LEADERSHIP STYLES EMPLOYED AT ZAMBIA’S COLLEGES OF EDUCATION

by

BENSON SIMANGO

submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

in the subject

EDUCATION MANAGEMENT

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

SUPERVISOR: PROF. J. NYONI

FEBRUARY 2016

DECLARATION

I declare that:

LEADERSHIP STYLES EMPLOYED AT ZAMBIA’S COLLEGES OF EDUCATION is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references.

______12/02/2016 SIGNATURE DATE

Benson Simango Student: 49071513

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DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to the memories of my beloved late mother and father, Mrs. Mukachilumbi N. Simango and Mr.T. Simango, whom I miss every day. To them I am forever grateful for having brought me up to become what I am today. It is also dedicated to my late brothers; Alfred, Frederick, and Gideon, for igniting the love for school education in me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and help from a great number of people. It is a pleasure to convey my gratitude to them all in my humble acknowledgment. Foremost, I would like to record my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. J. Nyoni for the continuous support of my D.Ed. study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Despite being supervised at a distance, I felt his presence every day in my research. He was always ready to advise at all times including weekends. I could not have imagined having a better supervisor for my D.Ed. study. Collective and individual acknowledgments also go to the following: The Permanent secretary, Ministry of General Education for granting me permission to access colleges of education in Zambia as well as Principals of Copperbelt College of Education, Mufulira College of Education, Kitwe College of Education and Malcom Moffat College of Education for allowing me to gather data in their Colleges. I wish to thank Dr. Gistered Muleya, Mr. Mubanga Lupupa, Mr. Jacob Sakala, Mr. Peter Mwewa and Ms Annetty Lombe for language editing and proof reading my work as well as the technical and logistical support rendered. Finally, I would like to thank everybody who took part in the research which has culminated into the successful realisation of ;this thesis, as well as expressing my apology that I could not mention them one by one. Last, but by no means least, I thank my dear wife Susan; you make me what I am and what I will be. Many thanks for your unwavering love, support and encouragement throughout my educational pursuits. I know you carried a load and made many silent sacrifices while I was absorbed in studying and conducting research. Many thanks also, to my lovely children: Benson, Lweendo, Nchimunya and Mukachilumbi. I hope my work will motivate you to also be curious, creative lifelong learners and students in your lives regardless of what you pursue. For any errors or inadequacies that may remain in this work, of course, the responsibility is entirely my own.

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RESEARCH ABSTRACT This study is a collective case study grounded in the literature regarding leadership styles and leadership theories. It includes among others, an analysis of data from interviews of college Principals and middle Managers to identify the leadership styles at the three colleges of education. The purpose of the study was to analyse the leadership styles of college Principals and middle Managers operating in dual-mode environments. The colleges that were being studied are the Copperbelt College of Education; Mufulira College of Education and Malcom Moffat College of Education. There were sixteen (16) participants in this study drawn from three colleges. The researcher collected data using semi-structured individual and focused group interviews. In addition, policy documents such as ‗Open and Distance Learning Policy (draft) and National Po