I Assessing Power Relations Between School Managers
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ASSESSING POWER RELATIONS BETWEEN SCHOOL MANAGERS AND TEACHERS AS A BASIS FOR CONFLICT IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF RUFUNSA DISTRICT BY CHILIMA, PHILLIP A dissertation submitted to the University of Zambia and Zimbabwe Open University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science in Peace, Leadership and Conflict Resolution University of Zambia/ Zimbabwe Open University Lusaka, Zambia 2018 I DECLARATION I, Chilima Phillip, do hereby declare that this dissertation is a product of my own effort, and that it has never been done before. The sources of all materials referred to in this report have been acknowledged. Any misrepresentation of information that would arise from this report is purely my responsibility. Signed: .......................................................... Date: .............................................................. I APPROVAL This dissertation of Chilima Phillip is approved as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science in Peace, Leadership and Conflict Resolution, of the University of Zambia and Zimbabwe Open University. Examiners’ Signatures 1......................................................................Date................................2018 2......................................................................Date................................2018 3......................................................................Date................................2018 ii DEDICATIONS To my caring mother Mrs ANNAH NJOBVU who laid the foundation for my education and ever prayed for my success. I also wish to dedicate this work to my siblings whom I deprived quality time and attention during the course of my study. I thank you for your unrivalled understanding. God bless you all. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to extend my profound and sincere gratitude to my Supervisor Dr. Hambulo, F. who has been very instrumental in improving my educational character, turning me from a scholar to an intellectual. His openness and zeal to see me succeed helped me to complete this study. His coordination and teamwork was amazing. May the Lord our God bless him abundantly. My sincere thanks also go to the programme Coordinator Dr. Muleya Gistered, the lecturers Dr. Moyo and Mr. Mwanabayeke who had taken keen interest in helping me with advice throughout the study. Cordial gratitude goes to all my course mates for the friendship and support during light and challenging times we shared together in this academic journey especially Brian Konde, Mwalula, Charles, Limbo Chisha and General Sitali Sitali. Their encouragement, support, and friendliness made me reached this far. It has been a long journey but by God’s grace, these important people always motivated me to go forward. I would like to salute my brother Kelvin for his continued support and encouragement throughout the course of study. I draw inspiration from him. I also would like to thank the Almighty God for according me the opportunity of life. I take responsibility of this entire work, from the start to completion. It is a product of my own making. iv ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AGM Annual General Meetings DEBS District Education Board Secretary DESO District Education Standard Officer EA Education Act EOF Educating Our Future ESO Education Standard Officer HOD Head of Department MOGE Ministry of General Education PEO Provincial Education Officer PTC Parent Teacher Committee SM School Managers TCZ Teaching Council of Zambia TIC Teacher in Charge TSC Teaching Service Commission v ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to assess power relations between school managers and teachers as a basis for conflict in three (3) selected secondary schools of Rufunsa district in Lusaka Province of Zambia. This research study was guided by Michael Foucault’s Power relations theory. The sample size comprised thirty four (34) respondents segmented as: 1 DEBS, 3 Head teachers, 9 Head of Departments (HODs) and 21 Teachers distributed equally in the three (3) secondary schools. Criterion and homogeneous Purposive sampling was used on respondents like DEBS, Headteachers, HoDs and teachers as well as on secondary schools selected for the study. This study adopted an explanatory qualitative case study research design. The researcher specifically used semi-structured interviews to collect data from the DEBS and Headteachers while open- ended questionnaires were administered to HoDs and teachers. Thematic analysis with verbatims was used, where data analysis starts with the categorization of themes from the semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires. The study found, to a greater extent, that negative power relations between school managers and teachers were a basis for conflict in selected secondary schools of Rufunsa district in Lusaka Province. While both positive and negative power relations existed in schools, negative power relations were identified to be common because both school managers and teachers admitted the existence of power related conflicts and stressed their desire to have the status quo changed through their submission of suggestions for enhancing positive power relations in schools. Negative power relations led to conflicts, non-cordial relations, team fragmentation and lack of collaboration, among others, between school managers and teachers. The ripple effect to such conflicts was lack of school improvement and poor performance among learners. Further, the study found that imposed decision-making styles were rampant as opposed to collective decision-making styles since most teachers and some HoDs respectively attested to the fact that they were side-lined. Other findings were that negative power relations were responsible for stifled schools’ success and progress, in addition to teacher low morale, motivation and skills’ development. Furthermore, the study established suggestions, based on the findings, for enhancing positive power relations in schools like upholding professionalism, inclusive decision- making as well as accountability and transparency, among others. The researcher not only proposed seven recommendations that would help restore positive power relations in schools but also future research area involving power related conflicts in schools. Key words: Power, Power relations, Conflict, teacher, school and School Manager. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................................................... I APPROVAL ............................................................................................................................................................. II DEDICATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................ III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................................... IV ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................................... V ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................. VI LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................................... X LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................... XI CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................................ 4 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4.1 General research objective ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.4.2. Specific research objectives ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.5.1 General research question ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.5.2 Specific research questions