movement endures without administration to guide its operations.

NOTE

( In administration there must be common tasks/mutual problems which require

administration in the enterprise e.g. in a school, it would be the provision of services

to students (teaching, accounting, cooking for boarders, etc.). There also must exist
some specified objectives/desired goals. In schools, it would be to mould the students
into responsible, self-reliant citizens.

1.3 Educational Administration

Having defined administration in general, we can now apply it to our area of concern-
education. The question we are seeking to answer therefore, is, how administration applies to

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the education setting. Educational administration is an eclectic field. It sources its ideas from
a wide range of disciplines and fields.

Business administration, church administration, military administration etc. and educational

administration have many elements in common. Studies in one type of administration can be
used to improve administrative behaviour in other areas. There is always much to be learned
by a transfer of knowledge from one field of administration to another.

Whatever the setting, administration deals with or is concerned with mobilizing the efforts of
people towards the achievement of a common goal. However, the wholesale incorporation of
administrative practice from one field to another could be misleading. To illustrate this point,
in the manufacturing sector, the main concern is the production of goods and this is driven
purely by the profit motive. Education on the other hand, promotes the enrichment of living.
To accomplish the objectives in these two environments will definitely call for different
strategies.

Education administration has as its central purpose, the enhancement of teaching and
learning. All the activities of administrators, be they involving the public, the ministry of
education or the staff at school, should ultimately contribute to this end.

Kochhar(1993) defines educational administration as a comprehensive effort to direct,

guide and integrate associated human strivings which are focused towards achievement
of specific educational objectives. It deals with the do-how of educational principles and
objectives. Educational administration deals with educational institutions - right from the
schools and colleges to the ministry. It is concerned with both human and material resources.
The integration of human elements (students, teachers, parents, and other staff) and the
material resources (money, buildings, equipment) into a whole constitutes educational
administration.

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As an educational administrator you must bear in mind that, fundamentally, the purpose of
educational administration is to create such conditions that will promote the goal of education.
An efficient and sound system of educational administration is required to manage the
students, thousands of teaching and other staff, as well as the huge sums of money spent on
education. School administration must facilitate education; it exists for the pupil and its
efficiency must be measured by the extent to which it contributes to teaching and learning.
The school is the basic unit in the educational administration hierarchy.

1.4 The Concept OF Theory

Let us now analyze the concept of theory before we study the educational administration
theory proper. Since the study of organization is to a large extent theoretical in nature, it is
inevitable that we consider the nature and function of theory, especially as it applies to the
social sciences.

Theory is an endeavour to understand reality. It can be defined as "a conceptual scheme or

system that is held to explain a group of facts or phenomena, and to discover and
organize new facts. Simply put, theory is the systematically organized knowledge thought
to explain observed phenomena i.e. just as theory explains how planes fly, or the nature of
the solar system, we have theories about organizations and how they work. The dynamic and
progressive nature of knowledge leads to a creation of new concepts in an attempt to make
sense of concepts in use.

A theory is a rational explanation of how something is put together, of how it works, and why
it works that way. (Rational - means that which can be subjected to reason, that which is
sensible, argued out rather than guesswork).Theory is a set of assumptions or generalizations
supported by related philosophical and scientific principles. Theory explains what is, rather
than what ought to be. Theory provides an internally coherent way of looking at phenomena
in a described field, so that generalizations of the theory can be applied in specific areas. The

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terms of the application are consistent, inherent in the theory and special to the specific
instance.

1.4.1 Why Study Theory?

You may be asking why we study theory when as an educational administrator you will be
faced with practical and unique challenges. The answer is; we cannot think of the different
ways of organizing human beings in a collective effort without using theory. When we speak
of organizational notions such as hierarchical structure, leadership, bureaucracy, and
motivation, we are already engaged in theoretical discussion. Discussing educational
organization without reference to theory is like trying to discuss disease prevention without
reference to sanitation, nutrition, or public health.

- Theory is what provides the rationale for what one does. Skeptics may dismiss theory as
only an ideal state or ideal notion (that ignores practicalities). Theory is however,
crucial in shaping our every day perception and understanding of common place events.
- Theory provides a basis for thinking systematically about complex problems, such as
understanding the nature of educational organizations.
- Theory is useful because it enables us to describe what is going on, explain it and
predict future events under given circumstances (and therefore think about ways to
exercise control over events).

Thus, with regard to educational administration, theory is important in the following ways;
i) In a school, theory constitutes the basis upon which the headteacher can make references
on issues relating to school management.
ii) Theory provides a mode of analysis of practical events.
iii) Theory guides practical decision-making.

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Activity

h
• Select any traditional African community in Kenya or elsewhere.
Make an outline of administrative practices that were employed in
the organization of the community.
• From your experience as a school teacher, or as a student, show how
head teachers work with and through others to achieve the
objectives of the school.
• How do you see the relationship between school administration and
administration in other organizations? Do school administrators
have anything to learn from other types of administration such as
business administration?
• Reflect back to your days as a secondary school student. Outline
how the different administrators such as the provincial director of
education, the district education officer and head teacher contributed
to the enhancement of teaching and learning.
• Make a list of the key personnel involved in educational
administration at the national, provincial, district ,zonal and school
levels in Kenya

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Summary

€
In this lesson, we have learnt that administration is an ancient practice. The discipline
of administration however, is relatively new. We have also learnt the importance of
theory in education administration, and stressed that the primary purpose of education
administration is to enhance teaching and learning. We are now ready to study the
educational administration theories. These shall be the focus in our next lesson
.

Further reading

Š
Kochhar, S. K. (1993) Secondary School Administration. New Delhi: Sterling

Olembo, J.O. & Cameron, J. (1986) Practical Primary School Administration for
Students, Teachers and Heads. London: Edward Arnold (publishers) ltd.

Owens G.R. (1998) Organizational Behavior in Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon
Ltd.

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Lesson 2
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION THEORIES

2.0 Introduction

We have defined the terms administration and theory. In this lesson, we are going to describe
the major theories about organization that developed mostly in the early twentieth century.
These form the foundation of management thought. We have already noted that whereas the
practice of administration has been with mankind since the ancient times, the ‘science of
administration’ is relatively young. We shall now attempt to trace the development of
administrative theory. These theories apply as much to fields other than education.

2.1 Objectives

ΠBy the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Outline the development of educational administration theory.
• Explain the basic tenets of classical, human relations, and behavioural theories
• Demonstrate the application of administration theory to secondary schools in
Kenya.

We shall present three schools of management thought;

• the classical theory, comprising of;
scientific management
administrative management and
bureaucracy
• human relations theory and
• behavioural theory.

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2.2 CLASSICAL THEORY (Classical School Of Thought)

The Industrial Revolution gave rise to the need for a more sophisticated approach to
administration. Due to the development of new manufacturing technologies, great quantities
of raw materials and large numbers of workers were concentrated in the emerging factories.
It became increasingly difficult to coordinate all these resources into a smoothly running
process; hence people began to pay more attention to the problems of management.

Although several people made considerable contribution to the early development of

management thought, three prominent personalities are taken to represent the classical
movement. These are Fredrick W. Taylor, Henry Fayol, and Max Weber.

2.2.1. Scientific Management Theory

By F. W. Taylor

We shall first study the work of Fredrick Taylor who is associated with Scientific
Management. Scientific Management, in general, arose in early 1900s out of a need to
improve manufacturing productivity through more efficient use of physical and human
resources. Factories were experiencing problems in formulating proper work procedures,
establishing job boundaries, and coordinating the flow of materials. Of the engineers who
developed interest in the process of work, Fredrick Taylor (1856 - 1915) became the most
prominent and is referred to as the Father of scientific management. He developed the
scientific approach to management.

Taylor’s ideas were born of his many years' experience at Midvale Steel, Simonds Rolling
Machine and Bethlehem Steel Company. Having dropped out of school, he worked first as a

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labourer, then clerk, then machinist and rose through the ranks to become an engineer after
studying engineering privately.

2 Taylor's Philosophy of Work was:

That workers were motivated by the prospect of high material reward: if wages were
closely tied to the volume of work, they would be motivated towards high output,
provided working methods were designed to maximize production

From his technical experience in industry, Taylor noticed that workers were both in charge of
planning and performing their jobs; this he observed, led to waste and inefficiency. He knew
that much higher productivity was possible without unreasonable effort by workers. He
believed that application of scientific methods could yield higher productivity without
expenditure of too much human effort/energy. To demonstrate his point, he invented the high-
speed steel cutting machines. His basic approach to studying work was to observe the separate
functions and motions each worker performed in his job, and from this analysis, re-design the
job in a more efficient manner -"the best way”. His principal concern was to increase
production efficiency so as to lower costs and raise profits. Higher productivity would in
turn lead to increased pay for workers. Taylor also observed that, many workers simply
worked and produced less rather than more, owing to the fear that they might overwork
themselves out of a job.

His basic principles were:

i) Workers should be given high targets to stretch them to maximum capacity.

Management should specify daily outputs based on detailed job-analysis that shows the
most efficient way to do work.
ii) Work should be done under standard conditions using the most efficient working
methods. The work environment should be carefully controlled.

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iii) Division of labour (job specialization) should be applied to the maximum, because,
through repetition at work, speed and skill would be developed, leading to high
productivity. Duplication of effort should be avoided and workers saved from time-
wasting tasks such as fetching materials, transporting products, and arranging tools. Each
worker should know his job well and become a specialist in it (including management).
For management, he referred to this as functional foremanship - the concept holds that
each employee should be supervised by several foremen, each with distinct
responsibilities, such as, one for machine speeds, another for repair, another discipline.
iv) Time-study Principle: All productive effort should be measured by accurate time study
and a standard time established for all work done. It should therefore be possible to know
how much time is required to properly accomplish a given task
v) Piece-rate Principle: Pay (wages) should be proportional to output so as to stimulate
effort and encourage cooperation i.e. wage incentives should be an integral part of each
job. The rates should be based on standards determined by time-study. Time study refers
to analyzing a job task to determine the amount of time required to complete it. Lastly, a
worker should be given the highest grade of work of which they are capable.
vi) Separation of planning from performance principle: Management should take over
from workers, the responsibility of planning work as well as for making the performance
physically possible. Also, everything in the organization should be done by plan, (daily
plans to yearly plans). Planning and scheduling should serve to put people and materials
at right place, right time, and ready to work or in proper condition for use. There should
be a clear division of responsibility between management and workers.
vii) Management should ensure the proper selection, training and development of
workers, using scientific and systematic methods. Workers should be trained for
specific jobs.
viii) Scientific methods-of-work principle (elimination of rule-of-thumb approaches) in
deciding how each worker should do a job. Management should use the scientific
method rather than intuition and experience to determine work activities, ensure each
motion and movement is the most efficient possible. For example, Taylor's analysis of
the process of loading iron onto a flat car resulted in a 400% increase in tonnage loaded

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 per worker. Taylor observed worker's movements along with the time needed to complete
a particular movement, and then redesigned the job giving it highly efficient motions and
specific times for each step. This led to the contemporary time and motion studies.
ix) Establish the discipline whereby management sets the objectives and the workers
cooperate in achieving them. He advocated for the achievement of the cooperation of
human beings, rather than chaotic individualism.
x) Working should always be for maximum output, rather than restricted output.

The above principles, which were developed by Taylor as a result of his studies on work,
were published in "The Principles of Scientific Management," (1911).His principles
formally differentiate roles and responsibilities of workers and managers. They also mandate
a top-down hierarchical relationship between the two groups.

Though his principles aimed at lowering unit cost in factory production, he (and his
followers) claimed they could apply universally. His principles were criticized for treating
men like machines and for ignoring the psychological and personal aspects of mobilizing
human effort. Still, he demonstrated that many jobs could be done more efficiently and he
introduced scientific study into management. His principles had enormous impact during his
time and led to time-and-motion studies, rigid discipline at work, and strict application of pay
incentive systems .His work has had a lasting contribution toward making jobs and their
management more efficient and productive and led others to continue the formulation of
management thought.
Activity

h
• In your own words, explain the phrase ‘treating men like machines’. Use an example
from the school situation to show how a head teacher may ‘treat men like machines’

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2.2.2 Administrative Management Theory
By Henri Fayol (1841 - 1925)

Scientific management, with its emphasis on efficient production was quite limited in scope.
Even though efficiency of production was important, of great importance too were issues
related to management of the total organization. The management of organizations had
become more complex than could be handled by scientific management principles alone.
From this situation, emerged Administrative Theory. Of the several contributors to this
theory, Henri Fayol stands out.

While Taylor's ideas were picking momentum and their application became popular, a French
mining engineer, Henri Fayol, (1841 - 1925), was working out some powerful ideas. He
wrote extensively on management topics. Unlike Taylor who had a technician's background,
Fayol had the background of a top-management executive (was born in a well to do French
family). These different backgrounds are reflected in their perceptions.

i) Unlike Taylor who concentrated on the worker and studied him as an extension of factory
machinery, Fayol focused on the manager.
ii) Fayol clearly separated the process of administration from other operations such as
production i.e. he made the distinction between operations and managerial activities.
iii) Fayol emphasized the common elements of the process of administration. Fayol is
considered to be the father of Modern Management Theory.

Fayol's book, ‘General and Industrial Administration’ (1916), had a major impact on the
emerging field of management. In it, he described the necessity and possibility of teaching
principles and elements (functions) of management. The now famous elements are Planning,
Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating and Control.

Fayol believed that a trained administrative group was essential to improving operations of
the organization, which was becoming increasingly complex. He asserted that administrative

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 ability can and should be acquired first at school, then at work. Like Taylor, he believed the
process of production could be analyzed and studied scientifically .He also focused on
increased efficiency, at the expense of the individual, just like Taylor.

Fayol established himself as the first organizational theorist with definition of administration
in terms of five functions (elements); that management could be split into 5 broad areas;

i) Planning (forecasting) –he defined it as looking into the future and deciding what shall
be done depending on occurrence of certain events.
ii) Organizing: he described this as the process of dividing work into units and allocating
these to people and departments i.e. establishing the structure of authority, responsibility
and tasks.
iii) Commanding: this is the issuing of instructions to ensure targets are met.
iv) Coordination: refers to the unification of effort and it ensures all activities bind the
organization together to achieve a common goal.
v) Controlling: This element entails setting targets, monitoring activity to ensure targets are
met and taking remedial action to deal with divergence of actual from target
performance. Simply put, it's the evaluation of activities against stated goals and plans.

Fayol also believed in the universality of certain principles of administration (management)

applicable to any organization. He proposed 14 principles to guide managers in resolving
concrete problems. He emphasized the fact that flexibility and a sense of proportion were
essential to managers who adopted the principles to particular situations and warned against
the rigid dogmatic interpretation of them. This is unlike Taylor who held firmly to the
uniform, emphatic application of principles.

Fayol’s principles of management

Fayol believed that success in management results from application of a set of administrative
principles of management. Five of the 14 principles were concerned with improvement of

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human relations, one emphasized production efficiency and the other eight were directed
toward administration of the organization.

Principles Emphasizing Human Relations

These are:-subordination of individual interest to the general interest, equity, stability of
tenure of personal interest, initiative, and esprit de’ corps.

i. Subordination of individual interest to general interest.

Individuals/small groups within the organization should make their needs secondary to
those of the firm. The firm, in turn, should place its interests second to those of society.
ii. Equity
Equity is composed of kindliness and justice. It means that there should be equal
application of policies and practices to all groups/individuals.

iii. Stability of tenure of personnel

Production workers must have a sense of tenurial security in order to learn their jobs
so that they perform them well. This means that they should have a level of guaranteed
security in their position of work as long as they conform to expectations of their job
They must also have a sense of psychological security. For the management, security
allows them to learn the organization better.

iv. Initiative
There should be participation in the solution of problems. Ideas and energies of
workers should be tapped in the solution of problems.

v. Esprit de Corps
That in union, there is strength Management must “avoid divide and conquer”
techniques and instead unify all the divergent groups and individuals. There should be
loyalty that unites members of a group, expressed in team work spirit.

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Principle emphasizing production efficiency

i) Division of work
Proper division of work leads to increased skills, reduction in learning time, and increased
efficiency resulting from not having to change from one task to another.

Principles emphasizing administration

They deal with the direction of day-to-day operations.
i) Authority. Authority is the right to give orders and it comes with responsibility (the
obligation to complete duties). When the manager is granted authority, it comes with a
responsibility. Managers must not abuse authority but rather, work with integrity.

ii) Discipline
This is the respect shown by all members of the organization towards policies and
rules governing their conduct. Fayol proposed that good discipline could be achieved
by presenting agreement rules e.t.c. to workers as clearly and fairly possible. Penalties
and disciplining should be fair and be executed by competent supervisors.

iii) Unity of command

Orders should originate from one source only. Subordinates should be assured that
only one individual can give them orders.

iv) Unity of direction

Refers to work activities or plan of the group: for one plan, there should be one
director or head. It compliments unity of command.

v) Centralization
Actions that tend to reduce the authority/responsibility of subordinates by placing
more authority in the hands of a superior are considered as leading to greater degree of

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 centralization of authority to makes decisions. Those that increase responsibility and
authority at lower levels result in a greater degree of decentralization of authority in
decisions making. There is no absolute level of centralization recommended.
The desired level depends on the situation (the nature of the firm, the type of problem
an the capabilities of the subordinates

vi) Scalar Chain Principle

Definite lines of authority should be established from the bottom to the top, in such
ways that exact lines of authority relationships between successive levels of
management are clear. When it is necessary for individual in different sections to
work directly with each other, to attain speed of action, the chain of command should
be short-circuited, provided concerned parties are informed.

vi) Remuneration Principle Rests on the assumption that wages paid should be based on
the concepts of equity and be satisfactory to workers and the company. In payment of
bonuses and profit sharing the mode of payment should be suited for particular
situation.

viii) Order
Means that in addition to the neat arrangement of physical materials, there should be a
device showing the place of every person in the organization and the relationship of
each to the other. An example of such information may be shown through the
organization chart.

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2.2.3 Bureaucracy

Fayol’s Principles of Management

Human Relations
-Subordination of individual interests - Stability of tenure of personnel
-Equity. - Initiative
- Esprit de’ corps
Production Efficiency
Division of work
Administration
-Authority - Centralization
-Discipline - Scalar chain
-Unity of command - Remuneration
-Unit of direction - Order
During Taylor and Fayol's time, the western society was becoming increasingly
organizational. Giant industrial organizations emerged in the 1900s, engendering a similar
growth in other organizational aspects of life. The simple pre-industrial era social and
political structures began to look inadequate in the industrialized society. A lot of social,
political and economic friction resulted as evidenced in the increasing sense of conflict
between individuals and organizations. There was a lot of labour unrest, revolution and a rise
in communism. In this setting, Max Weber, a German sociologist produced some useful,
durable and brilliant work on administrative system; the bureaucracy. It has seemed
indispensable since then.

Weber saw hope in bureaucracy in the attempt to counter authoritarian industrialists. He

believed that well run bureaucracies would offer a fairer, more impartial, more predictable,
more rational administrative system than organizations subject to the unpredictability and
biases of powerful individuals. He asserted that well-run bureaucracies would be more

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efficient since bureaucrats are highly trained, technical specialists in a limited portion of
administrative task.

The proposed bureaucratic apparatus would be impersonal, minimizing irrational, personal

and emotional factors, while at the same time, allowing bureaucratic personnel to work with
little friction and confusion. This leads to expert, impartial and unbiased service to clients.
Bureaucratic organization is characterized by mechanical regimentation (people/things
organized into rigid groups, patterns of doing things), strict discipline, top-down authority and
following of rules.

The bureaucratic model proposed by Weber is an ideal type; an abstract form against which
actual manifestations can be compared. It is rarely found in its pure form but organizations
approximate to this model to some degree.

In an ideal bureaucracy, Weber envisioned characteristics that, in a sense, are principles of

administration. These elements are:

i) Specialization (division of labour) .There should be division of labour based on

specialization.
ii) A well-defined hierarchy of authority.
iii) A system of rules covering rights and duties of employees e.g. school rules, code of
ethics.
iv) A system of procedures for dealing with work situations e.g. schemes of work
v) Impersonality in interpersonal relations i.e. impartiality in relationships at work.
vi) Selection and Promotion based on technical competence.

In a truly bureaucratic organization, goals are determined by those legally empowered to do

so, and the means to achieving these are specified and codified. They are passed down a

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hierarchy of competent personnel who ensure impersonal (without favour or emotional bias)
application of rules.

The ideal type of bureaucracy is seen as foolproof, since, if everyone went by the book,
nothing would go wrong. In bureaucracy, there exists anonymity; rights, duties, power,
authorities are not attached to individuals but to the office. When an individual vacates
official position, they cease to wield the authority and power of that office

Bureaucracy, as described by Weber is not a derogatory term referring to frustrating red-tape.

It was conceived as a rational, goal-directed hierarchy. The bureaucratic concept was an
attempt to minimize the frustrations and irrationality of large organizations where
relationships were based on class privilege. Rules and procedures allow managers to eliminate
the uncertainty of individual differences in job performance. It thus provides order. Offices or
positions of authority must be organized into a hierarchical structure that defines scope of
authority. This influence dimension gives the mechanisms to establish and hold some form of
order.
Impersonality: superiors should have an impersonal attitude in dealing with each other and
subordinates. The psychological and social distance enables them to make decisions without
the influence of prejudices and preferences. Everyone should be subject to the same rules and
evaluation should be based on expertise and performance.

Careers: Employment and promotion should be based on qualifications and merit.

The characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy still appeal to many people to date. The idea that
effectiveness can be achieved by emphasis on efficiency, stability and control has been
attractive for many managers. The bureaucratic model, no doubt holds a lot of relevance to
any modern organization. However, there are issues inherent in the model that have been
noted by critics. Let us now address a few of these issues;

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The danger of bureaucratic model is that over-reliance on formal controls and impersonality
suppresses initiative and decision making in middle and lower ranks.

Excessive red tape: Rules provide a limited strategy for achieving coordination. In some
cases, other strategies may be required. Bureaucracy advocates for addition of more rules to
cover all contingencies and this results in too much red-tape. Once established in a
bureaucracy, it is difficult to eliminate ineffectual rules and procedures, leading to confusion,
and frustration.

Inflexibility: Bureaucratic insistence on "one best way" can be rigid even in the face of
rapidly changing internal and external environment.

Dominance of authority: In bureaucracy, authority is so dominant and strong that many

managers are unwilling to give up some of the authority when the situation warrants.
Managers also attempt to acquire as much status, authority and power as possible ("empire
building")

Hoyle (1986) observes that we should make a distinction between bureaucracy as structure
and bureaucracy as style. Some elements of bureaucracy such as hierarchy are inherent in
organizational structure and thus inevitable in schools. But other elements vary according to
administrative style. The number and detail of rules laid down by the head teacher, for
example, will determine the extent to which the school is perceived to be bureaucratic.

Bureaucratic model became the most widely adopted and successful form of structuring
organization. In spite of criticisms and drawbacks, it remains the more common ideal of
organization, to the extent that some people view it as the defining concept of organization.

25
Note

( The bureaucratic model is an abstract ideal. Ideal as used here does not imply

perfect, but rather a model which organizations apply to various degrees. In practice, it
hardly exists in its pure form

Activity

h
Try to visualize a school in which none of the described elements of the bureaucratic
model apply in its organization? Outline the problems that would result from such an
unlikely scenario

26
Revision Questions

V
• What was the major difference in focus between Taylor’s and Fayol’s
theories?
• How did Taylor’s and Fayol’s backgrounds influence their theoretical
perspectives?
• To what extent would you say each of the classical theories presented so far
applies to secondary school administration in Kenya?
• Reflect on the administration of schools in Kenya. To what extent do schools
manifest themselves as bureaucracies?
• In what sense does the bureaucratic model provide a rational, impartial,
predictable and fair system of administration?

2.3 HUMAN RELATIONS THEORY

As the study of the problems of organization and administration became established, the
principles of classical theory received more attention as well as challenge from scholars and
practitioners .There soon emerged some opposition to classical thought. Human Relations
constituted the second major approach to administration. Of the contributors to this approach,
Elton Mayo and Mary Parker Follet remains the most notable.

Human Relations movement replaced focus on structure of the organization with an emphasis
on employee motivation and job satisfaction. It recognizes the human factor in institutions.
Human Relation movement was motivated by the increasing dissatisfaction with scientific

27
management approach for treating employees as mechanistic element in the productive
process. It made great effort therefore to focus on establishing the relationship between work
environment and productivity. The classical approach was built on the premise that with
efficiently designed jobs, the right incentives and proper use of managerial functions,
productivity would increase. This formal, impersonal approach inevitably met with resistance
from workers, hence the development towards a human relations approach, whose main
contention was that man is A SOCIAL ANIMAL with an affinity for group affiliation.

Note

( Human Relations Movement stresses that concern for workers should be a

priority in administration.

2.3.1 Mary Parker Follet

Mary Follet was born in 1868 in Australia and was a political and social philosopher who
developed a keen interest in the analysis of business and public administration. She was a
philanthropist who dedicated her life to bringing about a better-ordered society that promotes
a satisfying life for the individual. Though initially her ideas were rooted in classical thought,
they matured in such a way that she spanned the gap between scientific management and
human relations. To Follet, the fundamental problem of any enterprise is the building and
maintenance of dynamic yet harmonious human relations.

Follet viewed the management first, as social process, and secondly, as inextricably enmeshed
in the particular situation. This means that the administrative process is so closely linked and
dependent on the situation that it is hard to separate the two. The administrators’ behaviour
and performance is influenced by the environment in which she /he operates

28
She opposed the top-down flow authority in hierarchy and proposed that not just one person
should give orders; rather, all should seek to take orders from the situation itself. Management
is an ever-changing, dynamic process in response to emerging situations. This contrasts
classical view of prescribed static universal principles of action.

Her work emphasized the administrative system as both a social and economic entity. She
developed principles of human association and group organization in industrial situations
Follet regarded group coordination and integration as the important task of administration and
sought to identify the factors that lead to integration of groups. She analyzed the nature of
consent and argued that; democratic groups are based on consent, and the degree of consent of
a group towards a leader constantly changes over time. She suggested that management
should consult with the labour force and actively seek its cooperation.

Since situations, rather than people should determine what’s to be done, the primary task of
management is to interpret situations correctly to be able to make objective decisions. Parker
Follet’s work contributed to the opposition against engineering approach to people at work
and her work began the shift from emphasis on work process an organizational aspect of
administration and introduced the elements of individuals’ development and values. Follet
was the first great proponent (supporter and advocate) of human relations in administration,
but it remained for Elton Mayo and colleagues to give empirical data to support this view.

2.3.2 Elton Mayo (1880-1949)

Elton was an Australian professor of industrial research, who worked with a team of Harvard
Researchers. Though he was initially a follower of F.W Taylor, through the findings of his
work, he opposed the validity of the scientific management approach.

29
In one of Mayo’s early researches in a textile mill, “The first Inquiry”, the factory was
experiencing high employee turn-over, in spite of the fact that the mill had introduced
financial incentives. It had been assumed that, workers, being ‘economic animals’ were easy
to motivate through financial rewards. Yet, workers here still suffered low morale, fatigue
and depression. Mayo’s research introduced rest periods and more employee participation in
decision making, and efficiency/ productivity was improved.

The Western Electric Co. (Chicago) conducted research (1924 – 1927) to determine effect of
lighting and other conditions upon workers and their productivity at the Hawthorne plant.
Surprisingly, production increased whatever the alteration of physical factors and this,
confused the researchers. Mayo and his Harvard associates were called into the Hawthorne
plant, and conducted the now famous and significant Hawthorne studies between 1927 –1932.
True to scientific management tradition of problem solving through elaborate research, they
studied two groups (the test group and control group). The test group was subjected to
variation of physical conditions such as illumination and noise while the control group
maintained the normal conditions. Again, in both groups, productivity was boosted. Mayo,
thus discovered that, another factor was responsible for the change. The workers in the two
groups knew they were being observed and this enhanced their self-esteem, a phenomenon
now described as the Hawthorne Effect.

They felt special (group pride) and this encouraged cooperative behavior among the group. It
thus emerged that social relationship exerted strong influence on production. Also, since the
groups were given a sympathetic leader who was a member of the group, better performance
was reinforced. The workers reacted not to illumination, but to the experiment itself and their
involvement in it. The Hawthorne effect implies that they worked in the way they thought the
experimenters wanted them to, since they were the centre of attention.

The experiments demonstrated that economic and mechanistic approaches to human relations
at work were inadequate; that, what goes on inside a worker is more significant for production
that what goes on outside.

30
What proved more influential to behavior than physical conditions were;
a. Interpersonal relationship within groups
b. Relations between groups and their supervisor
c. The fact that wages were not the dominant motivator for workers.

The workers defended norms and standards established with other people within and beyond
the working group.

Mayo’s study led to the following conclusions;

i. People are social beings, not economic beings.
ii. As social beings, they belong to groups social groups should therefore be involved in
discussing problems and getting solutions
iii. For successful human relations, there should be an able and sincere leader, who is
recognized as such by workers.
iv. The influence of the informal work group has great impact on productivity, and
management should thus strive to turn the informal group into a positive, productive
force. People respond better to work-group pressure than to management control
activities.

The Hawthorne studies impacted significantly on management thought, and led to classical
school teachings and practices being questioned for their dehumanizing nature. Emphasis
thus began to shift from the economic man, to the ‘social man’ for whom social context of
work ranked high. At work, the worker rather than the job became the focal point for
managerial activities.

Summary on the Fundamental Propositions of the Human Relations Movement

i. Amount of work done by a person depends not so much on strength or physical

conditions of work, but rather on social conditions surrounding work

31
 ii. Non-economic rewards such as security and happiness ,can motivate workers more
than wages
iii. Specialization/division of labour is not necessarily efficient. Variety, especially where
initiative and discretion are encouraged, can stimulate interest to the point of increased
productivity.
iv. Individuals perceive themselves as members of groups. Norms of behaviour emanate
from standards set by groups which workers belong, not standards set by managers.
v. Work performance depends not just on the individual, but on the network of social
relationship within organization.
vi. Managers should be sensitive to people and strive to develop human relations or social
skills for working with employees.

The Human Relations Movement is credited with changing organization style to place less-
emphasis on rigid interpretation of efficiency (as suggested by Taylor) and suggests instead,
greater attention on obtaining cooperation of employees and helping them to identify more
closely with the organization. It replaces focus on structure of organization with and
emphasis on employee motivation and job-satisfaction.

Activity

h Assume you are the headteacher of a secondary school in Kenya. Describe

briefly, how you can improve your administrative conduct in the light of the phrase”
what goes on inside a worker is more important than what goes on outside’

Implications of Human Relations Theory for School Administration

32
If educational managers understand and recognize the existence of social systems in the
educational environment, they will be better placed to integrate these groups into the overall
operations of the school e.g. groupings could be formalized into clubs such as debate,
journalism, and teacher’s welfare. The groups can then be used to enhance teaching, learning
and cooperation.

Human relations theory enables educational administrators to recognize the human factor in
institution. Employees/students have personal needs and talents. Recognition of individual
potential not only motivates them, but also awakens them to use available resources to
enhance their skills as individuals or groups. To detect individual talents, the administrator
should cultivate an environment which assures teachers, students and workers that their ideas
and contributions are important for overall organizational efficiency.

Finally educational managers should show concern about conditions of work and learning
environment. When deliberate efforts are made to improve conditions of work, members
will, in turn be motivated.

Revision Questions

V
• What was the significance of the Hawthorne Effect in Elton Mayo’s study?
• What was the key factor that led to the development of human relations movement?
• Explain the statement ‘people are social beings ,not economic beings’

33
2.4 BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE MOVEMENT

2.4.1 Introduction
The work of Mayo and others pioneered the movement towards better understanding of
people at work. Later researchers, who were better trained in the social sciences such as
psychology, sociology and anthropology, began investigating human resources in
management with more sophisticated research techniques. This led to the field of
organizational behaviour. Of those who contributed immensely to this school of thought, we
shall study the work of Chester Barnard who played a pioneering role. Others such as
Abraham Maslow, Fredrick Herzberg and MacGregor have also had a lasting impact on
behavioural science movement. Behavioural science theory developed from human relations
studies .It saw the Human Relations Movement as representing an incomplete view of human
behaviour in work situations.

Behavioural science movement views worker’s motivation in terms of such factors as; work
itself, the nature of incentive system, interpersonal relations, management style, workers
needs and values and work environment. The movement therefore attempted to provide an
integrated approach to management through relating it to disciplines such as anthropology,
sociology and psychology. The Behaviouralists argued that behaviour of people in
organization cannot be explained by human interactions alone, but also, by other factors such
as organizational structure, job design, technology and management style.

Chester Barnard appears to have been the first to relate administration to the behavioural
sciences. According to Barnard, people form organisations in order to achieve goals they
could not achieve working alone. His major point was that, an organization can only operate
efficiently and survive when both the organisation’s goals and those of the individuals
working in it are kept in balance. He gave the three basic elements of organization as;

a) System of cooperation
b) common purpose

34
 c) emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness

Barnard also studied the areas of motivation, decision-making, communication and objectives.
For example, he proposed that worker cooperation and motivation were related to the balance
between inducement and contributions. Inducements are the sum totals of rewards (financial
and non-financial) employees receive in exchange for their efforts (contributions). He also
introduced what later became the acceptance theory of authority; that employees will
determine whether an order is legitimate and whether or not to accept or reject it. This means
that if an order agrees with how they view the goals of the organization, and their own
interests, they will accept it.

Barnard points out that in each formal organization, there are informal organizations. Informal
organization involves the interactions of people without a specific joint purpose. It is not
guided by the official organizational patterns of relationship. Such interactions however, do
change the experience, knowledge, attitudes and emotions of people. He also asserted that
individual satisfaction greatly affects organizational achievement.

Several other scholars made significant contribution towards behavioural science movement,
the most notable being Douglas Macgregor, with his theory X and Y, Fredrick Herzberg and
Abraham Maslow. The work of these theorists is presented in detailed form in the lesson on
motivation theories.

Activity

h
Consider the relationships among members of staff in a school. Describe the type of
informal organizations that may be formed in the school organization. How do these
differ from the formal organization?

35
Revision Questions

V
xIn what way did the behaviouralists view the Human Relations Theory as deficient?
xMake a list of the inducements given to and contributions made by staff in schools in
the context of Chester Barnards’ analysis of cooperation and motivation
xDo you find the behavioural theory relevant to the challenges of secondary school
administration in Kenya? Provide a brief outline of your view.

Summary

±
In this lesson, we have traced the development of what we have for the purpose of this
course called educational administration theory. The number of personalities we have
presented are by no means exhaustive; rather, these are considered to be representative
of the development of the theories. Our lesson began with classical theory which
placed emphasis on form and structure of the organization and work .Taylor was
mostly concerned with the organization of the work process for efficiency. Fayol was
primarily concerned with increasing efficiency among the executives (top
management).He was a pioneer in clearly identifying management in a coherent form.
Weber’s bureaucratic model was designed to provide a fairer, impartial and rational
approach to management. Secondly, we studied the human relations theory which
advocates work humanization. The theory criticizes classical theory for ignoring the
human aspect of work. The last school of thought studied was the behavioural
movement which attempts to provide a more comprehensive view of organization.

36
Further Reading

Š
Hoyle Eric (1986). The Politics of School Management. London: Hodder and
Stoughton
Koontz, H.; O’Donnnel, C. and Weihrich, H. (1981). Management. Tokyo: McGraw-
Hill co.
Owen, G. Roberts. (1998). Organizational Behaviour in Education. Boston: Allyn
and Bacon Ltd
Szilagyi, A.D. (1984) Management and Performance. Dallas: Scott, Foresman and
Co.

37
Lesson 3

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES

3.1 Introduction
In our last lesson, we studied the educational administration theories. The next question you
might be asking is; what are the functions of the administrator? This question was addressed
by Fayol in early 20th century. As early as 1916, Fayol dealt with what he called the elements
of management – Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating and Controlling. The
administrative process is a conceptualization intended as a useful guide to the administrator
that suggests how the educational administrator would behave if they want their activity to
result to the best attainment of objectives.

3.2 Objectives

Œ
• At the end of this lesson, you should be able to list the elements of the administrative
process.
• Define each element of the administrative process.
• Demonstrate the application of the elements of the administrative process to school
administration in Kenya.

3.3 Components of the Administrative Process ( POSDCoRB)

To Fayol’s list that constituted the administrative processes, he attached special meaning to
each element. Since then, numerous other variations of the list have been suggested. The

38
better known of these variations is that of Gullick and Urwick (1935). Gullick’s taxonomy,
better known or memorized in educational administration as POSDCoRB, was for long seen
to be the ultimate in administrative thought. POSDCoRB is an abbreviation coined from the
first letter of each word in the list.

P-Planning
O-Organizing
S-Staffing
D-Directing
C-Coordinating
R-Reporting
B-Budgeting

Fayol’s treatment of the administrative functions shown above had a major impact on
subsequent formulations of the administrative process (such as Gullick’s).When discussing
the process of administration; it is convenient to describe each function of the process
separately. This however, does not mean that administrative processes are a series of discrete
functions; they may be performed simultaneously. Gullick’s POSDCoRB stands for activities
necessary to the proper functioning of the administrative process and he acknowledged it as
an adaptation of Fayol’s functional analysis.

3.3.1 Planning
According to Gullick, it is the working out in broad outline the things that need to be done and
the methods for doing them to accomplish organization’s objectives. It is one of the most
important administrative functions because it sets the pattern for other activities to follow. It
encompasses four elements,

39
 i. Evaluating environmental forces and organizational resources- this enables us to know
where we stand know the problems we need to solve, understand dangers of the
situation and the expected results.
ii. Establishing goals (both for enterprise and individuals )
iii. Developing strategies and plans
iv. Formulating decision-making processes

Planning is generally accorded primacy since logically it is the first function that is
performed. The results of planning are plans that serve as guide for the actions of
members of staff. Some plans are developed to serve a given project, for example,
building a new plant, or school hall .Some become relatively permanent in nature and are
called standing plans, for example, schemes of work, policies, procedure and methods.

In its simplest form, planning is an activity that can be executed by any member of the
organisation. A teacher may plan their individual dairy for his or her work schedule.
Planning involves setting missions and objectives and the actions for achieving them. It
involves decision-making and choosing future courses of action from alternatives.
Planning bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to be in future. It thus
involves introduction of new things and workable implementation strategy. Although the
future cannot always be accurately predicted, unless there is planning, actions will be
aimless and left to chance. Plans enable people to know their purposes and objectives,
their tasks and the guidelines to follow.

3.2.2 Organising
People working together have roles to play .Role implies that people have definite purpose
or objectives. Staff in organization will work effectively if they know the part they are to
play in any team operation and how their roles relate to one another. To design and
maintain these systems of role is the basic managerial function of organizing.
Organizing involves:
i. Identifying and classifying the activities

40
 ii. Grouping the activities (departmentation)
iii. Assigning each group to a manager (supervisor)

Organizing therefore, involves establishing an internal structure of roles for people to fill
in an organization. It ensures that all tasks are assigned

Gullick defines organizing as the establishment of the formal structure of authority

through which work subdivisions are arranged, defined and coordinated for the defined
objective. It is the establishing of the formal structure of authority through which work is
performed, assigned and coordinated .Organizing involves laying out the program of the
enterprise and assigning responsibilities and functions to members of staff. Organizing in
may be seen as establishing order, function and design. That is, after plans have been
developed, the emphasis moves to designing and developing an organization that can
implement the plans.

3.3.3 Staffing
This refers to hiring and training members of staff and maintaining favourable working
conditions. It is the whole personnel function of bringing and training staff after which,
ensuring that the conditions of work in which they operate are favourable.

Staffing may also be defined as the filling and keeping filled the positions in the
organization structure. It involves identifying work force requirements, inventorying the
people available, recruiting, selecting, placing, promoting, planning their career,
compensating and training (staff development). In Kenya, Teachers’ Service Commision
is responsible for much of this role.

Note

( Staffing function involves more than just hiring staff

41
3.3.4 Directing

It is sometimes referred to as commanding or simulating. It is the continued supervision of

workers and their work, making decisions and leading the enterprise. This function is
performed at all levels of authority and in all departments of the enterprise. After plans
have been formulated and issues of staffing resolved, the next logical step becomes
directing the employees towards attaining the stated goals. The essential function of
directing is to get employees to perform towards achieving the goals. It involves
motivating and influencing employees.

3.3.5 Coordinating

In any organization efforts are made in different ways. Employees working for similar interest
may interpret them differently. It becomes important to reconcile differences in approach,
effort or interest and to harmonize individual goals to contribute to organizational goals.
Coordinating therefore is interrelating the parts of the total enterprise into a
harmonious whole and avoiding conflict and duplications, which interfere with the
entire enterprise.

Teachers at the different levels of the school coordinate to ensure smooth transition from one
class to the next. This could be for the purpose of content sequencing .Also, teachers teaching
different streams need to coordinate to ensure their activities are in sync. Teachers in different
departments may need to coordinate to avoid duplication.

Coordination is necessary for integrating specialized and diverse functions into one whole. It
assists individual staff members to work together in a team relationship. An often used way of
coordination is having one person responsible for knowing what all others in the group are
doing, so that he/she relates activities of each person to that of others. The person charged
with coordination must:

42
 i. Know the relations among people
ii. Understand allocation of tasks
iii. Know the division of labour necessary to achievement

3.3.6 Reporting

This entails keeping all members of staff informed of what goes on so that they may be able
to perform their part or role in a harmonious and coordinated way. This involves keeping the
subordinates and their superiors informed through records, research, inspection and memo.
The head teacher is responsible to educational authorities and society for whatever is done at
the institution. It is important therefore that records are kept and reports sent to concerned
parties.

3.3.7 Budgeting

Budgeting refers to fiscal planning, accounting control and maintaining the financial stability
of the enterprise. Budgeting involves preparing formal statements of future expenditure,
revenues and expected profits to control the use of the organization’s financial resources.
Budgeting is a detailed administrative practice used to ensure goals, plans and policies are
met. They set a standard for output (production). By specifying resources to be used,
budgeting helps successful implementation of strategies. Budgeting leads to efficient use of
resources, preserves resources, and establishes a mechanism for analysis. It is concerned with
all that goes on in the enterprise in the form of fiscal planning, accounting and control.

Note.

( There are other formulations of the administrative process. All these are variations
of Fayol’s classification of the elements of management. POSDCoRB is one of the
taxonomies that are more commonly referred to.

43
Activity

h
• Make a list of the staffing activities that are conducted by the Teachers’ Service
Commission in Kenya. What is the head teacher’s role as school administrator in the
staffing function?
• Briefly describe some of the problems that would be experienced in a school in the
absence of proper coordination.

Revision questions

V Why is the planning function considered to be important for all the other functions of the

administrative process?
• ‘The administrative processes are not a series of discrete functions’. Explain why this is so.
• Why is budgeting more than just a mere statement of what the organization intends to spend?
• Make a list o all the people that you would be required to report to regularly as a headteacher of
a secondary school in Kenya?
• In what way is coordinating the establishment of order, function and design?
• List five examples of the planning process in the school.
• What is the key role of directing?
• Give an example of a situation where the school administrator may perform three different
functions from the administrative process simultaneously

44
Further Reading

Š
Koontz,H., O’Donnel, C., Weihrich, H. Management. Tokyo: McGraw-Hill Co.

Szilagyi, A.D. (1984) Management and Performance. Dallas: Scott, Foresman and
Co.

Olembo, J.O. & Cameron, J. (1986) Practical Primary School Administration for
Students, Teachers and Heads. London: Edward Arnold publishers (ltd).

45
 LESSON 4:

4.1: THE MOTIVATION PROCESS

Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological/psychological deficiency or need that

activates behaviour or drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.

Motivation consists of needs which set up drives. The drives in turn help in acquiring goals.

Note:
Drives/motives are action oriented and help goal accomplishment. They are personal and

internal

Incentives are found at the end of the motivation cycle. They alleviate a need and thereby

reduce the drive (motive).

Incentives are external to a person.

Example: Need: (water through cells in body deprives

Drive: feel thirsty

Incentive: cells acquire water.

Note:

a) Motive is a Drive or expression of a person's needs - hence are personal and internal.

b) Incentives are external and are made part of the work environment by management in

order to encourage workers to perform tasks.

46
4.2 FRUSTRATION

This is the blocking/thwarting of goal attainment. This can lead to:

a) Aggression: -

This is where goal attainment has been blocked and an individual result to hostile

behaviour. This may be directed against the object/person who he/she feels is the course

of frustration.

b) Rationalization:

This is making excuses for the inability to accomplish a goal e.g.:

"It was my bosses fault"……..

c) Regression:

This is a situation whereby an individual adopts childish/primitive behaviour after failing

to accomplish a given task.

e.g. a person who cannot start his car can proceed to kicking it.

d) Fixation:

A person exhibits the same behaviour pattern over and over again although experience has

shown that it can accomplish nothing.

e.g. a person who has been punished severely over a certain behaviour may lead to

fixation.

e) Resignation:

47
 Occurs after prolonged frustration when an individual loses hope for accomplishing his

goal in a particular situation and decide to withdraw from reality.

Activity:

Discuss the various types of frustrations likely to be shown by teachers in schools.

4.2 DEFINITIONS OF MOTIVATION:

Comes from the Latin word "movers" implying "to move" Thus:

Motivation is referred to as a process of arousing movement in the organism.

1. Definitions:

Motivation refers to "all those phenomena which are involved in the stimulation of action

towards particular objectives where previously there was little or no movement towards

those goals"

2. Atkinson:

Defines motivation as "the arousal of tendency to act to produce one or more effects".

3. Maslow:

Motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating and complex and that it is an almost

universal characteristics of particularly every organismic state of affairs.

FUNCTIONS OF MOTIVATION

1. Motives/Drives energies and sustain behaviour

- These motives arouse him/her for action.

2. Motives direct and regulate behaviour

48
 -The motivated behavioiur moves in a specific direction. The behaviour of the organism

is purposeful and persistent.

3. Behaviour is selective:

-Tender motivated condition, the behaviour of the organism does not move haphazard

way. It is directed toward a selective goal which the individual sets for himself/herself.

Example:

A student who is motivated to secure high grades in the examination, concentrates on his

studies by selecting appropriate means to reach his/her goal.

4.3 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

1. MASLOW'S THEORY OF MOTIVATION:

Developed by Abraham Maslow [1908 - 1970].

- Maslow believed that man can work out a better world for mankind as well as for

himself.

- He examined the traditional approach of pain avoidance and pleasure seeking and

tension reduction as the major sources of motivating behaviour

- He argues that needs are arranged in a hierarchy; and that as one general type of need

is satisfied, another higher order need will emerge and become operative.

- He categorized needs into two divisions:-

i) Deficit needs:-

Include needs such as hunger and thirst. Once these needs are satisfied, an individual

strives to satisfy higher needs e.g. safety needs, etc.

49
 ii) Growth needs:-

This is the "Self actualization need"

Maslow's needs hierarchy can be represented as:-

Self Actualization
Self Esteem

Belonging and Love Needs

Safety Needs

Physiological needs e.g

Food, water, shelter, sex, etc

i) Physiological Needs:

These are the most potent needs (i.e. powerful needs)

When these needs are deprived for a long period, all other needs fail to appear, and

thus one is motivated to do something e.g.:

• A boy who is deprived of food will be motivated to do something to get food

• In order to motivate our children to complete their school assignments, we

sometimes deprive them of their own privileges like pocket money, freedom to

etc.

50
ii) Safety Needs:

When psychological needs are successfully fulfilled, then safety needs become

dominant. This category of needs is mainly concerned with maintaining order and

security.

e.g. boarding of money, purchase of buildings, land and other investments make ones

future secure.

In schools: Formation of welfare groups, cooperative societies etc.

iii) Belongingness and Love Needs:

• These are needs of making intimate relationship with other members of the

society, being an accepted member of an organization.

• These needs are dependent on the fulfilment and satisfaction of previous categories

of needs.

Note:

In schools, we have clubs, societies, associations as a an attempt to fulfill this need.

iv) The Esteem Need:

This category of needs can be split into two:-

a) Self-esteem, self respect, self regard and self-valuation.

b) Relating to respect from others: reputation, status, social success and fame.

Examples of needs in this category are:-

51
 • feeling of achievement, competent,

• achieving high standard of excellence in performance

• need to feel superior to others e.g. by purchasing of items as good and costly

clothes.

Note:

Failure to gratify self-esteem need can produce personality disturbance in the

individual - i.e. inferiority complex; one becomes a misfit in the society.

In school: creating favourable conditions to enable a worker perform well.

- recognising individual performance.

v) Self Actualization:

• This is the highest in the hierarchy

• This need means "to fulfill one's individual nature in all aspects, being what one

can be"

• People can be motivated towards self-actualization only when their lower order

needs have been satisfied.

• Self actualizing person wants to be and must be free from restraints from society.

• For self-actualization, one should enjoy his job. He should feel satisfied in his

social relation in family, social and in his job.

Note: Characteristics of Self-Actualization

• Demonstrate an efficient perception of reality and acceptance

52
 • They accept themselves and others

• They appreciate "basic goods of life"

• Identify with making

• Sense of humour

• Democratic in outlook, etc.

In Schools:

1. Recommending individuals to high positions of responsibilities

2. Allowing members to participate in seminars or workshops

3. Give challenging work to give opportunities for personal growth and advancement.

Activity:

Discuss how a headteacher can satisfy the various levels of needs to his/her staff.

2. HERTZBERG'S THEORY

Sometimes referred to as:

• "Hertzberg's motivation - Hygiene Theory"

• "The motivation - hygiene [M.H.] theory"

• "The motivation-maintenance Theory"

• "The two factor Theory"

53
This is a theory of external motivation because the manager or leader controls the factos

which produce job satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

A study was done to determine factors in the job which were present when the employees felt

exceptionally happy or unhappy with their jobs. From the interviews with employees, a two

factor hypothesis were developed:-

i) The factors that were present when job satisfaction was produced were separate and

distinct from the factors that led to job dissatisfaction.

ii) The opposite of job satisfaction is no job satisfaction not job dissatisfaction

From interviews conducted during the study, it was discovered that:-

• Reports of feeling happy were not brought about by the absence of factors that cause

dissatisfaction, but instead by the presence of the factors classified as "satisfiers",

"motivators" or "intrinsic factors"

Factors that lead to satisfaction include: [satisfiers/motivators/intrinsic factors]

i) achievement

ii) recognition

iii) characteristics of work itself

iv) responsibility

v) advancement

Note:

54
1. When these factors fall below an acceptable level, they contribute very little to job

dissatisfaction but do prevent job satisfaction.

2. Feelings of unhappiness were not brought about by the absence of the satisfier factors, but

by the absence of "dissatisfiers", "maintenance" or "extrinsic" factors.

• Hertzberg called these factors "hygiene" factors.

Hygiene factors describe the employee's relationship to the context or environment in

which he performs his work.

Note: [IMPORTANT TO NOTE]

Satisfiers relate to what an employee does, dissatisfiers to the environment in which he

does it.

Examples of dissatisfiers are:

i) Company policy and administration

ii) Technical supervision

iii) Salary

iv) Interpersonal relations with the supervisor

v) Working conditions

• When hygiene factors fall below what employee considers an acceptable level, he became

dissatisfied. At or above the acceptable level, dissatisfaction is removed. This lead to a

neutral state.

• Hygiene factors help man avoid unpleasantness whereas the motivator factors make

people happy with their jobs.

55
3. McGREGOR'S THEORY:

• In this theory, McGregory tries to look at the interaction between the individual and the

organization.

• He therefore, developed two theories, commonly referred to as McGregor's theory X and

Y.

McGregor's Theory X

1. The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.

2. Because of the human characteristics of dislike of work, most people must be coerced,

controlled, directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort

toward the achievement of organizational objectives.

3. The average human being prefer to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has

relatively little ambition, wants security above all.

• These assumptions listed above hold that most people dislike work and responsibility and

prefer to be directed; and that people are motivated not by the desire to do a good job, but

simply by financial incentives.

• Hence, people must be coerced to achieve organisational goals.

McGregor's Theory Y:

Assumptions:-

1. The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest.

56
2. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means of bringing above

effort toward organisational objectives

3. Commitment to objectives is a good function o the rewards associated with their

achievement.

4. The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek

responsibility.

5. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity

in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly distributed in the

population.

6. Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average

human being are only partially utilized.

• Thus theory Y is an establishment of an environment in which employees can best achieve

their own goals by committing themselves to the organization's objectives.

• Thus employees have to exercise a large degree of internal motivation.

Note:

• With theory Y, heavy emphasis on internal motivational implies that all employees will be

motivated by self esteem and self-actualization needs while on the job - thus calling for

self-control.

57
Each manager must remember that each employee is unique and should be understand a

treated as such. External motivation should be flexible enough to accommodate each unique

person in the organization.

Techniques suggested by McGregory in order to develop self control:

1. Decentralization and delegation:

-In order to free people free "too close control"

2. Job enlargement:

-So that workers jobs are made more challenging and interesting

3. Participate Management:

- To give employees some voice in decisions.

4. Management by objectives

- Here subordinates set goals jointly with their superiors and then are measured on the

accomplishment of these goals.

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF MCGREGOR'S THEORIES

THEORY X:

Advantages:

1. No delays in decision-making.

2. Employees do not absent themselves from work unnecessarily

Disadvantages:

1. Administrator as a negative attitude towards workers.

58
2. There exists in the organization rigid rules

3. Assumes workers are immature, irresponsible and need external controls and close

supervision.

4. Feelings/morale of people are secondary and emphasis is on efficient performance.

5. There exists poor interpersonal relations between administration and other workers.

6. Emphasis is on centralization of authority. No consultation over decisions

7. There is low work output due to threat, external controls and negative attitudes.

THEORY Y:

Advantages:

1. Employees are motivated and committed, thus high work output.

2. There exists positive attitude by administrator towards workers.

3. Administrator assumes creativity is widely distributed in people and not just to a few

selected.

4. No rigid rules and regulations. Employees are left to self-direct and self-control.

5. There is decentralization of authority.

6. There exists good interpersonal relations between administrator and other workers.

7. Administrator assumes workers are not passive to original needs but an unsupportive

environment makes them so.

Disadvantages:

1. Too many consultations may lead to delays in decision-making

2. Administrator may be viewed as weak due to many consultations/persuasions.

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Activity:

a) Does motivation originate from sources external or internal to a person? Explain.

b) If you were a worker, would you prefer to be motivated from within or by the

organization?

c) If you were a headteacher, would you prefer that your employees be self-motivated, or

would you want the responsibility for motivating them?

Lesson 5

60
THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
5.1 Introduction
The study of leadership is an interesting but complex endeavor as there is many variables
surrounding it. It is also broad, as many theories have been proposed in an attempt to
understand this phenomenon. This lesson discusses only some of the aspects and theories
associated with leadership, as it is impossible to study all the theories that have been proposed
by various writers in this module.

5.2. Objectives

Œ
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
• define the term leadership
• identify various types of leadership
• define the term authority and power and identify the various types of authority and
power
• identify the various approaches of leadership
• describe the leadership styles (namely, autocratic/authoritarian, democratic/participative
and leissez feire leadership styles.)
• Identify the strengths/advantages and weaknesses/disadvantages of using the autocratic,
democratic and leissez feire styles of leadership.

5.3. Definition of Leadership

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There are various definitions of the term leadership proposed by numerous writers of
educational and general administration. Hoy & Miskel (1987:270-271) have stated some of
these definitions as follows:

To lead is to engage in an act that initiates a structure-in-interaction as part of the process

of solving a mutual problem – John K. Hemphill
Leadership is power based predominantly on personal characteristics usually normative in
nature – Amitai Etzioni
The leader is the individual in the group given the task of directing and coordinating task-
relevant group activities – Fred F. Fiedler
Leadership is a particular type of power relationship characterized by a group member’s
perception that another group member has the right to prescribe behaviour patterns for the
former regarding his activity as a group member – Kenneth F. Janda
The essence of organizational leadership is the influential increment over the routine
directives of the organization – Daniel Katz and Robert L. Khan
Leadership is the initiation of a new structure or procedure for accomplishing an
organization’s goals and objectives or for changing an organization’s goals and objectives
– James Lipman
Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goad
setting and goal achievement – Ralph M. Stogdill.
Leadership takes place in groups of two or more people and most frequently involve
influencing group member behaviour as it relates to the pursuit of group goals – Robert J.
House and Mary L. Baetz.

Note

62
 h Study all the definitions of leadership stated above as well as others proposed by other

writers in other books and references and isolate all the attributes and variables that you think
are important in conceptualising the meaning of leadership. Then state your own definition of
leadership and show why your definition is preferable to any other two definitions stated
above.

Activity

( It is notable from all the various definitions stated above that there are many variables and

dimensions to be considered in any attempt to conceptualise the meaning of the term leadership.
However, we can simply define leadership as:

“the ability to persuade others or the art or process of influencing people in a group towards the
realization of organizational goals” .

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Components of leadership

Three major components have been identified by Knezevich (1975) and Katz and Khan in
Hoy and Miskel (1987). Knezevich (1975: 81), for instance notes that leadership is:

(1) an attribute of personality (symbolic leadership); (2) a status, title, or

position recognised in a formal organizational chart (formal leadership); and
(3) a function or role performed in an organized group (functional leadership).

This implies that it must be taken into account that leadership is exercised by the people
occupying formal positions as well as others who wield a lot of influence and power, yet they
do not occupy formal leadership positions. Leadership also implies the existence of followers
for without followers, there would not be any leadership.

Katz and Khan in Hoy and Miskel (1987:271) on the other hand in an attempt to describe the
nature and meaning of leadership have also identified three major components of the concept.
These are namely: (1) an attribute of an office or position; (2) a characteristic of a person; and
(3) a category of actual behavior.

5.4. TYPES OF LEADERSHIP

From the various components of leadership noted above, three types of leadership have been
isolated by Knezevich (1975), that is:

Formal leadership
Symbolic leadership
Functional leadership

5.4.1. Formal Leadership

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The leader in a formal organisation is the person who occupies a formal leadership position.
Knezevich (1975:83) observes that:

The individual occupying a given status in the organisation or holding a

specific title of office or placed in a certain position in the hierarchy or granted
special authority in the formal chart of organisation is automatically considered
a leader. This recognition may disappear when he vacates status, title, position
or office.

Head teachers, Deputy head teachers and Heads of Departments in primary and secondary
schools therefore occupy formal leadership positions.

5.4.2. Symbolic Leadership

Many writers (especially the early writers) have conceived leadership as an attribute of
personality. According Knezevich (1975:82) this view of leadership postulates that,

‘leaders are born not made,’ that is, some have it, some don’t. The leader
stimulates and unifies the activities of others along certain paths because of the
way he looks and his personality. This is charismatic approach to leadership
and bears a strong kinship to trait psychology.

Knezevich further contends that the ‘romantic concept of the leader endowed with almost
magical attributes can be traced to a longing for security’. (p.82). This has led to the leader
being idealized,

With almost ‘unlimited powers’ and none of the faults and shortcomings found
in ordinary humans. He becomes the “father image” or the “security symbol.”

Hence, such a leader is seen as being stronger, more intelligent, more cultured, more
impressive than the average person.

5.4.3. Functional Leadership

65
Leadership can also be viewed in terms of the functions one is performing or is expected to
perform in the group. In other words, the criteria for leadership is based on:

What the leader does to help the group define its goals, achieve its objectives,
or maintain its strength as a body. Unless a person can fulfil one or more of
these group functions, he is not a functional leader no matter how charming his
personality or how impressive the title of his position.

Functional leadership is therefore an attempt to conceptualize leadership in terms of the

functions the leader is performing rather than considering (i) his or her personal attributes and
characteristics or (ii) the position one is occupying in the organization. Hence, Knezevich
(1975) notes that, ‘leadership [now] emerges as a group phenomenon, a function essential in
organized groups’.

5.5. POWER AND AUTHORITY

Two distinct elements that are closely associated with leadership are ‘authority and power’.
The section below discusses the meaning and nature of these two concepts, that is, ‘authority’
and ‘power’ with the aim of making a clear distinction between them.

5.5.1. Authority
Authority is necessary in every organisation as it ensures that tasks are carried out and that as
a result the organisational objectives are achieved which otherwise be impossible.

Definition of Authority

Authority can be defined as:

i. “The right to commit resources in particular courses of organizational action.”
ii. “The probability that certain specific commands (or all commands) from a given
source will be obeyed by a given group of persons.

66
 iii. “The right conferred on an individual to make decisions and ensure that these
decisions are followed.”

It is important to note that authority unlike power does not involve the use of force.

Types of Authority
Having defined what is authority, we now need to establish the various types of authority that
have been identified by various authors. These are:

• Formal authority
• Charismatic authority
• Traditional authority
• Legal authority
• Functional authority
• Acceptance theory of authority

a) Formal authority

Formal authority emanates from one’s legal position in the organisation. The person in this
formal leadership position has authority to issue commands and directives to other employees
in accordance to the rules and regulations. It is also expected that when one joins an
organisation, then he or she is expected to obey his superior within certain acceptable limits.
(see Hoy and Miskel, 1987). Formal authority usually flows from those in leadership
positions to those in lower positions. The head teacher of a school has, has for instance,
formal authority by virtue of occupying the position of a head teacher. Other teachers,
support staff and pupils are expected to obey his directives under certain acceptable limits. It
is, however important to note that teachers, support staff and pupils are not expected to agree
to head teachers demands if these demands are unacceptable e.g. having sexual relations or
cleaning the head teacher’s home or compound during night hours.

67
b) Charismatic authority

This type of authority emanates from the leaders personal qualities and characteristics e.g
physical attributes such as strength or beauty, knowledge, ability, skill, status, age, sex, etc.
Hoy and Miskel (1987:109) note that:

Charismatic authority tends to be nonrational, affective, or emotional and rests

heavily on the leader’s personal qualities and characteristics. The authority of
the charismatic leader results primarily from the leader’s overwhelming
personal appeal, and typically a common value orientation emerges within the
group to produce an intense normative commitment to and identification with
the person.

One of the teachers in the school may be able to wield a lot of power over the other teachers
or the students due to being extremely knowledgeable on any subject, intelligent and eloquent.
Others may simply agree and want to be identified with him because they perceive him as
having ‘a mystique’ or ‘an magical aura’ that they themselves do not possess.

c) Traditional authority

The traditionally sanctioned position of authority is obeyed and the person currently
occupying the position inherits the authority. Hence this authority emanates from traditions,
beliefs, culture. As Hoy and Miskel (1987:110) observe:
Traditional authority is anchored in an established belief in the sanctity of the
status of those exercising authority in the past. Obedience is owed to the
traditionally sanctioned position of authority, and the person who occupies the
position inherits the authority established by custom.

In traditional African societies, medicine men, those performing circumcision rites and
midwives were, for instance, obeyed without any questioning.

d) Legal authority (laws statutes, decrees, constitution court decision)

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The source of this authority is the law and can only be changed by formally correct
procedures. Obedience is to the laws that specify to whom and to the extent of compliance.
In a school situation, there are laws that dictate how the school should function e.g. in the
absence of the head teacher. The deputy head teacher, for instance, assumes the role of the
head teacher and is answerable to higher educational authorities for events occurring in the
school during the absence of the head teacher.

e) Functional authority

Functional authority is one which is limited to the function one is playing at a given time or
situation. This authority emanates from one’s competence or technical skills. During an
emergency, such as when a road accident occurs, any doctor in the crowd will have authority
over others due to his expertise on medical matters. The teacher who takes pupils for a school
tour has overall authority during the trip. He can make all decisions such as involving the
police in case of an emergency (e.g. if a pupil goes missing) yet in normal school time, he has
no authority to call the police. Instead, the head teacher (or the deputy during the head’s
absence) is the only one who has such authority. A technician also has authority over others
due to his technical knowledge and skills. Others follow his directives as he has more
knowledge and competence than they have e.g. he is the only one who can repair faulty
school machines such as, computers, televisions etc. and make them to start working again.

f) Acceptance Theory of Authority

Authority emanates from the subordinates that is, if they accept the authority then it exists but
if they do not accept it then the superior has no authority. Subordinates will accept order or
decision if it is within their zones of acceptance but will reject order or decision if it is not
within ‘zones of acceptance’. The challenge to the leader or administrator is to gain the
acceptance of his / her subordinates.

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5.5.2. Power
Power is closely related to authority. Without power there is no organization and no order.
Mostly, power is used when authority has been abused.

Definition
Power can be defined as the capacity or ability to make things happen in order to get results.
Power can also be said to be the ability to employ sanctions or force or to give rewards in an
effort to have something or make others do something.

(i) Legitimate power

The authority which one posses by virtue of holding a given position in the organisation
means that he has the legitimate right to expect obedience from those under his authority.
Hence, such a person has legal power that emanates from his or her leadership position in the
organization. The leader has a legitimate right to ask others to perform certain duties or
activities e.g. a head teacher has the right and power to ask a teacher to teach another class
other than his or her usual one. He or she can ask for an explanation from a teacher or a pupil
who has been absenting himself from school. This power therefore depends on one’s official
position not relationship with subordinates.

(ii) Expert Power

The knowledge, skills, expertise, that a person possess gives him ‘expert power’ over others
who require it or want to benefit from it e.g. the secretary may have ‘expert power’ over her
boss if the boss does not have computer knowledge and skills and has to rely on her to
retrieve information for him from there computer. A head teacher may therefore have
legitimate power over his subordinates but due to lack of knowledge and expertise he may
become powerless to act in certain circumstances. A leader should therefore have both

70
legitimate and expert power to be able to influence his subordinate towards the achievement
of the organisational goals.

(iii) Reward or Remunerative Power

This is the type of power that results on one because one can issue rewards, materials,
resources, salaries, fridge benefits etc. One is therefore able to induce others to comply with
what one wants

(iv) Referent Power

This power is possessed by the person having personal qualities and reputation which others
want to identify with e.g. physical attraction, eloquence, powerful position in organization,
intelligence etc. Those attracted to such a person with charismatic personality also have a
desire to become more like him or her.

(v) Coercive Power

This power is primarily based on use of forceful means to make others obey. The holder of
this power has ability to conflict punishment or negative consequences or another person. He
may do so through physical means e.g. corporal punishment. Physical strength, verbal facility
or ability to grant or withhold emotional support are examples of coercive power. In a school
situation, detentions, suspensions, expulsion corporal punishment are some of the methods
that can make students comply with orders, rules, directives, policies etc. On the other hand,
threats of being demoted, transferred, being sacked are some of the forceful means that can be
used on staff to make them comply with the head teachers or Board of Governors demands
e.g. agreeing to teach on Saturdays or holidays. Withholding, controlling of material resources
e.g. vehicle, residing in an institutional house, using school computers etc are also forms of
coercive power.

71
Note

(
One is therefore said to have power over others when he or she has the capacity to
reward or withhold resources, compensation, promotion, etc from others. Head
teachers and others who hold leadership positions should therefore ensure that they
have both legitimate as well as expert and referent power so that they can have a greater
influence over their subordinates. They should therefore keep abreast of new
knowledge and developments in the field of education. They should be willing to learn.

5.6. APPROACHES/THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

This section below discusses three approaches of leadership, that is, the Trait approach theory,
situational theory and contingency theories that have been proposed by various writers in an
attempt to identify the determinants or variables that influences successful leaders.

5.6.1. Trait Approach Theory

Some of definitions of leadership have tended to stress the personal characteristics or traits of
the leader while others stress the situation and still others concentrate on the leaders
behaviour. The Trait Approach Theory, for instance, attempts to identify any distinctive
physical or psychological characteristics of the individual that relate or explain the behaviour
of leaders.

72
Great Man Theory

The Great man theory posits that some people are born to be leaders. This in essence, means
that, if certain inborn traits were identifiable in leaders, then we would believe as Aristotle did
that “from the hour of birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule”. This theory
therefore implies that some were born to be leaders and others were born to be followers.

Traits
Several traits have been proposed by writers as being identifiable in leaders and not non-
leaders. Robbins (2003), for instance, quotes Kirk Patrick and Locke (1991) as having
identified six traits. These are:

• ambition and energy,

• the desire to lead,
• honesty and integrity,
• self-confidence,
• intelligence,
• and job-relevant knowledge.

Stogdill in Hoy & Miskel also summarises some of the personal factors (noted by various
writers) associated with the Trait approach theory of leadership. These are:

1. Capacity (intelligence, alertness, verbal facility, originality, judgement).

2. Achievement (scholarship, knowledge, athletic (sic) accomplishment).
3. Responsibility (dependability, initiative persistence, aggressiveness, self – confidence,
desire to excel).
4. Participation (activity, sociability, co-operation, adaptability, humour).
5. Status (socio-economic position, popularity) ( p. 272)

It is important to note that the earlier trait studies were trying to isolate unique traits that could
differentiate leaders from non-leaders. The earlier studies discouraged many for lack of

73
successful researchers. Never the less, the studies have continued as industrial psychologists
were still interested in improving the selection of managers. However, the emphasis now was
a search for the traits on that led to leader effectiveness rather than focusing or comparing the
traits of leaders and non leaders (Yuki in Hoy & Miskel 1987: 272). Hence the trait studies
now tend to focus on ‘the relationship between traits and leadership effectiveness of
administrators. (Hoy & Miskel 1987: 273). The traits that were identified by these later
studies were more consistent.

Stogdill isolated more traits in the second type of studies that direct on traits leading to leader
effectiveness and he concluded that these were:

A strong drive for responsibility and task completion

Vigor and persistence in pursuit of goals
Venture soreness and originality
Drive to exercise initiative in social situations
Self-confidence and sense of personal identity.
Willingness to accept consequences of decision and action
Readiness to tolerate frustration and delay
Ability to influence other person’s behavior.
Capacity to structure interaction systems to the purpose at hand
(Stogdill in Hoy & Miskel 1987: 272).

Limitations of Trait Theory

Robbins (2003) identifies four limitation of Traits Approach theory namely:

• There are no universal traits that predict about leadership in all situations.

74
• The predicted traits are in ‘weak’ situations rather than ‘strong’ situations i.e in strong
situations leaders have little opportunity to express/ display interest dispositional
tendencies.
• The course and effect are not separated by evidence provided e.g. ‘does self-confidence
create leadership, or does success as leader build self-confidence? P. 315).
• Traits tend to predict the appearance of leadership rather than ‘ distinguish between
effective and ineffective leaders i.e. an individual may exhibit traits associated with
leadership by others but yet he may unsuccessful as leader e.g. fail to achieve set goals.

5.6.2. Situational Approach

The intense debate and questionable findings of the trait approach made researchers to focus
on analysing situational variables as at times findings were contrary and inconsistent for many
of the traits tentatively isolated as crucial in one study were found to be unimportant in others.
Thus in some groups, effective leaders were assertive and aggressive, in others, mild
mannered and restrained; in some quick and decisive, in others, reflective and diplomatic.
(Hoy & Miskel,1987:272).

The failure to get consistent results in studies relating to leadership led to researchers to focus
on situational variables. In other words, the leaders’ traits were therefore no longer considered
to be the only determining factors of leadership for situational variables also proved to be
critical in determining the leader that was chosen. Some of the situational variables or
determinants of leadership that have been postulated include:

1. Structural properties of the organization (size, hierarchical structure, formalization).

2. Organizational climate (openness, participation, group atmosphere).
3. Role characteristics (position, power, type and defiantly of task, procedural roles).
4. Subordinate characteristics (knowledge and experience, tolerance for ambiguity,
responsibility, and power). (Hoy & Miskel 1987 :273)

75
Situational approach and theories hence postulate that the leaders’ effectiveness depends on
the situation at hand for under condition a, style x would be appropriate, whereas style y
would be more suitable for condition b, and style z for condition c. (Pg 319-322). Hence
according to the situational approach or theories ‘leaders were made by the situation’, and
were ‘not born to lead and others to follow’.

5.6.3. Contingency theories

The most current theories or models of the study of leadership involve a contingency
approach. According to this approach, it is necessary to specify the conditions or situational
variables that moderate the relationship between leader traits or behaviors and performance
criterion. Fiedler’s contingency model and House’s Path Goal exemplify contingency
theories.

Fiedler contingency model

According to Fiedler contingency model ‘effective group performance depends on the proper
match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the
leader. (Pg.320).

According to Fiedler the situation in which the leader operates is the first key variable in the
model and can be characterised by 3 factors namely:

i) Leader-member Relations e.g. degree of confidence, trust, respect followers have

ii) Task structure – degree which task/assignment is clear to leader and subordinates
iii) Position power – amount of power attached to the leaders position.

The second variable in the model is the leader. He suggests 2 basic leader orientation namely:

i) Relationship oriented – more lenient, people oriented style

ii) Task oriented – concerned with accomplishment of task.

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House’s Path-Goal Theory

Path-Goal theory is another contingency theory (or approach to leadership). It was developed
by House and refined in the 1970’s. The model integrates concepts of leader behavior and
situational favorableness (with a unique definition of effectiveness).

The theory is called Path-Goal because it explains how leaders influence their subordinates’
perception of work goals, personal goals and paths to goal attainment. Leaders are effective
when they enhance acceptance, satisfaction and motivation levels of their subordinates.

5.7. STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

The method or style used by a leader greatly influences his effectiveness as a leader as well as
the extent to which organisational goals are achieved. It is therefore important that leaders
gain knowledge of the various leadership styles that have been used by leaders in various
organisation so that they can know the strengths/advantages and the
weaknesses/disadvantages of using a given leadership style. This section therefore examines
the nature and the characteristics of three leadership styles, namely, authoritarian, democratic
and the leissez feire styles of leadership.

Types of Leadership styles

L L

77
 Autocratic leadership style Democratic leadership style

Leissez Feire leadership style

N.B. The above figure portrays the relationship between the leader and the subordinates. Autocratic leader
issues orders to subordinate, Democratic leader allows all people to give ideas while Leissez Feire leader only
provides leadership when called upon to do so.

Source: Lewis B. Sappington and C.G Brawne in William Lazer and Engene J. Kelly eds in Herbert G. Hikes
D.C. Ray Gullet ‘Organization’ Theory and Behaviour McGraw-Hill, Inc. Auckland, 1981 p. 303

5.7.1. Autocratic/Authoritarian Style of Leadership

Autocratic leadership is also known as authoritarian leadership. An autocratic leader more
often than not has absolute power and as a result he tends to be dictatorial. The autocratic
leader wields a lot of power over the subordinates for he is in a position to use ‘rewards,
praise, or fear of criticism or punishment.’ ( see Hikes & Gullet, 1981:301).

Characteristics of an Autocratic Leader

As D’Souza (1989) has noted about the characteristics of authoritarian-style leaders, they:

78
 1. are generally strong-willed, domineering, and to some extent, aggressive.
2. must have their own way, which for them, seems the only way.
3. look upon subordinates more as functionaries than as persons, and the best
subordinates, in their estimation, follow directions without questions
4. ordinarily are not ready to listen to views and suggestions of others (although may
pretend to), if they are different opinions.
5. do not encourage equal relationships (i.e. adult to adult) with underlings. As a rule
they do not allow themselves to get close to employees. They do not like to see
employees get close to one another, for such cliques, as authoritarian leaders perceive
them, might endanger their authority.
6. have business-like and task-oriented attitudes. The job comes first.
7. generally blame poor results on the inability of others to carry out instructions
correctly.

Characteristics of an Organisation with autocratic Leadership

An organisation where authoritarian/autocratic style of leadership is being used one therefore
tends to find that:

(i) Power and authority is centralised on the leader

(ii) The leader tends to be dictatorial, that is, he issues orders and instructions to the

employees and expects them to obey without any questioning. Violation of orders is

heavily punished.

(iii) The leader sets policy, structures, interprets, modifies tasks as he wishes.

(iv) The leader does not consult his followers on important matters e.g. policies, rules,

definition of tasks, structure.

(v) The leader makes decisions without any consultations.

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(vi) Rules are very harsh.

(vii) Employees are closely supervised controlled and directed.

(viii) The flow of communication tends to flow from the top to bottom.

(ix) There is little consideration for employees needs and interests e.g. when issuing

responsibility.

Advantages of Autocratic style

• Decisions are made without any delays as leader does not consult or consider the
employees opinions needs, desires, interest.
• Work is accomplished quickly because employee is expected to perform work without
questioning. Employees are also dealt with harshly when they fail to perform work as
expected.
• This type of leadership is suitable for uncommitted workers e.g. those who neglect their
work, come to school drunk are frequently absent from work.

Disadvantages
• Creates low jobs morale. Workers feel frustrated and demoralized as the leader has little
regard for their interests and needs
• Workers are expected to give unquestionable support to leader and whether they agree
with him or not. Failure to support the leader results in punishment.
• Leaders tend to over control and direct employees even when it is not necessary. This
may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and they may even rebel against the leader.

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• The leader also set policies regulations, structure etc. He also sets and modifies tasks
without consulting others in the organization for school. This may result in harsh rules,
policies and working conditions.
• Decisions may be poor as leader may not consult others even though he may lack
information, expertise, knowledge on the matter (e.g. buying of computer hardware)
• This may result in a high turn over (transfers) of staff and as a result it may be difficult to
achieve organizational objectiveness. In a school situation students may fail to learn well
due to frequent transfers and turnover of staff leading to failure in national examinations.

5.7.2. Democratic/ participative style

Democratic leadership is also known as participative leadership. In a democratic organization
all members are involved in decision making and all other matters concerning the organisation
and as a result the leader receives more cooperation from employees in the achievement of
organisational goals. D’Souza (1989) summarises the characteristics of democratic leaders as
being:

1. They are generally concerned with maintaining group effectiveness as with

completing the task to be done.
2. They encourage members in their groups to express their ideas and feelings, because
they believe that such a climate leads to greater creativity and commitment.
3. If they encounter resistance or conflicts, they allow them to surface and they seek the
help of these groups in removing the resistance or resolving the conflicts.
4. They encourage joint decision-making as well as shared goal-setting.
5. They rarely set policies without explaining the reasons, and proposing them to their
groups, when they can, for suggestions and criticism.
6. They believe that responsibility for getting a job done depends as much on the group
as upon themselves. They try to have this attitude shared by all group members.

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 7. They allow group members a good deal of freedom in their work, once they have
shown their ability to do it.
8. Thy keep looking for better ways to do things, and are open to change when convinced
that such changes seem called for and would lead to greater effectiveness.
9. They believe in the effectiveness of group work. They also believe that groups of
concerned individuals working together have greater potential than when those same
members work as individuals.

(D’Souza, 1989:49-50).

Characteristics of an Organisation with Democratic Leadership

An organisation where democratic leadership is being exercised has the following identifiable
characteristics:

(i) A democratic leader is chosen through popular election or is appointed because of

ability and qualifications.

(ii) The peoples’ basic needs, rights and freedoms are guaranteed and respected by the

organisation. The leader is therefore able to obtain workers co-operation in achieving

of organisational goals.

(iii) The democratic leader recognises the fact his followers are capable of making good

decisions and suggestions based on the followers training and experiences. Hence he

allows workers to participate in decision making. It is therefore assumed that workers

will support decisions that they have helped to make and that consequently this will

lead to the achievement of organisational goals.

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(iv) Ideas are exchanged between a democratic leader and his workers and also between

the workers themselves. A democratic organisation is more likely to be better

organised and more effectively run than an autocratic one for ideas are contributed by

many people and not just a selected few.

(v) In democratic style of leadership, power and authority are decentralised unlike with

autocratic leadership style. In other words, power and authority is derived from both

the governor and the governed.

(vi) Followers are consulted on important matters concerning decisions, policies, rules, and

structure, definition of tasks and all other important matters. They are also generally

informed about their working conditions.

(vii) There is a good interpersonal relation between leader and workers. The morale is high

and there is job satisfaction. Workers do not also over depend on the leader.

(viii) Decisions on organisational matters are reached after necessary consultations and

communications with various section / people in organisation.

Advantages of Democratic leadership style

• Job morale is high.
• There is commitment and team effort towards achievement of organisational goals.
• Employees are allowed to participate in decision making and their ideas are appreciated
and considered in all matters.
• Interpersonal relations between the leader and other workers is good.
• Communication is good

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• There is delegation of authority.

Disadvantages / Limitations
• Employees with weak self-motivation tendencies may relax
• Decisions may be delayed due to too many consultations.
• Production may be low if there are too many considerations e.g. if teachers requests to
teach his preferred subject and not one which the school authorities would prefer
• Students may fail examination if weak teachers are not controlled and directed to some
extent e.g. if teachers are not closely supervised by ensuring schemes of work and lesson
plans are well written
• However there may be low productivity or poor decisions may be made of when
everyone’s wishes is taken into account

5.7.3. Leissez Feire style of leadership.

This leadership is also referred to as free rein, meaning ‘free’ style of leadership. In this type

of style, the leader does not provide external motivation as is the case with autocratic or

democratic leadership styles but instead workers are left to ‘motivate themselves based on

their needs, wants, and desires. They are given a goal and left mostly up to their own to

achieve it, using their ingenuity.’ (see Hicks & Gullet, 1975:303).

Characteristics of an Organisation with a Leissez Feire Leader

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• the leader has very little authority and power over the workers and he tends to be very
tolerant
• there are very few rules or regulations and there is no code of conduct for employees.
• the leader assumes the role of group member rather than that of a leader, that is, the
employees see him/her as being on the same organizational level and consequently he has
very little influence on them.
• the leader does not provide external motivation but instead workers are left to motivate
themselves according to their ability, needs, interests, desires etc.
• employees tend to work independently of the leader and there are also very few
committed workers. At best, the leader only assigns tasks and then leaves employees to
accomplish work on their own.
• accomplishment of goals work depends on individual effort expertise and knowledge.

Advantages of the Leissez Feire style

• it increases the workers independence, expression and makes them function as members
of a group
• makes employees (especially those at the self actualisation level) to be creative for they
are allowed to work independently without unnecessary controls

Disadvantages
• lack of a strong leader can result in lack of direction and control and can easily result in
chaos
• workers can easily become frustrated, insecure, demoralised etc. due to lack of guidance
from the leader
• organisational goals may never be achieved

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Summary
This lesson has discussed the concepts of authority, power as well as leadership. In as far as
leadership is concerned, meaning of the term leadership has been examined. The three
approaches to leadership, that is, trait, situational and contingency approaches or theories,
which attempt to explain the determinants or variables that are considered in identifying who
becomes the leader in organisational setups have been described. The leadership styles, that
is, autocratic, democratic and lesseiz feirre have also been discussed in an attempt to
understand more about leadership behavior and its consequences.

Revision Questions

V
• Define the terms authority and power
• Differentiate between any two types of authority
• What is acceptance theory of authority?
• Differentiate between any two types of power.
• Do you agree (or disagree) with the trait approach theories explanation that traits determine a
leader? Give reasons for your answer.
• In your opinion, which of the three approaches of leadership, best explains the determinants of
effective leadership?

Bibliography

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Š
Hicks H.G. & Gullett C.R. (1981) Organisations: Theory and Behavior. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Aukland.

Hoy W & Miskel (1987) Educational Administration: Theory, Research, and Practice.
McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York.

Bennett R. (2nd edition) (1994). Organizational Behaviout. Longman Group, UK Limited, UK.

D’Souza A. (1989). Leadership: Trilogy on Leadership and Effective Management. Paulines

PublicationsAfrica, Nairobi.

Koontz H & Weihrich H. Essentials of Management (5th edition) (1990) Tata McGraw-Hill
New Delhi.

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Lesson 6

COMMUNICATION

6.0. Introduction
The importance of communication in each and every organisation cannot be emphasised. No
organisation can achieve its objectives without it and in fact an organisation whose
communication in ineffective is bound to collapse sooner or later. Any serious study of
educational would indeed be incomplete if due consideration is not given to communication.
This lesson therefore examines some of the important aspects of communication.

6.1. Objectives

Œ
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
• Define the term ‘communication
• Describe the process of communication
• Describe the various ways in which communication flows in an organisation
• Identify the various types (ways) of communication as well as their advantages and
disadvantages
• Identify the barriers to effective communication

6.2. Definition

It is important that we first define what is communication so that we may understand this
important concept better.

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 Communication is the transfer of information and knowledge from one person to another,
This is accomplished in the communication process in which the source encodes a thought
into a message which is transmitted through a channel to a receiver who decodes the
message. (Hicks and Gullett 1981).
Communication is the means by which people are linked together in an organization to
achieve a common purpose. (Chester Bernard in Koontz & Weihrich, 1990).
Communication means a mutual exchange of information and understanding by any
effective means. --- Unless the flow goes both ways, no real communication takes place.
(D’Souza, 1989).

Note

( For our purposes, the definition of Hoy & Miskel (19??:358) will suffice.

They define communication in a school situation as “the sharing of messages, ideas,

or attitudes --- among administrators, teachers, students parents, and other interested
constituencies. --- communication must also be meaningful. Communication does
not take place unless the receiver correctly or accurately interprets the information
being transmitted.”

6.3. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

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The communication process according to David K Berlo’s communication model in Hicks
and Gullett (1981) involves the following elements:

(i) The source

(ii) Encode
(iii) Message.
(iv) Channel.
(v) Decoder- Receiver
(vi) Feed back
(vii) Noise

The model of the communication process and the elements involved in the process are
discussed in the section below.

Model of the Communication Process

Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise

Source Encode Message Chard Decode Receive

Feedback

Noise

Source: David K. Berlo in Hicks H.G. & Gullett C.R. (1981:322) Organisations: Theory and Behavior.
McGraw-Hill, Inc. Aukland.

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Source

The source or sender is the originator of the process of communication. A newspaper,

magazine or a journal can also be sources. One initiates the message when he/she has a
thought, need, idea or information he wishes to transmit to another person or persons.

Encode

To be able to transmit mental perceptions or thoughts, the source encodes ideas, that is,
organises the ideas into a code or set of symbols such as words, pictures etc. Language is the
most popular code that is used to express mental perceptions.

Message

The ideas/ purpose is expressed as message. The message is therefore a physical product such
as spoken words, printed words in e.g. a letter, a graphic drawing, a facial expression, a body
movement, a gesture etc.

Channel

The channel is the medium used to relay or transmit the message from the source to the
receiver. The most commonly used channels involve use of sight and sound. Letters,
television, radio, telegram, memo, telephone, fax machine, newspapers, face to face
conversations etc.

Decoder-Receiver

The receiver decodes the message from the source. That is, he /she decodes the message and
attaches a certain meaning (which is an exact or an approximation of message the source
wished to convey). The message is more successfully transmitted when the source and the
receiver have common things or experiences than otherwise.

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Feed back

Feed back is the response that enables the source to determine or evaluate whether or not the
message was received and understood as he/she had intended. Feedback also enables a two-
way communication process to take place.

Two-way communication is a reciprocal process; each participant initiates and

receives messages. Each is a source or receiver temporarily, with the roles
shifting as messages are passed. Unlike one-way communication, two-way
communication requires channels that form a continuos loop in a two-way
exchanges, or mutual feedback. This means that each participant initiates
messages and that each message affects the next one. (Hoy & Miskel,
1987:364).

If he/she finds that message was received incorrectly, he is able to correct it by using the same
means or another different one. In a classroom situation, the teachers use examination
performance to get a feedback on individual or group performance.

Noise

Noise is also an element of the communication process. Noise is anything that distracts or
interferes or reduces the accuracy or fidelity of the message. Noise can occur in any point or
element of the communication process. The source may perceive an event incorrectly e.g.
cause of an accident, the encoding process can be erroneous and thus end up conveying the
wrong information, e.g. when the wrong date is written, when the channel such as the
telephone is noisy because it is faulty. When the receiver decodes the message incorrectly or
distorts its meaning, then he interferes with the fidelity of the message and this is termed as
noise.

6.4. FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

It is significant to note that there is both formal and informal communication in organisations
and that both these types of communication are equally important. Hence both formal and
informal systems of communication should be established for:

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 A school is a community. The professional collaboration,
the teamwork on which success if founded, is built on
trust and common purposes. These crucial professional
relationships are formed as much through the informal exchanges
of experience, advice and encouragement as through formal interchanges and
communication. (p.161)

School administrators should therefore not ignore nor take informal communication to be
unimportant.

6.4.1. Formal Communication

Formal communication is any official information that is passed on through the chains of
command of the organization. Most of formal communication is vertical, that is, both
‘upwards’ and ‘downwards’ communication (although it can also be passed horizontally).
‘Downwards’ communication is from those in managerial positions to other employees in
lower positions whilst ‘upwards’, that is, from those in lower ranks to those in upper ranks.
The information that is formally passed from the superiors to subordinates includes
instructions, organisational objectives, policies, specification of employees’ tasks and
expectations etc. The information from surbordinates to superiors that can be communicated
formally includes reports of work done, decisions made e.g. in a departmental meeting,
student performance reports etc. He

6.5. FLOW OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANISATIONS.

Formal communication in organisations either flows vertically or laterally. Vertical
communication can flow in the downwards and upwards directions [ see Simpons (1959) in
Robbins(2003)]. Lateral (horizontal) communication on the other hand, flows across
(sideways) the organisation e.g. between various departments in the school.

• Downwards
• Upwards

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• Horizontal

Downwards Communication

In ‘downwards communication’, information and instructions is passed downwards from

those in management positions to those in lower ranks or positions. Robert Katz & Daniel L.
Kahn in Hoy & Miskel (1987: 372), have identified five types of ‘downward’ communication,
that is, from the superior to the subordinates, as being:

(i) instruction about specific tasks,

(ii) a rationale about why the task needs to be done and how it relates to other tasks,
(iii) information about organizational procedures and practices,
(iv) feedback about the individual’s performance level, and
(v) information about the need for individual commitment to the organization’s goals.

This information is passed down through memos, directions, policies, and programs of action
(Hoy & Miskel 1987). In school situations, for example, information can be passed down
from officials from the Ministry of Education headquarters, TSC officials or provincial or
district education officers through the chain of command to school personnel e.g.
communication regarding promotion/ demotion from T.S.C is passed to teachers through the
head teachers. Hence communication moves “downwards” from T.S.C or Ministry of
education (headquarters) to head teachers and then to the teachers concerned. In the school,
the head teacher can also communicate ‘downwards’ to either teaching staff or other support
staff members in lower positions/ ranks through the deputy head teacher and then to the head
of department and then to the staff member concerned.

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Upwards Communication

This type of communication flows from members of staff in the lower position/ranks to those
in the senior management positions e.g. communication of an impending strike may be passed
from pupils through teachers, through deputy head to the head teacher and finally to the Board
of Governors. Many schools tend to emphasis ‘downward’ communication while ‘upward’
communication is not stressed at all.

But the systems must be equally effective in passing information ‘upwards’.

The structures should allow for systematic consultation with everyone and a
genuine staff involvement in decision–making. All must feel that their voice
can be heard and that it counts. (p 162)

Note

(
Upward communication is a means by which surbordinates are made
accountable to superiors. Such communication is often viewed as an
instrument of administrative control; subordinates have a tendency to
emphasize positive information, withhold negative data, and
communicate what they think the “boss wants to hear.” Both
accuracy and frequency of upward communication are impacted by
the combined characteristics of surbordinates, superordinates, the
messages themselves, and the organization. The informal channel
can assist administrators to assess the accuracy of formal upward
communication. Hoy & Miskel (1987:372)

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Horizontal (Sideways) Communication.

Horizontal occurs between members of equal ranks or positions e.g. between different heads
of department. This type of communication is essential e.g. heads of department can give
guidelines, expectations of the department from teachers e.g. deadlines on marking of exams
to their respective members of staff. This means that the guidelines, expectations are not
different but similar in formal communication.

The major purpose of horizontal communication is coordinating educational

activities on the same level. For example, principals communicate so that their
activities or curriculum emphases will be similar in different schools. But
coordination through the transfer of written information often fails.
Consequently, written messages frequently are supplemented by conferences
of peers in hopes that a more personal informal exchange of ideas will
facilitate efforts at coordination. (Hoy & Miskel 1987:372).

Horizontal communication is therefore as important as downwards and upwards

communication in that activities in the organisation are coordinated in such a way that
duplication of tasks is not only avoided but this type of communication helps to maximise the
achievement of the set goals.

6.4.2. Informal Communication

Informal communication is all communication in an organisation that is unofficial. It can
either enhance or undermine formal communication. It is carried out between all the
members of the organisation, that is, between those in managerial positions, those in
managerial and other positions, between members of equal status etc.

Built around social relationships among the school members, informal

channels develop for such simple reasons as common office areas, similar
duties, shared coffee breaks and carpools, and friendships. (Hoy & Miskel
1967:370).

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Sometimes, this type of communication emanates from lack of open formal channels of
communication in the organisation. Emerson and Goddard (1993) note that informal
communication is a matter of culture and that:

If a school is open in its thinking, is receptive to new ideas, is positively

critical in its search for improvement, then an atmosphere is engendered in
which discussion is promoted and debate becomes free flowing. If, on the other
hand, a school is closed in its thinking, if new ideas emanate only from the top
down and proposals from elsewhere are seen as subversive, then
communication becomes secretive and censured, carried on in critical but
coded language. (p. 162)

Informal communication “can [also] be used as a means of transferring information to staff

unofficially or informally. It can sometimes be a “calculated leak”. (Rust, 1985: 53) e.g the
head e.g. can through informal conversations with teachers and pupils, gauge the feelings of
staff towards an intended replacement of a popular but difficult deputy head teacher with one
of the other teachers. This will enable the head teacher to know whether teachers and pupils
are likely to welcome the change or not. As Rust (1985) suggests, the person in the
management position e.g. T.S.C. or head teacher should withdraw the proposal if he/she finds
out that most of the school personnel are strongly opposed to the intended replacement. Thus
will save him from future “embarrassment” or “losing of face” when members of the school
use violent physical means to oppose the intended replacement.

Grapevine Communication

Grapevine communication is informal (unofficial) communication and practically exists

among all members especially cliques, gangs, groups that have something in common. It also
occurs in all types of organisations regardless of where they are to be found. It flows in form
of ‘Facts, opinion, attitudes, suspicions, gossip, rumours, and even directives [that] flow
freely through the grapevine.’ (see Hoy & Miskel, 1987: 370). However ‘a large proportion
of grapevine consists of gossip, rumours, speculation, inaccurate or partial information.’
(D’souza 1989:134). It thrives in places and times such as, the staff room, carpools, during

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gatherings such as open days, games/sports time, parties or even during school tours. As
Bennett (1994) notes:

A grapevine is an unofficial, loose collection of communication passages that

circumvent and sometimes even replace orthodox communication procedures.
Grapevine are common where employees know each other well and exchange
information casually without the knowledge or permission of higher authority
(Bennett 1994:182).

This form of communication can be very helpful or very destructive to the organisation. It
can be of great use in that it can inform school leaders of the things that are informally taking
place in the school e.g. an impeding strike by the students. This type of information is helpful
to school authorities in that they can take necessary measures to prevent the strike. However,
grapevine communication can be destructive, full of distortions, inaccurate, incomplete etc.
Rumors, gossip, scandals about the head teacher or one of the teachers can, for instance, that
the head teacher or one of the teachers has an illicit relationship with a student can be very
ruinous. The head teacher or teacher concerned may become so demoralised such that he
does not perform his work well. Such a head teacher or teacher could even face harsh
disciplinary measures from T.S.C. such as being demoted, being transferred to a school in a
harsh environment due to such unfounded or untrue rumors.

6.6. WAYS OF COMMUNICATION

There are three basic ways or methods of communication, which are, written, oral and non-
verbal methods, which are used all over the world by people. However, electronic
communication, which uses a combination of written and oral methods via electronic devices
is increasingly becoming a more attractive mode of communication. This section will
therefore briefly discuss these four methods, namely:

• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Non verbal communication

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• Electronic Communication (Multi-media)

6.6.1. Written Communication

Written language is one of the most important and frequently used mode of communication in
organisations. As noted by Robbins (2003):

Written communications include memos, letters, electronic mail, fax

transmissions, organizational periodicals, notices placed on bulletin boards, or
any other device that is transmitted via written words or symbols.”
(Robbins 2003:287).

Some of the ways that written communication can be improved include:

• Use simple words.

• Use short and familiar words.
• Use personal pronouns (such as “you”) when ever appropriate.
• Give illustrations and examples, use charts etc.
• Use short sentences and paragraphs.
• Use active verbs such as “The manager plans …”
• Avoid unnecessary words. (Koontz & Weihrich (1990:381).

Advantages
• Written communication is tangible and verifiable.
• Record of the communication are available
• Message can be stored indefinitely.
• The message can be used as a reference.
• Is suitable for complex and lengthy communication
• Writer is more logical, clear and careful in written communication etc. verbal.
• (Robbins 2003)

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Disadvantages
• Written communication is time consuming.
• Feedback is not immediate
• May be misinterpreted (for unlike in oral communication it is impossible to immediately
clarify message or information)

6.6.2. Oral communication

This type of communication is through word of mouth. During face to face encounter of two
or more people. In a school situation information is passed on orally to others during class
hours assembly, meeting (such as staff meeting, various committees meeting e.g. B.O.G. or
PTA or general parents meeting) and during informal meetings e.g. open days, during parties,
games etc.

Advantages
• Information reaches the audience immediately.
• Information, ideas, message are passed a very fast and feedback is given immediately.
• In case of meetings with the superior subordinates, pupils’, teachers or support staff are
able to understand or gauge the importance of the information being portrayed.

Disadvantages
• Unfamiliar words/language insulting can lead to a misunderstanding.
• Meeting can be costly in terms of money and time e.g. if parents have to travel from far to
attend a meeting in school.
• Words / insults cannot be undone after they have been spoken.

6.6.3. Non-Verbal Communication

There are two forms of non-verbal communication, that physical or symbolic language.

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Physical signs
This includes, traffic lights or traffic signs showing that the road is slippery, posters on
political messages (or slogans) or advertisements of products. Physical signs in the school,
may, for example, say, “Do not step on grass, ‘Danger’ or ‘Silence’ depending on the message
that needs to be conveyed. These are made to instruct, warn or caution one.

Body language/movement

It is possible to communicate through body movements. A dance for example can convey the

dancer’s intended meaning. Body language includes, facial expressions, posture, eye

movements, signs such as waving, handshake etc. Facial expression such as, look of horror,

sadness, anger, happiness can easily be read or recognized from the face of the person

conveying message or from the one receiving it.

Actions
As the saying goes ‘actions speak louder than words’. An act of kindness shows concern even
though the one doing the action may not say anything. Likewise the receiver easily
understands an act of cruelty and this clearly portrays the message that ‘one ought to be
cautious with the one doing the action as he or she is not a friend’. Hence both actions i.e.
that of kindness and that of cruelty relay hidden messages even though the words may not
have been spoken.

Silence
Silence is a subtle (but powerful) form of communication e.g. the presence of the head teacher
may make a noisy class to keep quiet even if the head teacher does not verbally tell class
anything. His silence can, for example, indicate the seriousness of their behavior. However,
silence can be misunderstood and this can lead to dire consequences.

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6.6.4. Electronic Communication
Electronic communication is a powerful means of communication, which has revolusionalised
every sector of the society all over the world. Schools cannot afford to ignore this medium of
communication, as it is a fast and efficient means of communication between members of the
school that is, pupils, teachers’ and support staff. It is also a powerful way of communicating
with other people and agents outside the school, such as parents, members of the Board of
Governors, book suppliers, other schools and ministry of education officials, business people,
administrative personnel, politicians etc.

However, it is important to note that communication (as a management task) means more than
simple typing and sending letters or memos or e-mail etc. It involves a more complex process
where perhaps a head uses the information processed and retrieved through e-mail or letters to
make management decisions. Information about a member of staff can be retrieved (e.g.
disciplinary letters) to see whether patterns of misconduct (e.g. causes or any behavior
preceding absenteeism) over the years can be made. This may be done with the aim of
determining the reasons for behavior as well as for determining the course of action to be
taken.

E-mail

The use of electronic mail allows people to communicate with each other from anywhere in
the world. Through e-mail, one can send vital information, which is received immediately, by
the one who is meant to receive it. The other party can respond response to the matter within
seconds.
Using electronic mail, it becomes possible for a group of individuals to carry
on an intensive discussion or share ideas even though they may be in different
places at different times. (Kearsley 1990:37).

It is possible to attach files (or any information) to the e-mail being sent. It is essential for
schools to enable their staff members to have access to e-mail services in a convenient and

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regular way. As Beecharry & Schneider (1996) have observed ‘--- it would be inappropriate
to distribute intercampus mail over a LAN but not have staff access to that mail in either one’s
private office or a centralized departmental office.’ (Beecharry & Schneider in Journal of
Information Technology for Development (IDRC) Canada March 1996, volume 7, p11).

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones are also known as cell phones, cellular telephones or simply as mobile
handsets. Mobile phones work by transmitting radio waves to cellular towers. Each cellular
tower cover (and receive mobile phone signals) distances ranging between 1.5 km to 56 km.
Mobile phones have become very popular in recent years. In the UK alone about 24 million
people use them. (eBuyGuru.com, Internet, 29th, July, 2003). Mobile phones are also gaining
wide usage in almost all parts of Kenya. Whilst schools may not afford to use mobile phones
officially, many members of the school find them a convenient way of communicating official
messages as well as private ones.

Merits of using mobile phones

• Mobile phones can be used in almost all the regions of Kenya (except a few where these
services are still not available). This includes rural areas where there are no fixed
telephone lines.
• The network has an answering service that stores messages for the user when the mobile
phone is switched off or out of range.
• Mobile phones enable one to get assistance incase of emergencies
• One can send typed messages very cheaply through the text messaging service (SMS)
available with mobile phones

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Internet

The Internet is a world-wide collection of interconnected networks. It is not owned by one

central organisation. Different people/agents from all over the world contribute the
information available on the Internet. This therefore means that no agent or organisation
owns the Internet. It is also important to note that some of the information available on the
Internet can be accessed freely but one would need to subscribe for others. However to gain
access to some of the information in some sites, the school needs to go through an Internet
service provider. A fee is paid for this service. One can get information through the Internet
by:
• By establishing a connection with at least one information server using its URL (Uniform
Resource Locator).
• Using a search engine, such as, Yahoo. ‘surfing’ the www, that is, wandering from
information server to another information server.

The Internet provides people throughout the world with access to information at a faster rate
than was possible before. The Internet is presently growing at more than 1 billion pages every
six months. Through the Internet, schools have access to information than was possible
before on different topics of educational interest. Schools can also develop a web-site where
they can process and store information which they think is of interest to other people. The
information that may be placed on a school’s web site include information that might be of
Internet to future students, parents or the school’s community. Schools can also carryout
projects of educational interests over the Internet jointly with other schools.

Teleconferencing

In a general sense,

most people think of a teleconference as a group of people interacting with

each other by means of audio and video media with moving or still pictures. --
- Full-motion video is frequently used to hold meetings among managers. Not
only do they hear each other, but they can also see each other'’ expressions or
discuss some visual display. This kind of communication is, rather expensive,

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 and audio in combination with still video may be used instead. This method of
communicating may be useful for showing charts or illustrations during a
technical discussion.

Advantages

• Saves travel expenses and time

• Can be held when necessary (no long term planning for no travelling)
• Communication can be carried out more frequently between e.g. head quarters and remote
stations

6.7. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

This section discusses some of these barriers to effective communication. Firstly, barriers to
effective use of electronic communication are discussed and then barriers of effective
communication are examined.

6.7.1. Barriers to Use of Electronic Communication

This section examines the barriers that hinder use electronic communication.

Barriers/ Disadvantages associated with use of Mobile Phones

• Mobile phones are expensive to purchase and use. Ones needs either access to electrical
(or battery) power to charge the phone. Hence, they are beyond the reach of the average
citizen.
• Frequent network problems and congestion due to too many users.
• They are attractive to thieves, as there is a ready market where they can be sold.

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• Accidents have occurred as a result of people using mobile phones while driving. This
divided attention is likely to make one not to be observant of other motorists. It is
important for motorists to stop the car while using the mobile phone.
• The actual location of the one calling help through a mobile phone is difficult to trace
unless he is able to state the actual location.
• Sometimes mobile calls come when one is in a public place and one is required to talk
private things in public.
• There are health worries associated with use of mobile phones which allegedly can cause
cancer through the emission of microwaves radiation while using the mobile phone close
to the head.

Barriers and Disadvantages of using the Internet

• Using the Internet is expensive in terms of money spent on telephone and electricity. The
school also has to pay the Internet service provider.
• Electricity blackouts or interruptions also limit use of computers in general and the
Internet in particular.
• Students have access to web site containing information that schools and parents do not
want the pupils’ to gain access to, for example, pornography, prostitution, drugs and so
on.
• Confidential information may be viewed by other people and may be used destructive
purposes.
• Virus may also wipe out important computerised data and records.

Teleconferencing

Disadvantages

• Faulty equipment (due to new and unfamiliarity with equipment)

• Face to face meetings are more beneficial than teleconferencing

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6.7.2. Barriers to General Communication
The barriers to effective communication are many and those discussed below are just
examples of these barriers.

Unclarified Assumptions

There are sometimes unclarified assumptions underlying the message that hinder effective the
message from being effectively communicated. The head teacher may assume, for instance
that accommodation will be provided to those attending an in-service course because it has
been provided in the past. Yet, it may turn out that the accommodation is not to be provided
this time. This may result in some members of staff failing to attend the seminar for they may
not have planned and kept aside money for accommodation.

Semantic Distortion

The source or receiver may affect the communication process. Semantic distortion (whether
intentional or unintentional) may hinder effective communication. Verbiage can hinder or
make it difficult to pick out significant points and different meanings can be drawn to the
same message. Some words may also give the wrong unintended meaning e.g. the head
teacher may announce that teachers who fail to complete the syllabus of the subjects they are
teaching will be taken to have failed in their work. Teachers, may from then onwards, aim to
complete the syllabus without taking into account whether the pupils understand or not. In
other words, they will teach hurriedly to complete the syllabus instead of teaching at a pace,
which each and every pupil can understand.

Poorly Written and Expressed Messages

The writer of the message may fail to communicate effectively by use of ‘poorly chosen
words, omissions, lack of coherence, poor organisation of ideas, awkward sentence structure,

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platitudes, unnecessary jargon, and a failure to clarify the implications of the message’.
(Koontz & Weihrich, 1990:376). It is therefore imperative for the writer to ensure that his or
her message is written in a clear language, which the recipient of the message will easily
understand. One can do this by choosing the right style, vocabulary, layout, length etc in-
order to make his or her message comprehensible.

Poor Transmission of the Message

The medium being used to communicate the message maybe faulty. The telephone maybe
producing other noises within it and this may prevent one from hearing the message clearly or
correctly.

Poor Retention of the Message

The message may be communicated less accurately (or even fail to be communicated) when
only one person is used. As noted by Koontz & Weihrich 1990:

In a series of transmissions from one person to the next, the message becomes
less and less accurate. Poor retention of information is another serious
problem. Thus the necessity of repeating the message and using several
channels is rather obvious. Consequently, companies often use more than one
channel to communicate the same message. (p. 376)

In a school situation, the head teacher or even the teachers should not use the children to
orally pass messages to parents but it is important that they write important messages to the
parents.

Unsuitable messages

The message may not be suitable for the intended audience e.g. very young children in the
lower classes (in a school situation) may not understand information relating to sexual matters
whereas older children in upper classes can easily understand it. Hence this type of message
is unsuitable for young children.

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Recipients Poor Listening Skills and Assumptions

The recipient of the message may hinder communication by failing to listen to the message
properly. He or she, may for instance, read a letter half way and assume that he or she knows
the rest of the content of the message. As a result, he or she may fail to read an important part
of the message and this may distort the message, sometimes with disastrous results.

Information overload

The person in the position of authority may receive so much information that much of it ends
up being disregarded. The other employees may also be given with too much information by
their superiors that they are unable to take in all the requirements.

Lack of opportunities for communication

Staff members in the lower positions in the organisation may not have an opportunity to
communicate with their superiors especially when the chain of command is long. The middle
managers may also choose not to pass to senior managers the messages given by junior staff.

The Reference Group one Belongs

The reference group (ethnic or religious group, neighbors, etc.) that one belongs to influences
the way he or she interprets the received communication. One may fail to take the advise of
another person from another religious group simply because this religious group is looked
down upon by his own religious group.

Stereotyping

Attributing a person with certain characteristics simply because he belongs to a certain group,
class, ethnic group (e.g. rich or poor, white or black person) is stereotyping. Presupposing
that members of an ethnic group have a bad temper or they are mean etc means that anybody
belonging to this ethnic group will be taken to have a bad temper or to be mean. Stereotyping
can therefore interfere with communication in that one will judge someone on the basis of his

109
or her culture, group etc. In other words, one will assume that the receiver of the message
will behave in a certain way or he or she behaved in a certain way because he or she belongs
to a certain ethnic group.

Halo Effect

This is the assumption that because one possesses a certain characteristic then he possesses
certain other characteristics. So while with stereotyping a person is taken as having all the
characteristics assumed for his group, with halo effect, one’s total set of characteristics is
judged on the basis of the trait that has been observed in him. (see Bennett, 1994). Further,
Hicks & Gullett (1981:330) point out that ‘The halo effect is the result of two-valued
thinking. In this situation, we see things only as dichotomies – good and bad, right and
wrong, white and black, and so forth.’ As a result, we tend to agree with a person we admire
and disagree with a person that we dislike.

Physical limitations
The environment where the communication is taking place can also act as a barrier to
effective communication. It is difficult, for instance, to communication in a noisy
environment such as, a market or a bus station.

6.8. Ways of Ensuring that Communication is Effective

It is important for school administrators as well as other members in the organisation to learn
how to communicate effectively so that the overall objectives of the organisation (or the
objective of what is being communicated) can be achieved. Firstly, the features that are
necessary for effective communication to take place should be taken into account. Secondly
the barriers mentioned above should be removed or minimised.

6.8.1. Features of Good Communication

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A number of features are essential in order for communication to be effective. Emerson &
Goddard (1993) have noted the following features as being vital in good communication.

• Clarity of purpose
• Clarity of message
• Clarity of outcome
• Appropriate in form

(i) Clarity of purpose

All the people involved in the communication process should be awake of its purpose so as
not to cause confusion and ill feelings. It is, important, for example, for the receipt of the
communication or message top know whether it is advice or instruction. Then and only then
will they know what is the best cause of action to take.

(ii) Clarity of message

Emerson & Goddard further not that the message should be explicit and easily understood.
Hence
• The recipient must complete the information or ideas being put across
• Information should be in a logical and concise form.
• Structure should be coherent and incidly ideas expressed intelligibly
• Ambiguity should be avoided

(iii) Clarity of outcome

If the intension of the communication in a given outcome, the action to be taken should be
clear, that is unambiguous. “ The participants should be clear as to the purpose of the action,
what is to be done, how it is to be done, who will do it and by when.
( Emerson & Goddard, 1993 :163)

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(iv) Appropriate in form

Communication can either be written or oral. One should choose which form of
communication is most appropriate. In other words, some messages are best relayed orally
such as, the death of a relative. This is to done in order to prepare the recipient of the message
as well as to ensure that the support that might be needed e.g. the presence of a close and
trusted friend or relative is available.

Summary
Communication is indeed a vital element in any organisation. School administrators must
learn how to communicate effectively as the success of the school to some extent depends on
good communication. This implies that they should ensure that communication flows in
various directions and that various types of communication are used. They should also gain an
understanding of the factors that enhance effective communication as well as those that hinder
it with a view of either eliminating or at least minimising the impendiments.

Activity

112
h
• List the various ways that a head teacher of either secondary or primary school can
improve communication in his or her school.
• What are some of the problems that might occur in a school due to lack of effective
communication?

113
Questions

V
• What is communication?
• Illustrate using a diagram the process of communication and describe each of the elements
involved in the process.
• Explain the various directions that communication can flow in an organisation. Show
why is it important for school administrators to ensure that communication flows from all
directions and not from ‘in top positions downwards to those below in subordinates
positions’
• Four major types of communication that can be identified. Describe each of them in
detail showing their various uses.
• What are some of the factors that may hinder effective communication in schools? How
can these barriers be removed?

114
Bibliography

Š
Hicks H.G. & Gullett C.R. (1981) Organisations: Theory and Behavior. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Aukland.

Hoy W & Miskel (1987) Educational Administration: Theory, Research, and Practice.
McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York.

Bennett R. (2nd edition) (1994). Organizational Behaviout. Longman Group, UK Limited, UK.

Koontz H & Weihrich H. Essentials of Management (5th edition) (1990) Tata McGraw-Hill
New Delhi.

115
Lesson Seven

FUNDAMENTALS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION

Objectives:

Œ
• To discuss the meaning of education policy
• To review important education policies since 1963
• To scrutinize and understand the basic legal framework of our education system.
• To understand the significance of Education Act
• To discuss the current structure and organization of the Ministry of Education Science
and Technology.
• To discuss the functions of the Statutory Bodies as for example the TSC the KIE and the
KNEC.

Student Outcome with Regard to the Fundamental of the National Education

Administration.
• The students shall be expected to know of education policy, be able to define education
policy and articulate the important role of policy in providing methods of problem solving
and guideline.
• The students should be able to understand the development of education policies since
1963.

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• Students shall understand the basic legal framework guiding and protecting the interests of
an institution.
• The students shall understand the Kenya Education Act.
• The students shall be able to understand the organizational structure of the Ministry of
Education.
• The students shall be able to understand the various statutory bodies, their functions and
benefits to the education system.

7.0 Fundamentals of National Educational Administration

The Fundamentals of National Educational Administration is a crucial area in which we

investigate the nature of service delivery of education in Kenya. In this section legal

framework, the organizational structures and infrastructure that guides the education sector.

And finally, developed are the policies to provide and guide it in the management of

education in Kenya.

7.1 Meaning of Education Policy

Many countries are facing challenges in the provision of education. These challenges are
brought on by various factors, such as globalization, increased population, international
conventions such as rights of special people and guarantees to education. Others include
economic difficulties that many developing nations are facing which reduce their capacity to
meet economic responsibilities. The geopolitical and in country political ecology creates
another challenge that governments must address. In order to meet these challenges and
determine their priorities, the government has developed several policies.

7.2 Functions of Policy

♦ Policy is a vehicle through which the government expresses and maintains control.

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♦ Policy guides in the administration and formation of rules and regulations of practice.

♦ Policy provides consistency, maintain standards, stability and assurance in institutions

♦ Policies, written, published and disseminated inform the public and reduce uncertainty.

7.3 What is Policy?

Many scholars have defined policy as:

♦ A statement of those objectives that guide the actions of a substantial portion of the total

organization (Hoy & Miskel 19:320).

♦ A policy is a general statement of intent to act in a particular manner when confronted

with a given situation or to achieve a given result at some future point in time (Knezevich

19…321).

7.4 Policies in Education since 1963

Since 1963 when Kenya attained independence, several challenges have faced the

government. Consequently, the education provision in this country has not been static and

has been addressed by the government through concerted efforts of policy formulation.

The following instruments have been the government’s way of responding to the myriad of

needs that resulted from education provision.

i. The KANU manifesto, 1963 –

The KANU manifesto was the ruling party’s commitment and hence the government’s

commitment to provide universal free primary education.

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This instrument is a good example of how politics influence education governance, and

hence policies that guide its service provision. It is not therefore possible to divorce

politics from education entirely.

ii. The Kenya Education Commission (1964) (The Ominde Report).

This laid the foundation of the pattern of education in independent Kenya by-

♦ Abolishing segregation of schools along racial levies.

♦ Establishment of a standardized national curriculum.

♦ Recommended the management of public primary schools by local authorities.

iii. The Sessional Paper No.10 of 1965.

Recognizes the role of education as the principal means of producing domestic skilled

manpower and equalizing economic opportunities among all citizens.

iv. The National Committee on Education Objectives and Policies of 1976

(Gachathi Report).

Emphasized on practical oriented subjects through-.

♦ Introduction of the 9-4-2-3 system of education.

♦ Promotion of teachers (primary cycle on merit).

♦ Training teachers in guidance and counseling.

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 v. The Presidential Working Party on the Establishment of a Second University

1981 (Mackay Report).

Recommended

♦ Restructuring of the education system 8-4-4

♦ Diversified school curriculum with emphasis on pre-vocational and technical

skills.

♦ Establishment of a second national university that would lay emphasis on

technology.

vi. The Presidential Working Party on Education and Manpower Training for the Next

Decade and Beyond, 1988 (The Kamunge Report) recommended:

This intended to reduce government budgetary allocation to education. Other costs shifted to

parents and the community in areas of school uniforms, facilities, meals and transport. It is

instructive to note that this policy was actually a response to a World Bank Report just

released entitled “Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization

and Expansion” (World Bank, 1988)

Kamunge Report also advised on the streamline of provision & management of TVET under

one authority. It further recommended the strengthening & improving Teachers Advisory

Centres (TACs)

vii. Commitment to Education for All (EFA) as discussed by the UNESCO World

Conference at Jomtien, Thailand 1990).

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viii. National Task Force on Gender and Education (1995).

“In particular girl-mothers were to be allowed back to school.”

ix. The Master Plan on Education and Training, 1997-2010 (1988)

This document was a response to the country’s aspirations to be industrialized by the

2010. It was further to provide direction in the financing and governance of education and

training. Other emerging issues to address were high drop out rates, regional disparities, and

gender disparities

x. Totally Integrated Quality Education and Training (TIQET) The Koech

Report 1998.

The appointment of the Commission of Inquiry into the Education System of Kenya

produced the TIQET report, which recommended strongly a review of the 8.4.4 education

initiative.

7.5 Legal Framework on Education System

Education Act. Chapter 212 of the Kenyan Laws (1968).

This is an Act of Parliament that provides for the regulations and progressive development of
education in the country. Some of the legal issues addressed are: -
- Registration of schools

- Management of schools e.g. school committees and BOG

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 - Discipline of pupils and teachers

- School inspection and supervision

- Education standards regulations

- The legal status of K.I.E.

Other examples of acts are-

(i) Board of Adult Education Act (1965).

This established a board, which would coordinate adult education activities in the country.

(ii) The Teachers’ Service Commission Act (1967)

This established a single employee and unified terms of service for teachers in public schools.

(iii) The University of Nairobi Act (1970)

This act established university of Nairobi as the first national university providing for its

control, government and administration.

(iv) The National Council for Science and Technology Act (1978)

Established a body to coordinate research in Science and Technology and to advice the

government on relevant policy matters.

(v) The Kenya National Examinations Council Act (1980)

(vi) The Kenya Literature Bureau Act (1980)

(vii) Moi University Act (1984)

(viii) The Universities Act (1985) established the Commission for Higher Education.

(ix) Kenyatta University Act (1985)

(x) Egerton University (1987)

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Other laws that a school manager needs to know are regulation and legal notices governing

♦ Student discipline

♦ Teachers terms and conditions of service

♦ Education curriculum development; implementation and evaluation including

examinations.

♦ School inspectors and Educational standards

♦ School audit and financial management

♦ Laws of contract

♦ Contract formulation, tendering and procurement practices

♦ International laws and conventions pertaining to education such as Education For All

(Jomtien 1990, Thailand) Universal Primary Education (Dakar, Senegal 2000).

The head teacher must make necessary arrangements to acquaint themselves with laws and

statutes that govern their practices. Such knowledge will give confidence, stability and offer

proper guidelines to their clients. It is worth noting too, that the Kenya Staff Institute provides

in-service courses from time to time for heads of school as need arises

NOTE:

( The National conference on Education held in Nairobi discussed at length the Legal

Framework of Education. What became quite obvious are the many laws and legal notices
that education provision falls under. It became evident too that there needs to be a unified
approach to education under one legal body. Such a system would govern education provision

123
at all sectors and all providers without prejudice. It concluded that because of the multiplicity
and multi level responsible agents provided, various services to education, enforcing practices
uniformly and equally has been fairly difficult.

ACTIVITY:

h Catalogue the policy documents that are used in guiding school management in your

school.

QUESTION:

V
How effective are the above in guiding the school head teacher?
How conversant is the school head teacher with the policy document?

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6.6 Structures and Organization of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology ( see

appendix I )

The Ministry of Education Science and Technology operates under a hierarchical structure.

The Minister of Education whose duties are provided for by the Education Act, Cap 211 of

Kenyan Laws, heads the Ministry of Education Science and Technology.

The minister’s duties:

♦ Including promoting education for all Kenyans as per the National Plan for

Economic and Social Development.

♦ Developing institutions for the promotion of education in Kenya and

securing cooperation of all public bodies concerned with education.

The ministry is organized through several hierarchical bureaus to address education needs in

the country. The following is the descriptions of the various departments in the ministry of

education.

The Permanent Secretary- the overall executive head of the ministry of education.

Duties include: -
♦ Formulating and implementing government policies on education.

♦ Controlling the implementation of government policies on matters related to

parastatal bodies and institutions involved in education.

♦ Liaises with statutory bodies like the TSC, KIE, JKF, KNEC, KLB, among others.

There are four main divisions responsible to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of

Education, they are:

125
 o Finance

o Administration

o Planning and Development

o Directorate of Education

The Finance Division

– Headed by Deputy Secretary and is concerned with the budget and disbursement of the

ministry.

The Administration Division

– Headed by Deputy Secretary who deals with daily operations of ministry.

Planning & Development Division

-Headed by Deputy Secretary who plans for various development programmes in the
Ministry.

The Directorate of Education; Functions and Divisions

Functions:

The Director of Education heads this division and is the chief professional officer of the

ministries

Functions of the Directorate include:

126
 Formulating policy directional and management of professional functions relating to

education.

Developing and implementing projects and programmes.

Developing curricula for schools and colleges

Inspecting schools & teachers

Initiating training programmes

Running examinations etc.

Because of the varied responsibilities in the Directorate of Education, there are several

departments each managed by a Senior Deputy Director of Education. Specifically

responsibilities correspond to the levels of education; the Primary, Secondary, University, the

Inspectorate, and Field and Other Services. We shall now look at each of the responsibilities

individually.

Departments of the Directorate of Education:

There are several departments under the aegis of the Director of Education that are headed by

the Senior Deputy Directors. These departments are those in charge of the Primary,

Secondary, the University, the Inspectorate, the Field and other Services. Each of the Senior

Deputy Directors is charged with matters pertaining to the area they are charged with and

responsible to the Director of Education. We shall now proceed to look at some of the key

areas in detail.

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The Inspectorate
The Inspectorate is headed by the Chief Inspector of Schools (CIS), and is responsible to the

Director of Education.

It is charged with the

Establishment, maintenance and improvement of standards of education in Kenyan

schools and colleges.

As a custodian of education standards in the country.

The inspectorate plays the role of a supervisor as well as advisor through quality

assurance and quality development respectively.

As supervisor – assumes that procedures are followed, maintained and that the National Goals

are used to guide individual schools in developing their own.

As advisor – it plays the professional role of working closely with the classroom teachers for

purposes of achieving the required educational standards.

It is therefore able to set standards monitor their achievement and share this knowledge

through feedback and monitoring. Such information can also be used by the Inspectorate to

improve on their services.

128
NOTE

(
The current and only ever-published handbook for Inspectors is heavy on Pre Primary and
Primary Schools. Although in some places it refers to secondary schools, there is no direct
mention to this sector in the index. The Inspectorate supposedly also covers quality assurance
and quality development of institutions, no mention of what institutions are referred to here.
However, it is a good start and there is room for improvement for the Handbook.

7.6.1 Field Other Services (FOS)

The Deputy Director of Education heads this section called Field and other Services. It is the

link department of the ministry headquarters to the programmes in the provinces.

The FOS responsibilities are wide ranging and in particular: -

Links the headquarters to the field services in the provinces, districts and zones.

HIV/AIDS policy implementation

School feeding programme

Guidance and counseling

Appointments and renewal of District Education Boards

School Health and Nutritional matters

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 Coordinator Headquarters Resource Center

Rights of the child

7.7 The Statutory Bodies

The statutory bodies are created through Acts of Parliament and provide services to the

Ministry of Education.

i) The Teachers Service Commission (TSC)

The Teacher Service Commission was created through the Act of Parliament in 1967 and
revised in 1968 to provide a single employer and unified terms of service for teachers in
public schools. This single most driving force behind the creation of the TSC was the Kenya
National Union of Teachers that agitated for better term of service and remuneration of
teachers. The two bodies signed a memorandum of understanding for each to recognize the
others existence for purposes of promoting teacher welfare under a unified force.
In particular, the TSC was –

To provide teachers with uniform terms and conditions of service.

To ensure that schools and colleges are adequately staffed
Concentration was manageable so long as schools were few.

ii) The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT)

KNUT came into being after along struggle of teachers serving under various disparate terms
of service and job insecurity. The government, after several teacher strikes across the
country, finally yielded to the pressure for a union to represent teachers serving in public
schools.

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Other statutory bodies are the Kenya Institute of Education, Kenya National Examinations
Council, Kenya Education Staff Institute, Kenya Institute of Special Education, and The Jomo
Kenyatta Foundations, among others.

iii) The Kenya National Examinations Council Act 1980

Earlier, Oversees Cambridge Examinations Syndicate set examinations. In 19780, the KNEC
was formed to set, administer, mark and award all public examinations in Kenya. Specifically,
the examinations offered are the KCPE, KCSE, The Primary Teacher Examinations, The
Technical Examinations and the Polytechnics.

iv) The Kenya Institute of Education.

The Kenya Institute of education was formed as a result of a conference held jointly by the

East African Universities in 1964. The major role was played by KIE is the development of

curriculum in Kenya. Others functions are revising existing course content, coordination of

programmes particularly teacher education.

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Lesson 8

SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Objectives:

Œ
• To have an overview of secondary education development since 1963.
• To review the objectives of secondary schools
• To discuss the various types of secondary schools
• To scrutinize the roles of the BOG, PTA and the Head Teacher.
• The study the roles of the Head Teacher, Departmental Head, Student Leaders in school
administration.

Student Outcomes:

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• The students should be able to understand the various constraints in terms of limited
financial resources, infrastructure and the human resource factors.
• To review and understand basic and fundamental need of the staff, students and the
implementation process according to the current administrative practice.
• The students will understand the roles of the key people charged with the responsibility to
bring development and prosperity to the community.
• The students will understand the role of the head teacher as the most important factor in
the capacity building of the human resource.

An Overview of the development of secondary school since 1963.

The country has experienced rapid growth of secondary education since independence in both

number of schools and in enrollment. For instance, at independence, there were 151

secondary schools with an enrolment of 31,200 students and 1602.

1997 there were approximately 3028 public secondary schools with about 687,473 students

and a staff of about 40,000 teachers.

Today: -

Until 1989, the schools were categorized into 4 types.

I Maintained schools –

These were government boarding and day schools that were fully maintained by the

government.

The government through the TSC and the BOG paid for the teacher and support staff.

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 This category of school had the best facilities, and often the best national examination

results.

II Assisted schools

This category consisted of schools initially started through Harambee efforts after

independence.

The communities because of the high demand for education developed and funded

secondary schools.

This category realized the highest growth in all categories.

III Unaided Harambee Schools

This category was developed and fully maintained by the community. The community

collected funds through fees; harambee and auctions, which in turn used to hire

teachers support staff, buy material and provisions and construct physical structures.

Because of poor facilities, and poor management, the examinations results were often

poor in this category of school.

IV Unaided Private Schools

This category was established by entrepreneurs whose main objective to make a profit

out of the fees paid by the pupils. They were concentrated in the urban centres.

The exam results often were poorest of all the categories.

Today there are two types of schools; the public school, and the private school.

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The private secondary schools are those that are developed by individuals and private

organizations. They are equipped and staffed entirely by funds from individuals, school fees

and private organizations.

There are two types of private schools the commercial and religious schools.

The public schools on the other hand are equipped, staffed and managed by the government

through TSC, BOG, and PTA.

The BOG provides funds through levies to hire extra teachers and support staff. The PTA,

through levies provides more funds for development projects.

Cost sharing policy gave legal leeway to BOG and PTA to collect funds from parents to

provide the school with required staff and physical structures.

Students expect to be disciplined and knowledgeable in whatever field to benefit themselves

and nation as a whole.

8.2 Objectives of Secondary School Education

1. To promote experience, growth of the whole person through integrated development of

mental, physical and emotive (moral, spiritual, and aesthetic) attributes and abilities,

beyond the primary experience.

2. To promote communication skills, numeracy, scientific concepts and skills (reasoning,

problem solving, creating, technological applications of science etc.) and social skills

including services to others and society.

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3. To increase knowledge on economic production and its relationship with the social

context and the natural environment.

4. To promote social equity through provision of education to all Kenyans, including those

from disadvantaged communities and households, girl child and the handicapped.

5. To strengthen the foundation laid down in primary school for formal education and

training, the world of work and life long learning.

ACTIVITY:

h Study the objectives above and determine the relationship to the

school mission.

QUESTION:

V
Does the school have a school mission?

Do the departmental heads know the school mission and how it should guide them in their
management practices?

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8.3. The Role BOG/PTA in the Management of Secondary Education
Management of secondary school is an aspect of the Ministry of Education structural
endeavor to manage units within the system. It is assumed that there are several rungs in the
management of education. The Ministry headquarters is in the upper rung, the Provincial level
the middle, and the School management in the lower rung in the management of secondary
schools.

The Education Act CAP 211, Sec. 6(b) gives authority to the Minister for Education appoint

the Board of Governors to manage secondary schools.

The minister may, the Act states

(a) establish one a board of governors for two or more schools or

(b) establish boards of governors for two or more schools by means of the same order.

According to the Education Act Cap. 211 of the Kenyan Laws, the constitution and functions

of the Board of Governors are as follows:

(a) That the board shall exercise the duty of management of the school(s) subject to

the Act, the TSC Act, Cap 212, and any regulations under this Act.

(b) The membership of the board according to the Act shall not be less than five

persons, including board representatives of the communities served by the school.

-persons representing any regulatory body, which was the founder of the

school.

- persons or representatives of the bodies or organizations that, in the opinion

of the minister, should be included.

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The Master Plan on Education and Training (MPET) (1997-2010) on the other hand made the

following proposal, that the BOG membership comprise 15 representatives drawn from

various groups as follows.

6 – parents association

2 – sponsors

1 – District Education Board

1 – Local women’s organization

1 – Local co-operative society

1 – Old students association

2 – Co-opted members

Head teacher as secretary designate to the BOG.

The proposed BOG constitution or membership would capture different stakeholders interest.

However, until the proposal is accepted and implemented, the real impact and depth of

representation will not be known. There are many emergent issues in education so that an

informed and educated mind must be adopted to give them adequate consideration and

eventual support to the education system.

Functions of the BOG

(i) Overall responsibility for planning developing and managing the school, including
budgeting, mobilizing; managing and accounting for school resources.
(ii) Collaborating with DEB in the Management of teaching force, e.g. with repaid to staff
establishment, appointments and discipline and grievance procedures.

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(iii) Recruitment and management of non-teaching staff.
(iv) Local development of the schools curriculum including out of class activities and
development of student’s social values and beliefs.

PTA – established in 1998 through Presidential Directive to create a forum for the
involvement of parents, teachers and community to participate in institutional development
and growth. They are responsible for raising funds for facilities such as classrooms, teacher’s
houses, and offices, providing as necessary learning resources. They are not however
adequately represented in the BOG body, the concerned body that spends they money made
by PTA. Some schools have fallen victim to misappropriation of funds and both parents and
even students have demonstrated this luck of faith through strikes.

The Role of the School Sponsors and Education Managers.

The role of the sponsor, often faith based is very crucial in the management of the school. It
is imperative that person appointed to head the school is indeed of high integrity, a graduate
and represents the sponsor’s values adequately.

The sponsor ensures that the school manages high moral values, and life styles that serve as
role models for students. The country is reeling under rampant use of drugs and other
substances that are influencing student values and behaviour, HIV/AIDs is another rampant
epidemic of epic properties that is affecting the students, teachers and the families
subsequently the education programme is greatly undermined.

The role of the sponsor is vital in providing both the spiritually and moral values to guide the
school managers. The sponsor needs to ensure that the staff is TSC registered, to fully realize
the partnership between the government and the stakeholder in Education development.

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7.4 Role of the Head teacher

The head teacher is an employee of the Teachers Service Commission in charge of the day-to-

day activities of the school. In particular the chief responsibility is t creating an enabling

atmosphere for learning, teaching, and optimizing of all the resources. The processes that

create the conversion activities to professionalism are embedded in the management

principles of planning, organizing, directing, supervising, communicating, budgeting and

evaluating. Each process must be followed diligently in accordance with the procedure

provided by the ministry of education. Since the school curriculum is set centrally, the head

teacher role effectively becomes that of the implementer.

Secondary school education is a unique level between that of dependent pre-teen and the

young adults. This predominantly adolescent group of between 15-18 years is also

rambunctious and needs a proactive, anticipatory and precautionary administration. This is a

head teacher that purposes to achieve the schools' aims and objectives and strives to develop

basic skills that are technical, human and conceptual.

In respect to the age of the adolescent students in secondary school, the head teacher should

create an environment that is positive and takes cognizance of the social development of the

V Examine the current constitution and functions of the BOG in your secondary school

or one you are acquainted with.

(i) Compare the set up of the constitution and functions of BOG
provided in the education Act Cap. 211 with the proposed (MPET)
(ii) Which of the models140
above compares closely with the BOG of the
age cohort. Developing a positive school climate should always be the driving force of the

school administrator. While administration builds into practice and strategy the understanding

of the early adolescent development, it will create a school that is purposeful. The student’s

total person must be considered in terms of their social and psychological makeup and how

such would impact on the academic performance. The first consideration should not therefore

be academic performance, but the student and how connected they are to their environment.

As stipulated by the motivation theories of Maslow and Herzberg, it is prudent to balance the

environmental factors with the motivation variables in order to achieve an environment

conducive to learning. While considering the students, the teachers and the support staff must

not be left behind. Motivating and working at meeting the human resource at their point of

need should be one of the primary strategies of management. Without this resource the use of

the other resources may not amount to much.

School management as an eclectic field

The head teacher’s role is informed and enriched by knowledge from different fields, such as
psychology, sociology, anthropology and economics. A well-read head teacher who consults
widely and collaborates with relevant sectors enhances productivity as the chief executive of
the school. In addition, the head teacher interacts with various members of the community, the
parents, the business sector and the religious leaders among others and therefore he or she
needs to posses a wide worldview. The head teacher from this perspective provides a window
into the school for all the stakeholders. The school management informed from many fields is
therefore said to be an eclectic field of study.

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7.4.1 Functions of the head teacher
Specifically the head teacher carries the following responsibilities:

-Management School Facilities

-Personnel Management (staff)

-Collective Bargaining

-School Laws

-Instructional Services

-Public Relations

- Pupil Personnel Services

-Discipline

-Health Programmes

-Educational Management Information System (EMIS)

i) Management school facilities

School facilities represent huge investments and symbolize the community’s beliefs and

values with regard to education. In other words, the kinds of structures, plans for buildings,

the money spent and the total ambiance created, all contribute to form the communities value

system. It is believed that a crowded compound, caged up dormitories that are poorly

ventilated and congested, dirty classrooms are among, coupled with poor or no staff rooms

just exacerbate the image of the school and its products. On the other hand the aesthetics or

care with the school is designed and facilities provided for all the school programmes is

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testimony of the values of the community. Such values translate in the conduct of the pupils

and staff that manifest either in good or bad conduct.

In this area, therefore, the administration must plan and manage. Planning is a critical aspect,

as it must comply with the needs of the school and fiscal capacity of the patrons. Often times

projects seem to be planned with out concern for how the funds will be acquired other than

parent levies. This sometimes leads to expensive projects that are not relevant to the

curriculum specifically, and sometimes they never get completed. The parents in this case

cannot source enough money to complete the projects.

Those projects that meet the needs of the curriculum must however be adequately managed.

This means that repairs must be carried out as soon as they are required. Proper painting and

general aesthetics should be maintained. Fences, roofs, gutters, drainage walls, over grown

trees etc must be regularly maintained, repaired, removed or replaced so as not to cause

unnecessary expensive repairs.

Other school facilities are vehicles, land and learning resource, for proper utilization, the

vehicles must be regularly inspected and adequately insured. The land title must be secured

and fenced to protect it from marauders. Books are another expensive resource that is

substantive to the business of the school. They need proper cataloguing, and storage. A

spacious and adequately furnished library would encourage students to respect and use the

books properly. Reading should be encouraged as an activity that is not only necessary to

pass exams, but as life skill..

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ii) Collective Bargaining
Because the head teachers will increasingly engage in matters regarding unionizable staff

such as KNUT, KUPPET, KHUDEIHIA, etc, collective bargaining becomes an essential skill

to acquire. This is a process of negotiating wages and other working conditions collectively

between employers and trade unions, it enables the conditions of employees to be agreed as a

whole group instead of individually. [G.A Cole (1996: pg. x)

iii) School Laws

The schools are subject to a myriad of laws and regulations. New laws are enacted and others

adjusted continuously. It is prudent therefore for the head teacher to keep abreast within all

the laws and regulations governing them. Such knowledge would provide stability and

confidence with the head teacher and their institution.

Such policies as those related to gender, Education for All, and Cost Sharing impact on

service delivery. Further ramifications are seen in the kind of facilities, human and fiscal

resources the school can acquire in order to meet the school needs.

In-service programmes run by KESI provide competencies in areas that the head teacher feels

deficient in. Such competencies in areas such as school laws etc are often provide by

periodical seminars etc.

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(iv) Instructional Leadership
Facets of instructional leadership are:

(a) Improvement of teachers and learning by providing in-service on a continued basis. This

exercise will provide a forum for teachers to share their successes, and their failures. This

is an opportunity too for teachers to get affirmation and gain more competencies. This

exercise will also help teachers feeling challenged on the job or those experiencing

burnout.

New teachers need to be oriented to their new schools and environment. Head teachers

can use school’s best teachers as mentors for the new teachers. A mentor would be

someone who would work with a novice teacher as a colleague and not as a junior who

does not know anything. It is not the time to show off, but a time for colleaquel support. A

mentor is objective in a professional way. A mentor is also some one comfortable with

himself or herself.

The success of this kind of programme can fully come from maintaining a professional

approach.

(b) Developing supervisory strategies

Supervisory strategies that integrate collaborative style of leadership will succeed and

bring people together. The best recipe is one that views supervisor as someone with super

vision. This means someone with expertise more superior than the teacher being

supervised. This superiority should not be confused with haughtiness and coerciveness

and provide. Rather it should be guided by the desire by the supervisor to be professional,

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 principled, collaborative, enhancing, collegial and actualizing super vision should be

simply that, better vision.

(c) Maintaining School System

Such strategies as maintenance of school programmes as laid out in the timetable are

absolutely essential. The timetable is an instrument that reflects a carefully thought out

curriculum. When the timetable is strictly adhered by the teacher coming to class on time,

well prepared and staying through the duration of the lesson, students will surely learn.

Timetabling also is a device for aims and objectives of education programmes.

(d) Improving Curriculum and Library material

This aspect entails a sufficient collection and varied textbooks. Professional reference

material and current journals will enhance teacher preparation. A good library would be

stocked with relevant books that both provide interest with variety and accommodative

vocabulary.

(e) Evaluation of students

Progressive CATS, and examinations should reflect real time and learning by students.

Continuous assessment tests should be just that, to determine the student’s progress and

help develop that student. External examinations and tests should only be used sparingly

as this will not measure actual interaction between teaching and pupils.

(f) Role Model

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A head teacher is a role model and so therefore their professional and academic integrity

should appeal to teachers, parents and pupils. Communication occurs at many, levels, such as

in dress, activities, language and behavior. Wrong messages can be inadvertently conveyed

easily. Head teachers therefore must demonstrate the kinds of values they profess to hold. As

the public, donors and government is spending a lot of money in schools, the head teacher

must cultivate a winning image for the school.

(g) Recruitment of staff and pupils through Teacher’s Service Commission (TSC) annual

returns. These returns are absolutely imperative as they have implications to the school

plan. The element of returns implies auditing of the past school years education

programme. It is a process that entails evaluation of programmes to the degree to which

schools’ set goals were achieved. The degree to which the staff resources facilitated and

if there was a shortage or over supply of teachers. The teacher pupil ratio, another factor

pertinent to the exercise will be used by the TSC to determine the deployment of teachers

and other resource persons as may be required.

This is again an activity that requires the head teacher to work closely with the teaching staff

to evaluate needs as they relate to staff resources.

(v) Public Relations (PR)

Public relations is about creating a relationship between the public and the school. It is a

strategy taken by school administration with the help of the staff to create and meet the

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expectations of the public. The public through the taxes paid which constitute a majority of

the fund that supports schools expects the school to be accountable.

The school on the other hand through public relations creates an image of itself as well as

publicize its educational programmes. This also serves to sell their programmes for purposes

of soliciting more support financially from both public and private philanthropists. Another

very important role of public relations is the integration of the family and the community to

the school programmes. This will further enhance the schools image and build confidence

among the major stakeholders, the parents and the pupils.

A public relation however is built on a proper plan that entails priorities of activities, the

target groups as well as timeliness of release of information to the media. This is a first line

of interaction between the school and the community/public at large. It must therefore be

skillfully and professionally managed. The head teacher is the head of the school’s Public

Relations team and must lead through action. The stature, mannerism and structures of

communication reflect the management style of the head teacher.

The head teacher is a member of a teaching body of a school and therefore needs to work as a

member of a team and not a lone ranger. PR is about human relations. Knowing about

human relations and what makes them relate to their environment is one of the guiding tenets

of human relations (PR).

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Proper management of school is dependent on the formula that balances the internal with the

external environments of the school.

(vi) Management of school finances

The head teacher is the schools accounting officer. The management of the school finances
entails skills that the head teacher must take time to acquire. As much as most schools have
accounting officers and clerks, the head teacher must understand process of financial
management.

Once again financial management like other functions of the head teacher is based on

properly audited school programmes and resources of the previous year. Finances are a

critical interactive component in the school programmes. A healthy account does not make

effective school programmes but the conversion of the funds into resources such as staff,

teaching aid and classrooms.

School financial management will be covered in more detail in the last topic of this series.

(vii) Conflict Management:

Institutional violence is threatening the very purposes and essence of education and schooling

in Kenya today. Going by the current reports in the media on the level and intensity of

violence in high schools, this topic is seen as imperative and a must for all school managers. It

is important for school administrators to be trained in the principles of management and

resolutions of conflict in order to safe our schools and life from further deterioration. A

critical component of conflict that is in the vocabulary of most school stakeholders is

discipline.

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Discipline.
A skill that is a must for the head teacher and one more to incorporate into their many

functions is discipline. Here we refer to discipline of staff, pupils, managers, and technology,

all as a combined force and for the school purpose. Discipline, according to the Starehe Boys

Center founder Geoffrey Griffin endows the pupils.

“With such habits as self respect proper pride in his/her integrity that will observe

norms of good conduct when not under supervision” (School mastery, 1994)

Discipline in our schools especially in the secondary schools has been amplified recently
through frequent schools strikes and riots. This current image portrays an indisciplined
situation that raises a host of questions as to the nature of school management.

Several scholars have defined discipline: -

> as means to internal controls over ones own behaviour

>as means to correct behaviour by exerting external controls

The definitions above draw attention to two types of discipline, one as a process that emanates

from within the individual and the other from the external environment. When we talk of

discipline in regards Kenyan Secondary Schools, it is more often observed as if the student is

entirely to blame. The students in turn often sight external forces, but within school, as cause

of the turbulence.

150
The second definition of discipline implies an external influence. In our secondary school

situations, the daily newspapers have often reported student grievances as being attributed to

heavy-handed head teacher practice, food problems and misuse of funds unfair treatment of

students, among others.

In cases where students have rioted in schools and caused mayhem indisciplined behaviour

manifestations may be observed and attributed to both external and internal properties. It is

therefore incumbent upon the head teachers to cultivate learning to encompass cognitive,

affective and the psychomotor domains. By doing so the total student is addressed. On the

other hand the structures that govern the teaching and learning should be designed to facilitate

and lead to a symbiotic relationships of all resources; that are the students, teachers,

administration and the kind of rules that govern their relations.

151
NOTE

(
RECENT CASES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL RIOTS

East African Standard July 16th 2004 pg. 40 col. 2

• ‘School burned in orgy of violence. They attacked the school deputy head and burnt his
car and other property costing damage estimated at above 15 million shilling’
• State House Girls stage a walkout at 5 am protesting the high handedness and
discrimination of the poor students by the head teacher and her deputy

Daily Nation, Thursday July 15th, 2004 pg.18, col. 1

• ‘Alert issued on indiscipline in high schools’. This is case of heightened state
of indiscipline in schools within Nakuru District where four schools in the last two weeks
have staged violent strikes causing very serious damage to property.

(viii) Personnel Services

The staff, both teaching and non-teaching are an important resource. This is a resource that

must be managed and developed for the good of the school. The head teacher is the chief

personnel officer in a school responsible for all aspects relating to staff. Specific functions of

the personnel officer according to Whitehead p.279 is as follows

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The recruitment of staff – this will be determined by the returns given to the TSC as

this will reflect the status of staff in relation to school programmes. The strength and

weaknesses of the teaching staff in particular will be relayed in the staff returns. The

non-teaching staff will be conveyed in the report of returns to the BOG as employers

of this category of staff.

The training and development again as above a frequent audit and evaluation of all

school programmes reveal the areas of need. Staff development enhances professional

as well as personal competencies of the staff. This is a planned item within school

programmes.

The description of jobs, and the devising of methods of payment and promotion from

grade to grade. The teaching staff is often paid by the TSC in public schools.

However it is relevant to heads of private schools.

Job description on the other hand is a basic element to all positions in the school. Such

would provide a basis for agreement between the staff and the school management. It

would also provide a basis for job evaluation that is understood by both parties. Upon

satisfactory performance, a basis for promotion can be determined.

The provision of welfare facilities and the devising of pension schemes. Beyond the

basic salary fringe benefits are a motivational factor that makes a difference to

workers.

The preparation of contracts of employment and the drawing up of redundancy

schemes where appropriate at one time or another the head teacher is involved in the

preparation of contracts of employees.

Dismissal of employees

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 For employees out of fairness to the institution and the staff, detailed understanding of

the grounds for dismissal must be spelt out.

All the above functions of the personnel officer who is the head teacher will give stability to a

school and the staff. The certainty and competence of staff to work within certain parameters

will foster the school programmes.

(ix) Pupil Personnel Services

This item entails orientation and admission of new students, testing programs, health

programmes, guidance and counseling and social work.

Orientation and Admission of New Students

The head teacher has the full responsibility for orientation and admission of new students to a

school. This an area that has not been given much regard ad yet all new students are recent

arrivals from the primary school whose set up is different from high school. The new students

must adjust to the new situation because there are new programmes, new teachers, and new

facilities. Some students may have come from a rural setting to an urban setting, and others

from urban to the rural setting. There are also the national, provincial, districts, private or

public categories of schools. All the categories of schools present different and peculiar

situations that a new student must come to terms with. A proper orientation programme would

ground the students on the school philosophy, history and policies that will guide them

through the duration of the student life in the school.

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Student Activities.

Secondary schools are for adolescent students so proper activities must be designed

specifically for them for self-discovery. These activities must be well thought out to promote

individual social and community growth. Students achieve self-discovery through peer-group

relations as they interact with one another. Adolescent stage is full of fear of failing and

looking like a full, therefore designing programmes that allow for failure and affirmation is

important. The student’s confirmation as a member of the school and a member of a class is

another reason for proper activities being developed to address these issues.

Tests

Testing programs are often carried out through continuous assessment tests and end of term

examinations. These two instruments should be carried out to measure real classroom

learning that was guided by the teacher concerned. And how well the materials have been

taught. Externally set instruments or tests may not reflect the actual learning in the specific

school. Such a test may include topics not yet covered. In such a case students may not do

well and therefore get discouraged. Care must be taken therefore to develop students through

tests and examinations.

Health programmes

Setting up a modest health unit in a school is important especially in remote boarding schools.

An arrangement may also be made with a close by public dispensary to manage the school

health programmes. In areas prone to malaria, such an arrangement would provide rapid

155
response. Communicable diseases in a boarding school would be managed best too when a

government dispensary relates well with a school. A Rapid Response unit would ensure that

the school is guarded against epidemic. Nutrition should be regarded is a health issue that

must be exercised in a school to provide a balanced diet. Nutritional imbalances or

deficiencies of certain elements and vitamins may cause delinquent behaviour (Lazarides

1997: p.232). As reports of riots and violent strikes abound in the print and electronic media,

one wonders how much could have been avoided through proper nutritional management.

Menu planning must be carefully done to also coincide with availability of certain foods that

are currently in season. Such plan would also help cut down on food expenses and bring

variety to the diet. Food purchasing and record keeping in the cafeteria are chief functions for

cateress.

Testing students for hearing and sight problems are a health issue that schools head teachers

should take seriously. Sometimes students may not be aware that they have partial disabilities

that affect their learning. Failure to attend to these needs may also be cause for student

indiscipline.

Other skills such as basic First Aid need to be amalgamated into daily routines to include fire

drills and cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), shock treatment, burns and others that

service institutions like St Johns Ambulance can provide.

156
Guidance and counseling

This is an area that the government has encouraged teachers to be skilled. Providing time for

teachers or hiring those trained in guidance and counseling is another head teacher’s

responsibility. Because the society’s values, beliefs and mores have changed cases for

guidance and counseling are on the rise. Social work is a corollary of the above concerns that

the modern life style has brought to our midst. HIV/AIDs, broken homes, divorce or

abandonment are real issues that the school heads are left to deal with everyday.

Consequences of these situations are manifested in student class performance, or behaviour

problems or both of them.

Interventions must therefore be developed that are developmental and not punitive.

Sometimes issue may be amplified and end up causing more problems while if dealt with in a

low-key manner would cause less problems.

Gifted and talented students

There are many remedial programmes in schools for poor performers, but few or none exist
for the exceptionally gifted or talented student. Care must be taken to identify and provide for
this category of child. This is the child who can drop out of school because there is nothing to
challenge them. This category of child may also get into trouble easily as they may challenge
the teacher through their inquisitive nature. The teacher on the other hand, may misconstrue
this to mean rudeness or overbearing and punish the student.

157
ACTIVITY:

h
Prepare an orientation programme for new students to your high school paying special
attention to your social economic setup and geographical location.

QUESTION:

V Why should the head teacher be custodian of school orientation programme?

158
(x) Educational Management Information System (EMIS)

This is an area that is neither understood nor used well in our schools. Schools generate a lot
of data regarding student bio-data, their performance, staff records, property and events at the
school. But few schools would access such information at a moments notice because there is
no proper record keeping system that would catalogue, serialize and store them safely. A
systems clerk should be employed or a teacher trained to carry out this important exercise. A
good history of the school could be an asset that rallies old students around the school for
purposes of development among other interest. Proper record keeping would also provide a
basis upon which good auditing can be carried out, that would then provide background for
improvement. Current teacher and student records however should be kept under lock and key
and ensured by the head teacher of their safety. Records of school ownership, log books,
insurance certificates and payment of bills should also be kept safely.

Activity

h Compare the role of the head teacher as indicated

Here with that of the head teacher in your current institution

159
Question

V The school management is described as an eclectic

field of study. Justify the statement.

Role of the Teacher

Teaching is an honourable profession that has been written about by countless researchers.

For instance, research on effective schools has concluded that many factors interacting

contribute greatly to the school success. Among the many factors identified is the “culture”

of the school. The teacher is one of the main orchestrators of the school “culture” by the kind

of conditions they create in the classroom and the school in general. These conditions must

create interest and curiosity for students to know and to learn. The teachers on the other hand,

through their dispositions that are either learnt or inherent in them support the students.

Teachers have been described as mentors and describers.

As a mentor

- is a person who has authority to criticize as well as be constructive.

- they command as well as reflect

- develops a building relationships with the students

160
 - a person who can have interest in students learning, knowing and make

students feel valued.

As an explainer,

- the teacher explains and creates an environment that is not boring but

enhancing for the pupil.

- a teacher who does not settle for routine and takes time to learn how

students learn and think.

- teachers who create high expectations for success in their schools.

Teacher’s role centers on integrity, humour, communication, learning and organization

precepts of their activity.

Activity

h Design activities to enhance the school culture.

161
Question

V What do we mean by the term school culture?

162
Bibliography

Š
Alder, Mortimore, J. (1982) The Paideia Proposal. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Beare, Hedley, Brian J. Caldwell and Ross H. Millikan (1989) Creating An Excellent School.
London; Routledge.
Busher, Hugh and Rene Saran (1995) Managing Teachers as Professionals in School. London;
Kogan Page.
Cole, G. A. (1996) Management Practice: A Theory of Practice. London; London Publication.
Government of Kenya, The Education Act CAP 211 of the Kenyan Laws.
Griffin, Geoffrey (1994) School Mastery. Nairobi; Lectern Publications Ltd.
Hoy, Way K. and Cecil G. Miskel (1987) Educational Administration. New York; McGraw-Hill,
Inc.
Knezevich, J. Stephen (1962) Administration of Public Education. New York; Harper & Row,
Publishers.
Kyungu, Sammy P.M 1/3/200…. “Effective Management of Schools” – unpublished speech given
at Catholic Education secretariat annual Conference at Amani Centre, Thika Road
Lazarides, Linda (1997) The Nutritional Health Bible, London: Thorsons.
Ministry of Education (1987) Education in Kenya. Nairobi; Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.
Reform Agenda For Education Sector in Kenya (2003).
Republic of Kenya (200) Handbook for Inspection of Educational Institutions, Nairobi.
Teachers Service Commission (2002). Operational Manual on Teacher Management Nairobi; Jomo
Kenyatta Foundation.

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 SCHOOL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

LESSON 1: FINANCING OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Sources of School Funds

a) Fees from parents/pupils
b) Grants from the government
c) House and furniture rents.
d) Electricity and water charges recovered from staff
e) Activity fund
f) Building fund
g) School farm and other income generating activities
h) Sale of old and obsolete equipment

Once this money has been collected, it is important that is has to be used appropriately to
meet the school financial needs.

Managing School Finances

This will be appropriately done if the head teacher/administrator prepares a budget.

Budget
Defn: "This is a statement of income and expenditure for a school calendar year"

Note:
Budgeting is a process of preparing a statement of income and expenditure for a school
calendar year.

There are four (4) steps involved during the budgeting process.

1. Preparation of the budget

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This involves the preparation of three plans namely:-

2. The Education plan/Programme

This is derived from the educational policies which are stipulated by the Ministry of
Education. This will then give the needs of the school. These needs are arranged per vote-
head.

3. The Expenditure Plan

This is where the educational plans are converted into costs.

4. The Income Plan/Financing Plans

This is where the expected revenue/funds/income for the school during the year is determined.

Preparation of the budget documents is done 3 - 4 months before the ensuing year
The head teacher should involve all departmental heads and Accounts clerk/bursar during
the preparation phase.
There is need to balance the educational plans along with the expenditure plans and
Financing/Income plans.
The initial budget is a tentative budget until it is officially approved by the Ministry of
Education.

Presentation, considered and Adoption of the budget

The budget document and an interpretative document are first presented to the Board of
Governors [BOG] and the Parents Association [PA] for discussion and approval. Once
approved, it is then taken to the Ministry of Education for final ratification.

Note: Interpretative document is one that explains the increase or decrease of the
amount assigned to a given vote-head compared to the previous year.

A vote if amount of money assigned to a given expenditure/vote-head.

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A vote-head is an item of expenditure e.g. Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement
[R.M.I.], Local Travel and Transport [L.T. & T].

Administration of the Budget

[Implementation of the Budget]

This is where the budget is put into effect. Administration of the budget involves:

Budget control - This is when the expenditure if as per the budget. This will ensure that all
programmes are taken care of.

Work Plans - enables the administrator/head teacher have a clear picture of who will procure
what and when, in accordance with the budget estimates.

Implementation of work plans - During the administration of the budget, there may be over-
estimates or under-estimates in the various vote-heads. During such instances, Virement
has to be done from the Permanent Secretary or B.O.G.

Note:
Virement -This is transfer of money from one vote head to another.

Appraisal/Evaluation of the Budget Document.

This is assessing the budget document to determine its effectiveness. Appraisal should be
done in terms of the purpose for which it was designed. Appraisal of the budget can be in
terms of:-

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 Extent to which the organization meets its objectives
Provision of accurate and systematic estimate and balance of receipts a expenditure.
The budget as an important document for financial accounting.

LESSON 2: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

This is concerned with the maintenance of records in which financial transactions of an
educational organization are summarized. This ensures effective operation in the
organization.

Definition:
This is the process of recording, classifying and summarizing financial transactions of an
educational organization and interpreting the results of these transactions.

Objectives of Financial Accounting

1. Ensures that the financial resources are used for the intended purposes
2. Determines the degree of honesty and integrity of the accounting officers
3. Ensures proper business management with other organizations
4. Ensures authorities a quick check on both expenditure and proper financial control.

Financial Books of Accounts

The following books of accounts are used to facilitate financial accounting in school:-

1. Receipt Book: This is a book where all payments received are entered. This receipt is
issued to the person paying. Examples of payments made: school fees, grants from the
Ministry/NGOs and other donors, rents, sales and debtors.

2. Cash Book: This is a book of accounts in which all financial transactions with respect to
payments and receipts are recorded. The cashbook consists of the debit side [left hand
side, for money received] and the credit side [right hand side, for the money paid].

3. The Ledger: This is an extract of all transaction which are recorded in the cash book
against each approved vote-head. Each page of the ledger referred to as a ledge account
shows financial transactions for a given vote-head. The ledger account is divided into
two sides: the debit and the credit side.

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4. The Journal: This is a book of accounts which contains records of financial events as
they occur on a daily basis. The journal entries are accompanied by a narration/or an
explanation of the transaction.

Other books of accounts are:-

Payments Voucher
Inventory
Stores Ledger
Local Purchase Order [L.P.O.]
Commitment Register/Vote books etc.

LESSON 3: AUDITING

This is an investigation of the financial records of an organization in order to ascertain the

objectivity and accuracy of the financial statements. It appraises the accuracy and
completeness of the accounting system.

Objectives/Purposes
To determine whether the financial statements made are accurate and in application of the
recommended accounting guidelines.
To determine whether the organization's financial procedures comply with the legal
provisions, policies and procedures are stipulated by the Ministry of Education
To identify any operational problems in the accounting procedures used by the
organization.

Categories of Auditing
There are two categories:-
(a) Special auditing - Where accounts of a given vote-head are scrutinized to assess how
funds on this vote-head were used.
(b) General auditing - This is where the form and content of the budget document is
scrutinized

Types of Auditing

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There are two types:-
Internal Auditing
This is done by the organization itself. This type of auditing enables the organization to
appraise the effectiveness of its financial management techniques.

External Auditing

This is performed by agencies outside the organization. In educational organizations it is

done by the Ministry of Education Auditor.

Activity:

1. Discuss how a headteacher can effectively use school funds.

Indicate the problems a headteacher can encounter while managing school funds

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