SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

AND SUPERVISION

Written by:

J. O. Mankoe
Anthony Mensah

ED
UC CE
ATI VI
ON FOR SER

Institute for Educational Development and Extension

University of Education, Winneba
© IEDE - UEW
ED
UC CE
ATI VI
ON FOR SER

All rights reserved including translation. No part of this publication

may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or
duplication in any information storage or retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the Director, IEDE,
University of Education, P. O. Box 25, Winneba.

School Administration and Supervision

Published 2015 by
The Institute for Educational Development and Extension
University of Education
P O Box 25
Winneba
Tel: (0)3323 22 046
Fax: (0)3323 22 497
Email: [email protected]

© Institute for Educational Development and Extension, 2016

ISBN xxxxxxx

Credits

Graphic Design and Layout:

E Owusu
S Kwesi Nyan

Printed in Ghana:
UEW Printing Press
P O Box 25
Winneba, Ghana
 U NI T

C
1 FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
ON S
TENT
INTRODUCTION 12

SECTION 1 DEFINITION AND STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 14

Primary school – what it is 14
Objectives of primary school education 14
Inquiry and creative skills 15
Personal and social attitudes 15
Administrative structure of primary education in Ghana 16
Minister of Education Institutional Level 16
Director-General – Managerial level 16
District Director of Education 16
Circuit Supervisor 16
Head of school 16
Classroom teacher 16

SECTION 2 ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION IN

THE SCHOOL I 24
Making effective decisions 24
Adopting principles of management 26
Obtaining adequate funds 28
Sources of school funds 28
Obtaining educational infrastructure 28
Supervising teachers and students 28
Involving stakeholders 28

SECTION 3 ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION IN

THE SCHOOL II 34
Dealing with school discipline 34
How a head of teacher and staff can enhance discipline 35
In-service education for teachers 36
Conditions of service of teachers 38
Adopting a policy of cost-sharing 39
Constant review of the curriculum 42

SECTION 4 ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD I 44

Administration versus management 44
Planning 45
Organizing 45
Staffing 45
Directing 45
Controlling 45

SECTION 5 ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD II 52

Coordinating 52
Reporting 54
Budgeting 56
Managing resources 57

SECTION 6 TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION IN GHANA 62

Education Ordinances and committees of pre-independence era 62
The accelerated development plan of 1951 63
The Education Act of 1961 64
Education Review Committee of 1967 64
The Dzobo Committee of 1972 64

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LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
C
2
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INTRODUCTION 70

SECTION 1 POWER AND LEADERSHIP 72

Leadership and influence 72
Types of power 72
Coercive power 73
Reward power 73
Factors of effective leadership 74
Positive personal qualities and interpersonal relationships 76
Positive personal qualities 76
Positive interpersonal relationships 76

SECTION 2 LEADERSHIP STYLES 80

Meaning of leadership style 80
Autocratic style 80
Advantages of the autocratic style 81
Disadvantages of the autocratic style 82
Democratic style 82
Advantages of the democratic style 83
Disadvantages of the democratic style 83
Laissez-faire style 84

SECTION 3 LEADERSHIP: ROLES AND PERCEPTIONS 86

Role versus perception 86
Role and leadership 86
Leader behaviour 87
Tips for leaders 87

SECTION 4 MOTIVATION 94
What is motivation? 94
Basic characteristics of motivation 95
Types of motivation 97
Need theories and motivation 98
List of needs 98
Human needs and motivation 98
Job satisfaction and productivity 98
Factors that contribute to productivity 98

SECTION 5 DATA FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION 106

Definition of data 106
Types of data 106
Ways of generating data 108
Data collection through records and documents 108
Guidelines for data gathering 110
Importance of data 110
The computer and data bank 110

SECTION 6 FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION: BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL

CONTROL 114
Meaning of financial administration 114
Administration and finance 114
Principles of financial administration 115
Budget and budgeting 116
The budget document 118
Purposes and uses of a budget 119
Financial control 120

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 U NI T

C
3 INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION
ON S
TENT
INTRODUCTION 124

SECTION 1 THE CONCEPT OF SUPERVISION 126

Case study 126
What supervision of instruction is? 127
Dimensions in an educational enterprise 128
Who is a supervisor? 129

SECTION 2 OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS OF INSTRUCTIONAL

SUPERVISION 132
The need for instructional supervision 132
Objectives of instructional supervision 133

SECTION 3 OPERATION OF SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION 140

Principles governing the operation of instructional
supervision 140
The organisation of instructional supervision 141
Supervision of instruction at the school level 141
Assisting tasks of the supervisor 141
Linking tasks of the supervisor 141

SECTION 4 INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION AT THE CLASSROOM

LEVEL 146
Using observation as a tool for instructional supervision in the
classroom 146
Elements of classroom observation instrument 147
Observation of broad range of factors 147
Using the ideal state as yardstick 147
Clinical supervision 147
Clinical supervision versus traditional supervision 147
What is clinical supervision? 147
Analysis and strategy 147

SECTION 5 PROBLEMS OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN GHANA 156

Indefinite location of authority and responsibility 156
Lack of time for supervision 157
Negative attitude of teachers toward supervisors 159
Lack of mobility on the part of supervisors 159
Solving the problems of instructional supervision 160

SECTION 6 MANAGING INSTRUCTIONAL TIME 162

What instructional time means 162
Syllabus and scheme of work 163
Lesson notes 163
Regulations on instructional time 164
Planning the school timetable 164
Lack of mobility on the part of supervisors 159
Solving the problems of instructional supervision 160

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PARTNERSHIP IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

C
4
ON S
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INTRODUCTION 170

SECTION 1 SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS 172

School community versus school's community 172
School-community relations what is it? 173
Benefits of school-community relations 174
Barriers to school-community relations 175

SECTION 2 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS 180

Principles underlying good school-community relations 180
Practical ways through which the school can relate with the
community 182

SECTION 3 DECENTRALISATION: TYPES AND BENEFITS 186

What is decentralisation? 186
Forms of decentralisation 187
Benefits of decentralisation 187

SECTION 4 EFFORTS AT DECENTRALISATION IN GHANA 192

Problems of decentralisation 192

SECTION 5 TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ADMINSTRATION 198

What is participation? 198
Importance of participation 198
Barriers to effective participation 199
Modes of participation 200
Stages in effective delegation 201
Teamwork 202
Types of teams 202
Empowerment 202

SECTION 5 TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ADMINSTRATION 198

What is participation? 198
Importance of participation 198
Barriers to effective participation 199
Modes of participation 200
Stages in effective delegation 201
Teamwork 202
Types of teams 202
Empowerment 202

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
AND SUPERVISION
COURSE INTRODUCTION

Hello, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this course, School

Administration and Supervision. This is one of the very interesting
education courses you will take as part of your One Year Diploma in Basic
Education and Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme. The
purpose of this course is to assist you to become conversant with some of
the crucial administrative and supervisory practices in a school as you go
about your daily job as a professional teacher.

The course is an avenue through which I shall discuss several issues on

how a school head together with his/her team of teaching staff and other
stakeholders in education can work as one team so that the school can
achieve its goal. As you are aware, the goal of a school is to provide a
sound and firm educational foundation to students for their life-long
education. Laying this foundation obviously requires very competent
teachers for which reason you are being trained in the various education
courses. To perform your function well, you need to be aware of the
necessary human and material resources in a school, how they can be
obtained, how they are equitably distributed, the various players and how
they should interact with each other. These are the main concerns of this
course. I will try to lead you through lively discussions and I have no doubt
that you will enjoy the lessons.

After going through this course you will be able to:

—· describe the foundations of school administration and how the
administrator can function effectively
—· explain the importance of leadership in school
—· explain the concept of instructional supervision in the school and its
role in running the school
—· identify the various partners in school
—· explain the policy of decentralization and how it is used in managing
education at all levels

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COURSE INTRODUCTION AND SUPERVISION

UEW/IEDE 9
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
AND SUPERVISION
COURSE PLANNER

You may use this page as your course planner. Write the dates that
you expect to complete each unit in this course. When you actually
complete a unit, write the date you completed it. This will help you to
keep track of your work and monitor your progress throughout this
course.

Planned completion date Actual completion date

Unit1:

Unit 2:

Unit 3:

Unit 4:

Unit 5:

Unit 6:

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C
1
ON S
TENT

FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

SECTION 1 DEFINITION AND STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 14

SECTION 2 ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION IN THE 24

SCHOOL I

SECTION 3 ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION IN THE 34

SCHOOL II

SECTION 4 ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD I 44

SECTION 5 ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD II

52

SECTION 6 TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION IN GHANA 62

the adinkra symbol used in the UEW crest

Mate masie I have heard what you have said

UEW/IEDE 11
XXXXXXX 1 FOUNDATIONS
UNIT Unit X, section X: XXXXXXX
OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Welcome to Unit 1 of this course. This unit which deals with Foundations of
School Administration is aimed at laying a strong foundation for the three
other units.

In this unit you will examine the functions of the school head after you have
defined clearly what a primary school is and have discussed its structure.

You will also discuss ways of achieving effective management in the school
and have the opportunity to trace the changes that have taken place in school
administration from the colonial days to the present time. As you progress in
the unit, I am sure that you will obtain a better understanding of the work of
a head of school and therefore appreciate the challenges and thus prepare
yourself to face them when the opportunity comes.

By the end of the unit you will be able to:

 describe strategies which a head can adopt to achieve effective
management of his/her school
 differentiate between administration and management
 list at least six administrative functions of a head
 explain each of the six administrative functions to a newly appointed
head of a school
 identify the various Education Ordinances that were passed in the
colonial days, and give the salient points of each
 describe the impact of the Accelerated Development Plan of 1951 and
the Education Act of 1961 on education
 list the various Education Review Committees that have been appointed
since independence and give the highlights of the recommendations of
each of them

I assure you that you will enjoy reading this unit.

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UEW/IEDE 13
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION DEFINITION AND STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 1
Unit 1, section 1: Definition and structure of school administration
ADMINISTRATION

Welcome to the first unit of this course which focuses on the foundations of
school administration. I assure you, you will certainly enjoy the lessons. As
primary school is the very first level of educational administration in Ghana,
we will begin our discussion by looking at what primary school is.

Let’s go on straight to Section 1 where I will discuss what a primary school

is.

After going through this section you should be able to:

 explain what a primary school is
 state the objectives of primary school education
 describe the administrative structure of a primary school

Primary school – what it is

You were a student in a primary school some years ago and have probably
once taught or are teaching in a primary school now. If this statement is true
then you know what a primary school is. Let us, all the same, refresh our
minds about this level of education.

Primary school refers to the first segment of the first cycle of education for
six- to eleven-year-old students. It consists of the first six years of the nine-
year free, compulsory, universal basic education in Ghana. The primary
school is expected to lay a solid foundation for the three-year compulsory
junior secondary school as well as all subsequent levels of education.

Objectives of primary school education

Now that we have demarcated the level of the primary school, let’s examine
the objectives of primary school education. These objectives will give us the
background understanding for the administration and supervision of the
primary school.

The Dzobo Committee in its report of February 1974 made a number of

proposals and recommendations which, among other things, sought to make
the primary education system more meaningful and relevant to Ghana’s
socio-economic and political aspirations. The new system recognized the
importance of a sound foundation of education right from the kindergarten
level.

The committee proposed that primary education should be general in nature

and the aim should be to expose the child to many subject areas from which
a choice can be made as the child climbs up the academic ladder.

Let us now look at the objectives of primary school education. Again the
report of the Dzobo Committee will help us. The report stated the objectives
as

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Unit 1, section 1: Definition and structure of school administration AND SUPERVISION

 Numeracy, ie. ability to count and use numbers

 Socialization, ie. the development of inquiry and creative skills and
attitudes that will enable the individual to be an effective citizen.

Inquiry and creative skills

Note also that the primary school, according to the Dzobo Committee, is
expected to develop some important inquiry and creative skills in the child.
Examples of these two types of skills are:

Inquiry skills
 ability to observe
 ability to collect information
 ability to analyse information
 ability to hypothesize
 ability to develop working principles
 ability to test and evaluate
 ability to apply principles to new situations

Creative skills
 manipulating skills: use of tools, etc
 body movement including poise, balance, games, dance
 aesthetic skills: drama, art, music, home economics.

Personal and social attitudes

In addition to the inquiry and creative skills, the primary school is also
aimed at developing a number of personal and social attitudes in the
students eg:
 appreciation of the need for change and adaptation to change
 a desire for self-improvement
 appreciation and practice of the things which are worthy of preservation
 appreciation of the importance of cooperation and tolerance and
interdependence of people of different nations and cultures
 healthy living habits including appreciation of the need for and use of
leisure
 respect for the truth
 the habit of asking questions and keenness to find things out for
themselves
 acquisition of knowledge, skills and pre-vocational experience that will
enable them to discover their aptitudes and potentialities and a longing
for further improvement; and
 appreciation of the dignity of work and interdependence of all workers

Carefully think about these skills, abilities and attitudes to be developed in

the primary school child and you can imagine the weight of the
responsibilities placed on the shoulders of all those who have a part to play

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
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in educating him or her. All in all, the primary school in Ghana has been
designed to develop an appreciation for learning, an intellectual curiosity,
and a desire for life-long learning. The achievement of these laudable
aims, objectives, skills and attitudes in the primary school depends on the
effective participation of all stakeholders. The immediate responsibility,
however, lies with the school head working hand-in-hand
with various types of administrators both in an out of the school.

Administrative structure of primary education in Ghana

Let us now consider the administrative structure of the primary school
system in Ghana. In the primary school environment, the head of school
appears to be the sole administrator and therefore carries the burden of
running the day-to-day operation of the school. This is not really the case.
The head of school is only the school-based administrator who runs the
school with delegated responsibilities to his/her teaching staff. The head of
school runs the primary school directly or indirectly with external bodies
and officers. Hierarchically, the administrative structure that operates the
primary school is as follows:
 Minister of Education
 Director-General
 Divisional or Regional Director of Education
 District Director of Education
 Assistant Director of Education
 Principal Superintendent
 Senior Superintendent
 Superintendent
 Assistant Superintendent
 Head of school
 Teacher

We can categorize the above structure into three man hierarchical levels of
the administration of the primary school:

Level Location Function

Institutional Ministry of Education Goal setting/policy
making
Managerial Ghana Education Policy implementation
Service/Institutional Administration
Head
Technical Plant Classroom Teaching

You may have noticed that among the various officers who are involved in
administration and supervision of the primary school the head of school is
quite near the bottom. This low position of the head of school in the
hierarchy does not play down the important role he/she should play. Indeed,

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if the head of school should be found ineffective and inefficient, all efforts
of the officers higher in the hierarchy would be fruitless.

Let us at this point examine the role of some officers in the hierarchy more
closely.

Minister of Education Institutional Level

At the institutional level in the administration of the primary education, the
Minister of Education is placed at the top. He represents the political head of
the entire educational system. He is the mouthpiece of the government in
matters of education. Asiedu-Akrofi (1978) points out that the Minister of
Education is the person who has to be persuaded if any group of people
wants to influence the government’s educational policy.

Let me give you a typical example of what Asiedu-Akrofi is talking about.

In the teaching of various subjects in the primary school, the government’s

policy since Ghana’s independence has been the use of Ghanaian language
as a medium of instruction in the first three years, ie from P1 to P3. From P4
onwards, English language becomes a medium of instruction. Recently,
however, the Minister of Education decided to change the policy so that
English language becomes the medium of instruction right from P1. Several
groups of people including lecturers, head of schools and teachers, however,
disagree with this new policy. They prefer the old policy and it is the
Minister of Education who has to be convinced of the effectiveness of the
old policy and inappropriateness of the new policy.

Activity 1.1
1. Consider the pros and cons of the language policy (both old and new) in
the primary school.

Old Language Policy

Pros Cons

New Language Policy

Pros Cons

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2. Which of the two language policies would you consider more effective
in the primary school? Give reasons:
………………………………………….……………………………………
…………………………………………….…………………………………
……………………………………………….………………………………
……………………………………………….………………………………

3. Identify some policies affecting primary education that have generated

public debate for some time now.
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Let me add that while the Minister of Education formulates policies for the
primary education system, the Director-General of the Ghana Education
Service (GES) is the one who implements the policies. He/She does this
with his/her team of educational administrators including the primary school
head of school.

Remember that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has a number of bodies

which implement policies. These are:

The Ghana Education Service with various Divisions such as Curriculum

Research and Development, Secondary, Girl Child, Basic Education,
Human Resource Development, and Teacher Education.

Other bodies that operate under the auspices of the MOE are:
 West African Examinations Council
 Ghana Library Board
 Institute of Languages
 Bureau of Ghana Languages
 National Service Secretariat

Activity 1.2
With a group of three or four students, discuss the role of each Division of
GES in the administration of primary education in Ghana.
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Director-General – Managerial level

As noted in our previous discussion, the main organization charged with the
management of primary education is the Ghana Education Service with the
Director-General as the head. The Director-General ensures that national

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education policies are effectively executed. The Director-General performs

his/her functions through all the other officers down the hierarchy. Of these
officers, the District Director of Education deserves special mention as the
officer who is directly responsible for the administration of all primary
schools in the district.

District Director of Education

Remember that the primary school head interacts mainly with the District
Director and his/her officers in the District Directorate. Under the current
administrative structure, the District Director is the supreme head of
education in the district. Within the decentralisation policy, he can formulate
and implement educational policy decisions for the primary school. These
policies must, however, be consistent with the overall educational policy
framework of the Ministry of Education.

The District Director thus has the overall responsibility for providing office-
based administration and supervision for the primary school. He is assisted
in his administrative functions by four assistant directors (usually referred to
as the frontline Assistant Directors) responsible for:
 Personnel and manpower
 Administration and finance
 Statistics
 Supervision

In addition to the assistant directors, other officers are appointed to take

charge of science, mathematics, physical education, music and dance,
Ghanaian language and culture, technical education, agriculture etc. A
Primary School Coordinator is appointed to coordinate activities in all
primary schools in a district. Every district education office has a number of
Circuit Supervisors attached to it who interact regularly with head of
schools and teachers in their circuit.

Circuit Supervisor
I hope you have followed the discussions so far. Let us now consider the
role of the Circuit Supervisor. This position was created to provide more
effective management in the primary school.

The circuit supervisor who should have a rank not below Principal
Superintendent is appointed to provide closer supervision of primary
schools. To perform their function effectively, they are actually required to
live within his circuit. They are also provided with a means of transport in
the form of motor bicycles. Once appointed, circuit officers are assigned to
work in mapped areas of not more than 20 schools.

Overall, the circuit supervisor performs the following roles:

 Curriculum adviser and teacher supporter

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 Evaluator of teaching and learning

 Supporter of teachers and school heads through professional guidance
and advice
 Critical friend of school heads and teachers
 Maintenance of long term relationships with heads and teachers

We have looked at the functions of the various non-school-based officers

who play important roles in the administration of primary school within the
district. Let us now look at the role of the Head of school who is based at
the school.

Head of school
The head of school’s main role is to provide school-based management and
supervision. The primary school head of school is assisted by an assistant
head of school.

Every competent head of school adopts some management techniques for

administering his/her school effectively. These techniques include:
 involving teachers and students in school administration;
 organizing inservice training for teachers;
 ensuring discipline among teachers and students;
 holding staff meetings;
 mobilizing the community to take part in the development of the school;
 helping staff and students to solve problems;
 framing school policy and being responsible for the conduct, efficiency
and tone of the school;
 acting as an intermediary between the school and its authorities;
 supervising all activities in the school;
 ensuring adequate staffing of the school;
 procuring curriculum for the school; and
 procuring necessary materials and equipment for the school.

In conclusion, the head of school can hardly succeed in his administrative

tasks without the cooperation of others. In particular, the classroom teacher
plays an indispensable role as we shall see soon.

Activity 1.3
Compare and contrast the supervisory roles of the circuit supervisor and the
head of school.

Circuit Supervisor Head of school

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Finally, in this section, let us examine the role which the classroom teacher
plays in the management and supervision of the primary school.

Classroom teacher
Teachers are those who operate the technical plant (the school building and
what goes on inside and outside it) everyday. In spite of the lapses in official
treatment and public attitude towards the teaching profession, there is a
continuous drive for public recognition of teaching as a profession. Whether
the teacher is properly accorded recognition, he/she is indispensable in the
organisation and supervision of the primary school.

The teacher performs many administrative functions including the

following:
 maintaining order and being adequately acquainted with all that is
happening in his/her classroom and indeed the school as a whole;
 carrying out definite co-curricular duties assigned to him/her by the head
of school;
 giving reasonable assistance to young and inexperienced colleagues;
 ensuring that students are properly admitted to the class;
 keeping record of progress of children;
 taking care of all equipment and books supplied to the class;
 carrying out recommendations made in inspection reports.

Activity 1.4
In the primary school, students are quite young but can be assigned some
responsibilities both in the school and in the classroom. Identify some of the
various responsibilities you would recommend to be assigned to students.
School Responsibilities Classroom Responsibilities

Primary school refers to the first segment of the first cycle of education for
six- to eleven-year-old students. It consists of the first six years of the nine-
year free, compulsory universal basic education. The primary school is
expected to lay a strong foundation for the three-year junior secondary
school as well as all subsequent levels of education.

Primary education is general in nature and aims at exposing the child to

many subject areas from which choices can be made for higher level of
education.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
AND SUPERVISION Unit 1, section 1: Definition and structure of school administration

Objectives of primary school education, according to the Dzobo Committee

of 1974, are acquisition of numeracy and socialisation of the individual

The primary school also aims at helping the student to acquire inquiry and
creative as well as personal and social attitudes.

In the administrative structure of primary education, the Head of school is

the first-line administrator of the primary school. Administratively, the
Minister of Education who is the policy maker and the Director-General of
the GES who is the policy implementer lie at the top of the hierarchy. The
head of school with a team of teachers lies at the bottom of the hierarchy.

In the implementation of national education policies and decisions, the most

important level is the school plant. The head of school adopts some
important techniques to manage the school with the teachers who discharge
many responsibilities.

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structure
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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Unit 1, section 2: Achieving
ACHIEVING effective
EFFECTIVE management andAND
MANAGEMENT supervision in the
SUPERVISION
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 2
school IN
I THE SCHOOL I

Welcome to Section 2 of Unit 1. In Section 1, I examined the concept of

primary school and the structure of primary school administration. I hope
that you worked systematically through the first section. In this section, I
will examine some of the ways through which you can achieve effective
management and supervision in the school.

By the time you finish studying this section, you will be able to explain
some of the ways through which the head can manage the school effectively
including dealing with school discipline

The number of strategies or ways in which a head of school together with

other stakeholders in education can achieve effective management is
infinite. I am going to identify and discuss six of these ways in this section.
After that I shall ask you also to identify and discuss some other ways by
which you can manage a school.

The ways I will discuss are:

 Making effective decisions.
 Adopting principles of management.
 Obtaining adequate funds to replenish diminishing resources.
 Obtaining educational infrastructure, equipment and materials.
 Supervising teachers and students.
 Involving stakeholders.

Making effective decisions

Ponder over the following questions:
 When do you, as a teacher or even a student, make decisions? How do
you make decisions?
 Do you make decisions impulsively and act on them on the spur of the
moment?
 If you were a head of school and had to make decisions that would affect
your teachers or parents, would you involve them?
 Do you carefully identify the causes of a problem, look out for possible
solutions and carefully choose the best option?
 Do you simply choose a solution because you believe it is the best
option and then impose it on teachers and parents?

By asking you this series of questions, I am trying to impress upon you that
you should never take impulsive decisions, except perhaps in cases of
emergency. Impulsive decisions are often irrational and usually fail to
deliver good results.

What then is decision-making, especially as they affect the administration of

a school?

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To decide is to come to a resolution as a result of consultations. Decision-

making is the selection of a course of action from available alternatives
(Richman & Farmer, 1975:184). Whenever there is more than one way of
doing things, a decision is needed. Thus there is always a need for the
school administrator to adopt a systematic approach to making decisions in
order to resolve the school’s problems. While there are a few exceptions to
this rule, the best option is for the head of school and his/her staff to be
systematic or rational. It is also necessary to point out that unless a decision
has generated into action, it is not a decision. Also, unless a decision
involves a systematic process, it is irrational. It is also irrational when the
decision is based on the decision-maker’s whim.

Guidelines for making rational and systematic decisions

Now let us go through the following eight specific steps suggested by Bittel
(1985: 140) which a head of school with his/her staff can follow to make
rational or systematic decisions
 State the problem clearly and specifically. Avoid a vague statement like,
we have a problem in the community. Instead, narrow it down to
What can we do to prevent people from encroaching on the school
land? for example
 Collect all information relevant to the problem. Concentrate on your
school instead of going far into the community. Collect data that will
provide some insight into the processes, materials and equipment that
may be required.
 List as many possible causes of the problem as you can think of. The
existence of a problem implies a gap between the expected and actual
conditions. What happened to cause the gap?
 Select the cause or causes that seem most likely. Do this through a
process of elimination.
 Compile as many solutions for removing the causes of the problem as
you can.
 Evaluate the pros and cons of each proposed solution. As a head of
school, you should be aware that while many solutions are good, some
are better than others.
 What does each solution mean?
 Is it cheaper? Faster? Surer? More participatory?
 Is it more in line with the school’s policy?

To obtain valid answers to each of these questions, you must make

judgements based on facts. Consult anyone who may be able to offer
specialized options about the criteria you have chosen.
 Choose the solution you consider best. Choose the solution after you
have weighed all the chances of success against the risks of failure.
 Spell out a plan of action to carry out your solution, ie. implement your
decision. Specify what will be done, how, when and by whom it will be
done. How much money will be spent and the source of the money.
What is the deadline?

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Activity 2.1
1. Present the rational decision making model described above in a flow
chart:
2. As the head of school of a primary school, you are encountering the
three problems described below. Using the rational decision making
model, state the specific steps you will take to arrive at a solution to
each problem. Discuss your procedure with three colleagues of yours.
a. You have observed that some unauthorised people in the community
have been encroaching upon the school’s land. It has no fence to
ward off intruders.
b. Many parents have not paid their children’s fees and auditors from
the District Office have threatened to surcharge you.
c. A good number of teachers have become habitual absentees or late
comers. All your admonitions have fallen on deaf ears.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Adopting principles of management

Let us now consider another way in which a head of school can manage a
primary school. This is the use of principles of management. As a head of
school who has to deal with members of staff, students, parents or others,
you have to be impartial. You have to be consistent in all situations. This
means that you have to adopt some principles to manage your school.

Now, what are principles?

Principles are basic guidelines or approaches that give direction to people in

the ways they are expected to operate in their field of work. These
guidelines can be translated into instructions which are used to teach others
how to act in a particular situation. These instructions are prescriptive and
normative in the sense that they prescribe what an administrator, manager or
supervisor such as the head of school of a school, a district director or a
circuit officer should do. Principles thus help head of schools or any other
officers to handle problems they encounter in their work situations.

Let me point out, however, that some critics of the principles approach
reject the idea because, according to them principles tell administrators or
managers one best way to do anything. They argue that there are conditions
where a principle may work and others where it won’t; and that not all cases
in the work situation would fall within the guidelines prescribed.

All the same, principles are useful guides to action. They give the head of
school some place to start when faced with a problem and, if they are not
viewed as rigid requirements, they can be very helpful in finding a solution.

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Now that we have looked at the nature of principles of management, let us

consider some specific ones.

Suggested principles for a head of school

Under a well-structured primary school, the following principles must
prevail:
 Time and motion: Each task in the school must be carried out in a way
that minimizes time and effort. A teacher must effectively complete
his/her syllabus within the required period.
 Division of labour and functional specialization: Organizational tasks
in the school are divided into special areas. Individuals (teachers, for
example) must be assigned to tasks according to their training, skill and
experience. The rationale behind the division of labour is that the varied
tasks to be performed in a school, for example, are too complex for
everyone to learn with equal competence. The division of tasks,
therefore, results in greater efficiency for the entire organization.
 Hierarchical structure: Authority in an organization is distributed in a
pyramidal configuration; each official is responsible for his or her
subordinate’s actions and decisions. For example, the District Director
of Education (DDE) is at the helm of educational matters in the district.
Working directly under the DDE are the four frontline Assistant
Directors (ADs). The DDE is therefore directly responsible for the
actions and decisions of the frontline ADs. One of the ADs, AD
Supervision, is directly responsible for the actions of the Circuit
Supervisors (CSs) in the district. Each CS, in turn, is responsible for the
actions of the head of schools in his/her circuit.
 Control by rules: All official decisions and actions, eg, by the District
Director, Assistant Directors, Circuit Supervisors, or Heads of schools,
are directed by codified rules. This principle ensures uniformity,
predictability and stability in the entire education district or school.
 Impersonal relationships: Impersonal relationships among all officers
in the district eliminate purely personal, emotional and irrational
behaviour. This situation establishes control over people and their
activities in the organization more efficiently. All heads of schools and
teachers are then subject to strict and systematic discipline in the
conduct of their jobs.
 Career orientation: In the school, as in all other organizations,
employment should be based on expertise. Promotion should be given
according to seniority and/or merit; salary should be tied to rank in the
hierarchy. The individual worker should always feel free to resign and
retirement provisions should exist.
 Standardization of tasks: Various tasks should be broken into
component parts to allow for routinized performance. In the school the
main task of teaching is done according to classes or subjects and
individual teachers are assigned to them. Yet when it comes to tasks like

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sports and games, entertainment, gardening, music, sanitation, they

should be broken into component parts for better performance.
 Unity of command: In an individual organization like the primary
school, decision should be centralized with responsibility flowing from
the top to the bottom for proper coordination. Directions should come
from the heads office to all teachers and to all students where
appropriate.
 Span of control: Unity of command and coordination are possible only
if each superior at any level has a limited number of subordinates (five
to ten) to direct. This limit is very crucial in large and complex
institutions as the universities and large senior secondary schools or
colleges. In the school the head with five or so teachers should find that
manageable.
 Uniqueness of function: One department of the school should not
duplicate the functions performed by another. In the school, the normal
practice is to assign areas like sports and entertainment, gardening,
music, or first aid to individual teachers who also appoint leaders from
the learners to assist. Thus no assigned task should be performed by
another group. Duplication and waste of effort and scarce resources are
therefore avoided.
 Formal organization: The focus of analysis should be on the official
organizational blueprint. Thus in determining the quality of a particular
primary school, for example, attention should be placed on the detailed
plan and formal practices in the school. Semi-formal and informal
structures such as unofficial friendly groups formed by the teachers or
students are not analyzed.

Henri Fayol, a French industrialist, proposed some of the most enduring

principles to be followed by the administrator or manager. The school head
should do well to adhere to those principles. A school head should:
 have a thorough knowledge of his/her personnel – both superiors and
subordinates
 eliminate incompetence.
 be well-versed in the agreements binding the school and its employees.
 set a good example.
 conduct periodic inspections of his/her school and use summarized
reports to further improve the school.
 bring together teachers by means of in-service training at which
attention should focus on concerted efforts by all teachers to improve
administration and supervision of teaching and learning.
 not become engrossed in minute details of school work.
 aim at fostering unity, initiative and loyalty among teachers and
students.

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Activity 2.2
The head of school, among other things, should eliminate incompetence and
set a good example. Give specific examples of:
a. How a head of a school can eliminate incompetence?
……………………………………….………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

b. How a head of school can set good examples?

……………….………………………………………………………………
……………….………………………………………………………………
…………………….…………………………………………………………
……………………….………………………………………………………

Obtaining adequate funds

Let us now turn our attention to what may be considered the most important
resource of the effective head of school – funds. Every task performed in the
school depends on funds. It means therefore that for every task there should
be adequate funds.

Consider the following questions:

 Can you think of any school task that may not require money to
perform?
 In your experience, have there been adequate funds for any school to do
the things they want to do? If no, why not?
 Is it possible at all for a school to generate adequate funds? If no, why?
If yes, how?

Currently how does a primary school obtain funds?

Sources of school funds

The sources of primary school funds include:
 PTA contributions
 Internally-generated funds through various activities by children, eg sale
of farm produce.
 Imprest
 School fees

Can you add to the list of the sources of school funds?

Apart from making efforts to obtain funds, the head must make efficient use
of the money, ie obtain maximum benefit from the minimum amount spent
on a project.

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The head should be personally responsible for all incomes and expenditures
in the school. It is absolutely essential for him/her to demonstrate
transparency and honesty in handling school funds. When a head abandons
transparency and honesty, he/she destroys the good image that can be
created in the minds of teachers and students. Thus the head should avoid all
cases of embezzlement, misappropriation and misapplication.

Activity 2.3
1. State reasons why some heads of schools embezzle school funds.
2. Suggest ways in which heads can overcome the temptation of
embezzling funds.
………………………………………………………………………..………
………………………………………………………………………..………
………………………………………………………………..………………
………………………………………………………………………………..

Obtaining educational infrastructure

You have no doubt come across primary schools in dilapidated and terrible
state. Some have dwarf walls of mud, or are constructed with bamboo or
palm fronds. The fact to note is that many schools have become dilapidated
through years of neglect as a result of our lack of the culture of
maintenance. In such schools the day’s activities end as soon as it threatens
to rain

What do you think are the short and long term effects of dilapidated
classrooms on management, teaching and learning?

Let us make a list of what we would call adequate infrastructure, materials

and equipment for a school. I suggest the following:
 classroom blocks
 a staff common-room.
 head’s bungalow.
 student accommodation
 sports field for soccer, athletics, volley ball, well equipped and
demarcated.
 a spacious, airy and well-stocked library with plenty of sitting room.
 a sizeable laboratory.
 a large school farm.
 a computer room.
 adequate books and stationery to go round

These are my suggestions; you may add your own suggestions to make the
list more complete.

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Activity 2.4
In Ghana, the social perception is that the provision of infrastructure for
education is the responsibility of the Central Government. In recent years it
has been amply demonstrated that this perception of the people is not
realistic. State your proposals for providing the infrastructure we need in our
primary schools
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Supervising teachers and students

In Unit 3 of this book, we have discussed supervision of instruction in
detail. In this sub-section, let’s look at supervision under general
administration and management.

What are the concerns here?

Under this supervisory function, the effective school head ensures that:
 teachers and students attend school regularly and punctually; teachers
and students who do not observe this regulation are given appropriate
sanction. To enforce this regulation, teachers should mark the class
attendance register on time; they themselves should sign the Staff
Attendance Book as soon as they arrive at school.
 the school – classrooms and entire compound – are absolutely clean and
tidy.
 teachers and students observe school rules and regulations.
 teachers observe their code of ethics.
 students have adequate supply of all educational inputs.

Activity 2.5
Obtain a copy of the Teachers’ Code of Ethics from either your District
Education Office or the nearest GNAT office. Make a list of five main
points dealt with in the Teachers’ Code of Ethics and justify each of the five
points.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Involving stakeholders
Since a head of school and his/her team of teaching staff are deemed
qualified enough to do their job as professionals, don’t you think they
should be left alone to run the school? Do you think there is a need for
others to be involved?

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Unit 4 will deal with the involvement of stakeholders in much more detail.
At this early point, I only want to stress the importance of their involvement
to achieve efficient management of the primary school.

Activity 2.6
Make a list of stakeholders who, you believe, should be involved in
running a school, and indicate areas in primary school management in
which they may be involved. Remember to include areas like decision
making, policy formulation, provision of resources, funding of school
projects, and enforcing school discipline.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

For what reasons should the stakeholders you have identified above be
involved in school administration?

One main reason is that two heads are better than one. The head cannot
possibly have all the best ideas for running a school. The government also
cannot provide all the needed resources.

Can you add reasons of your own?

Every competent head of a school aims at managing and supervising his/her

school effectively to achieve its goals. In doing so, there are many
administrative, managerial and supervisory strategies to adopt. These
strategies are the ability to make strategic and systematic decisions with
other participants in the school (teachers and learners), adopting principles
of management to make the administration stable and predictable, using
strategic means to generate funds to operate the school, ensuring that the
school has adequate infrastructure, equipment and materials, ensuring that
school rules are observed by teaching staff, students and even parents, and
finally involving relevant stakeholders in managing the school.

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school

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Unit 1, section 3: Achieving
ACHIEVING effective
EFFECTIVE management andAND
MANAGEMENT supervision in the
SUPERVISION
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 3
school IN
II THE SCHOOL II

Well done for working successfully through the first two sections of Unit I.
I now welcome you to Section 3. Achieving Effective Management and
Supervision is such a broad topic that we have to continue dealing with it in
this section. That does not even mean that we shall exhaust the topic under
this section. There are numerous ways of managing the school and we are
only touching upon some of the salient ones.

By the time you finish studying this section, you will be able to
 describe how to deal with school discipline
 discuss how to organise in-service education for teachers
 suggest ways of improving conditions of service of teachers
 encourage schools to adopt a policy of cost-sharing.
 discuss innovation/improvisation by teachers.
 carry out constant review of the curriculum

Dealing with school discipline

To begin our discussion, let me draw your attention to something that has
been occurring in our schools of late. I believe that you have heard or read
from the newspaper about the father who marched furiously to a school and
beat up a teacher who had caned his son for misbehaving at school!

Incidents like this, which have occurred quite frequently in our schools of
late, raise serious questions on school discipline.
 Did the pupil deserve the punishment which incurred the fury of the
father?
 Did the teacher have the professional knowledge of effecting an
appropriate corrective measure on the child?
 Was the father ignorant of the teacher’s role in training the child in the
way he should go?
 Where does the head of school stand in all this – has he/she made his/her
teachers know that he alone is permitted to use the cane according to
official policy?

You can ask many more questions involving school discipline. Discipline in
this context means ensuring appropriate behaviour on the part of all
individuals and groups who have to do with education in one way or the
other.

In every school discipline is necessary on the part of the

 head of teacher
 teachers
 students
 parents

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How a head of teacher and staff can enhance discipline

In what ways can a head of a school and staff enhance discipline in the
school?

A head of a school and staff can enhance discipline in their school by

 preparing good lesson plans and submitting them early for vetting by the
head.
 attending school regularly and punctually as a habit.
 comporting themselves in every aspect of their behaviour – dress,
manners, speech, dealing with each other – so that they can serve as role
models to the students.
 formulating school rules and regulations in consultation with the
students.
 applying just sanctions against defaulting students in a transparent
manner and in love so as to be accepted even by the culprits themselves.
 encouraging parents to participate actively in running the school
especially in those aspects that have implications for them.
 demonstrating honesty in the use of school materials.
 eschewing favouritism in dealing with the staff or the students.
 avoiding amorous affairs with students of the school.
 showing high respect for parents and demonstrating genuine concern
about their problems by helping to solve them.
 exhibiting deep interest in and commitment to the job of teaching.
 setting up a standing Disciplinary Committee composed of people
known to have exemplary character and who possess the ability to
manage conflicts that may occur at any level in the school.

Let me emphasize that effecting discipline in the school through the ways
enumerated above is by no means an easy matter. And yet, an attempt to
ignore even a single one of them can cause serious problems for school
discipline. The question we can ask is: How else can a head manage and
supervise his/her school effectively without due attention to these ways?

Activity 3.1
1. Identify some of the ways in which a head of a school may exhibit
preferential treatment in dealing with his /her teachers.
2. State some of the ways in which a teacher can discriminate against some
of his/her students
……………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………….……
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

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In-service education for teachers

In what ways do you think inservice education for teachers can help the
head of teacher to manage his/her school effectively? By the way, what is
inservice education?

Inservice education is the type of education which teachers must continue to

receive while they are on the job. It is education for teachers for as long as
they remain in the teaching job.

Teachers receive professional training for three years in the training college
to qualify as professionals. This type of training is called preservice
education. Let us ask ourselves: For how long can preservice education
remain completely relevant after the student-teacher leaves the training
college?

Now pause, and think about the type of subjects you studied in the training
college. The curriculum was based on the social, economic and political
trends in the country. Consider whether society has remained the same or
has undergone some changes since you left university.

What changes have occurred?

A teacher who left the training college some ten years ago but has not been
undergoing inservice training would still be teaching those things he/she
learned in training college. As a teacher he/she would be out of tune with
the times.

Thus the main purpose of inservice education is to keep the teacher in line
with changes in the educational system.

What forms does inservice training take?

Forms of inservice training

The Head of teachers’ Handbook (1994:216) has identified four main forms
of in-service education: workshops, demonstrations, team teaching and
joint-training. Let us look at each of these forms briefly.

Workshops: Workshops are discussion sessions involving a number of

participants on any educational matter of common interest. After the
discussion among the participants, they are put in pairs, small groups or
individuals to create something eg. an instructional material.

Demonstrations: Demonstrations are organised as inservice education, for

example, to enable some resource person to introduce a new method of
teaching or the use of a new teaching device. In this case, it is ideal to make
arrangement so that peer teaching can be done, ie some of the participants

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can be used as students. Participants’ discussion of the teaching then

follows.

Topics that are suitable for demonstration include questioning techniques,

preparation of materials for teaching various subjects, preparation of lesson
plans, chalkboard skills and writing skills.

Team teaching: Team teaching is an approach where two or three teachers

come together to teach one topic either in turns or at the same time. The
teachers focus on different tasks such as explaining an issue verbally,
writing on a flip chart, using pictures at appropriate stages in a lesson. All
these various tasks could take place at the same time.

For a group of teachers to do team teaching successfully, they need to:

 plan together to avoid repetition;
 cooperate and work together as a team;
 avoid contradictory comments;
 explain and expand to support, supplement and complement each other’s
ideas;
 use their varied expertise to enrich the sessions;
 use different methods

Joint training: Joint training is a kind of inservice training in which head

of teachers in the same area, town or village hold joint sessions for their
teachers. This is an opportunity to tackle an issue of common interest to all
the schools. Joint training can be held, for example, to discuss a new
teaching method introduced by the GES. Joint trainig is sometimes called
cluster-based inservice training.

Let me emphasize that inservice training should be organized after class

hours. The head or any of the teachers can be asked to lead a discussion on a
topic of common interest to the staff as a whole.

Advantages of joint training

Let us look at some advantages of a joint training:
 Teachers have an opportunity to share ideas with others.
 Teachers have a larger group to share ideas with and to learn from.
 It enables teachers to learn new things from other schools.
 One resource person can work with several schools at the same time
instead of being in different schools at different times.
 Materials can be put to a more efficient use in the sense that they can
benefit a large group.
 Joint training sessions can pave the way for head of teachers to
cooperate to establish a local inservice centre in one of the schools.

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Activity 3.2
Make a list of five topics you would like to be discussed at a joint training
session.
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..

I shall now examine the conditions of service teachers.

Conditions of service of teachers

Conditions of service refer to the professional and personal circumstances
within which teachers work.

For many years teachers have complained about the poor conditions under
which they work. Time and again they have called on the central
government to improve their work conditions.

There is a strong belief that teachers would do a better job under improved
conditions. Under improved conditions, it is hoped that primary school
heads would manage their schools more effectively. It must be borne in
mind, however, that improving teachers’ conditions of service lies largely
outside the jurisdiction of the head of teacher.

Let us now focus on conditions under which teachers are expected to work
effectively.
 Good classrooms with adequate furniture that receive regular
maintenance.
 Class enrolment of not more than 46 students.
 Adequate textbooks, stationery, etc for every pupil.
 Adequate quantities of teaching/learning materials as well as inputs for
teachers to prepare their own teaching/learning materials.
 Adequate remuneration and other fringe benefits such as allowances for
rent, health and transport.
 Avenues for professional advancement including opportunities for
inservice training programs.
 Promotion prospects that move according to laid down policies and not
slowed down by official apathy.
 Government loans to purchase means of transport at a low interest rate.
 Good accommodation for head of teachers.

The foregoing points refer to the conditions towards which teachers aspire.
The central government and other stakeholders all agree in principle that in
society’s own interest, the above conditions should be provided. The main
problem has been the severe economic constraints facing the country.

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The teacher’s service conditions must, however, not be allowed to remain in

its present poor state. They must continue to be on the agenda of the
government until some solutions are found.

Adopting a policy of cost-sharing

The policy of cost-sharing in the provision of education at all levels
has engaged the attention of Ghanaians for some time now. Cost-sharing
refers to an arrangement under which the central government will pay some
portion of the educational expenditure while the beneficiary pays the rest.

Let us examine this policy as it affects the management of a primary school.

For many years after Ghana’s independence, the central government was the
sole provider of education at all three levels. We have reached a stage in the
country’s development where it seems no longer feasible for the government
to remain the sole provider. The policy of cost-sharing which students have
always fought against is being gradually adopted at the secondary and
tertiary levels.

At the basic education (primary and junior secondary) level, the policy of
free, compulsory universal basic education stipulates that education at this
first level is free. It is free in the sense that the central government pays for
all the cost involved.

However, one big question on the lips of many parents is: Why are we being
asked constantly to pay for fees eg textbook user fees and PTA levies?

The fact is that tuition in the primary school is free as it is indeed at all
levels of public education in Ghana. Ghana government pays all the teachers
in public schools. However, there are some specific fees which parents pay
on regular basis. Quite apart from that, parents buy uniforms, and also buy
some textbooks and stationery mainly because the government’s supply is
not adequate to supply to the students on one-to-one basis. Also, for some
time, students were not allowed to take home the books supplied by the
government. Therefore, parents who wanted their children to continue
learning at home had to buy the books from the local market.

At PTA meetings, teachers and parents come face to face with problems of
lack of furniture, library books, laboratory materials, sports equipment,
transport to convey items to and from school, drugs for first aid, and low
teacher motivation resulting from inadequate remuneration. PTAs therefore
often decide to make contributions to supplement teachers’ salaries, repair
leaking roofs or buy locks for some doors and so on.

These are contributions made with the approval of parents. They

nonetheless add to the cost of education at the primary school. The
government may be aware of these educational costs but since it cannot
meet them it cannot stop PTAs from voluntarily deciding to bear them.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Unit 1, section 3: Achieving effective management and supervision in the
AND SUPERVISION school II

The payment of these costs is the cause of the perception that education is
not free at the primary school level. Head of teachers who desire to manage
their schools effectively do not only welcome these PTA payments but
actually sometimes propose them for consideration by the PTA. Sometimes,
however, when parents complain about such PTA payments, the
government sets in to impose a ceiling, particularly at the secondary school
level.

In effect, parents approve of the policy of cost-sharing in the provision of

primary education. There is no better option at the moment under the
prevent economic realities in Ghana.

Activity 3.2
From the foregoing discussion and from your own experience as a Ghanaian
scholar:
 State reasons why people think that primary education is not free.
 State reasons why you believe that primary education is free.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Innovation/Improvisation by teachers
I hope you are enjoying the various debates in the ways in which a head of
teacher and his/her staff can manage their primary school effectively. The
debate continues and at this point I would like us to examine the issue of
improvisation by teachers in the primary school.

First of all, let us differentiate between innovation and improvisation.

Innovation is simply a new way or strategy which a teacher can invent or
design on his/her own to enable him/her to continue teaching the students.
Improvisation, on the other hand, is a situation where a teacher can design
teaching and learning materials which may not be as accurate and attractive
as those supplied by manufacturers but which nevertheless help the teacher
to teach effectively. Such improvisation is done usually from discarded
materials scattered at various locations in the school community. It takes
time and effort on the part of the teacher and often the students to assemble
these materials.

Such discarded materials include empty cans and bottles from the refuse
dump, pieces of wood and boards from the carpentry shop, empty cartons
from the supermarket, scraps of paper from the printing press, shells from
the beach, bottle tops from drinking bars and pieces of cloth from the tailor
or seamstress’ shop.

You can add examples from your particular community to the list.

40 UEW/IEDE
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school II AND SUPERVISION

At this point let us attempt to answer the followng two questions

 Why should a teacher practise innovation/improvisation?
 Why does it seem so difficult for teachers to innovate or improvise?

Why teachers should improvise

Teachers must practise innovation/improvisation in schools for the
following reasons:
 A teacher can never teach successfully without instructional materials;
they make teaching real and practical to children.
 Instructional materials provide an avenue for students to participate in a
lesson.
 They enable students to remember easily what they learn in line with the
Chinese proverb:
I hear, and I forget;
I see, and I remember;
I do, and I understand.
 They reduce the amount of work the teacher has to do, ie hours of
explanation can be reduced to minutes of practical demonstration using
instructional materials.
 They draw unwilling children into learning which they would otherwise
find boring and uninteresting.

I hope I have helped you to refresh your memory on the importance of

instructional materials in teaching and learning. Without them teachers
spend large proportions of instructional time giving long winding
explanations which the children, in the end, do not understand. Many
children hence find classroom work uninteresting and boring. Such children
begin playing truancy until they drop out of school altogether.
Unknowingly, therefore, teachers contribute significantly towards producing
school drop-outs through their failure to use instructional materials in their
teaching. You should take note that when children stop going to school
because of school-related factors, they have actually been pushed out by
the school. Such children are more appropriately called push-outs, not
drop-outs.

What is the implication of all this for the head of teacher?

The head of teacher of a primary school which creates truants, drop-outs and
push-outs would have failed in his/her job as an effective manager and
supervisor of a school.

The point to note, therefore, is that the inability of the Ghana Education
Service to supply instructional materials does not exonerate school
authorities, including head of teachers and teachers, from blame. If teachers
are willing, they can find the time and make the effort to improvise
teaching-learning materials.

UEW/IEDE 41
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Unit 1, section 3: Achieving effective management and supervision in the
AND SUPERVISION school II

Activity 3.3
State four ways in which we can establish an innovation/improvisation
culture among primary school teachers.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Finally let’s examine why the primary school curriculum should be

constantly reviewed.

Constant review of the curriculum

Let’s begin by reviewing our understanding of the term, curriculum. Pause
for a few moments and explain the term in your own words.

As teachers, when we think of the curriculum, there is a tendency for us to

focus on the subjects on the school timetable. This is not wrong thinking,
when we consider that a teacher’s main concern in a classroom is the
teaching of subjects like language, maths, science, social studies and moral
education. Besides, we refer to other activities outside the classroom as co-
curricular activities.

You should, however, understand that as far as the school is concerned,

curriculum means the sum total of activities in the school. In reviewing
the curriculum, however, we will focus on what we teach in the classroom.
We will also refer to the various syllabuses drawn for the primary school by
the GES. We will also concern ourselves with the various textbooks
prescribed for use in conjuction with the syllabuses.

Now if syllabuses have been drawn by experts and textbooks have been
written by specialists, what is the need for constant review by school
authorities?

Let us identify a few of the arguments for constant review. Before then, let
me point out that such periodic review should be made within the national
policy framework of primary education. This is because ultimately, we train
students to write a common national examination.

Rationale for curriculum review

Syllabuses drawn for use in the primary school take some years to be
reviewed, although local conditions change at a fast rate. Local review is
therefore necessary to ensure that the syllabuses remain relevant to the
locality.

Environmental conditions, such weather effects and economic activities,

differ from locality to locality. Syllabuses can therefore be reviewed so that

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school II AND SUPERVISION

teaching of some topics can be appropriately done at the right period in the
year.

Students differ in intellectual, physical and emotional capabilites. The way

we handled certain subjects for a particular group of students in one year
may not be equally effective another year.

From our discussion it is clear that, one major strategy to achieve effective
management and supervision in a primary school is to review the syllabuses
as and when necessary to make them suit local conditions.

The head of a school adopts many strategies in the management and

supervision of the school. These are all aimed at achieving effectively the
goals of the school.

Some strategies that a head of teacher can adopt include dealing effectively
with school discipline, providing regular inservice education for teachers,
improving the conditions of service for teachers, adopting a policy of cost-
sharing so that payment for education can be shared between the central
government and beneficiaries, encouraging teachers to improvise teaching-
learning materials and constantly reviewing the school curriculum

UEW/IEDE 43
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD I
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 4
Unit 1, section 4: Administrative functions of the school head I

Hello, I am glad to welcome you to Section 4 of Unit 1 of this course.

We have so far examined the concept of school, and how the head of a
school can achieve effective management and supervision.

The head performs various functions so that the school can achieve its goal
of laying a strong educational foundation.

By the end of the section you will be able to

 explain the differences between administration and management
 explain in your own words the terms, planning, organising, staffing,
directing and controlling as functions of a school head
 assess the head’s performance in each of the four functions

Before we examine the various functions performed by the head of school,

let us examine the concepts of administration and management which are
the main concerns of the head. These two words are not new to you.

Administration versus management

Administration such as what the school head does is a process of directing
and controlling life in a social organization. It is a process of getting things
done through the efforts of other people. Note that the administrator does
not actually do the job, but ensures that the job is done and done well. John
Walton defines administration as:

An activity that concerns itself with the survival and maintenance of an

organization and with the directions of activities of people working in the
organization and the reciprocal relations with a view to attaining the overall
purpose of the organization.

In this case, the head concerns himself/herself with the survival and
maintenance of the school and with the direction of activities of teachers and
students in the school.

Let us now look at the term, management. Management means meeting an

organization’s goals with limited resources: to succeed in achieving an
organization’s goals against various odds in the environment, whether
economic, social, cultural or political. Richman and Farmer (1975:4)
defining management stated:

Management involves decision making about what goals to pursue and how
to attain them. The decisions and operations of a manager may differ from
one organization to another; however, the functions of a manager, which are
central to the overall management process, are common to all. These basic
and interrelated managerial functions include planning and control,
organizing, staffing, direction, leadership, motivation and communication.

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Having briefly looked at the definition of administration and management, I

shall now examine some of the head’s functions. I shall look at planning,
organizing, staffing, directing and controlling functions in this section and
discuss the rest of his/her functions in the next section.

Let’s will begin with the planning function.

Planning
Planning refers to institutional objectives, policies, strategies, schedules,
procedures, tools and methods for achieving them. It involves decision-
making about the future, and choosing among alternatives and innovations.
Every major plan should contain basic policies from which a variety of
subplans may be derived.

For example, if a school plans to establish a computer programme for the

students, the head and his/her staff will meet to plan towards that project.
The subplans can include:
 Sources of funds for the programme.
 Procurement of computers and establishment of the centre.
 Planning of the programme to fit into the normal school timetable.
 Recruitment and remuneration of computer teachers.
 Policies regarding operation of the centre.

Control systems will then have to be designed for the effective and efficient
implementation of the various sub-plans made. It is essential to plan
carefully weighing all pros and cons so that once the plan takes off, it will
not be derailed.

Therefore, for the school to achieve managerial efficiency, the head and
his/her staff must ask a number of crucial questions and seriously address
them. Among the crucial questions to be asked in this case are the
following:
 What are the school’s goals and objectives? Is every teacher clear about
these goals?
 Are the school’s stakeholders and clients satisfied with the extent to
which goals and objectives are being achieved?
 Are the school’s original decisions, policies, strategies, programmes,
procedures and methods being achieved as intended? If no, what
measures are being used to remove unforeseen impediments?
 Are the required changes recognized and effected as may be necessary?
 Are the decisions and plans so rigid that they resist necessary
modifications?
 How effective and adequate are the facilities, equipment and tools for
implementing the plans?
 How frequent do conflicts occur as a result of implementation of the
plans and how are they resolved?

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
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It is important for the school head and staff of the school to bear in mind
that derailment of their original decisions and plans does not necessarily
reflect poorly on them. This is because unforeseen circumstances over
which they may have little or no control may occur to disrupt their plans.
What may reflect poorly on them is their failure to evaluate the
implementation of their plans or their inability to take measures to
ameliorate the failing decisions.

Activity 4.1
Identify three important projects for a school. For each project, prepare a
major plan together with sub plans for implementation.
Project I:
Major plan:
Sub plans:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Project I:
Major plan:
Sub plans:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Project III
Major plan:
Subplans:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let us now examine the head’s function of organizing.

Organizing
We will define organizing as the demarcation and enumeration of the
activities required to carry out plans, the grouping of these activities, the
assignment of such activities to units, divisions or departments with their
respective administrative heads and the delegation of authority to
subordinates to carry out the activities.

In the school, the head and staff may organize activities such as games and
sports, excursion, exhibition, cultural display, speech and prize giving day,

46 UEW/IEDE
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Unit 1, section 4: Administrative functions of the school head I AND SUPERVISION

open day or quiz at their school or among a number of schools.

Organization of activities will, as in the case of planning, involve the raising
of questions.

A number of crucial questions must be addressed with a view to organizing

effectively in the school:
 How adequately are the various departments functioning? Are the
departments with their sub-heads overburdened or under-employed?
 What is the extent of centralization or decentralization in the school?
Does too much bureaucracy or red-tapeism cause excessive delays in
implementing decisions? A school may encounter bureaucratic
constraints, for example, when they require inputs or approval from the
district office to organize some activities.
 Is there adequate understanding of the delegated task as well as clear
accountability which minimizes confusion, friction, hostility as well as
overlapping and duplication of efforts?
 Is every employee fully utilized during the work day or are some
overworked while others laze about?
 Are the heads and their assistants adequately informed of operations of
the various sub units, and are they able to adequately deal with any
arising conflicts?
 How does division of labour function in the school?
 How ready is the school to adapt to changing conditions arising from
changed socio-economic situations or government policies?

Activity 4.2
Your school has consistently won the District School Quiz in Environmental
Studies for the past five years. As a result of this achievement you have
been asked to organise a three-day seminar on Teaching Environmental
Science for heads in the District to be hosted by your school.

Indicate below in detail the specific steps you will take in organizing this
seminar.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let’s now look at the staffing function of the school head.

Staffing
In your school, your staff consists of the head, teachers and perhaps nursery
attendants, labourers, cleaners, security men and a messenger. This kind of
staff is particularly true in a boarding school.

What then is staffing?

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
AND SUPERVISION Unit 1, section 4: Administrative functions of the school head I

Staffing refers to the process of recruiting essential qualified personnel that

will be responsible for manning the positions required in a school to achieve
its goals.

Staffing includes defining the human requirements for the jobs and the
inventory in recruitment, appraisal and selection of candidates and
incumbents to perform well in the school.

In Ghanaian basic schools, the head does not usually perform these specific
staffing functions. This is a job normally performed by the District
Directorate. The Directorate recruits and posts teachers who report to the
head of school.

Do you think that this is a proper recruitment policy? If not, can you suggest
a more appropriate procedure for recruiting staff?

The following questions can be used as indicators of staff efficiency in a

school.
 What are the established procedures for recruiting, selecting and
promoting officers for the various jobs they perform?
 What types of on-going in-service training programmes have been
instituted to train teachers and other staff to maintain their effectiveness
and efficiency?
 Are there sufficient monitoring procedures to identify staffing
deficiencies, and how are these deficiencies, if any, corrected?
 Do recruited personnel improve their effectiveness and efficiency or
deteriorate over time?
 Are all the various sub-units reasonably staffed, i.e. no overstaffing or
understaffing?
 Are job descriptions very clear to every employee such as to avoid
confusion, conflict and low morale?
 Is it always possible to attract, recruit and maintain suitably qualified
staff who have the required skills, abilities and motivation?

Activity 4.3
Explain below three ways in which a school teacher can maintain his/her
effectiveness.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Directing
Another function of a head of school is directing. We will define directing
as a head’s ability to instigate the staff of a school to perform their various

48 UEW/IEDE
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Unit 1, section 4: Administrative functions of the school head I AND SUPERVISION

functions for the achievement of its goals. Directing in this sense can be
synonymous to supervision, leading and communicating.

In the school, the head directs his/her teachers by setting clear goals, making
sound plans, instituting effective controls, making good organizational
design, and above all, coordinating efforts of teachers and even students.

Now how can we determine whether a head is providing effective and

efficient direction in his/her school?

Indicators of good directing include the following:

 Do the day-to-day efforts in the school’s hierarchy of authority lead to
the desired results?
 What are the methods and techniques adopted to motivate teachers, and
do these yield the anticipated results?
 Are the administrative processes always top-down or can sometimes be
bottom-up or even from horizontal staff?
 Do significant officers and persons resist changes that are desirable for
the school to move forward?
 Are there constant unproductive squabbles related to staff grievances
that waste productive hours?
 Are there serious communication problems such that important
information often fails to reach various staff members within the school?
 What is the rate of absenteeism, lateness and turnover (ie the tendency to
leave the service of the school) among teachers?

Activity 4.4
1. State the causes of turnover among school teachers.
2. Suggest measures to control teacher turnover in a school.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

You have done well for working diligently up to this point. Let us now
consider a head of school’s controlling function in the school.

Controlling
We will define controlling as the measurement, feedback and corrective
functions in a school. It refers to those activities that are carried out to
achieve plans or recognize anything that is likely to cause deviations from
the plans.

Controlling involves the establishment of standards and the gathering of

information required for evaluating performance and provides inputs for
subsequent planning.

UEW/IEDE 49
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
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You must bear in mind that the control technique works only when actual
performance can be measured against planned performance.

To measure a head of school’s controlling efficiency, use the following as

yardstick:
 What mistakes are being committed in the school that are likely to work
against fulfilling the plans made?
 Are the mistakes recognized and corrected as they occur or do they
remain unattended to for a long time.
 Do teachers have the perception that excessive amount of time is being
spent in controlling minor details and deviations instead of attending to
major aspects of staff performance?
 Are there misunderstandings among the teaching staff which can thwart
the effort of the schools management?
 To what extent do management expect feedback from teachers, and how
is the feedback utilized for the betterment of the school?
 Are the expenses made on the school commensurate with the overall
results derived?
 Do the school’s stakeholders and clients perceive as waste the resources
that have been channelled for the school’s benefits?

Activity 4.5
Sometimes teachers think that heads spend excessive amounts of time in
controlling minor details and deviations instead of attending to major issues.
Give three specific examples from your own experience to justify this
perception.
………….……………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

The head of a school concerns himself/herself with the administration and

management of the school. Administration is a process of directing and
controlling life in a social organization such as a school. Management, on
the other hand, means meeting an organization’s goals with limited
resources or achieving an organization’s goals against various odds in the
environment.

In the process of administering and managing a school, the head performs

many functions. Some of these functions are planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling.

Planning refers to institutional objectives, policies, schedules, procedures,

tools and methods for achieving them. Organizing is the demarcation and
enumeration of activities required to carry out plans, the grouping of these

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Unit 1, section 4: Administrative functions of the school head I AND SUPERVISION

activities, the assignment of such activities to identifiable units in the school

and the delegation of authority to subordinates to carry out the activities.

Staffing is the process of recruiting essential qualified personnel that will be

responsible for manning the positions required in an institution such as a
school to achieve its goals.

Directing refers to head’s ability to instigate the staff of a school to perform

their various functions for the achievement of its goals.

Controlling means measurement, feedback and corrective functions in an

organization. It refers to those activities that are carried out to achieve plans
or recognize anything that is likely to cause deviations from the plans.

UEW/IEDE 51
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL HEAD II
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 5
Unit 1, section 5: Administrative functions of the school head II

Hello, we have arrived at Section 5 of Unit 1. We are surely making

progress and I have no doubt that you are enjoying every bit of your lessons.

In Section 4, we began discussing some of the administrative functions of

the school head. These functions are many so we have treated them in two
sections. Do you recall the specific functions we discussed in Section 4?
The administrative functions of a head are planning, organizing, staffing,
directing, controlling, coordinating, reporting and budgeting.

We discussed the first four in Section 4. In this section, we are going to

discuss the functions of coordinating, reporting and budgeting. Then we
shall end with the head’s management function of managing resources.

By the end of this section, you should be able to

 explain in your own words the head’s functions of coordinating,
reporting, budgeting and managing resources
 appraise a head’s performance in each of the four functions

Now let’s move on starting with the function of co-ordinating.

Coordinating
Coordinating is a very crucial function of the school head because it is
through that that he/she can eliminate conflicts, clashes, duplication, and
overlaps that can occur among various workers as they perform their daily
duties. For example, during an athletics competition, if the head doesn’t
coordinate well, she/he may find that some events may clash and it will be
difficult to decide who should give way to the other. It is the lack of proper
co-ordination that sometimes make people struggle, quarrel or fight over
issues.

So, what is coordination?

Coordination refers to the harmonious integration of activities and processes

of the various sections within an organization towards attainment of its
goals. To attain an organization’s goals, it is incumbent on management to
co-ordinate all the necessary interdependencies (ie the various parts which
depend on or interact with each other) among the organisation’s groups and
units.

Types of coordination
There are three types of coordination: standardization, coordination by
plan and coordination by mutual adjustment. Let’s look at each of them
briefly.

Standardization: In this type of coordination, the school management sets

rules, policies, and standards which all groups or units are expected to

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observe strictly. For example, in the primary school, teachers are appointed
to be on duty daily. Procedures for conducting assemblies are prescribed
which every teacher on duty must follow. Also students in the school are
grouped into sections such as red, blue, yellow and green. In the award of
points for good behaviour or deduction of points for misbehaviour against
any section, the same set of criteria must be adopted for all sections. Any
discrepancy or preferential treatment for any section would disrupt the
standards set and thus make coordination difficult.

Coordination by plan: In this case, the school decides to adopt one

common item or supplier for the purpose of uniformity. For example, in
producing terminal reports for students, the school may adopt one common
report form which may also be ordered from one printer. It is
then advisable for all classes to use this common report form. The
advantages are quite obvious. For example, its interpretation is easy to all
teachers, students and parents; besides, a teacher who runs out of stock can
borrow some from another teacher.

Coordination by mutual adjustment: This is the situation where changes

which have to occur in school programmes, resources, etc affect all classes
proportionately. For example, if the District Directorate decides that
subvention for all schools are going to be reduced because of cuts in
government spending, there should be proportionate downward adjustment
in subvention for all schools. Similarly, if the District’s expected quantity of
textbooks and stationery for schools is reduced, it follows that quantities
supplied to the schools must be mutually adjusted. Heads of school would
therefore have to understand and adopt this adjustment so that none of them
would feel cheated.

Guidelines for effective coordination

For effective coordination in the entire school, the head of school, teachers
and other school authorities must address the following concerns:
 Are there serious discrepancies among the academic and social activities
or among various sections and classes in the school? In other words, is
there evidence of lack of interdependence?
 Do some sections of the staff perceive that other members receive undue
favours as compared to what they experience?
 Does information from the District Directorate flow horizontally and
vertically on inter- and intra-school basis, ie does information from the
District Director of Education flow among the various schools and
within each school?
 Are the various schools fairly represented on committees in the District?
Within a school, is each classroom given attention about its needs?
 Does every teacher or every school receive adequate education towards
institutional change that is in the overall national interest?

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 Is every teacher, classroom or school provided with the minimum of

resources to carry out educational functions?
 To what extent are monitoring and evaluation of activities in the various
classrooms or schools carried out?

Activity 5.1
Make a list of educational resources needed by the head of school, teachers
and students in a school.

Head of school Teachers Students or Students

……………………. ……………………... ………………………
……………………. ……………………... ………………………
……………………. ……………………... ………………………
……………………. ……………………... ………………………
……………………. ……………………... ………………………
……………………. ……………………... ………………………

Note that many of the resources required by teachers may be similar to those
needed by students; teacher’s needs may be similar to those of the head.

Let’s now proceed to examine the head’s function of reporting.

Reporting
Can you imagine a situation where every member of the education force (the
District Director, Inspectors, Circuit Supervisors, Heads and Teachers)
confined their jobs to their offices or classrooms without communicating at
all with each other? What would, for example, happen if the head received
directives meant for the whole staff from the District Director but kept them
to himself/herself? What would happen if a whole class of students showed
gross insubordination on many occasions to the class teacher but the teacher
kept it to himself/herself without reporting to the head? In these scenarios,
chaos would result if reporting does not take place.

What then is reporting?

Reporting simply means communicating. It is a process of keeping the

executive (Director or Head of school) and subordinates of an institution
informed of progress within each unit and in the institution as a whole. As
regards the basic school, information would be extended to each classroom,
or from each classroom to the head.

Reporting is done through records, research and inspection. In a primary

school, confidential and non-confidential files and documents involving
every aspect of its operation must be kept and updated frequently. Minutes
of all staff meetings and deliberations should be diligently kept and should
be at hand for reference and inspection when required for any purpose.

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Apart from official levels, how can person-to-person, eg. teacher-to-teacher

communication be conducted effectively? Bittel (1985) identified two main
models of communicating: the spoken and the written word.

The spoken word takes the form of informal talks, planned appointments
and telephone calls, while the written word takes the form of inter-office or
school memos, letters and reports. Reporting also includes conferences,
seminars and oral messages.

Guidelines for effective reporting

For effecting reporting, the following concerns must be addressed:
 Do the day-to-day informal talks among teachers, for example, address
important issues as checking on staff regarding what is going on,
exchanging critical information, disseminating conference matters,
reviewing actions taken on important decisions, discipline, checking up
progress about on-going projects and maintenance of effective staff
relations?
 Are appropriate reviews occurring over work (teaching) sessions? Are
staff members adequately prepared and informed before they attend
meetings?
 Are all staff members kept up to date with adequate data and
information to work effectively? Are interruptions limited to as few as
possible?
 Do circuit and other supervisors have regular appointments with the
teachers on daily, weekly or monthly basis as may be necessary?
 Do telephone personalities reflect true personalities or sometimes
contradict their real persons?
 Are all formal or official messages that affect several people written in
clear language?
 Do reports truly convey information derived from evaluation, analysis or
recommendations from supervisors to teachers?

I’d like to emphasise here that reporting is a function that should be

performed by all stakeholders in primary education.

Activity 5.2
Discuss with three of your colleagues, the communication networks among
officials in education. Identify the types of subject matter that they discuss.

I hope you found the activity straightforward. Let’s continue by discussing

budgeting.

Budgeting
Budgeting is not a new term to you. I am quite sure that every month before
you proceed to the bank to receive your salary, you prepare a budget on how

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you are going to spend your money. Also before you go to the market to buy
food, or go to do shopping, I am sure you prepare a budget.

Why do you prepare a budget?

I am certain that you have good reasons for preparing a budget.

Now let us consider the meaning of a budget. Budget concerns fiscal
planning, accounting and financial control. For the school, budgeting is
important in planning and managing school finance. According to Tosi and
Carrol (1975:242), budget is the projected levels of revenue and
expenditures which are targets or goals that will, if achieved, result in the
desired level of performance. Keith and Girling (1991:153) also explain
budget as a financial plan that underlies an action plan, translating ideas and
intentions into a resource allocation that reflects an institution’s priority.

Let me emphasise that ideally, budget is a financial plan that forecasts how
money will be spent in order to achieve an organization’ s programmed
objects. It deals with the formulation of programme plans in terms of
financial costs.

Types of budget
There are different types of budget used in social organizations. These
include production budget, income statement budget, balance sheet,
cash budget and manpower budget. These various budgets when properly
developed, become the basis for planning.

In Ghana, evidence has shown that instructional budget takes about four-
fifths of the money allocated to education by the government.

Guidelines for effective budgeting

Proper utilization of the education budget, whether at the classroom, school
or district level must be guided through addressing the following concerns:
 Is the money allocated for educational purposes spent efficiently and for
the intended purposes?
 Is there evidence of efficient and effective management of financial
resources?
 Is there strong evidence of relationship between school expenditure and
student performance?
 Are the head and staff conversant with the school’s income sources and
programmes on which the school spends its income?
 To what extent does the concept of opportunity cost direct the efficient
use of funds?
 In making financial decisions for the school, how do the notions of unit
costs, average costs, marginal costs, benefit costs and cost effectiveness
direct expenditures?

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 How does a school deal with its financial constraints and the need to
provide required school projects and programmes?

Activity 5.3
1. Visit any two schools and get copies of their Budget Statements for the
past academic year. Study the two documents and compare them. What
do you consider to be the positive and negative aspects of each of the
budget statements?
2. Make a list of items to purchase for a school. Arrange the items in order
of priority and justify that arrangement. Then indicate your expected
sources of income.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

We have come to the end of our discussion on the functions of the school
head as an administrator. I would like us to conclude our discussion of the
administrator’s functions with his/her management function, ie how the
head manages the resources that come to his/her school through his/her
planning and other efforts.

Managing resources
How to manage resources is important because in the long run if the school
head is careless with the limited material resources procured for the school,
the school will not achieve its goals.

What items constitute the material resources of a school?

The main ones I wish to consider are:

 School buildings
 Furniture
 Stationery
 School library
 Equipment and tools
 School supplies
 School compound

The Head of schools’ Handbook (1994) describes in detail how the school
head can effectively manage these resources.

School buildings
A good school building should have well-furnished and spacious
classrooms, office, store, library, workshop, toilet, urinal and other rooms
depending on the school’s particular needs.

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Once these structures have been provided, what is absolutely essential is

regular maintenance. Many schools have become dilapidated and
uninhabitable through years of neglect. Sometimes, all that was required
originally was a single nail to secure a roofing sheet in place. This may have
been neglected until the entire sheet was blown off, followed by another and
another.

To maintain school buildings, it is suggested that head should do the

following among others:
 Inspect the entire school building – walls, roofs, floors, etc periodically
 Educate students to avoid writing or making marks on the walls.
 Repair minor damage to the buildings immediately; use school funds to
buy items like roofing sheets, cement and nails.
 Plaster all mud walls to prevent snakes, lizards, rats and insects from
hiding in the cracks.
 When disaster strikes, close down the school immediately; then inform
the relevant bodies such as the School Management Committee, District
Director of Education, and PTA,
 Use all possible means to provide adequate separate toilets and urinals
for staff, boys and girls.

Furniture
The types of furniture you should procure for the school include chairs,
tables, benches, stools, desks, cupboards, chalkboards and shelves.

To make furniture last a long time the head should:

 inspect school furniture periodically.
 repair all minor faults immediately.
 let students in JSS repair minor problems such as loose nails, wobbly
legs, and weak joints as part of their technical skills lessons.
 prevent students from abusing furniture eg by writing or scratching
names on them, standing on them or dragging instead of lifting them up.
 paint chalkboards regularly, at least once a week.

Stationery
Stationery is among the highly indispensable items in the teaching and
learning process. How can students do their class exercises without pens and
books?

Stationery includes textbooks, supplementary books, exercise books, pens,

pencils, erasers, rulers, chalk, ink and cardboards.

As a head of a school, consult with your teachers to determine the

appropriate sources of these materials. Sources to consider include the

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Ghana Education Service, School Management Committee, the PTA,

benevolent organizations, individuals and parents.

To obtain various items of stationery, the head should:

 compile a list of needed items and quantities.
 write a formal application and submit it together with the list to the
District Director of Education.
 check from time to time on the time of their arrival.
 issue all needed stationery to the students at the beginning of the year,
and keep a record of all items given out.
 find out those available on the open market and appeal to parents who
can afford to buy them for their wards.

School library
A library is simply a collection of books. Every teacher can keep a
classroom library using a cupboard, table, bookshelf, carton or chopbox.

To start a school library the head of school and teachers should:

 introduce the students first to library reading.
 appeal to parents to donate books to the school.
 find out old books in the school store and place them in the library
collection.
 contribute books to the library.
 appeal to NGOs for books.
 set aside some of the school funds every year to buy books.

Equipment and tools

Equipment and tools are those items which students use for practical
subjects like agriculture and physical education. They include footballs,
whistles, skipping ropes, bean bags, different types of balls, poles, seesaw,
hoops and swings, cutlasses, hoes, rakes, spades, wheelbarrows, pick axes,
watering cans and trowels.

To provide equipment and tools for their schools the head and teachers
should:
 make every effort to obtain all the items needed for the school from the
GES
 appeal to the chief and elders through the SMC or PTA for a playing
field.
 buy those items not supplied by the GES from school funds; or
sometimes ask students to bring them from home.
 after each use, wash and clean the blades of the agricultural tools and
then oil them.

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School supplies
School supplies refer to textbooks and equipment which the school receives
from the government and other agencies. As a head of school, you should:
 record all items in the school inventory book.
 report immediately to the District Office to collect your supply as soon
as you receive advice.
 examine the store issue voucher if you ask a teacher to collect the
supplies.
 collect geninue receipts to cover any materials you purchase.
 ask each class teacher to keep a class inventory book to record all items
they collect for their class.
 keep all items received in the school store. (In schools which have no
store, the head should arrange to keep school supplies in a safe place).

School compound
Every primary school requires a compound that is well-organized and well-
kept. To keep a well-organised compound the head, together with teachers
and learners should:
 demarcate the school boundary by constructing a boundary wall, fence
or hedge.
 inspect the boundary frequently and repair damaged portions
immediately.
 plant trees and flowers on the compound.
 keep the compound tidy and attractive by weeding, digging and pruning
flowers.

You have completed Section 5. Well done. In this section, as in Section 4,

we examined other administrative functions of the school head, and ended
up with the management function of managing resources.

You have noted that among his/her various functions, the head is in charge
of:
 Coordination – harmonious integration of activities and processes in the
school towards attainment of its goals;
 Reporting – keeping the executive and subordinates of a school
informed of progress there.
 Budgeting – preparing projected levels of revenue and expenditures as
targets or goals that will, if achieved, result in the desired level of
performance.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION IN GHANA
UNIT
AND 1 SECTION
SUPERVISION 6
Unit 1, section 6: Trends in educational administrations in Ghana

Welcome to the last section of Unit 1.

In this unit of the course, I have dwelt on foundations of school

administration in Ghana. Within this broad topic, I have so far focused on
the definition and structure of primary school and the various functions of
the school administrator – the head of school. In this last section of the unit,
I would like to examine some trends in school administration, ie the early
administrative processes up to the decentralised administrative structure we
are practising today. In other words, I am trying to trace the origins of
today’s administrative structures and to help you understand some of the
problems encountered in the early stages. I believe that understanding the
history will enable you to appreciate some of the problems we solve today
and how we can solve them.

By the end of the section you will be able to:

 summarise the main features of the Accelerated Development Plan and
the Education Act of 1961
 state the major recommendations of the Kwapong Committee of 1967
and the Dzobo Committee of 1972
 describe the impact that the two committees have made on education in
the country

Education Ordinances and committees of pre-independence era

The colonial government in the nineteenth century administered education
through the passing of various education ordinances and through policies
proposed by various education committees set up by the government to
advise it on how to provide education in the country. These include
Education Ordinances of 1852, 1882, 1887, the policies of Governor
Guggisberg in the early 1920s, as well as the various Education Review
Committees of 1925, 1930,1937 and 1942.

We will not, however, examine the administrative details of these early

ordinances and committees. We will examine the modern administrative
system when governance of the country was transferred from the colonial
power to Ghanaians in 1951.

You should note that the administrative system of education as you know it
today began in 1951 when administrative authority in the country was
transferred into African (Ghanaian) hands with Dr Kwame Nkrumah as the
Leader of Government Business. The first major step taken by the
Convention People’s Party (CPP) government was the Accelerated
Development Plan (ADP) of 1951.

Let’s examine the main points of the ADP.

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The accelerated development plan of 1951

When Dr Kwame Nkrumah was appointed Leader of Government Business
in 1951 as a result of the CPP having won the elections held in February
1951, Mr Kojo Botsio was appointed the first Minister of Education. It soon
became evident that education was a top priority of Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s
government. As Governor Guggisberg had emphasized earlier, the Minister
stated: Education is the keystone of a people’s life and happiness
(McWilliam & Kwamena-Poh, 1975:83). To put this philosophy into action,
the CPP introduced the Accelerated Development Plan (ADP) for education.
The aim of ADP was to provide a six-year primary education for all
children.

The highlights of the ADP were:

 Rapid increase in enrolment at the primary school. .
 The introduction of extensive schemes of emergency teacher training.
 Appointment of a large number of student teachers.
 Great increase in facilities for middle, secondary and technical
education.
 Abolition of tuition fees in the primary schools
 Provision of a large number of new classrooms.
 Payment of 40 percent of denominational primary school teachers’
salaries by 1954.
 Incorporation of private primary schools into the public system.

It can therefore be argued that although education and its management had
received good attention under the colonial administrators, it received the
greatest expansion when governance of the country came into the hands of
Africans in 1951. The government paid close attention to education and
promptly tackled problems that confronted it. In line with its policy of
expansion, the government took another major step culminating in the
Education Act of 1961.

Activity 6.1
After assessing the great expansion education received in 1951, Ghana’s
educational system should have had smooth development. Consider the
present state of education and identify what is wrong with the system today.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let us now consider the Education Act of 1961.

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The Education Act of 1961

In furtherance of education in the country, the Parliament of Ghana passed
the Education Act in 1961. The aim of the Act was to legalize all changes
made earlier and introduce new ones. The Act embodied many provisions to
solidify the educational gains and make further developments. The Act
basically empowered the Minister of Education to make educational
provisions which once made and approved, had the force of law. Among its
many provisions were the following:
 Education was to be compulsory for every child at certain age to be
determined by the Minister of Education, and that every parent who
failed to comply was to be fined.
 The government was to make an annual provision of funds to be
administered by the Minister of Education towards public education.
 Local education authorities were to build, equip, and maintain primary
and middle schools in their areas of jurisdiction.
 No student was to be refused admission to any school on religious
grounds.
 Salaries and terms of conditions and discipline of teachers were to be
prescribed by regulations.
 The Act defined more regularly the educational roles of local authorities
throughout the country.

Activity 6.2
By law, Primary Education was to be compulsory for every child as far back
as 1961. Can education be said to be compulsory today? Give reasons for
your answer.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let’s now consider some further developments after 1961.

Education Review Committee of 1967

I would like you to understand that in spite of the previous strenuous efforts
to improve education delivery in Ghana, there was some dissatisfaction with
educational provisions by the time the CPP government was ousted from
power in a coup in February 1966. Therefore, the National Liberation
Council government which took over from the CPP government appointed a
committee under the chairmanship of Prof. Alex Kwapong in March 1966.
The 32-member committee was to:
 conduct a comprehensive review of the educational system in Ghana, ie
elementary, secondary, teacher training and higher education,
 examine the problems arising from the work of national research, and

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 make recommendations and suggest reforms for improvement and for

eliminating inefficiency and waste.

What did the Committee achieve for Ghana?

The Kwapong Committee reviewed virtually every aspect of the educational

system at all levels. The Committee observed that efficient administration
was an essential adjunct to the work of the professional educator and
therefore deserved close attention. It pointed out that in the recent past, the
Ministry of Education had carried out its administration to the best of its
ability under very difficult circumstances including unrestrained political
interference and a shortage of qualified personnel. The Committee pointed
out, however, that these circumstances did not entirely explain some
circumstances of delays, over-centralization and poor public relations which
had occurred from time to time.

Accordingly, the Committee recommended that there should be a drive for

efficiency at all levels of administration. In that regard, the Ministry of
Education was to have a built-in system of efficiency checks. The
Committee observed that the Ministry’s self-appraisal system appeared to be
out of date and required an overhaul. There was a need for an efficient
system to ensure constant feed-back for evaluation of both the existing
practices and innovations. There was also a need for intensive and
continuing programme of in-service training for all grades of staff which
was to form an essential part of the drive for efficiency.

The Committee proposed a unified Education Service comprising three

divisions:
 Administration and Supervision;
 Teaching; and
 Management.

It further proposed four departments under the Division of Administration

and Supervision responsible for:
 General Administration;
 Schools and Colleges;
 Research, Development, Planning and Curriculum Development; and
 Technical, Business and Vocational Education.

The Committee also proposed a large number of graded posts with the
untrained temporary teacher at the bottom of the hierarchy and the Principal
or Headmaster at the top, so that depending on ability and ambition, a
teacher could work his way upwards and attain a position equivalent to that
of a Principal Secretary in the Civil Service.

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Among its many recommendations, the Committee stated:

 There should be formed a National Council for Pre-University
Education and a National Council for Higher Education.
 There should also be a Joint Consultative Council for Education to
ensure that the work of the two separate councils is coordinated and fits
into a pattern which reflects overall national needs.
 Each council should be concerned with determining policy and co-
ordinating activities of its own level of education and ensure balanced
development that takes into account manpower and other requirements
of the country.

The National Liberation Council government which appointed the

Committee accepted its proposals for subsequent development in education.

Activity 6.3
Form a study group of not more than five students. Discuss the current
structure of primary school administration and supervision, and in the
process,
1. Identify and state what you consider to be negative practices.
2. Make proposals to correct each of the negative practices you have
identified.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

In spite of the thorough review made by the Kwapong Education Review

Committee and its sweeping recommendations, Ghanaians soon experienced
some dissatisfaction with the entire system. Do you think that even now (in
2003) Ghanaians are satisfied with the country’s educational system? Your
answer should be consistent with the fact that the Government has appointed
yet another Education Review Committee under the chairmanship of
Professor J. Anamuah-Mensah, Vice Chancellor of the University of
Education, Winneba.

What I would like us to note, however, is the fact that less that ten years
after the Kwapong Education Review Committee had made extensive
proposals to restructure the educational system, the Government appointed
another committee under the chairmanship of Prof. N K Dzobo, then of the
University of Cape Coast.

Let’s consider some highlights of the proposals of that committee.

The Dzobo Committee of 1972

As noted already, the Education Review Committee of 1967 made proposals
which largely directed the administration and management of education.

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There appeared to be a general dissatisfaction with the educational system,

particularly with its structure and content. For example, there had been
discontentment with the rather long duration of 17 years of pre-university
education. The Dzobo Committee was therefore appointed to review the
structure and content of education. The Committee published its report in
1974.

What were the highlights of the Dzobo Committee report?

On the structure of secondary education, the committee proposed a two-year

senior secondary lower, followed by a two-year senior secondary upper.
These two levels were, however, combined into a three-year senior
secondary education. The Committee proposed a significant reduction in the
duration of pre-university education from 17 to 12 years.

You should note that the Committee’s recommendations on the structure

and content of education were not immediately implemented nationwide.
Rather, they were implemented on pilot basis, involving a few selected
schools.

Although this Committee was not primarily concerned with administration

and management of education in Ghana, its sweeping recommendations had
implications for the administration of education.

The Report of the Dzobo Committee was implemented nationwide in 1987.

A significant change in the administration and management of education in
Ghana was the implementation of the policy of decentralization.
(Decentralization has been discussed in detail in Sections 3 and 4 of Unit 4)
.

You may have noticed that the system of highly centralised education which
began under British colonial rule with Education Ordinances, has evolved
over approximately two centuries into a decentralised system. In this era
when large quantities of human and material resources are required, the
policy of decentralization has become a viable option and has come to be
generally accepted.

Activity 6.4
Make a critical review of the proposals made by the Education Review
Committees of 1967 and 1972. What changes would you propose and why?
………………………………………………………………………………
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In this section which ends Unit 1 of the course, I have traced trends in the
administration and management of primary education from the Accelerated
Development Plan of 1951 through various education review committees to
the policy of decentralization.

The Accelerated Development Plan of 1951 was introduced by the CPP

government to provide a six-year primary education for all children. It
established various structures to provide primary education at a more rapid
pace.

The next major step which the CPP government took was the enactment of
the Education Act of 1961. The Act aimed at legalizing all changes made
earlier in education and introduce new ones. It empowered the Minister of
Education to make many educational provisions.

Thereafter, various governments set up committees to review the

educational system and make proposals for improvement. These included
the Kwapong Committee of 1967 and Dzobo Committee of 1972.

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C
2
ON S
TENT

LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

SECTION 1 POWER AND LEADERSHIP 72

SECTION 2 LEADERSHIP STYLES 80

SECTION 3 LEADERSHIP: ROLES AND PERCEPTIONS 86

SECTION 4 MOTIVATION 94

SECTION 5 DATA FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION 106

SECTION 6 FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION: BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL 114

CONTROL

the adinkra symbol used in the UEW crest

Mate masie I have heard what you have said

UEW/IEDE 69
XXXXXXX 2 LEADERSHIP
UNIT Unit X, section IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
X: XXXXXXX

Congratulations on your working diligently through Unit 1. I now welcome

you to Unit 2. The focus of this Unit is leadership in school administration.
As you are aware, a leader is required wherever two or more people with a
common objective converge to undertake activities towards achieving that
common objective. Without a leader, confusion may ensue and the goal will
evade all who are engaged in the activities.

For this reason, an organization such as the school obviously requires a

leader. That role is vested in the head of school. In this unit therefore I will
dwell on various aspects of leadership including types of power, leadership
approaches, styles, roles and perceptions. I will also examine the leader’s
role in motivating workers and in financial administration.

By the end of the unit you will be able to

 describe how a head of school can effectively use his/her power to build
good relationships in the school
 state the types of leadership styles available to a head of school and the
circumstances under which each can be used effectively
 describe leadership roles and perceptions and how they can influence the
performance of a head of school
 explain the need to motivate workers
 prepare a budget for a school
 collect data from school records and use it for planning

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION POWER AND LEADERSHIP
UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 1
Unit 2, section 1: Power and leadership

Hello, welcome to Section 1 of Unit 2. In this section, I shall examine the

types of power that can be exercised and the characteristics of an effective
leader.

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

 list and explain the types of power a leader can exercise
 describe the factors that make an effective leader
 explain the kind of relationship a head should build with teachers and
students in his/her school

Leadership and influence

First, let’s be clear about the concept, leadership. Leadership is simply the
ability to influence individuals to work toward attaining the objectives of an
organization such as a school. In the school leadership is vested in the head
of school. He/She is an organizational leader who both leads and manages
the school.

A leader is a guide, conductor or commander of an organization. Thus an

organizational leader’s objective is to influence others to do the work of the
organization. The objective of the school head of school, as a leader, is to
influence his/her teachers to do the work of the school.

Influence is any behaviour on the part of one individual which alters the
behaviour, attitudes, feelings, and so on, of another. Melcon, Albert and
Khedouri (1988) explain that the specific means by which one person can
influence another might range from a request whispered sofly in the ear to a
knife held against the throat. The equivalent of the knife in an organizational
setting would be a threat of dismissal.

A person such as a head of school, who leads, requires power to influence

others. If a leader does not possess sufficient power to influence those on
whom his performance depends, he or she cannot obtain the resources
needed to formulate and attain organizational objectives through others. The
head of school’s success as a leader depends on the performance of the
teachers in his school. This head of school must, however, influence the
teachers to perform and he requires power to influence them.

Let us now examine the types of power which a leader can exercise.

Types of power
Power is the control or authority a person has over people or activities. Thus
the head of school’s power means that he/she has control or authority over
his/her teachers and students. There are several types of power and,
depending on his/her training, he/she can adopt and exercise any of them in
managing the school.

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Let’s now consider some types of power.

Coercive power
Arises from the subordinate’s belief that the leader or influencer has the
ability to punish him/her in a way that will prevent the satisfaction of a need
or otherwise will be unpleasant. Coercive power influences through fear. It
is what makes people criticize power. For example, many people fear losing
their job, security, love or esteem. Therefore, fear is a common reason why
people allow themselves to be influenced.

In a typical school, do you think teachers allow themselves to be influenced

by fear of the head of school? Why or why not?

Reward power
Arises from the subordinate’s belief that the leader has the ability to satisfy
a need or give pleasure. Reward power influences by positively reinforcing
behaviour desired by the leader. The subordinate accepts power because he
or she expects some form of extrinsic or intrinsic reward in exchange for
doing the wishes of the leader. The reward must be perceived as sufficiently
valuable to influence behaviour. It must, however, be borne in mind that
there are many limitations on a leader’s ability to offer incentives. Every
organization has limited resources. The leader’s authority to offer incentives
is also limited by policies and procedures.

In the school, do teachers perform some duties because they expect some
reward or incentive from the head of school? And when teachers do that job
well to the head of school’s satisfaction, is the head of school able to reward
them so that they can do better?

Expert power
Arises from the subrodinate’s belief that the leader has special knowledge
that will satisfy a need. Expert power means that the subordinate has
rational faith in the leader. The subordinate believes that the leader has some
special skill which will be needed to complete a project or solve a problem.
The subordinate’s belief depends on the type of knowledge possessed by the
leader. Leaders establish this type of power through the visible
achievements they make.

Referent power
Arises from the subordinate’s belief that the leader has characteristics or
attributes which attract the subordinate to identify with the leader. Referent
power derives from charismatic influence which causes the subordinate to
identify with the leader. The subordinate perceives himself/herself as having
much in common with the leader.

Teachers may want to identify with a head of school whom they consider to
be charismatic. Is this true or false? Explain your view.

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Some characteristics of charismatic people are:

 Energy exchange: they seem to energize people in their presence;
 Compelling physical appearance: they are interesting looking and
have a strong presence;
 Independence: they do not rely on others for their sense of well-being
and esteem;
 High level of verbal ability: they are articulate and skilled in
interpersonal communication;
 Acceptance of administration: they are comfortable when others
admire them without seeming to be arrogant.
 Poised and confident: they look confident and are able to control
situations.

Legitimate (Traditional) power

Arises from the subordinate’s belief that the leader has a right to give orders
and that it is his/her duty to obey. Legitimate power is perhaps the most
common way to influence. If a leader has the ability to reward or punish
subordinates, it strengthens the leader’s power to give orders.

Does the head of school of a school possess the power to reward or punish
teachers? If a head of school punishes or rewards teachers, does that
strengthen his/her power?

Activity 1.1
For each type of power discussed above, identify a head of school or any
other leader who uses it, and then, in each case, describe the personal
characteristics which make you remember him/her as a user of that type of
power.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Factors of effective leadership

In determining factors that determine an effective leader, two main
questions arise: How should a manager behave as a leader? What patterns of
behaviour are most effective in leading others to the objectives of an
organization like a school? Behavioural scientists use three basic approaches
to determine the factors that make effective leaders. The three approaches
are: the trait approach the behavioural approach and the situational
approach.

Trait approach
The trait approach to determining the factors which make effective leaders
argues that good leaders have certain characteristics in common; that is, they
have certain traits which make them good leaders. Some of these traits are

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level of intelligence, physical appearance, integrity, judgement, socio-

economic background and level of self-confidence. This means that if you
want a person who will perform as a good head of school of a school, you
should look for the man or woman with very high intelligence, attractive
physical appearance, high integrity, high sense of judgement and a high
level of self-confidence. Do you support this view? Now, if you know a
head of school who was highly effective, did the person have these traits?

The fact is that researchers have accumulated evidence on the traits that
make good leaders. Unfortunately, they have not reached any consensus on
the set of traits that makes a good leader. For example, some research
findings concluded that the factors which made effective leaders were
intelligence, scholarship, dependability, responsibility, activity, social
participation and high socio-economic status. Other research findings
concluded that the success of a leader did not depend on personal traits but
rather on the situation. This means a person who becomes an excellent head
of school in a large city school may not be excellent if transferred to head a
village school. Different traits and skills are therefore required in different
situations.

The question therefore remains: What makes an excellent leader? What

characteristics do highly effective school head of schools possess? Some
scholars, at this point then turn to the leader’s behaviour. Their argument is
that a leader’s success depends on how he/she behaves towards
subordinates. This leads to the notion of behavioural approach.

Behavioural approach
When dissatisfaction arose with the trait theory, the behavioural school of
thought came into focus. This second approach focuses on the behaviour of
the leader.

According to the behavioural approach to leadership, it is not traits that

determine a leader’s effectiveness but rather the way in which he/she
actually behaves towards his/her followers. This means, for example, that a
head of school’s effectiveness depends on the way he/she behaves towards
his/her teachers. This approach actually refers to the person’s leadership
style or patterns of behaviour, ie, whether he/she is autocratic, democratic or
laissez-faire.

A problem, however, arose with this approach also. Its basic shortcoming is
that it seems to claim that there is one best style of leadership for every
situation. To illustrate the point, writers of the behavioural school of thought
perceived leaders who behaved democratically as the best leaders; ie.
democratic leaders were most effective in modern organizations. Yet the
fact on the ground is that democratic leadership has its own shortcomings. It
may therefore not be effective at all times. A democratic head of school may
not be effective at all times.

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Thus there is no one best style for a leader. The behavioural school
generally agrees that a situational approach to leadership is necessary.

Situational or contingency approach

When the traits theory and the behavioural school of thought could not settle
the leadership factors, the situational theory arose. The theory argues that
leader’s effectiveness depends on the situation, ie it is contingent on the
situation in which the leader finds himself/herself. A leader’s success
therefore depends on factors like the characteristics or needs of his/her
subordinates, nature of the task to be performed, pressures and demands in
the environment, and the amount of information available to him. Modern
research findings support the notion that different organizational structures
are more appropriate in certain situations; different ways of leading people
are appropriate depending on the characteristics of the overall situation.
Thus the head of school of a school should not expect to behave in the same
ways in a different school with a different set of teachers and still be
successful. His or her ways of behaving should suit the characteristics of the
new school.

Activity 1.2
Invite a colleague of yours and record below the traits which each of you
possesses. Compare and contrast the two lists. Which of you is more likely
to be an effective school head of school?

Yourself Your colleague

………………………….. …………………………….
………………………….. …………………………….
………………………….. …………………………….
………………………….. …………………………….
………………………….. …………………………….

Let’s end this section by examining the issue of interpersonal relationships

between the school head of school (as a leader) and his/her teachers.

Positive personal qualities and interpersonal relationships

From the discussions we have had so far in this section, you should
remember at all times that a head of school’s effectiveness as a leader is also
dependent on positive interpersonal relationships. This is particularly true
with his or her teachers and students. The Head of school’s Handbook
(1994:30) refers to it as a triangular relationship:

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Head of school

Pupils Teachers

We have described some types of power a leader can exercise in his/her

organization. We have also discussed three approaches for determining an
effective leader. At this point, I would like you to note that one of the
fundamental issues in leadership is how to cultivate and maintain good
relations. You should, in fact, extend such relationship to people outside the
confines of your school – officials from the District Directorate of
Education, particularly the Circuit Supervisor. Also build and maintain good
relationships with members of Old Students’ Association, and indeed all
persons who have to deal with the school in anyway including the entire
school community.

Positive personal qualities

Fig 1.1 summarises some of the personal qualities you should cultivate and
maintain so that you can lead a school effectively:

skilled
communicator
well informed effective manager

disciplined effective leader

punctual friendly
Personal
firm Qualities tolerant

tidy fair

neat organised

sympathetic progressive

Fig.1.1 Positive personal qualities of a head of school

(Adapted from the Head of school’s Handbook, 1994, p.31)

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What other personal qualities should an effective head of school have?

Add them to the ones in figure 1.1.

Which of these personal qualities can you honestly claim that you possess?
It is essential that you cultivate and maintain those qualities you don’t
possess.

Positive interpersonal relationships

Finally, let us consider some positive relationships which you should
maintain with teachers and students if you find yourself in the position of
the head of school of a school.

To maintain good relations with teachers, a head of school should

 set a good example at all times;
 be disciplined;
 show initiative and foresight;
 be patient;
 show interest and sympathy for teachers’ welfare;
 be an effective supervisor and manager;
 be tactful and approachable.

It is also important for head of schools to create a healthy relationship

between teachers and students, by encouraging their teachers to:
 show understanding and kindness to their students;
 take an interest in individual students and their work;
 refrain from asking students to run personal errands during school hours;
 visit the students’ homes occasionally;
 desist from carrying their emotional outbursts, anger and frustrations
into their classrooms.

Activity 1.3
Make a list of negative traits of some head of schools you know and indicate
the effects of these traits on their teachers and students
Effect of trait on
Negative trait Teachers Students

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Leadership is the ability to influence individuals to work toward attaining

objectives of an organization such as a school.

A leader uses power to lead. Power is the control or authority a person has
over people or activities. Power may be classified as coercive, reward,
expert, referent or legitimate. Some leaders are highly successful in
exercising any kind of power.

There are three approaches to explaining the reasons for success in

leadership. The trait approach explains that effective leaders are those who
have traits like intelligence, attractive appearance, integrity, judgement and
self-confidence. The traits approach, however, does not satisfactorily
explain why leaders succeed.

Another approach to explaining leadership success is the behavioural

approach. That is, a leader’s effectiveness depends on the way he/she
behaves towards his/her followers. This approach also does not fully explain
leadership success.

A third approach is the situational or contingent approach. This approach

holds the view that a leader’s success depends on the situation in which
he/she finds himself/herself.

Above all, a leader’s effectiveness depends on building and maintaining

good personal relationship with subordinates which in turn depends on
possession of positive personal qualities.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION LEADERSHIP STYLES
UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 2
Unit 2, section 2: Leadership styles

Welcome to Section 2 of Unit 2. I’d like to remind you that Unit 2 discusses
with leadership in the school. In Section 1, I discussed the meaning of
leadership, types of power, factors that account for effectiveness of a leader
and the building and maintenance of good relationships between leaders and
their subordinates.

In this section, I am going to focus on leadership styles.

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

 explain the characteristics of autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire
leadership styles
 select and justify your preferred leadership style
 specify the conditions under which the two others may be appropriate

Meaning of leadership style

Let us begin by explaining what leadership style means. Leadership style
refers to the general way in which a leader behaves towards subordinates in
order to attain organizational objectives. In a school, therefore, the general
way in which the head of school behaves towards teachers is described as
his or her leadership style.

As a teacher in the school, what sort of head of school would you prefer?
One who tells you what to do, one who asks for your opinions and advice,
or one who presents you with a task and permits you to do it in any way you
like without supervision? These are the approaches some head of schools
adopt in managing their school. Note, however, that there isn’t one approach
to leadership that fits every situation.

Three main leadership styles have been recognized. These are autocratic,
democratic and laissez-faire. We will examine each of them in detail.

Autocratic style
An autocratic head of school is an authoritarian leader. He or she asserts
authority over his/her teachers. Autocratic leadership is characterized by a
high degree of unilateral power. The autocratic leader grabs more than
enough power base to impose his or her will on subordinates and does not
hesitate to do so. Kesson (1991) refers to autocratic leaders as tellers.

The autocratic leader often adopts coercive power to influence subordinates.

If he/she uses reward power to influence, he/she is called a benevolent
autocrat. The benevolent autocrat may express active concern for the
welfare and feelings of subordinates, yet he/she is still an authoritarian
leader.

According to Douglas McGregor, a renowned scholar on leadership theory,

the benevolent autocrat makes assumptions, which McGregor described as

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Theory X, about people at work. According to the Theory X assumptions,

the autocratic leader characteristically:
 tends to centralize authority; no power is shared with the group;
 structures the subordinates’ work to the greatest possible extent;
 allows subordinates little latitude in making decisions;
 determines all policies for the group;
 closely supervises all work under his/her jurisdiction;
 exerts psychological pressure, often by threat of punishment, to ensure
performance;
 enforces a large body of rules strictly, and tightly controls employee
behaviour;
 expects workers to merely do what they are told, ie. follow orders
without question

Autocratic leadership can result in greater quantity of work than democratic

leadership. This achievement may, however, be offset by less motivation for
workers, originality, friendliness in the group, group-mindedness, greater
amount of aggressiveness expressed towards the leader and other group
members, more suppressed discontent and more dependent submissive
behaviour.

The tendency is for people to regard autocratic leadership style negatively.

The point, however, is that under certain situations, autocratic style may be
very appropriate. Let us therefore examine the advantages and
disadvantages of the autocratic style.

Advantages of the autocratic style

 Autocratic leaders have broad and diversified backgrounds. Such leaders
succeed with their style.
 Some employees who are somewhat submissive and prefer not to
participate in planning and decision-making tend to respond positively
to boss-centred leadership.
 Employees whose job responsibilities are not clearly defined or who
lack sufficient knowledge and training to perform their jobs without
assistance, often welcome more directive leadership.
 Leaders who are referred to as benevolent autocrats retain absolute
decision-making power, but they try to provide rewards to employees
who follow their directives. Some employees therefore respond
favourably to benevolent autocratic leadership.
 Some situations leave the leader with no option than the application of
autocratic leadership; for example, in an emergency or crisis when there
is rarely sufficient time to assemble the group for discussion, the leader
must take action to save the situation.

So you can see from the above points that the autocratic style is not negative
in all situations. Let us now look at its disadvantages.

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Disadvantages of the autocratic style

 The autocratic leader, being X-theory-oriented, feels that the individual
employee lacks capability for constructive input.
 The leader creates problems for both morale and productivity in the long
run.
 The manager fails to develop the workers’ commitment to the objectives
of the organization.
 Employees on the receiving end of autocratic leadership frequently lack
information about their function and therefore tend to lose their own
initiative in their work.
 Individual growth and development are far more difficult to attain
within an autocratic framework.

Activity 2.1
State in point form the activities of a Head of school you know who
practises autocratic leadership.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let’s now proceed to look at the democratic style.

Democratic style
The democratic style means power-sharing and participative decision-
making. In the school, the democratic head of school would share power
with the teachers as well as invite them to participate in decision-making.

Under a democratic style, responsibility is spread rather than centralized.

Organizations which adopt the democratic style are characterized by highly
decentralized authority. The democratic leader appeals to workers’ need for
belongingness, challenge, autonomy and self-actualization.

According to Douglas McGregor, the democratic leader makes assumptions

based on Theory Y. According to Theory Y assumptions, the democratic
leader characteristically:
 avoids imposing his/her will on subordinates;
 shares decision-making actively with subordinates who enjoy a large
freedom in performing their tasks;
 allows subordinates to define their own objectives that are consistent
with the manager’s after he/she has explained the organization’s
objectives to them;
 usually waits until the task has been completed before making an
evaluation;
 spends a lot of time acting as liaison between the subordinates’
objectives and those of the organization;

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 ensures that workers receive adequate resources;

 tries to make subordinates’ duties challenging because of his/her belief
in social interaction, achievement, and self-actualization;
 makes subordinates understand they are to solve most problems without
seeking approval or assistance;
 creates a climate of openness and truth so that if subordinates need help,
they will not be afraid to approach him or her.
 practises a two-way communication and plays a developmental and
guidance role;
 tries to give subordinates insight into problems of the organization.

From the foregoing points, you can realise that the democratic style
promises many benefits for leaders and organizations that adopt them.

Advantages of the democratic style

The participative approach tends to be very effective in numerous situations;
 Workers feel that their ideas are important and tend to feel more
committed to changes in which they have participated to initiate;
 Workers develop greater feelings of self-esteem;
 The combined knowledge of the group often exceeds that of the leader;
 Problems worked on collectively often give rise to new ideas created as
a result of interpersonal exchange.

Let us consider the disadvantages of the democratic style. The many

positive points of the democratic style seems to give the impression that it
does not have any disadvantages; it does have its disadvantages too.

Disadvantages of the democratic style

 The participative approach can unknowingly make false assumptions
that can result in complications for the organization;
 Some workers in the organization may not be receptive to the
participative approach;
 Some workers might consider the managers as not properly qualified if
they have to consult with low level workers;
 Some employees might consider the participative approach as an attempt
to manipulate them;
 The style assumes that workers have the necessary knowledge and skill
to participate in the decision-making process. If knowledge and skill are
lacking, managers may either be bound by bad decisions or ignore the
decisions of the workers. This can then detract from the merit of the
participative approach;
 Group members whose ideas have been rejected may feel alienated;
 The approach may encourage workers to participate in all future
decisions regardless of complexity; this is an expectation that
management may not be able to fulfil;

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 Participation may take considerable time, which can be a source of

frustration to an impatient manager;
 Some managers may feel uncomfortable using a participative style,
especially those who haven’t developed an open climate of trust and
confidence in their work groups;
 Some managers hesitate to use the participative style for fear that they
will lose control over their workers.

You can realize that while the democratic style of leadership appears to be
highly positive in the minds of many people, it has many disadvantages.

Activity 2.2
State in point form the activities of a Head of school you know who
practises democratic leadership.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Finally, let us consider the laissez-faire leadership style. Try to pay

particular attention to the spelling of laissez-faire so that you can always
spell it correctly.

Laissez-faire style
Laissez-faire is a French expression which means leave it alone. A laissez-
faire leader does just that. The leader gives the subordinates virtually total
freedom to select their objectives and monitor their own work. With this
free-rein approach, the leader presents a task to members who ordinarily
work out their own techniques for accomplishing those goals within the
framework of organizational objectives and policies. Kossen (1991)
observes that the leader principally acts as a liaison between outside sources
and the group and ascertains what necessary resources are available to them.

Advantage of the laissez-faire stlye

The laissez-faire style is appropriate in situations where subordinates are all
experts in the field and the manager does not have to be involved in every
decision made by them. This situation does not exist in the school. It may
exist in a university where Deans of Faculties and Heads of Departments are
all experts in their fields.

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Disadvantages of the laissez-faire style

 The free-rein approach degenerates into chaos in some cases, eg. in
situations where subordinates may not all be responsible or may not
have the skill to perform the job.
 It can result in less work, work of poorer quality and more play.

We have examined three styles of leadership and my question to you now is:
Which is the best style of leadership?

Note that there is no one best style of leadership necessarily. The best style
of leadership depends on three important factors:
 the situation,
 the type of workers, and
 the type of leader.

Activity 2.3
State in point form the activities of a Head of school you know who
practises laissez-faire leadership.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Leadership style refers to the general way in which a leader behaves towards
subordinates in order to attain organizational objectives.

Three main leadership styles have been recognized. These are autocratic
leadership style which is characterized by a high degree of unilateral power;
democratic style in which the leader shares power with subordinates and
allows them to participate in decision-making; and laissez-faire style, a free-
rein style in which the leader gives subordinates total freedom to select their
objectives and monitor their own work.

There is no one best style of leadership. Each style has its advantages and
disadvantages and the leader’s success depends on the particular situation.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION LEADERSHIP: ROLES AND PERCEPTIONS
UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 3
Unit 2, section 3: Leadership: roles and perceptions

Hello, I welcome you to Section 3. I discussed leadership styles in Section

2. In this section I will focus on another important aspect of leadership –
leadership roles and perceptions.

By the end of your study through this section you will be able to:
 define the concepts, role and perception,
 explain the types of roles played by individuals who participate in
school management
 describe the behaviour put up by some leaders
 provide tips which will help head of schools to become effective school
leaders

Role versus perception

Let us begin by looking at the meanings of the words role and perception.

Role is the expected character or function of a position. Mescon, et al.

(1988) define role as a set of behaviours belonging to an office or position.
Johns (1988) also explains role as a position that has a set of expected
behaviours. Performing roles is like characters in a play who have specific
parts which require that they behave in certain ways. The head of school of
a school occupies an office or position which requires that he/she should
behave in certain ways.

If you heard somebody making this remark about a head of school: I don’t
expect a head of school to behave that way, what idea would that give you
about the head of school? This remark certainly implies that the head of
school has not performed his/her role as expected.

Leaders play roles that are predetermined although individuals such as

teachers or parents may interpret them in different ways. An unguarded
statement by a head of school may be interpreted in different ways by
teachers and parents. Interpretation refers to the individual’s perception of
the role being performed.

Perception is how an individual understands or conceives something.

Your perception of the President’s address to teachers may be different from
mine. These perceptions are the result of our expectations. In a matrimonial
home the father or husband is perceived as the bread-winner while the
mother or wife is perceived as the home-maker.

I hope you can now differentiate between role and perception.

Role and leadership

You need to understand the different ways in which role affects leaders.
Below are some examples:

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Role description
This refers to the actual behaviour of an individual performing a role or
more precisely, an individual’s perception of that behaviour. For example,
teachers, students or parents observe the actions and pronouncements of the
head of school and interpret them in certain ways – either positively or
negatively. The extent to which they accept those actions of the head of
school will determine the extent to which they will cooperate with him/her
to work towards achieving the goals of the school.

Role expectation
This refers to the expectation that one person has of the role behaviour of
another. For example, school teachers expect certain behaviours from the
head of school while the head of school also has some expectations of the
behaviour of the teachers. Two teachers in a conflict may complain to the
head of school because they expect him/her to perform the role of a
mediator or arbitrator to resolve the conflict between them. Similarly, if two
schools engage in a fight during an athletic competition, the case may be
taken to the District Director with the role expectation that the Director will
settle the matter amicably.

Role perception
This describes the perception that one has of the role expectation that
another person holds for him or her. For example, when a circuit supervisor
is dealing with a teacher on classroom discipline, the circuit supervisor
performs his/her duty being aware that the teacher has some role expectation
of him/her. The circuit supervisor’s assessment of the expectation is termed
role perception.

Role conflict
This refers to a situation in which two persons are unable to establish
complementary or reciprocal relationship. For example, in the Ghana
Education Service, head of schools are expected to deal directly with
District Directors. If, for some reason, a head of school bypasses the District
Director to deal with the Regional Director, a situation of role conflict can
arise. The Regional Director and the head of school cannot establish a
relationship. The Regional Director’s role is to deal with matters brought to
him by District Directors.

Confusion can arise over role expectation and role perception. Role conflict
can also occur within a single individual. In this case the role expectation
can clash with the individual’s personality needs. For example, in the
school, the head of school expects teachers to help maintain discipline in
their classroom. However, the teacher may undermine discipline by being
too lenient with students who constantly misbehave in the classroom. How
can a teacher be a disciplinarian and at the same refuse to correct wrong
doing?

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Role ambiguity
This refers to a situation where the goals of one’s job or the methods of
performing the job are unclear or vague. Take for example, the role of a
School Management Committee (SMC). Can their role in the running of a
school be described as administrative, managerial or supervisory? How
exactly are they to perform their function as a Committee? Officially, the
SMC is asked not to interfere with the day-to-day running of the school.
Can they however, supervise? If a teacher does not come to school
regaularly or punctually or does not teach well, can the SMC sanction
him/her? If the head of school misuses school funds, how should the SMC
intervene, especially when the Committee is expected to help the school to
generate funds? The performance of the SMC can present an example of
role ambiguity.

The leadership role types described so far can create tension and
uncertainties in administration and management of the school. Such tension
and uncertainties can often cause inconsistencies in the behaviour of the
head of an organization. This is why some workers sometimes describe the
behaviour of their head as unpredictable. He/she behaves in a certain way
today and in a very different way tomorrow. Administrators and managers
who behave in this unanticipated way are unable to function effectively and
are unable to cope with many of the situations they face.

Role set
This refers to the various roles which different categories of people perform
in an organization. In the school situation, we have the district directors,
assistant directors circuit supervisors, head of schools and teachers who play
various roles all aimed at helping the school to achieve its goal. The district
director plays a pivotal (major) role as the chief educational administrator in
the district. He/She has circuit supervisors who report to him/her. The head
of school helps the circuit officer to perform his/her supervisory role in the
school. Finally, the teachers run the school with the head of school. These
various groups are superordinates, subordinates and colleagues who
compose a role set. The subgroup such as the circuit supervisors or the head
of schools are role senders, ie. they communicate role expectations to the
director.

Group and individual roles

Now let us look at roles in another way: roles as we see them operate in a
group of workers or in an individual.

Group task role

This refers to roles performed by people in a group. As a group, they come
together to identify problems and work to solve them. For example, in the
school, teachers may be confronted with the problem of indiscipline or poor
academic performance among some students. Dealing with this problem is a
task belonging to the teachers as a group. They therefore perform their roles

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as a group. For example, they come together to determine the causes of

student indiscipline or poor performance, the extent of such indiscipline or
performance and find ways of dealing with the problem. They may then find
that parents have a role to play to solve that problem. Parents may also come
together as a group to determine the appropriate task role to perform to help
their children to behave well or to improve their performance.

Group building and maintenance roles

When workers come together as a group, they do not only perform task
roles to identify and solve problems. They also perform roles that help to
maintain and build up the group. For example, teachers do not come
together only to solve teaching and learning problems. They also organise
themselves into a professional association such as the Ghana National
Association of Teachers to protect the interest of their members. Similarly,
head of schools come together to form Head of schools Association not only
to solve administrative and management problems but also seek their group
welfare, maintain and build up their association.

Individual roles
This refers to the roles that individual members in a group play to satisfy
their own needs. In every group each member has a unique role to play, eg.
head of schools or teachers may form an association, but even as they
perform their role as a group each head of school or teacher plays a unique
role in accordance with his/her idiosyncracies. It is the performance of each
member’s unique role within the group that differentiates one member from
another.

Activity 2.1
Indicate in the table below a major role, immediate boss and immediate
subordinate of each of the following officers.

Officer Role Boss Subordinate

Regional Director
District Director
Asst. Director
Circuit
Supervisor
Head of school
Teacher

Now let us have a brief discussion on some types of leader behaviours.

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Leader behaviour
Every leader, such as a school head of school, must select a style that is
most appropriate to the particular situation he/she is dealing with in order to
be effective. Hellriegel et al. have identified the following five distinct types
of leader behaviour.

Supportive leadership
This refers to a leader who considers the needs of employees, shows
concern for their welfare, and creates a friendly climate in the work group.

Directive leadership
This refers to a leader who directs his/her workers on what they are
expected to do. He /She gives them specific guidance, asks them to follow
rules and regulations, schedules and coordinates their work and sets
standards of performance for them.

Participative leadership
This refers to a leader who consults with others and then evaluates their
opinions and suggestions when making decisions.

Achievement-oriented leadership
This refers to a leader who sets challenging goals, seeks improvements in
performance, emphasizes excellence in performance, and shows confidence
that members will achieve high standards of performance. Biflel (1985)
refers to this type of leader as results-centred leadership.

Contingency or situational leadership

This refers to a leader who examines the extent of rapport or good feelings
between the supervisor and those supervised, nature of the job done, (in
terms of how carefully procedures and specifications have been followed)
and the amount of real power vested in the subordinates.

These are only a few of the behaviour which leaders can adopt to manage
their organizations effectively. Are you prepared to adopt them all, or you
are only prepared to select some of them? If so which of them, and why?

Activity 2.2
Let us assume that you are a head of school who is conversant with the
needs of your teachers. Make a list of your teacher’s needs. Put them in
order of priority.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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Tips for leaders

Now let us suggest some leadership tips for head of schools as they play
their roles and work with their teachers.

Be predictable
Adopt a stable and appropriate behaviour and relationship with your
teachers. Try not to play it cool at today’s staff meeting and then blow it hot
at the next meeting. If you give an answer to a question put to you by one
teacher, give the same answer to another teacher who asks you the same
question.

Put yourself in your teacher’s place

Try to understand the true reason why people do and say certain things. If
you sympathize and empathize with your colleagues you can really do a
mental shift, ie. try to think the way they do. This will help you to
understand, predict and direct the responses of your colleagues and
subordinates.

Show enthusiasm
Demonstrate a warm relationship with your teachers. If you sincerely
admire a teacher’s performance at a job, express your appreciation clearly.
Create a happy atmosphere around people, particularly those who try to beat
their own record.

Be interested in your teachers’ welfare

Do not express desire only in teachers’ professional development and
growth but also in their personal welfare. Together with them identify
processes in which you can help each other to carry their burden. Let not
economic constraints put your teachers off from what they can do to help
each other if they come together.

Treat teachers equally

Be a leader who has a sense of fair play. Give assignments and rewards to
every teacher on his/her own merit. Don’t practise favouritism since it will
diminish your image as a leader in the eyes of your teachers. When this
happens you will not be able to play your other leadership roles which you
should play in other situations.

Create a vision
Work with your staff to create a vision for your school by assessing the
current position and establishing some goals for the future. Create infectious
enthusiasm that is communicated to everyone on your staff. Have constant
contact with your teachers.

Create a lively image for your school

Plan with your staff how to improve the exterior and interior of the school
building and all its classrooms. Instead of waiting for money from the

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government or the District Assembly, begin some local drive for funds. Let
the community experience their ownership of the school by opening your
school door always to them and inviting them to various school functions.

Reach out to parents

While you and your staff may be too ready to demand various resources
from parents, you may be tempted to ignore their wishes and demands. If
you go to them when you need something, then when they need something
from you, you should not close your doors. You must work hard to cultivate
this culture of give-and-take in your school. Go to parents and let them also
come to you. View your needs and those of parents as reciprocal.

Build trust
Endeavour to build trust among all groups who must contribute to the
development and growth of the school officers of the district directorate,
SMC, PTA, old students and parents. Without trust, every little
misunderstanding is taken as a betrayal, best plans fail, individuals
overpersonalize criticisms and fight over issues which could be discussed
with open minds.

Utilize educational experts

Identify various experts in the community and involve them in school
management and school activities. Use your teachers actively and don’t be
afraid to delegate to them responsibilities together with the necessary
authority to do those jobs.

Develop a working team

Use the participative management style. Develop a team of staff who will be
jointly responsible for the school’s progress. Help individual teachers to
develop their professional skills for the betterment of the school.

Activity 2.3
State one action which a head of school can perform to demonstrate each of
the following ten leadership traits
Trait Action
Responsible
Trustworthy
Approachable
Humorous
Reliable
Sincere
Good character
Competent
Good judgement
Energetic

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You have worked systematically through Section 3 of Unit 2. Well done.

You have learnt many of the responsibilities of the leader of a social
organisation such as a school. The person easily identified as the leader of a
school is the head of school. He or she does not, however, run the school
alone. The responsibility of leadership goes all the way up to the Regional
Director. However, those with whom the head of school has to interact are
the District Director of Education, the Circuit Supervisor, the School
Management Committee, the PTA Executive and the teachers. Each of these
has a role to play. People play roles both in groups and as individuals.

Finally, I have given some tips which, if seriously applied by head of

schools, will make them highly effective leaders.

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UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 4
Unit 2, section 4: Motivation

You are making good progress in this course and I have to say Well done!
to you.

In this section I am going to examine the issue of motivation in the world of

work with particular reference to teaching. I am going to discuss motivation
under leadership which is the focus of this unit, because motivation of the
worker is largely a function of the leadership in an organisation.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

 explain the concept, motivation
 describe the basic characteristics of motivation
 mention the types of motivation
 explain the relationship between motivation and performance
 analyze need theories and motivation
 explain how needs motivate the worker
 describe job satisfaction and productivity
 state the factors that contribute to productivity
 explain productivity in education.

Let’s begin by explaining motivation.

What is motivation?
Motivation is all those inner striving conditions described as wishes, desires,
etc that move or activate individuals. It is a process of moving oneself and
others to work towards the attainment of individual and organizational
objectives. Motivation is a causative factor, an incentive or drive for job
performance.

It is necessary to bear in mind that motivation is not behaviour; it is a

complex internal state that cannot be observed directly but which affects
behaviours. Motivation can only be inferred from an individual’s behaviour
(either verbal or nonverbal). Without motivation there will be no purposive,
organized behaviour by the individual worker.

John (1988:151) observes that we speak of a person as being motivated

when the person works hard, keeps at his or her work and directs his or her
behaviour towards appropriate goals.

Behaviour, according to Owens (1988), is an attempt to satisfy needs.

Mescon, et al. (1988) argue that needs cannot be directly observed or
measured. Their existence must be inferred from a person’s behaviour. By
observing people’s behaviour, psychologists have determined that needs
motivate, that is, they cause people to act.

When a need is felt, it induces a drive state in the individual. Drives are
deficiencies which have direction which is made toward a goal. A goal is

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anything that is perceived as being able to satisfy a need. The degree of

satisfaction obtained by attaining a goal affects the individual’s behaviour.

Human Needs Motivation Behaviour

So motivation is a drive that goes on within a person which causes him/her

to act to satisfy a need. It induces people to work hard.

I hope you have understood the concept motivation and that you can explain
it in your words.

As a teacher, do you need to be motivated before you work and work hard?

Well, let me assure you that I, as an individual, need to be motivated to

work hard. Even if I do voluntary work for an organization or individual, I
need to be motivated. Many teachers do not work really hard because they
are not motivated.

Let’s proceed to discuss the basic characteristics of motivation.

Basic characteristics of motivation

There are three characteristics of motivation, and these are effort,
persistence and direction.

Effort
Effort refers to the strength of a person’s work-related behaviour or the
amount of exertion a person exhibits on the job. For example, a teacher
might exhibit great efforts in planning and delivering his/her language
lessons in the classroom while a sanitary labourer may also go to great
lengths to keep the school and its surroundings clean. Both are workers who
exert good efforts in a manner that is appropriate to their jobs.

Persistence
Persistence refers to the endurance or perseverance that individuals exhibit
in applying effort to their task. For example, how persistent is the teacher or
the labourer in his/her teaching or cleaning? Obviously if a teacher works so
hard at his lessons in one week and relaxes for the next three weeks, he
cannot be described as highly motivated. Similarly, a labourer who works
very hard to clean a school compound for two hours and sleeps under a
shady tree for the next four hours cannot be said to be motivated. Both the
teacher and the compound worker have not been persistent in the application
of their effort. Both effort and persistence determine the quantity of work
done by an individual worker.

Direction
Direction refers to the trend of a person’s work-related behaviour. That is,
does a worker channel his persistent effort along a course that will benefit

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the organization? For example, if the language teacher exerts persistent

effort at teaching some topics just because of his/her deep interest in those
topics, but ignores the prescribed syllabus, the students are very likely to fail
in their final examination. In this case, although the teacher will make
persistent effort at teaching, his teaching will be wrongly directed as far as
the students’ needs are concerned.

Also, if the sanitary labourer spends six hours to clean the compound but
only makes heaps of refuse here and there without actually carting them
away, and later the wind scatters them around, his/her effort will not have
served any useful purpose. His/Her cleaning will have been wrongly
directed.

Hence we can further define motivation as the extent to which a person’s

persistent effort is directed to outcomes that are relevant to the organization.
Such outcomes might include productivity, attendance, or creative job
behaviours.

Activity 4.1
Explain each of the following terms in one sentence.
Motivation
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………..

Behaviour:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Need:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………..

Goal:
………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….

Effort:
………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….

Persistence:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Direction:
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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Let’s at this point examine the types of motivation.

Types of motivation
There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation derives from within the person. It refers to the direct
relationship between a worker and the task, and is usually self-applied.
Examples of intrinsic motivation are achievement, accomplishment,
challenge, and competence which are derived from performing one’s job
well. For example, when the language teacher realises that his/her persistent
effort at teaching enables final year students to score top grades in the
subject, this achievement or accomplishment will motivate her/him to
persevere in his/her teaching.

Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation derives from the work environment which is external
to the person and his work. A different person, usually the leader of an
organization, applies it. Good salary, fringe benefits, enabling policies and
various forms of supervison are good examples of extrinsic motivators. If
the school offers a television set, for example, as an award to the language
teacher for excellent teaching or the head of school ensures that adequate
language textbooks are always available, the language teacher will be
externally motivated to continue with his persistent effort at language
teaching.

Activity 4.1
As a teacher what things motivate you intrinsically and extrinsically?

Intrinsic motivators Extrinsic motivators

………………………….. …….......................................
………………………….. …….......................................
………………………….. …….......................................
………………………….. …….......................................
………………………….. …….......................................

Now let’s try to examine the relationship between motivation and

performance.

Motivation and performance

Performance refers to the extent to which a worker contributes to achieving
the goals of his/her organization. If a school teacher in charge of sports
makes persistent effort at training the school’s athletic team so that they win
the championship trophy his/her performance will be considered very high
because he/she will have contributed to achieving the goals of the school.

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An individual worker’s performance depends on a number or factors. I shall

give three examples to illustrate this point. First, even though an individual
worker is highly motivated, his/her actual performance may be low as a
result of such factors as low aptitude, weak skills and poor understanding of
the task. Second, an individual with marginal motivation may be so
conversant with the job that the little effort he makes is expended very
efficiently in terms of goal achievement. For example, a mathematics
teacher may be such an effective teacher that with little time at the
chalkboard, his/her students achieve excellent understanding of the topic.
Finally, an individual with weak motivation may perform well owing to
some luck or chance factor that boosts performance (John, 1988).

The diagram below summaries the factors that contribute to individual job
performance.
Aptitude Skill
level level
Amount of effort

Persistence of effort Motivation Performance

Direction of effort Task Chance

understanding or Luck

Mescon et al. (1988) observe that from the late 18th Century to the 20th
Century when the Scientific Management School arose, motivation was
thought to be a simple matter of offering suitable monetary rewards in
exchange for effort. The behavioural sciences, however, demonstrated that
this purely economic approach to motivation was inadequate. Management
in organizations learned that motivation, which is an inward drive to act, is
the result of an extremely complex set of needs that flow continuously. It is
therefore very important for the manager of any organization to determine
the needs of his/her workers and try to satisfy them.

Need theories and motivation

Need theories try to explain the types of needs which workers have and the
conditions under which workers can be motivated to satisfy those needs in a
manner that is useful to their organisation. These needs are physiological
and psychological wants or desires which can be satisfied when workers get
certain incentives or achieve particular goals.

One major theory that explains workers’ wants or desires is that of

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow, an eminent psychologist,
observed that human beings have five sets of needs that are arranged in a
hierarchy, beginning with the most basic and compelling needs, as depicted
in the diagram below:

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Self
-Act
ualis
at ion

Est
eem

Belo
ngin
g

Safe
t y

Phy
si olo
gic
al

Fig 4.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

What exactly are these human needs? How many levels are there?

Levels of human needs

Physiological needs These include food, water, oxygen, sex, shelter, and
sleep.

Organisational factors that can satisfy these needs include adequate pay,
allowances, bonuses, and other fringe benefits that can ensure survival. The
take-home pay must be at a level that can enable the worker to satisfy these
needs.

It is only when this set of physiological needs have been satisfied that a
worker begins to think of the next level of needs – safety and security. If a
teacher is hungry, he or she can hardly feel the need for safety or security.

Safety and security needs These include security, stability, freedom from
anxiety, and ordered environment.

Organizational factors that can satisfy these needs include safe working
conditions, fair and sensible rules and regulations, job security, comfortable
work environment, pension and insurance plans, freedom to form unions
and pay which is above the minimum needed for survival.

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After these safety and security needs have been satisfied, then a worker
begins to think of the belonging needs.

Belonging needs or need for affiliation: These include social interaction,

affection, love, companionship and friendship.

Organizational factors that can satisfy these needs include opportunity to

interact with others on the job, friendly and supportive supervision,
opportunity for teamwork, and opportunity to develop new social relations.

When a worker has adequately satisfied his/her belonging needs, then the
need for esteem arises.

Esteem needs: These include feelings of adequacy, self-respect,

achievement, competence, independence, strength, confidence and the
deserved appreciation and recognition of these characteristics by others.

Organisational factors that can satisfy these needs include opportunity to

master tasks leading to achievement and satisfaction, awards, promotions,
prestigious job titles and professional recognition.

When esteem needs have been satisfied, then the worker feels the need for
self-actualization.

Self-actualization needs: These include the desire to develop one’s true

potential, express one’s skills, talents, and emotions in a manner that is most
personally fulfilling, clear perception of reality, acceptance of oneself and
others, independence, creativity, and appreciation of the world.

Organizational factors that can satisfy these needs include the establishment
of political, social and democratic conditions under which the worker feels
free to live within his/her organization and undertakes any pursuits that are
in line with the social, political and democratic order in the society he/she
lives in.

Activity 4.2
This list below of human needs may have different levels of importance to
every individual. Make a table of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and place
each need under the appropriate heading according to your feeling of its
importance.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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List of needs
Physical comfort Shelter
Supporter of football club Self-employed business person
Membership of church Respected in community for honesty
Air Award of recognition by Head of State
Citizen of the Year Sickness and disease
War Achievement of a personal goal
Recognition by community Certificate from University
Leader communal labour project Achievement of a personal goal
Certificate of achievement Food
Recognised artisan Teacher/Worker without absenteeism
Promotion on the job Selected Chairperson of a local
function
Long service award Best worker award
Marriage Parental love
Outcast from clan
Highest honour given by the State

Let’s now briefly consider how human needs motivate a worker.

Human needs and motivation

It is important for us to bear in mind that the lowest level unsatisfied need
has the greatest potential for motivating a worker. Hence none of the needs
can be described as the best motivator, because motivation depends upon
the individual worker’s position in the need hierarchy. For example, if a
worker is in a position where he/she has plenty of food, water and shelter,
then providing more of these is not likely to motivate him/her. This worker
now needs safety and security. So to motivate him/her, he/she must be
provided with safe working conditions, fair and sensible work rules and
regulations.

As Maslow points out, individuals are motivated to satisfy their

physiological needs before they can express an interest in safety needs.
Safety needs must be satisfied before social needs become motivational.
This means that when a need is not satisfied, it creates a powerful effect on
the individual’s thinking and behaviour. It is in this sense that needs become
motivational. It implies also that when a person’s needs at a particular level
are satisfied, the individual turns his or her attention to the next higher level.
The overall effect is that when a need is satisfied, it is no longer an effective
motivator.

Activity 4.3
You are a worker in an organization, eg. a teacher in a school or an officer at
the District Education Office. For each of the five levels of human needs

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below, state the specific factors in your organization (school of office)

which help you personally to satisfy those needs.
a. Physiological
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

b. Safety and security

………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

c. Belonging (Affiliation)
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

d. Esteem
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

e. Self-actualization
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Well done so far. Now, let’s turn our attention to how job satisfaction is
related to productivity.

Job satisfaction and productivity

I would like to emphasize here that if a person is satisfied with his or her
job, he/she produces more. Do you agree? Is this your own experience?

Productivity
A job is any piece of work which has a definite character and is done in a
person’s profession or occupation usually for a stipulated fee. Bittel
(1985:397) defines a job as the task, duty, chore, position, occupation, or
work unit assigned by an organization to one individual to be performed
routinely or repetitively on hourly, weekly, monthly or annual basis for
wages. All workers expect to derive maximum satisfaction from the job that
they decide to do for a living. The amount of work done is referred to as
productivity.

Productivity refers to the units of output divided by units of inputs. In a

general sense, productivity is the relative effectiveness and efficiency of an
organisation.
What then is job satisfaction?

Job satisfaction
It is a collection of attitudes which workers have about their jobs. Job
satisfaction is a highly positive inner feeling which a person derives from

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the job he or she undertakes on a daily basis. There are two aspects of job
satisfaction. These are facet satisfaction and overall satisfaction

Facet satisfaction: Facet refers to various aspects of a job. Facet

satisfaction refers to the tendency for an employee such as a teacher to be
more or less satisfied with various aspects of the job; for example, a teacher
may be dissatisfied with his/her pay but may like the conditions in the
school; or may dislike his/her head of school but loves the colleagues or the
students he/she teaches. In theory, there are hundreds of job facets, but
research suggests that the most relevant attitudes towards jobs are contained
in facets like the work itself, pay, promotion, recognition, benefits, work
conditions, supervision, co-workers and organizational policy.

Overall satisfaction: This refers to the overall indicator of a job that cuts
across the various facets.

Now let’s ask ourselves: Is there a relationship between job satisfaction and
productivity or performance?

Johns (1988) points out that although there is a positive relationship

between satisfaction and productivity, such relationship is low and
inconsistent. The reason is that although workers might work hard for their
organisation because of job satisfaction, it is also possible that they might be
so busy enjoying the satisfying job that they have little time to be
productive. For example, in an attempt to satisfy their colleagues or the head
of school, teachers might spend more time on social interactions than on
teaching. Therefore, it is not always true that satisfaction will lead to
productivity.

To remain in business, it is essential for every organisation to determine the

level of productivity continually.

Now answer this question: Why do some businesses do well in the

beginning but then fold up later?

Let’s consider the factors that contribute to productivity.

Factors that contribute to productivity

Two major factors contribute to productivity. These are technological and
human factors.

Technological factors: Technological factors may either be service

(product) design or materials and equipment.

Service or product design: These factors include how the organisation

provides a service or designs its products. For example, in education,
teachers must teach in the most appropriate ways possible ie they must use

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the best teaching methods. As a guide, teachers must examine their

techniques by answering the following questions: How do teachers design
teaching for it to be effective? In what ways do teachers deliver classroom
lessons? What kind of techniques do they need and how effective are these
techniques in their teaching?

Materials and equipment: The delivery of education service, of course,

requires adequate doses of materials and equipment such as textbooks,
stationery and teaching-learning materials. It is the responsibility of the head
of school to ensure that these are provided for teachers.

Human factors: Human factors include ability or skill, knowledge,

experience, and motivation of workers. How much of these do you possess
as a teacher? Human factors are necessary for the effective use of
technology to enhance teaching. For example, no amount of technology can
provide the required services or products adequately if the human factors are
not seriously addressed.

In dealing with human factors, matters that need to be considered are the
type of academic and professional education and training of the worker,
work schedules, policies that control work situations, leadership styles and
their effects on the entire organization and the total remuneration to which
the worker is entitled.

Activity 4.4
Identify below the technological materials you need for your work and state
how you can obtain each of them.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Finally let’s examine productivity in education.

Productivity in education
Productivity is essential to all organizations. In education one measure of
productivity is students’ performance in examinations. The principle of
productivity in relation to the level of costs versus derived outputs applies
equally to education. For example, if costs of education go up, but
examination results remain poor, then productivity has been low.

How much do we derive from what we put into education in Ghana?

If productivity means doing better with the resources an organization has,

then compare the value of our output (results) in education with the cost of
inputs (resources) and decide how effective education personnel such as

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district directors, circuit supervisors, head of schools and teachers have been
in their operations in the school?

Figures on productivity in education inform the Ministry of Education and

the Ghana Education Service how much profit these two institutions derive
from their input of resources. The current perception, however, points to a
negative gain in education, that is, students’ output (examination results) are
far below expectation.

Have you heard of complaints by some people to the effect that standards of
education have fallen? Is this view true? If so what does it tell you of inputs,
outputs and productivity in education?

Activity 4.5
Give reasons why productivity in education is perceived to be low in Ghana.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………….

Motivation refers to all those inner striving conditions described as wishes,

desires, etc. that move or activate individuals to work. The basic
characteristics of motivation are effort, persistence and direction. There are
two types of motivation: intrinsic motivation which derives from within the
person and extrinsic motivation which derives from work environment and
is external to the person and his work. There is a definite relationship
between motivation and performance.

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from the lowest to the highest are:
physiological, safety and security, belonging or affiliation, esteem and self-
actualization. It is the satisfaction of these needs that motivate the worker.

Motivation is related to job satisfaction and productivity. Job satisfaction

has impact (positive or negative) on productivity. There are two factors that
contribute to productivity. These are technological and human.

Productivity in education is measured largely by results which students

obtain in examinations compared with the cost of input resources. This
measurement, at present, produces negative results and it is the
responsibility of stakeholders to work hard to reverse the negative trend.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION DATA FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION
UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 5
Unit 2, section 5: Data for school administration and supervision

I am pleased to welcome you to Section 5 of Unit 2. In this section, I am

going to examine the various types of data which are used in the
administration and supervision of a school.

The word, data, should not be new to you. You must have come across it
many times elsewhere as a scholar. If so, try to define it in your own words
before you proceed.

By the time you go through this section to the end, you should be able to:
 define data
 explain the two types of data
 identify various forms of data and how they are generated
 describe ways of generating data
 enumerate the principles of data collection
 show the importance of data
 list some of the data that can be generated with the computer

Definition of data
Now let me give you my definition of data. I will define data as facts or
figures from which conclusions may be drawn. The school head of school as
an administrator and supervisor is charged with directing and controlling
life in his/her school to achieve the national goals effectively and efficiently.
In doing so, the head of school goes through the processes of planning,
organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting.

In going through these processes the head of school, together with his/her
staff, must make important decisions based on past trends, current needs and
anticipated future. For these reasons, the head of school requires data which
must be accurately generated and stored carefully so that they can be
retrieved easily. These data must cover all human and material resources
which are relevant to the school’s survival.

Bittel (1985:587) explains that data is information that has been processed
for use by managers and supervisors in making decisions related to
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling

Now let’s look at types of data.

Types of data
There are two types of data: primary and secondary data.

Primary data: Primary data is information that a school can collect itself
for a specific purpose such as running a particular operation. For example, a
school head of school can collect data on drop-out rate of students in the
school. The head of school can do this by recording total enrolment of
students in primary Class 1 at the beginning of the year and recording the

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number who discontinued schooling in the course of the year. Those who
discontinued schooling are the drop-outs. (Note that students who leave
your school to continue at another school are not considered as drop-outs).
To calculate the drop-out rate, you divide the total number of drop-outs by
the original enrolment and multiply by 100.

Total of drop-outs x 100

Drop-out rate =
Original enrolment

You can use this method to calculate the drop-out rate for each class and
also for the whole school. If you collect these statistics for say, ten years,
then you have data on the school’s drop-out rate over ten years. Another
example is to gather information on students’ various grades in class
assignments and examinations or in the case of the junior secondary school,
you can gather information on students’ final Basic Education Certificate
Examination results.

Secondary data: Secondary data is information published by other

agencies, departments or organizations such as the Ministry of Education,
Ghana Education Service, Ghana National Association of Teachers,
UNESCO, UNICEF, World Health Organization, International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.

In short, primary data are what you have generated yourself and can defend
while secondary data are those generated from elsewhere.

Source of school data

Accurate recording of facts can provide much of the data required by a
school. In a typical school, data can be gathered from the following records:
 Admission register.  Visitors book
 Class registers  Hospital book
 Log book  Cash book
 Punishment book  Examination results
 Staff attendance book  Minutes book
 Cumulative records  Accounts books
 Files

Activity 5.1
 State the uses of each of the records stated above.
 State the problems that may arise if each of these records is not properly
kept or not kept at all in a school.
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AND SUPERVISION Unit 2, section 5: Data for school administration and supervision

Let’s now look at the ways we can generate data for a school.

Ways of generating data

Data can be generated through introspection, interaction, reports and
analysis.

Introspection: Information is gathered from an individual’s own sources

such as education, experience, background and other learned knowledge.
Such types of information can be obtained from individual staff members of
a school.

Interaction: Information is gathered at a meeting of staff members.

Information gathered in this way may include unique academic and
professional knowledge, work experience and achievements.

Reports: Information is gathered through inspection reports, files, letters,

memos and formal studies.

Analysis: Raw information are by themselves not always appropriate. For

the purpose of school planning, growth and development, various types of
information must be analysed in order to determine the extent of their use.
This is done for decision-making techniques, ie making decisions on the
uses of various types of information and quantitative models.

For the purpose of data collection, we have to keep records and file
documents. How do we do that? The Head of school’s Handbook (1994:25)
has given some suggestions on some appropriate ways to collect data
through records and documents.

Data collection through records and documents

Files: Some information comes to the school in the form of letters. Every
letter must be kept in an appropriately labelled file eg District Director,
District Assembly, G E S Headquarters, Personal, or Other Schools. Try to
record on each letter the date on which it was received.

Also open files for different subjects eg. statistics of students, teachers,
examinations, parents and guardians, school management committee, PTA,
NGO. Keep as many files as your school may need. For easy retrieval of
information, keep files neat, numbered, clearly labelled, and arranged in
alphabetical order. Get a notebook and write file numbers and titles in it for
easy reference.

Let’s discuss a few of the other records you are expected to keep as a head
of school.

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Log book: The log book contains the history of important events in the
school. Entries should include.
 important events in the school
 names of staff members including their registered numbers,classes or
subjects taught, and social security numbers
 academic calendar – beginning of term, holiday and vacation dates
 closures of the school for any important event
 achievements of the school.

Visitors Book: The visitors book records visits made by non-education

service personnel. Visitors should be politely asked to sign the visitors book.

Hospital Book: The hospital book should contain health records of all
members of staff and students. Also the school should design hospital chits
which will be issued to any staff or student who attends hospital.

Staff attendance book: The staff attendance book should indicate a

teacher’s name, time of arrival at school and time of departure from school.
The head of school should closely monitor such recordings and ensure that
staff are sincere in their time recordings.

It is important to keep all records and documents in a cupboard or cabinet in

the head of school’s office. Only the head of school or authorized persons
should be allowed access to the cupboard or cabinet.

After going through strenuous efforts to collect various types of data, how
should you use them?

Utilizing Data: Mescon, Albert and Khedouri (1988) have classified three
main ways in which managers can use data. Data can be used for strategic
planning, management control and operational control:

Strategic planning: Data are used to decide on objectives of an

organization, on changes in these objectives, on the resources used to attain
these objectives and on the policies that are used to govern the acquisition
and use of these resources.

Management control: Data are used to determine the right quantities of

resources needed, how to obtain them and how to use them effectively and
efficiently to accomplish the organization’s goals.

Operational control: Data are used to ensure that specific tasks are carried
out effectively and efficiently.

At this stage, let us consider guidelines or rules that we should follow to

gather useful data.

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Guidelines for data gathering

 Data should be gathered on the past, present and the future. It should
include all relevant events within the school and its environment.
 The quantity of data generated by a school which is necessary for its
success and the rate at which such data changes make it necessary for
the management to use formal methods to collect data.
 Every organisation must collect a large amount of data which may
consist of different items. The amount of each item may fluctuate (ie.
may increase or decrease) and therefore needs to be controlled. Data
quantity and problems increase as a school grows larger.
 Data should indicate trends, eg. changes that occur in students’
enrolment or staff qualifications and rank. Data should therefore be
properly kept and frequently updated through management information
systems.
 Management should keep track of every piece of information they need
to make effective decisions. For example, the head of school should
keep track of annual admissions, students’ performance in continuous
assessment and examinations, drop-out rate, and dismissals. Also, the
School Management Committee may be faced with budget decisions for
its school. Adequate data should help it to answer a number of questions
such as:
 What is the total budget you submitted to the District Directorate
and the District Assembly last year?
 What reduction in spending, if any, have you made and why?
 What increases in student charges will you propose?
 How will you justify your decisions to taxpayers?

Valid answers to these questions will be based on trends in the data

generated by the school.

An important question you need to answer as you collect educational data

is: In what ways is data important in school administration?

Importance of data
Data is important in school administration because it is used to:
 facilitate the implementation of the planning, controlling and operational
functions of the school;
 deliver the right information to the right people at the right time;
 provide valid background information (data bank) for future
development of the school;
 link all departments and sections of the school into a fully integrated
system;
 identify worrying situations as they arise and signal to management that
something should be done about it;

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 make things more orderly in order to reduce conflicts among jobs,

workers and operations;
 form a network that keeps people in the know of what is going on in
other sections of the school;
 help workers to do a better job of planning their career and how best to
prepare for the future;
 assist individuals such as teachers to learn whether their job performance
is acceptable, their strengths and weakness and which areas should be
improved;
 help head of schools and other school administrators to appraise job
performance and identify strong performers in order to reward them with
praise, pay and promotion.

Activity 5.2
a. State below some of the problems which have been encountered in the
school or place where you are currently working, and which you believe
are the results of improper data collection.
b. A school can run its day-to-day operations without data generation. Do
you agree? State your reasons.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

The computer and data bank

I have no doubt that you know the importance of computers in the
operations of organizations today. If you are not computer literate, then
begin to think of getting access to a computer and learning to use it.

We live in an age of computers which have had great impact on the

management of data. The computer does most data processing
electronically. Computer-based data provide administration with
information that helps them to run an organization. For example, the
computer helps management to compare standards with actual results they
obtain, so that they detect deviations and correct them before they get out of
hand.

Data for school administration and supervision

It is ideal for every school to acquire a computer and appoint one teacher as
a planning and statistics officer whose job is to compile facts and figures on
every aspect of the school’s operations. Such compilation should be done at
the end of every term when facts and figures are fresh and can be accurately
recorded.

Facts and figures that may be recorded for a school may include:
 Students: enrolment by class, gender and age.

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 Staff: department or section, gender, age, qualification, rank, promotion

and appointment dates.
 Examinations: percentage of passes and failures (both internal and
external)
 Infrastructure: buildings, classrooms, furniture, textbooks, library and
volumes, laboratories, vehicles and repairs, fuel consumption.
 Farm inputs and outputs: crop and animal harvest.
 Awards: types, sources and recipients.
 Sports and entertainment activities: football, volleyball, table tennis,
athletics, cultural displays, i.e various events, dates and expenditures
incurred.
 Student/Student group activities: religious and educational societies –
debating, drama, cultural, singing groups.
 Student/Student feeding: seasonal food purchases, expenditure, losses.
 Committee operations: finance, timetable, sports and entertainment,
dispensary, library, examinations.

Activity 5.3
1. Give reasons why data should be collected and updated termly.
2. Discuss with your colleagues how your school can acquire a computer
and how teachers can become computer literate.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

You have come to the end of Section 5 which focused on data collection for
school administration and supervision.

Data is defined as facts and figures from which conclusions may be drawn.
It can also be explained as information that has been processed for use by
managers and supervisors in making decisions related to planning,
organizing, directing and controlling.

These are two types of data: primary data which is information which a
school collects by itself for specific purposes, and secondary data which is
information published by other agencies and organizations.

Data for a school can be gathered through various records such as registers,
log book, visitors book, punishment book, hospital book, and staff
attendance book.

These are four ways of collecting data: introspection, interaction, reports

and analysis.

Data are used in three main ways: for strategic planning, management
control and operational control. There are principles or guidelines which
must be considered so that appropriate data can be generated.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION: BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL
UNIT
AND 2 SECTION
SUPERVISION 6
Unit 2, section
CONTROL 6: Financial administration: budgeting and financial control

Hello, I welcome you to Section 6, the last section of Unit 2, which deals
with more issues pertaining to leadership in the school.

n this last section of the unit, I will focus on one of the most important
functions of leaders: financial administration, which involves budgeting and
financial control.

By the time you finish studying the section you should be able to:
 explain the term, financial administration;
 describe the relationship between budgeting and financial control;
 enumerate some important principles of financial administration;
 distinguish between budget and budgeting;
 describe a budget document;
 state the purposes and uses of a budget
 explain what financial control means

Let’s begin our discussion by looking at the issue of financial

administration. The term presents different concepts to different
administrators.

Meaning of financial administration

Financial administration is the skilful control of all factors of production to
obtain maximum results with the minimum expenditure of social resources.
Competence, coordination and control which result in economy and
efficiency of operation are the signs of good administration. That means the
administrator makes efficient use of resources to attain best results for
his/her organization. An efficient head of school will use limited resources
in his/her school to achieve effective teaching and learning.

Administration and finance

I should like you to know that school administration at any level of
education involves various processes for financial administration. These
processes include planning of a budget, procedures for handling school
funds, payroll procedures, procedures for purchasing items, making and
keeping financial records, accounts, reports, audits and other safeguards. All
school funds must be spent very carefully and honestly. For this reason,
financial administration requires special ability and responsibility for which
the administrator, in this case the head of school, must prepare.

The management of every school must be conversant with decisions and

procedures that can achieve the best results for a school and avoid waste.
Good decisions on revenue and expenditures must be made on the use of
personnel, selection, purchase, storage, distribution, use and care of
materials. Administrators must also have good knowledge of the
maintenance and protection of school property and the operation of other

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aspects of the school such as the offices, transportation and feeding of

students.

Every school which wants maximum returns for the money it spends must
divide responsibilities clearly among its staff, pay careful attention to human
relationships, ensure that all operations are done smoothly and efficiently
with a minimum of conflict and waste of time and resources. For these
purposes there are some principles which school administrators must follow
for efficient management of finances.

Principles of financial administration

It is important to note that many of the financial principles stated below are
not applicable to the school, because of its current simple structure.
Nonetheless, it is essential for a head of school to be conversant with them
because the head of school at one time or another will have interaction with
his/her counterparts in the junior or senior secondary or even other higher
institutions.
 The board or legislative body having responsibility for educational
policies should have control over the financing of those policies, subject
only to the will of the government, unit or agency concerned, that is, the
authority that provides the money.
 The school board should have control over the services which are
financed by the school, except where cooperative arrangements with
other local government units are possible.
 Financial management of a school is the responsibility of the chief
executive (head of school, headmaster or principal). Persons in charge of
the school’s business affairs (eg. bursars, accountants, finance officers)
should be directly responsible to the chief executive of the school and
not directly responsible to the school board. The purpose of the school is
to educate, and those responsible for administering finance eg. bursars
and accountants, should not control.
 In a large school system, various officers are appointed to take charge of
finance, budget, insurance, management of assets, purchase and service
of equipment and supplies, accounting and financial research. All these
officers should be centred in one office and directly responsible to the
chief executive. This office should be not be part of the line organization
of the school system, but should have staff relationship to the head,
teachers and other officers.
 The head or his assistant should make financial decisions which affect
educational policies or practices of the school. Those responsible for
finance and allied management functions should not be separated from
educational administration.
 The foundations of a budget should be the educational needs of the
school as formulated in plans and policies. Accounting must provide the
information needed both in educational and financial management;
purchases must be based upon the specific materials required to achieve

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educational purposes, and operations and maintenance must conform to

standards that will promote results which the school is trying to attain.

Activity 6.1
Describe the role of finance in school administration.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let’s now consider the place of budget and budgeting in school finance.

Budget and budgeting

It is important for you to bear in mind that budget is not the same thing as
budgeting. Let’s consider the two concepts carefully.

A budget, according to Keith and Girling (1991:153) is a financial plan that

underlies an action plan, translating ideas and intentions into resource
allocation that reflects an institution’s priorities. It is a financial plan that
forecasts how money will be spent in order to achieve an organisation’s
programmed objectives. According to Burke (1951:429), a budget is a well-
conceived programme of action for a given period of time. It has accurate
plans for making financial proposals and raising the necessary revenues.
A budget is thus a plan of action for the future.

Hartman (1988:2) states that three separate elements make up a budget:

 a description of the total educational programme to be provided by a
school;
 an estimate of the revenues which will be available to pay for the
expenditure;
 an estimate of the expenditures needed to carry out the desired
programme.

Therefore, we can define a school budget as: a document which specifies

the planned expenditures and anticipated revenues of a school in a
given fiscal year.

Hartman illustrates the budget as a triangle with one element at each side.
This picture indicates that each element is connected to the other two and
that a budget is not complete without all three elements.

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Re
ve
Expenditure nu
e

Education Programme
Fig 6.1: Elements of a budget

When educational programme is at the base of the triangle, it means that

educational programmes are the determining factor in the budget. This in
turn means that once the desired programmes have been established, the
necessary expenditures are determined and the required revenues are
obtained.

When revenue is at the base of the triangle, the revenues available to the
school determine how much is available to spend and what educational
programmes can be offered. This means cutting your coat according to your
cloth.

When expenditure is at the base of the triangle, it means that expenditure

sets the maximum amount that must be found. It establishes the amount of
revenues which a school needs to implement the educational programmes it
is required to provide.

In practice, there is a great deal of interplay among the three elements – no

single one is dominant. What is important is that a school must reach a
balance between the programmes it can offer and the amount of money it
can mobilize.

Let’s now turn our attention to what budgeting is and how it differs from
budget.

Budgeting in a school means more than the drawing of a budget document

which specifies revenues and expenditures. Budgeting includes the entire
cycle of developing, approving and implementing a school’s budget.
Budgeting or the budgeting process is defined as the sequence of activities
involved in planning a school’s educational programme, estimating the
needed revenues and expenditures to implement these programmes,
gaining the necessary approval, and using the budget to assist in
managing a school’s operations.

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Buck, cited in Burke (1951) emphasizes that budgeting involves policies,

decisions, programmes, services, resources, obligations, operations and
performance, not the routine estimating of receipts and expenditures.

The budget document

The budget for a school shows the educational plan, spending plan, and
revenue plan for a definite fiscal period. It becomes the basis for explanation
before official bodies, for official notices, for discussion at public hearings,
for publicity, and as a summary of a school’s financial situation. It is also a
point of reference for future budget planning and provides a cumulative
record of past plans, problems and decisions. The contents of the budget
depend upon the institution by whom and for whom it is prepared. They also
depend on the agency or group to which it is to be presented.

In many cases, however, the budget contains introduction, financial

summary, expenditures, revenues, position counts, explanation of
expenditure calculations and any additional information that may be
considered important.

Now let me give a brief explanation of each of the sub-components of the

budget.

Introduction
This first section of the budget contains a variety of different elements
which describe the budget process and also make budget projections. It may
also include the philosophy or goal statement of the school.

Financial summary
This section presents the key financial elements in a summarized form eg.
total expenditure for major purposes, total revenue by source, and amount of
taxes required from local taxpayers.

Expenditures
This section contains the bulk of the budget document. It consists of detailed
specifications of the proposed expenditures of the school for the coming
year.

Revenues
This section shows the revenues which the school is projecting to receive. It
presents source-by-source revenue data for the two previous years, and for
the current year, along with projections for the coming year.

Position counts
This section indicates the number of personnel employed by the school. It
usually shows full-time as well as part-time employees.

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Explanation of expenditure calculations

This section describes the calculation process used to determine
expenditure. It provides assumptions, cost standards, enrolments, salary
levels and other data used to develop estimates in the budget.

Additional information
This section may include definition of funds, revenues and expenditures,
long range plans, salary and benefits data and expenditure summaries.

Activity 6.2
Get a copy of a budget statement from a school or a district directorate.
Compare and contrast the details of that statement with what you have
learned here. Do you think that the budget was well prepared? Give reasons
for your answer.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Now let’s discuss the purposes and uses of a budget.

Purposes and uses of a budget

As you have noted by now, a budget is one of the primary management
tools of school administrators. It has many uses including the following:

Basis for planning: The budget provides a means for educational planning;
it helps the school head to plan school programmes, student services,
educational standards, prices of resources, and the total cost of the entire
educational programme.

A vehicle for public review and approval: The content of the budget
enables stakeholders such as the school management committee, parents,
and voters to review a school’s educational and fiscal plans.

Justification of expenditure of public funds: The budget allows the

relevant stakeholders to examine the rationale for the proposed spending
plans and to approve them at an acceptable level.

Legal basis for spending public funds: Once approved by the school board
or committee, the budget provides a legal basis for spending public money.

Control over school expenditure: The approved expenditure for various

school programmes determines the spending limits not to be exceeded
without approval.

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Evaluation of fiscal performance: The budget proposals provide a basis

for evaluating the performance of educational administrators in various
areas such as the functioning of the budget process itself, accuracy of the
budget, quality and accuracy of the programmes.

Improvement of educational administration: In the budgeting process,

the administrator is able to formulate long term plans, see the needs of
various sections of the school, coordinate activities within the school,
foresee expenditure requirements, control expenditures, economise, and
evaluate what is being done under his/her direction.

Activity 6.3
 Summarise in your own words (in your jotter) each use of the school
budget.
 What problems would a school face if it did not draw a budget?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

You are making good progress. I congratulate you on that.

At this stage let us consider what steps a head of school should take to
control the finances of a school.

Financial control
The purpose of the control function performed by the school administrator
(in this case, the head of school) is to keep things in line and make sure
every plan hits its target. In a restrictive sense, an administrator uses control
to make sure that workers are at work on time, that money isn’t misused,
that materials are not wasted or stolen and that some persons don’t exceed
their authority (Bittel, 1985: 118). In a more constructive sense, control
helps the administrator and his/her institution to achieve production goals
and quality standards. In a school, the head of school would ensure that
his/her teachers teach effectively so that the students can achieve top
examination grades.

In performing his/her control functions the administrator

 acts somewhat like a judge, watching what happens in the institution to
see whether or not activities, conditions, and results are occurring as
they are supposed to.
 acts as a problem-solver and decision-maker. He/She does so in order to
find out why something is going (or has gone) wrong so that he/she can
decide what to do about it.
 corrects conditions and brings results up to expectation and tries to find
out why conditions or results are below standard.

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Unit 2, section 6: Financial administration: budgeting and financial control AND SUPERVISION

Let us always remember that one of the critical roles of the administrator is
to exercise firm control over the budget and finances of his/her organization.
In other words, the head regulates expenditures during the budget year to
ensure that they do not exceed authorized amounts and that they are used for
the proper purpose (Hartman, 1988:227).

Financial control means that management at all times must be able to

determine quickly the unencumbered balance remaining, anticipated receipts
and actual receipts. Encumbrance accounts should show all commitments
made or liabilities incurred, such as contracts for service or purchase orders
for which payment has not yet been made.

To conclude, remember that the budget acts as control throughout the

budgetary period. Control means that money should be spent on the most
essential activities, so that the school can get the most return for money
spent. In order to attain these objectives, control should be exercised
throughout the life of the budget.

Financial control requires accounting, specifications for services and

materials to be purchased, sound personnel and purchasing policies,
standards for the use and consumption of goods and services, work plans,
standards for performance and means of evaluation.

Activity 6.4
State in your own words the benefits of financial control
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Financial administration is the skilful control of all factors of production to

obtain maximum beneficial results with the minimum expenditure of social
resources. It includes the processes of planning a budget, purchasing items,
keeping financial records and other safeguards.

Two crucial issues to deal with under financial administration are budget
and budgeting. Budget is simply a prepared document while budgeting is a
process. Budget and budgeting require control which means keeping things
in line and making sure that every plan hits its target. It helps the
administrator to achieve production goals and quality standards.

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Financial
for your
administration:
notes budgeting and financial control

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3
AND SUPERVISION

C S
ON
TENT

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION
SECTION 1 THE CONCEPT OF SUPERVISION 126

SECTION 2 OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION 132

SECTION 3 OPERATION OF SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION 140

SECTION 4 INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION AT THE CLASSROOM LEVEL 146

SECTION 5 PROBLEMS OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN GHANA 156

SECTION 6 MANAGING INSTRUCTIONAL TIME 162

the adinkra symbol used in the UEW crest

Mate masie I have heard what you have said

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XXXXXXX 3 INSTRUCTIONAL
UNIT Unit X, section X: XXXXXXX
SUPERVISION

Dear reader, you are welcome to the third unit of this course. I hope you
enjoyed reading the first two units, and you are eager to know what this unit
is all about. Units 1 and 2 introduced you to the foundations of school
administration and leadership in school administration respectively.

This unit discusses instructional supervision at the school level. You will
find it very interesting and easy to cope with since it relates to how to
improve upon teaching and learning in the school.

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

 explain the concept of supervision
 describe the personal characteristics of the supervisor
 list the objectives and functions of instructional supervision
 discuss how supervision of instruction is done in the school
 explain how resources are managed in the school
 describe how observation is used as a tool of supervision of instruction
 state the problems that are encountered in supervision of instruction

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION THE CONCEPT OF SUPERVISION
UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 1
Unit 3, section 1: The concept of supervision

Hello student, you are welcome to the first section of Unit 3 which deals
with the concept of supervision. In the previous section, I devoted attention
to financial administration of the school to enable you to make maximum
educational use of funds allocated to your school.

In this section, I am going to discuss what supervision of instruction is. I

shall also discuss the instructional supervisor and his or her personal
characteristics.

By the end of this section you should be able to

 define the concept of supervision
 describe who a supervisor is
 outline the personal characteristics of a supervisor
 identify the personnel in charge of supervision of instruction at the
school

Case study
Before we go on to discuss the meaning of instructional supervision, let us
go through the following scenario involving a district director of education
and some head of schools:

Mr Koby Johnson, the District Director of Education, invited all head of

schools in the Sumina Education District to meet at 10 am at the local
community centre. At the meeting various matters concerning the schools,
such as allocation of teachers to classes, supply and maintenance of
textbooks and stationery, preparation and vetting of lesson plans, filling of
students’ continuous assessment forms, teacher absenteeism and lateness,
and collection of school fees and PTA’s dues were thoroughly discussed.

At this meeting, the head of schools did not mince words in voicing out their
grievances about the unpleasant experiences they had had with the District
Education Directorate. Mrs Emma Arthur, the headmistress of the District
Council Primary ‘C’ School, for instance, expressed strong sentiments on
the unavailability of continuous assessment forms. She said, “Sir, I cannot
count the number of times I have travelled to your office in vain to collect
continuous assessment forms. On the third or so visit, I was given only a
few forms. My teachers keep pestering me about the need to have these
forms at this time of the year. My transport charges for my journeys to your
office have not been paid in spite of my frequent reminders to you.
Meanwhile, because of my fear of being accused of misapplication of funds,
I am unable to pay my transport charges from other school funds. Sir, why
is your office unable to supply us with the forms? Please, tell us at this
meeting when the forms are likely to be available and save us from fruitless
trips”

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On this and other sentiments, the Director was equally frank in explaining
the difficulties the district directorate of education was grappling with. At
the end of the deliberations, the feeling of everyone present at the meeting
was that most of the problems they faced in their various schools would
continue to stare them in the face although quite a few solutions were found.
The Director then emphasised: “Colleagues, I know and trust that you are all
working hard. But, please, don’t rush to the classroom to supervise
instruction only when you see a circuit supervisor coming. This may not be
in the best interest of our work. I implore you, supervise your teacher’s
work more regularly”

This case study shows why supervision of instruction has been ineffective in
our schools in the country. Now, let us do a little thinking.

Activity 1.1
1. Go back to the case study and write what the District Director of
Education meant by saying what he said
2. Identify three things that Mrs Arthur complained about
3. Write what steps must be taken to resolve the issues raised by the
District Director of Education and the head of schools
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What supervision of instruction is?

Let’s now discuss the concept of supervision of instruction which, though is
one issue which is most widely discussed, is the least understood by many
people. I shall later discuss the traditional and modern concepts of
supervision of instruction.

Supervision of instruction according to Austin (1949) is the process of

bringing about improvement in instruction by working with people who
work with students. It is a process of stimulating professional growth, and
a
means of helping teachers to help themselves. Every school supervisory
programme is in fact aimed at instructional improvement. In other words,
supervision is done to facilitate teaching and learning in schools. It is
therefore concerned with making adequate provision for all the conditions
which are essential to effective learning through effective teaching.

Another meaning of supervision of instruction, as an administrative action,

is what school personnel do with adults and things for the purpose of
maintaining or changing the operation of the school in order to directly
influence the attainment of major instructional goals of the school.
(Harris and Bessent, cited in Wiles and Bondi, 1968:8)

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Supervision is a function of the person who, either through working with

other supervisors, school heads or others at the central office level,
contributes to the improvement of the curriculum. Instructional supervision
is related to the educational enterprise which is a learning-producing
enterprise with instruction as the basic set of production techniques.

Dimensions in an educational enterprise

There are two critical dimensions in an educational enterprise. These are
student-related and instruction-related. The student-related dimension
includes distribution of instructional materials, conferences with parents and
rescheduling of classes. The instruction-related dimension includes
classroom presentations, educational counselling, assisting students in
selecting library books, conducting achievement tests, completing,
continuous assessment forms, preparing terminal reports for parents,
selecting appropriate instructional materials, and conducting inservice
sessions. Many of these functions, you may have observed, overlap.

Harris (1985) argues that supervision is highly instruction-related but not

highly student-related. Supervision of instruction is a major function of the
school operation. It is directed toward both maintaining and improving the
teaching learning process of the school.

The term, supervision, took on an unfortunate meaning in the early days

when supervisors were called upon to assess teachers, and had a voice in
their promotion, demotion and dismissal. Here much emphasis was placed
on the evaluative aspect of supervision. It was traditional for teachers to
look upon supervisors as natural enemies because of the unprofessional
practices (such as snooping, that is, looking secretly around schools and
classrooms in order to find something or obtain information to use against a
teacher) indulged in by some supervisors. These practices which the
teachers considered improper and unfair, and naturally resented, resulted in
strained relations between teachers and supervisors, a situation which did
nothing to help, but rather seriously interfered with instructional
improvement.

As I have said earlier, supervision as it is practised today, has changed

considerably; it is now concerned with improvement of teaching and
learning. Modern day supervision is described as democratic supervision
which implies that the staff of a school under the leadership of the
supervisor or the head of school will work together to reach the educational
objectives which have been mutually agreed upon. The modern supervisor,
therefore, sees himself/herself as an adviser, a motivator, a resource person,
and a consultant. He/she works with the teacher as a colleague, and tries to
improve upon the teaching-learning situation.

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Activity 1.2
1. Explain in your own words the meaning of supervision of instruction.
2. What are the components of the student-related dimension of the
education enterprise?
3. What do you understand by the term, democratic supervision?
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Who is a supervisor?
A supervisor is a person who has responsibility for getting hands-on-the-
work employees to carry out the plans and policies of the management. He
or she is a person who coordinates the activities of a group of employees
engaged in a type of operation. A supervisor does the following:
 Determines work procedures
 Issues oral and written orders and instructions
 Assigns duties to workers
 Examines work quality and neatness
 Maintains harmony among workers

The personal characteristics of a supervisor

The job of supervision is so demanding that it requires capable people to
perform it. Thus, the qualities of a capable supervisor includes:
 energy and good health
 leadership potential
 job know-how and technical competence
 initiative
 self-control under pressure
 dedication and dependability
 integrity and transparency
 positive attitude towards superordinates and subordinates

The personnel in charge of supervision of instruction

Before supervision of instruction at the school can achieve its aim of
bringing improvement into teaching and learning, various tasks must be
performed by personnel with clearly defined relationships such as definite
location of authority and responsibility, and definite assignment of duties
and functions.

Supervision of instruction at the school has never been the sole

responsibility of any particular group of personnel. According to McKean
(1964), the total supervisory effort is borne by many different personnel
operating at various organisational levels. He goes on to say that

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contributions to the improvement of instruction and learning may be made

at the national level, the district level, and the individual school level.

In Ghana, the total supervisory effort is borne by many different persons

operating at various organisational levels. All public schools are supervised
by a three-layer personnel from the Ghana Education Service. The Director-
General, the Deputy Director-General and Directors of regions, form the
high level supervisory unit. The District Directors, the Circuit Supervisors
and the Inspectorate Division at the district level form the middle level
supervisory personnel, while the Circuit Supervisors and Head of schools
form the low level supervisory team.

Some people, however, believe that supervision of instruction at the school

could be best done by the head of school. Awudetsey, S A is of the view
that when we consider instructional supervision as the coordination of
efforts within the school setting so as to stimulate improvement and bring
about change in instructional behaviour of teachers, the most effective
person to bring about this is the head of school. He is of the opinion that the
inspector who visits the school once a year is certainly not the right person
who can bring about the expected change.

Another writer also calls attention to the continued importance of

supervision of instruction as the professional responsibility of the head of
school. Cubberlay (1923) states that the head of school should be freed from
teaching a class of his/her own, to enable him/her to supervise instruction in
the school so that the education of children may proceed under better
conditions and produce more effective results. The basic assumption here is
that instructional supervision is more effective if it is school-based rather
than circuit- or district-based. In other words, the burden of supervision of
instruction should be shifted to head of schools of the schools so that they
take full responsibility for quality work in their schools. The head of school
of the school should work in concert with the circuit supervisor to help
improve teaching and learning in the school.

Activity 1.3
In your opinion, who should be the right person to supervise instruction at
the school? Give reasons for your answer.
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This discussion brings us to the end of this interesting section. I hope you
have learnt a lot about supervision of instruction in the school. Until we
meet at Section 2, I say bye-bye for now!

Supervision of instruction is the process of bringing about improvement in

instruction by working with people who work with students. Supervision is
said to be democratic when the teachers in a school, under the leadership of
the supervisor or the head of school, work together to improve upon
teaching and learning in the school.

Although the responsibility of supervision of instruction at the school is

borne by many different personnel at different levels, the best person to do
this work should be the head of school of the school. His/her supervisory
duties should be supplemented by the work of the circuit supervisor who
visits the school from time to time.

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UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 2
Unit 3, section 2: Objectives and functions of instructional supervision
SUPERVISION

In Section 1, I discussed some writers’ definitions of supervision of

instruction. I also discussed how supervision of instruction was done in the
early years and how democratic supervision is done today. Finally, I
identified the personnel in charge of instructional supervision at the school
level. In this section, I am going to discuss the objectives and functions of
instructional supervision in schools.

By the end of this section you should be able to

 explain the need for instructional supervision at the school level
 identify the objectives of instructional supervision at the school level
 list the functions of instructional supervision in schools

The need for instructional supervision

Supervision of instruction in the school has become inevitable because we
are living in a period when changes are occurring in all aspects of life.
Education in Ghana, like all other social institutions, has been affected by
these changes and as a result, much is now being demanded of it by the
society. This is natural because the burden of financing education today lies
heavily on the taxpayer, and the schools are fed with children from the
society. This has placed upon school administrators a greater responsibility
to account to the taxpayer for the classroom effectiveness of their teaching
effort.

You will recall that in recent times, the government of Ghana and parents
have been very critical of Ghanaian schools because they think that the
schools are not performing satisfactorily the tasks assigned to them.
Ghanaians are aware that the future of this country depends upon education
which has its beginning in the school. Continued efforts must therefore be
made to sustain excellence in teaching and learning in the school. This
cannot be successfully done if nothing is done about what the school teacher
does in the classroom, hence the need for instructional supervision in
schools.

In all matters where people act together for a common purpose, there is and
must be supervision and direction to attain the end sought. By this means,
the greatest good is secured; without it, no real progress can be made
(Calkins 1970).

When we observe how work is done systematically in schools where good

supervision prevails, and compare work and conditions in these schools with
those found in schools where teachers are left to follow the ineffective
methods of their own school days, we see a wide difference between them.
This shows us the value of instructional supervision.

You must bear in mind that no system of initial training for teachers is
sufficient to carry them through their teaching lives. A teacher’s function is

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not learned once and for all in the training college; but must be learned and
re-learned during the whole of the teacher’s professional life. If a teacher
does not continue to learn, he disqualifies himself/herself for the job of
teaching. Teachers, by renewing the educative experience, improve their
capacity to teach. Teachers must therefore receive constant supervision of
instruction in the school. (English New Education Fellowship
Memorandum, 1965).

You will also agree with me that there are many teachers who, by their own
efforts and wide experience, become skilled in their work and attain the best
results. Despite this Calkins (1970) is of the view that schools which are
under intelligent supervision obtain better results than schools which have
no machinery for instructional supervision.

Activity 2.1
List four reasons why instructional supervision is important in the school.
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Objectives of instructional supervision

One may ask, Why instructional supervision? Can you give the answer to
this question? Now read on and see what some writers consider as the
purpose of instructional supervision.

The aim of instructional supervision is the improvement of the total

teaching-learning process, the total setting for learning rather than the
narrow and limited aim of improving teachers in the service. (Burton et al
1955).

Another writer maintains that supervision of instruction consists of all

activities leading to the improvement of instruction, activities related to
morale, improving human relations, inservice education and curriculum
development (Wiles, 1967).

Stoops and Marks (1967) also say that supervision is a cooperative,

continuous process involving all personnel, and directed toward the
improvement of classroom instruction. Supervision involves an
understanding of children, stimulation of professional growth and
development of teachers, formulation of educational objectives, provision of
materials of instruction, use of good methods of teaching, control of
physical equipment, and the evaluation of instruction.

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Studies made by Crabbs and associates found supervision to be of value in

improving teaching and learning. Their investigations were centred on the
effects of supervisory efforts upon the achievement of students. More recent
studies have confirmed that there is a superiority of attainment in students
whose teachers are supervised, over those whose teachers are not. Hence it
is claimed that the main objective of supervision of instruction in the school
is to enhance teaching and learning in these schools.

In answering the question, what is supervision for? Sergiovanni and Starrat

(1988) respond that supervision and evaluation have many purposes. These
include ensuring that minimum standards are being met, that teachers are
being faithful to the school’s overall purposes and that teachers are being
helped to grow as persons and professionals.

Now, let us summarise the purpose of instructional supervision into three

short paragraphs:

Supervision for quality control

Heads of schools and other supervisors monitor teaching and learning in
their schools. They do so by visiting classes, touring the school, talking to
people, and getting to know students

Supervision for professional development

Heads of schools and other supervisors help teachers to grow and develop
their understanding of teaching and classroom life. They also help teachers
to improve their basic teaching skills and expand their knowledge and use of
teaching repertoires.

Supervision for teacher motivation

Supervision builds and nurtures teacher motivation and commitment to
teaching.

Activity 2.2
State and explain any three objectives of instructional supervision.
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Tasks of instructional supervision

From what you have read so far, you have come to realise that the
immediate purpose of instructional supervision is to cooperatively develop
favourable settings for teaching and learning. If this is so then for
instructional supervision to achieve its ultimate goal of improving teaching
and learning in the school, it has to perform five major tasks in addition to
the traditional school or classroom visitation. These tasks are:

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 staffing
 motivation
 consultation or inservice education
 curriculum development
 evaluation

Staffing
Apart from the presence of students, before teaching and learning become
possible, there must be teachers to form the instructional staff. It is the
supervisory duty of the top educational management to select teachers who
are competent and who have prospects for continued growth. These teachers
must be placed at levels where they can be effective in the classroom. This
requires that the supervisor should study a teacher’s experience and
potentialities before placing him/her.

Since the teaching profession competes with other professions for

personnel, in order to retain good instructional staff, management must
provide conditions of service that will attract competent teachers to the
classroom and keep them there. It is the task of the head of school or the
supervisor of instruction in the school to give new teachers orientation by
informing them of their assignments, the textbooks to be used, the
syllabuses for their various classes, and the use of newer methods of
teaching before school re-opens. This is of particular importance if the
teachers are to start on the right footing.

Motivation
Once competent teachers have been recruited they must be enthusiastic
about their work, and work hard. For this to happen, the interest of teachers
in the work they do must be aroused and sustained. This is the duty of all
categories of supervisors including the head of school.

Motivation of teachers can take two forms, namely, negative and positive.
Threats of dismissal, demotion or transfer, and constant query of teachers by
the supervisor, can make teachers work hard but this is a negative way of
achieving results. Hence positive factors should be used in motivating
teachers. Consequently, for teachers to be eager and interested in their own
work, it is the duty of the supervisor to provide teachers with adequate
facilities and materials for their work.

There is also the issue of the environmental conditions under which teachers
work. The supervisor should make these conditions conducive to enable
teachers to continue to bring improvement to the school. For this to happen,
lines of communication must be open, that is, the supervisor or the head of
school must be accessible to every teacher. The head of school or the circuit
supervisor, as a professional leader, must show appreciation for
accomplishment and contributions of teachers by praising them where
necessary.

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Consultation or inservice education

The function of inservice education is the improvement of the quality of the
performance of the school staff. The ultimate goal of inservice education is
to uplift the school programme, but the immediate goal is to advance the
performance of the teacher. Inservice education is based on the fundamental
belief that the individual teacher must accept the obligation to continue to
improve himself personally and professionally and that teachers grow
continuously through participation in professional activities.

Inservice education programmes must be strengthened if teaching and

learning in our schools must keep pace with the changing times and new
techniques of teaching. We should remember that new teachers whose
preservice teacher education has been inadequate enter the teaching service
every year. Also, since there is always a shortage of trained teachers schools
often have to make do with the services of untrained teachers.

This supervisory task of consultation or inservice education is of two types.

First it can take the form of a teacher consulting an authority for information
or solution to a problem. The authority may be a resource person, the
specialist supervisor, or printed materials such as professional publications.
It is therefore the duty of the supervisor to provide adequate professional
books and encourage teachers to read them.

Secondly, inservice education may involve individual teachers or groups of

teachers and its methods may include seminars, lectures, workshops, and
demonstrations for teachers on instructional issues or problems which
require expert assistance to solve. The activities of the programme of in-
service education must be cooperatively planned by the entire staff, and
these activities are to be determined by the needs of the participants.

Another way of improving the instructional competency of teachers is for

the supervisor to plan inter-school and intra-school visitations through
which inexperienced and ineffective teachers are given the chance to
observe competent teachers teaching, thus helping them to improve their
skills.

Curriculum development
The term curriculum is one which is often used when education comes
under discussion. According to Kerr (1968:40), curriculum is a programme
of activities designed so that students will attain, as far as possible, certain
educational ends or objectives.

Curriculum development involves designing and re-designing what is to be

taught, how and why it is to be taught, and what students will do in the
process of learning. Assisting teachers to improve curriculum is perhaps the
greatest opportunity for service for anyone who has supervising
responsibilities. Whatever the students learn as a result of their classroom

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activities is conditioned largely by the study materials. In other words, the

selection of materials of the curriculum, to a large extent, determines both
the outcome of instruction and objectives of teaching.

The construction of a curriculum or a course of study should be a

continuous affair. It must not be done once and for all. Therefore, a
curriculum should be designed, implemented, and evaluated to see its
effectiveness. This must be done because a curriculum which was well
adapted at one particular time may not remain suitable for all time. It may
not suit the present generation of students or it may not meet the needs of
the present time. A curriculum must therefore be given constant attention
with the view to re-organising and improving it. It is an important duty of all
supervisors to assist teachers to revise and adjust the curriculum.

Evaluation
I am here referring to the evaluation of the educational programme of the
school and its success in meeting the needs of the students. Evaluation
implies that evidence must be collected so that judgement may be made
concerning those aspects of the educational programme which are strong
and those which need improvement. The aspects to be considered in
evaluating teaching efficiency include the teacher’s personality, knowledge,
ability, and teaching equipment. Evaluation may also be directed at learning
or the performance of students. This function of evaluation which is basic to
supervision, can be done by the teacher himself (ie self-evaluation), the head
of school, or externally by the circuit supervisor.

School/classroom visitation
In order to perform any of the supervisory tasks mentioned, there must be
school or classroom visitation. This is the visit of the supervisor or the head
of school to the school or the classroom where the actual teaching and
learning take place, to observe the curriculum in action. Classroom
visitation helps supervisors to discover the needs of the teachers and the
students, as they gain first-hand information on how students respond to the
teachers. The ideal thing is for the supervisors and head of schools to
observe an entire lesson from its beginning to its conclusion during
classroom visitation.

A classroom visitation should normally be undertaken with the full

knowledge of the class teacher. If the visitation is intented to evaluate a new
instructional procedure, then it is only fair that the teacher should know
what is expected of him/her and prepare so that he/she can give of his/her
best. When the teacher knows that the supervisor is there to help him/his
improve the learning situation, he/she will not be alarmed by the
supervisor’s presence. In visiting a classroom, the supervisor should not
only concentrate on the teacher but must also recommend teaching-learning
materials that the teacher can use to enhance his or her teaching.

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Activity 2.3
Outline and briefly explain any three functions of instructional supervision
in the school.
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In this section I have examined the need for instructional supervision to be

stepped up in the school. We found out that there are several reasons why
instructional supervision should be taken seriously in our schools.

Instructional supervision is undertaken for three main purposes namely,

supervision for quality control, supervision for professional development,
and supervision for teacher motivation.

Last but not the least, I discussed the major tasks that need to be undertaken
by the head of school or the circuit supervisor so that instructional
supervision can achieve its ultimate goal of improving teaching and learning
in the school. These tasks are staffing, motivation, inservice education,
curriculum development, evaluation, and school or classroom visitation.

I congratulate you on your going through this section successfully.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION OPERATION OF SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION
UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 3
Unit 3, section 3: Operation of supervision of instruction

Welcome to the third section of Unit 3 which deals with the principles of
supervision of instruction and how instructional supervision is organised. In
the preceding sections I devoted attention to the concept of supervision, the
personal characteristics of the supervisor, the personnel in charge of
supervision, the need for instructional supervision, and the objectives and
functions of instructional supervision in the school.

In this section, I am going to discuss the principles governing the operation

of supervision, and how instructional supervision is organised at the district
and the school levels.

By the end of this section you should be able to

 identify the principles that guide instructional supervisors in their work
 describe how instructional supervision is done at the district level
 discuss how supervision of instruction is done at the school level

Principles governing the operation of instructional supervision

Sergiovanni and Starrat (1988) have enumerated a number of principles
which a supervisor of instruction needs to bear in mind. According to them
a supervisor must bear in mind the following:
 Administration is normally concerned with providing material facilities
and engaging in a series of activities to produce results.
 Supervision is ordinarily concerned with improving the environment for
learning to take place.
 Administration and supervision are not mutually exclusive. The two
work together in order to get the best results; they are linked to each
other; they complement each other..
 Good supervision is based on the following principles and facts:
 Supervision should be influenced by the ultimate aims, values and
policies of education.
 Supervision should be influenced by precedents and the existing
code of conduct
 Supervision should be influenced by the changing nature of the
world in general and of democratic society in particular. For this
reason supervision should continue to find out the value or worth of
aims and policies, and materials and methods used in teaching.

 Supervision should embody the following democratic ways of doing

things:
 Supervision should accept the fact that there are individual
differences and seek to make it possible for people to express their
individualities
 Supervision must accept that people who work with students can
grow professionally. As it accepts reasonable and cooperative
people as assets, it should also accept individual differences,

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unwillingness to cooperate and the desire to actively oppose as

typical qualities of human beings
 Supervision should try and make people aware that democracy
includes not only rights but also obligations
 Supervision should make it possible for all to come together and
make policies and plans; it should be possible for everyone to
express himself/herself freely; contributions from all should be
respected
 Supervision should encourage people to do what needs to be done
without waiting to be told; to rely on themselves, and be responsible
for what they do in the course of discharging their duties
 The evaluative aspect of supervision (where supervisors are called
upon to rate teachers) should be de-emphasised and replaced with
the system under which a school staff, under the leadership of a
supervisor, work together to reach educational objectives which
have been agreed upon by all.

 Good supervision should use scientific methods and attitudes which can
be applied to the changing social processes of education; it should make
use of scientific research findings about the learner, the learning
processes, and the nature of personality and how it develops.
 Good supervision should also undertake action research in which
teachers are encouraged to understand what they do in the classroom,
and be able to make necessary changes to bring about improvement in
teaching and learning.
 Good supervision shows an ability to create new and interesting things
and ideas; it neither authorises people to use what has been in use for a
long time nor lays down rules to be followed.
 Good supervision is a cooperative, continuous series of activities
involving all personnel.
 Good supervision is known by the greater extent of improvement of
classroom instructions it brings about.

Let’s pause here to review what you have so far read in this section.

Activity 3.1
List four things that an instructional supervisor should bear in mind as
he/she sets out to supervise teaching and learning in the school.
………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………
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The organisation of instructional supervision

I am now going to take you through how instructional supervision is done at
the district and the school levels. It is important for the instructional
supervisor to be as close as possible to the teachers being assisted, and it is
for this reason that supervision at the school level is recommended.
However, the school level supervision of instruction must be supplemented
by instructional supervision from the district level.

Supervision of instruction from the district level

As you are already aware, at the district education directorate, the official in
charge of supervision of instruction is the Assistant Director in charge of
supervision. He or she works with a group of officers at the office. In
addition, there are circuit supervisors who normally reside in their circuits.
This arrangement is in line with the idea that the instructional supervisor
should be as close as possible to the teachers he/she assists.

The circuit supervisor working under the Assistant Director in charge of

Supervision but operating at the circuit level, plays a dual role in helping to
improve teaching and learning in the school. These are:
 Curriculum adviser and teacher supporter
 Evaluator of quality teaching and learning

What role do you think a circuit supervisor performs in his/her capacity as a

curriculum advisor and teacher supporter?

The circuit supervisor as a curriculum adviser and teacher supporter

It is the role of the circuit supervisor to support the teachers and
headteachers by providing professional guidance and advice. To perform
this role successfully, the circuit supervisor must try to build and maintain
long term relationships with the teachers and the headteachers in the schools
which he/she supervises.

As part of the supervisory tasks, the circuit supervisor gathers data on the
number of trained teachers needed in each school, and informs the District
Director who then posts the required number of teachers to the school.

To make teachers enthusiastic about their work and work hard, the circuit
supervisor should show appreciation for the good work that teachers do. He
should show respect for the professional competence of the teachers, and
also show sincere concern for teachers’ personal and professional progress
and development.

The circuit supervisor should also perform regularly the supervisory task of
consultation or inservice education for teachers by conducting inservice
training for the teachers in his/her circuit. He/she should give the untrained
and the inexperienced teachers the chance to observe him/her teach so as to
enable these teachers to benefit from his/her rich experience in teaching.

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The circuit supervisor should also provide teachers with adequate

professional books and journals, and encourage them to read.

As a curriculum adviser, the circuit supervisor must visit the school

regularly, and help the teachers to implement the curriculum in use. The
circuit supervisor should therefore study the syllabus thoroughly. During
visits to the schools the circuit supervisor should try to find out whether
what the teachers are teaching to the students are suitable and whether they
are relevant to the local conditions.

The circuit supervisor as an evaluator of teaching and learning

The role of the circuit supervisor as an evaluator of teaching and learning
involves monitoring the teaching and learning processes, evaluating the
management skills of headteachers and the professional competence of
teachers, and providing them with the needed support. The circuit
supervisor should watch teachers teach, collect and vet the lesson notes of
teachers, and go through the exercise books of students to find out how they
are benefiting from what their teachers are teaching them. He/She should
also examine the records of headteachers and those of teachers. After
assessing all these, the circuit supervisor offers advice to the headteacher
and teachers on how to improve upon their work.

Activity 3.2
1. Imagine that you are a circuit supervisor performing your role as a
curriculum adviser and teacher supporter. Write down three things that
you will do when you visit a school in your circuit.
2. As a circuit supervisor performing your role as an evaluator of teaching
and learning, write down any three things that you will do to help
improve teaching and learning in the schools in your circuit.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Supervision of instruction at the school level

Wiles & Bondi (1985) are of the view that for effective supervision of
instruction to happen at the school level, there must be assisting, linking,
and development tasks.

What do these tasks involve?

Assisting tasks of the supervisor

Orientating new teachers: It is the task of all categories of supervisors to
assist classroom teachers particularly the new ones. Even though it is
expected that headteachers will work with new teachers to feel comfortable
in their classrooms, the supervisor should not assume that new teachers will

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clearly understand all that they need to do on the job (Wiles and Bondi
1986). Since a newly-trained teacher in a classroom all by himself/herself
takes a long time to find his/her feet, supervisors should mount district-level
or circuit-level professional orientation programmes for new teachers in
their first term.

General crisis resolution: Teachers have needs, both in and out of their
classrooms and one of the most important tasks for supervisors is to be
available to help teachers to resolve their problems to enable them be
effective. The resolution of teachers’ personal and professional crises is a
supervisor’s contribution to the improvement of classroom conditions. In
this respect, the supervisor has an advantage over the headteacher of the
school in the sense that because the former knows of similar situations in
other schools he/she has a better understanding of school conditions which
he/she brings to the setting. The supervisor may also be aware of a resource
that the school can obtain to help solve a particular problem.

Interpreting instructional materials: In the past two decades there have

been significant curriculum changes in our schools. Changes have also
occurred in instructional materials and textbooks. The supervisor as an
instructional leader, helping to achieve instructional improvement, whether
operating from within the school or from outside the school, is expected to
spend much time helping teachers to understand and use such materials. In
particular, the supervisor must ensure that if an instructional system is
introduced, teachers use them as designed by the curriculum developers.

Linking tasks of the supervisor

Observing and evaluating teachers: As has been observed earlier, the
most prominent role of supervisiors is to observe and judge teachers. Wiles
and Bondi (1986) observe that in the old days supervisors conducted
inspections according to a picture in their heads of what they considered a
good teacher should be. Today, school districts are much more concerned
that the teacher should be effective in achieving desired results as the
curriculum is delivered.

As a result of this change of attitude towards teachers by the supervisor the

latter is now called upon to enter the classroom to look for those skills that
according to research, contribute to institutional effectiveness. The task of
the supervisor is to link the performance of the teacher with the expectations
of the instructional programme. For this reason, there are no good or bad
teachers, but only effective and ineffective ones; supervision should
therefore aim at transforming ineffective teachers into effective ones.

Demonstration teaching: A supervisor of instruction has to give teachers

the opportunity to observe him/her teach to help them to improve their
skills. The assumption is that a supervisor is an effective teacher. Such
effectiveness should therefore be demonstrated in the classroom. However,

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teachers have repeatedly observed that though supervisors preach at them,

they themselves rarely can deliver what is asked for in a live classroom. As
a linking task then, demonstration teaching seeks to close the gap between
the desired and the actual condition of teaching.

Development tasks of the supervisor

One of the development tasks of a supervisor is to help each school to write
a school improvement plan. The supervisor leads the staff of a school
through a series of steps of clarify the goals of all existing instructional
programmes and identify any discrepancies that may exist between what is
desired and what currently exists. The differences between the ideal and the
reality then become a series of instructional targets scheduled over a period.

Another development task of supervisors is the initiation of new

programmes. Supervisors bring new ideas to the local school because they
have a greater opportunity to learn what is going on in other schools within
and outside the district. As these new ideas are gathered, the supervisor
initiates a new programme. This pollination role is one of the most
important roles of the supervisor (Wiles and Bondi, 1986).

Activity 3.3
1. Name three things that an instructional supervisor does in the course of
performing his/her assisting tasks.
2. What activities are involved in the linking tasks of an instructional
supervisor?
3. State briefly three activities that an instructional supervisor should carry
out as part of his/her development tasks.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

You have come to the end of yet another section. What have you learnt in
this section? The section focused on the following salient points.

Instructional supervisors must bear in mind some guiding principles among

which is that supervision is mainly concerned with improving the setting for
learning; supervision of instruction at both the district and the school levels
is aimed at improving teaching and learning in the school.

We also considered the circuit supervisor as a curriculum adviser, teacher

supporter and an evaluator of teaching and learning.

Finally, we discussed the assisting, linking and development tasks of the

supervisor through which he/she brings about effective supervision of
instruction.

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UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 4
Unit 3, section
LEVEL4: Instructional supervision at the classroom level

I congratulate you on your completing Sections 1, 2 and 3 of this unit. How

did you find these first three sections? I hope all went well, and you are
happy with your progress. In the previous sections I discussed the definition
of supervision, the objectives and functions of instructional supervision, and
how supervision of instruction is done in the school.

In this section I want to discuss how instructional supervision is done at the

classroom level with special reference to how observation is used as a tool
in instructional supervision.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

 explain various ways of using classroom observation as a tool for
instructional supervision
 differentiate between clinical supervision and traditional supervision
 explain the stages involved in clinical supervision

Using observation as a tool for instructional supervision in the

classroom
One of the commonest tasks of the supervisor is to observe teachers at work
in the classroom to assess live lessons. This helps the supervisor to discover
the needs of the teachers and students, as he/she gains first-hand information
on how students respond to the teacher.

Any method of classroom observation must be valid and reliable, free from
subjectivity and bias, and based on agreed criteria. It must focus on good
classroom practices or good teaching. OFSTED (1993: part 4:48), defines
good teaching as follows:

Where teaching is good students acquire knowledge, skills and

understanding progressively. The lessons have clear aims and purposes.
They cater appropriately for the learning of students with differing abilities
and interests, and ensure good participation for all. The teaching methods
suit the topic or subject as well as the students; the conduct of the lesson
signals high expectations of all students and sets high but attainable
challenges. There is regular feedback which helps students to make
progress, both through marking and discussion of work with students.
Relationships are positive and promote students’ motivation.

Any supervisor or appraiser observing a teacher at work with children in the

classroom must be able to recognise the distinction between performance
and competence.

A teacher’s competence is made up of the skills, abilities, knowledge and

beliefs that are relevant to the process of teaching which the teacher brings
to the classroom. These tend to be relatively the same and stable over time.
Teacher performance, on the other hand, is the behaviour of teachers in the

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classroom at any given time as they plan, teach and evaluate their work. A
supervisor who is assessing the performance of teachers observes student
responses and behaviour, teacher management and organisation skills, and
takes note of personal and social factors. A supervisor must be aware that
teachers may perform better with one group of children, than with another,
and the performance of teachers in the classroom might vary from time to
time.

Elements of classroom observation instrument

The instructional supervisor must realise that teaching and learning are parts
of the same process. It follows, therefore that when a procedure for
classroom observation is being considered within a school for appraisal or
other purposes, the discussion should focus on factors in the classroom
which foster student learning.

For the purpose of such observation Harris (1985:236) has outlined a

comprehensive instrument designed for supervisors’ use as a diagnostic tool
in their observation. In such assessment, the supervisors focus on the salient
aspects of the classroom, the teacher, the student, and the lesson itself.

Observation of broad range of factors

Another approach to observing teachers at work in the classroom is to look
at a broader range of factors such as:
 Planning and preparation of the lesson
 Beginnings, endings and transition between activities
 Selection and presentation of materials
 Appropriateness of content and teaching strategies
 Communication including verbal and non-verbal skills
 Progression within a subject area over time
 Pace of the lesson, and work of the children
 Differentiation within teaching, learning and tasks
 Discipline and control
 Assessment of students’ work
 Record-keeping and use of records to plan work

Using the ideal state as yardstick

A similar approach might be based on a series of statements describing the
ideal state which teachers would wish to achieve in their teaching. The
observer in this case would comment on the extent to which each intention
has been met as part of the appraisal process. It is important that in each
school the staff should establish its own set of statements. The staff can
agree on a list of statements from the following examples:

Clarity of objectives. The purposes of the lesson are clear to teacher and
students.

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Appropriateness of objectives. The objectives lead to tasks that are neither

too easy nor too difficult for the students. They are appropriate and
understood by the students.

Organisation of the lesson. The individual parts of the lesson are clearly
related to each other in a suitable way. The total structure of the lesson
facilitates learning.

Selection of content. The content is appropriate for the age and ability of
the students, for the objectives of the lesson, and for the teaching methods
used.

Selection of teaching methods. The teaching methods used are suitable for
the age, ability and numbers of students in the group and will help the
teacher to achieve the lesson objectives. Students will experience individual,
group and whole-class teaching across a series of lessons.

Selection of materials. The materials and human resources used are clearly
related to the content of the lesson and complement the teaching methods.

Beginning the lesson. Students come quickly to attention and direct

themselves to the task to be accomplished.

Clarity of presentation. The content of the lesson is presented so that it is

understandable to the students. Different points of view and specific
illustrations are used when appropriate.

Pacing of lessons. The movement of one part of the lesson to the next is
governed by the students’ achievement. The teacher stays with the class and
adjusts the tempo accordingly.

Student participation and attention. The class is attentive. When

appropriate the students actively participate in the lesson.

Ending the lesson. The lesson is ended when the students have achieved the
objectives of instruction. There is a deliberate attempt to tie together the
planned and chance events of the lesson and relate them to the immediate
objectives and long-term aims of the teaching.

Teacher-student relationship. The personal relationships between teacher

and students are harmonious and conducive to productive work.

Variety of evaluation procedures. The teacher devises and uses an

adequate variety of procedures, both formal and informal, to evaluate
progress in all the objectives of the lesson.

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Use of evaluation to improve teaching. The results of evaluation are

carefully reviewed by teacher and students for purposes of improving
teaching and learning.

This list is rather long but as I said at the beginning of this subtopic, the staff
of the school is expected to select some of these examples to establish its
own set of statements which it can then use to structure classroom
observation. Please, note that the list above consists of a series of
performance indicators that can help teachers to organise their work in
classrooms. It can also help to clarify the focus of the observations that take
place as part of the appraisal process.

Observation checklist
Yet another possible approach is for the observation to be based on some
measure of performance on an agreed scale. An example of this approach is
provided in the table below:

5 4 3 2 1
Very Weak Sound Good Very
poor good
Purpose/Intended outcome
Preparation of materials
Relevant student activities
Individual differences
Initial motivation
Communication
Questioning
Class control
Guiding/Advising
Conclusion of lesson
Marking/Assessing
Recording
Evaluation
Table 4.1 A checklist for observing teachers’ classroom performance

You must note that every attempt to structure classroom observations has its
weaknesses and is subject to varying interpretations. It is therefore
important that everyone involved should understand and agree with the
methods to be adopted and know what the criteria are, and how they should
be interpreted. All those involved also need to know how the data that is
collected will be used, and who will have access to it.

After clear criteria have been adopted for use as a basis for classroom
observation (as part of teacher appraisal), a series of observations is likely to
be more useful than a single one. Although this may be time consuming, it
will ensure that the observation element of teacher appraisal helps the
teacher to develop professionally rather than be used to judge him or her.

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Activity 4.1
1. What is the difference between teacher competence and teacher
performance?
2. List four attributes of good teaching.
………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………

Clinical supervision
One of the major duties of the supervisor is to observe classroom teaching
and counsel teachers so that he can help them improve upon their teaching
skills. Soon after observing classroom teaching, the supervisor meets the
teacher and gives him suggestions for improving his teaching. This form of
supervision is described as traditional. In this unit, we will introduce to you
another type of supervision called clinical supervision.

In traditional supervision, the supervisor provides suggestions to the teacher

which the latter often does not find helpful. The basic problem is that
supervisors usually provide information and suggestions on problems they
themselves are concerned with but not on the problems experienced by
teachers in their classroom. Besides, the supervisory conference tends
towards a pattern in which the supervisor talks while the teacher listens.

Clinical supervision versus traditional supervision

Over a period of years the clinical supervision approach has been developed
to change this unproductive pattern of communication and supervision.
Clinical supervision emphasises teacher growth; traditional supervision
emphasises teacher defects. Practitioners of clinical supervision assume that
teachers possess the drive and personal resources to solve their problems;
traditional supervision, all too often, casts the supervisor in the role of a
superior telling the teacher what needs to be changed and how to change it.
Clinical supervision tends to produce a self-directed teacher; traditional
supervision tends to produce a teacher who cannot operate unless directed
by someone.

Activity 4.2
Tabulate the differences between clinical supervision and traditional
supervision.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………
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What is clinical supervision?

Clinical supervision is a five-step process that aims at helping the teacher
identify and clarify problems, receive data from the supervisor, and develop
solutions with the aid of the supervisor. The five steps of clinical
supervision are:
 Pre-observation conference
 Observation
 Analysis and strategy
 Supervisory or post-observation conference
 Post-conference analysis.

Why is it necessary for the supervisor to have a chat with the teacher before
observing the teacher’s teaching?

Pre-observation conference
This is a meeting between a teacher and a supervisor who intends to sit in a
teacher’s class and observe him/her teach. The objectives of the pre-
observation conference are to
 establish or re-establish rapport
 get a briefing on the group of students to be observed
 receive information on the lesson to be taught and suggest minor
changes that might improve the lesson
 set targets (or develop a contract)
 end with some closing understanding of the rest of the clinical
supervision cycle.

In establishing rapport, the supervisor attempts to develop a relaxed

feeling and a sense of identification with the teacher.

Following the establishment of rapport, the supervisor should get oriented

to the class in general, its qualities and characteristics, and the teaching
approaches this class seems to enjoy. While he/she may know a good deal
about the class from official records, the teacher will be in a position to
provide personal insights that will aid them both during the observation
period and in making suggestions in the conference after the observation.
Another orientation technique is for the teacher to describe what the class
has been studying prior to the observation and what will follow. This
enables the supervisor to share a perspective with the teacher and see this
lesson as a continuous rather than an isolated teaching encounter.

The teacher then describes what the class will cover on the day of the
observation, the objectives for the lesson, and how she/he will proceed to
attain these objectives. At this point, if the supervisor has some question
about a particular part of the lesson, he/she might ask the teacher for
clarification, and may then make minor suggestions for improving the
lesson.

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The next step is the setting of targets, sometimes referred to as the

preparation of the contract, that is, agreeing on the purposes of the
observation. The supervisor should encourage the teacher to indicate on
what aspect of the teaching he would like feedback. It is very important that
the teacher should suggest observation objectives. If the teacher has
absolutely no ideas, the supervisor might produce the standard observation
instrument and ask the teacher to indicate any items on which there are
questions that relate to teaching style. Whatever objectives are agreed upon
should be explicit; both the supervisor and the teacher should be quite clear
on the meaning of items in the contract. The supervisor must be sure that the
targets set deal with items of importance in teaching and that the teacher
agrees on the importance of these items.

Before the first phase of the pre-observation conference ends the supervisor
should inform the teacher that the supervisor will be taking notes during
the lesson. The supervisor should indicate also that there will be no brief
post-mortem evaluation at the end of the lesson, but set a conference time
with the teacher and suggest that the teacher prepare his/her own analysis of
the lesson, particularly with respect to the targets agreed upon.

Observation
As the observer, the supervisor should enter the room as unobtrusively as
possible, avoid eye-contact with children and teacher and get seated as
quickly as possible near the door – not at the back of the class!

The primary purpose of the observation is to record in writing all that goes
on in the lesson. Writing is preferable to recording on audiotape because it
is more accessible for lesson analysis. It is very important that the
supervisor records exactly what occurs, not his/her interpretation. It is also
important that he/she does not take notes just on what he/she considers
important. A relatively unimportant incident in isolation may become
meaningful in the larger context of the entire lesson. At the end of the
observation, the supervisor again slip out of the room quietly and
unobtrusively.

Activity 4.3
Write down four important things that the supervisor must do at the
observation stage.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Analysis and strategy

The supervisor first reviews his/her notes with respect to the targets agreed
upon. He/She looks for specific incidents in his/her notes that relate to the

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target items. Once he/she has made his/her analysis of the items in the
contract and are certain that the notes adequately record what took place
during the observation, he/she must review his/her notes for significant
teacher patterns and critical incidents. Teacher patterns refer to recurring
teacher verbal and nonverbal behaviour such as repeating a word, calling on
the same students, or frowning often during the lesson, or using the same
phrase or word throughout the lesson for student reinforcement. Critical
incidents are those teacher activities during the lesson that profoundly
affect the lesson in either a positive or negative direction.

Once all analysis is complete, the supervisor must decide on his/her strategy
how he/she will proceed during the conference. He/She will need to
consider
 how defensive the teacher is,
 the nature of his/her relationship with the teacher, and
 the ability of the teacher to implement any changes that he/she might
suggest

For a successful conference, the following details should be carefully

planned:
 who will begin the conference,
 what item should be dealt with first, and
 the arrangement of the physical setting

Generally speaking, it is better for the supervisor to deal with the contract or
target items first and then, with the agreement of the teacher, to move on to
other items that emerged from his/her analysis of the observation. The
conference may begin with a review of the teacher’s objectives, outlined to
the supervisor in the pre-observation conference. Then both teacher and
supervisor might discuss to what degree and for how many children the
objectives were achieved. Plans for remedial teaching and follow-up
activities can grow from such a beginning. Regardless of how the
conference is begun, a sensitivity on the part of the supervisor to what the
teacher feels his needs are will serve as the best guide to an appropriate
beginning.

Supervisory or post-observation conference

Many supervisors may be familiar with this conference because it is the
only one they hold under traditional supervision. The objectives of the post-
observation conference are to
 review the contract items
 make specific references from notes
 give chance to the teachers to comment on their own performance and
what they think you have observed
 discuss the supervisor’s monitoring instrument, if any

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 plan cooperatively with teachers a lesson that incorporates the

supervisor’s suggestions (if appropriate).

During the post-observation conference the teacher gets feedback on those

aspects of teaching that are of concern to him/her. The supervisor should
begin with positive comments and then offer suggestions for improvement.
It is suggested that he/she should provide mostly positive feedback to the
highly defensive teacher and a balance of positive and negative feedback to
the more stable teacher. Whatever option he/she chooses, the supervisor
should make his/her feedback specific by referring to his/her notes.

As a final step in the conference, the supervisor may help the teacher plan
his/her next lesson incorporating the improvements both of them have
identified.

Post-conference analysis
This final step in clinical supervision represents self-evaluation for the
supervisor who reviews the conference just completed and evaluates its
strengths and weaknesses. Questions he/she will want to consider include:
 Did I respect the teacher’s professional integrity?
 Did I repeat comments and use professional jargon which gave the
appearance of agreement between us where no agreement actually
existed?
 Was the discussion time balanced between the teacher and me?
 Was feedback on contract items specific and supported with reference to
the classroom observation notes?
 Was the analysis of the lesson adequate in light of the teacher’s
interpretation?
 Was the contract satisfactory? Was it specific? Was I successful in
getting the teacher to place items in the contract that were of concern to
him?

Traditional supervisor versus clinical supervisor

The aims of traditional supervision and clinical supervision are similar – to
improve instruction. However, in traditional supervision, as usually
practised, there is a tacit assumption that the supervisor is the instructional
expert. By contrast, in clinical supervision the supervisor and the teacher are
both assumed to be instructional experts, with the teacher identifying his/her
concerns and the supervisor assisting the teacher in analysing the lesson and
developing improved lessons. The clinical supervisor sees the teacher as an
able colleague and demonstrates this through his/her supervisory behaviour.

Activity 4.5
Refer to Activity 4.3 and add to your answers any new points that you have
discovered.
………………………………………………………………………………

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In this section you learned about various ways of using observation as a tool
for instructional supervision. You also discussed the stages involved in
clinical supervision which are:
 Pre-observation conference
 Observation
 Analysis and strategy
 Supervisory or post-observation conference
 Post-conference analysis.

In addition, you compared and contrasted clinical supervision with

traditional supervision.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION PROBLEMS OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN GHANA
UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 5
Unit 3, section 5: Problems of instructional supervision in Ghana

Hello, I congratulate you on your having completed the first four sections of
this unit. I now welcome you to Section 5. This section is devoted to the
study of the problems that beset instructional supervision in schools in
Ghana.

By the time you finish going through this section, you will be able to:
 identify the various factors that militate against supervision of
instruction in schools.
 discuss how the factors that hinder effective instructional supervision in
our schools can be dealt with.

As a teacher, I suppose you have been involved in one way or the other in
instructional supervision in a bid to promote effective teaching and learning
in your school.

From your observation, what are some of the factors that hinder effective
supervision in your school?

In Ghana, the general perception of many stakeholders in education is that

the supervision of instruction at the district, school, and classroom levels is
ineffective. Poor teaching and learning outcomes are largely blamed on
ineffective supervision. In spite of all these criticisms supervision is an
occasional affair and quite often serves only as a token activity that is
unable to achieve the objectives it is meant to achieve. I shall in the next few
pages discuss the following problems of supervision:
 Indefinite location of authority and responsibility
 Lack of time for supervision
 Negative attitude of teachers toward supervisor
 Lack of mobility on the part of supervisors

Indefinite location of authority and responsibility

Boardman et al (1953) point out that one of the difficult problems in the
organisation of instructional supervision is that of clearly defining the
relationships of the various supervision agencies. They further observe that
it is a sound principle in industry or commerce that the organisation of any
activity must provide for definite location of authority and responsibility,
and definite assignment of duties and functions. This principle is equally
valid in the organisation of educational activities such as instructional
supervision.

Now, let us look at how instructional supervision is organised in our

schools, and the relationships between the agencies involved in instructional
supervision. Every district education directorate has an Assistant Director in
charge of school supervision. This official has other officers who work with
him/her. They operate from the district education office. They supervise
instruction in all the schools under them and assess the performance of

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teachers. There is also a Circuit Supervisor, who although comes directly

under the Assistant Director in charge supervision of instruction, is stationed
at one of the towns in his/her circuit to enable him/her be close to the
schools under him/her. The Circuit Supervisor visits the schools to help
improve teaching and learning in these schools by providing professional
guidance and advice to teachers and school heads. They are also involved in
monitoring the learning and teaching process, evaluating head of schools’
management skills, evaluating teachers’ professional competency and
providing needed support for the teachers to perform better in their
classrooms.

The head of school who is of course based in the school where the
curriculum is in action also undertakes instructional supervision. It is his/her
duty to provide training for the teachers to improve their professional
performance. The head of school has to study the performance of the
teachers and gather reliable information on them over a period of time not
only to have a fair assessment of these teachers, but to enable him/her to
help the teachers grow professionally.

From what you have read so far, which of the three officers mentioned has
the real authority and responsibility to supervise instruction in our schools?

In this situation, there is the need for the educational authorities to assign
definite duties to each of the three identified officers in charge of
supervision of instruction in our schools to avoid the duplication of efforts
and sometimes unhealthy rivalry which may result in nobody performing
this important task. The Ghana Education Service must define clearly the
authority of each office, and allocate functions and duties so that confusion,
misunderstanding, and conflict about jurisdiction and responsibilities may
be avoided. Such a step will go a long way to provide the means and
methods which will ensure harmonious cooperation, coordination, and
correlation of efforts to improve instruction in our schools.

Lack of time for supervision

The second problem that has been found to be preventing supervision of
instruction in schools on the part of the head of school is finding time to
supervise. In the matter of instructional supervision in the classroom, the
head of school is expected to be a lead or first-line supervisor.

As institutional heads, they are expected to be fully conversant with what is

happening in their classrooms. It is beneficial for them to know the level of
competence of every teacher in the classroom. Therefore, from time to time
a head of school should sit in and assess a lesson from the beginning to the
end and thereafter discuss his/her observations with the teacher concerned.
Because of their dual role as administrators and supervisors many head of
schools find it impracticable to perform this supervisory duty. Hoffman
(1958) analysed some of the problems which confront head of schools,

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particularly beginning head of schools. He points out that some of the things
which encroach upon supervising time of the head of school are: public
relations activities, administrative duties, meetings, problems of discipline,
personnel problems and parent difficulties. Many head of schools attempt to
do these things, which seem more pressing and important, first; and since
these take a greater part of their time, supervisory effort is forced into
second place, and they never find time to supervise.

Similarly, in most schools where the head of schools are not detached, ie not
freed from classroom teaching, teaching takes a large part of the head of
school’s time; so that he/she is unable to give deserving attention to
supervision of instruction.

Hoffman uses the figure below to illustrate the percentage distribution of the
problems facing school heads:

KEY
Administration 45%

Non-Administration 55%

Figure 1: Distribution of problems related to duties of new head of schools

What suggestions would you give for solving the problem of inability of
head of schools to have time to supervise instruction in their schools?

I suggest that head of schools be freed from teaching responsibilities so that

they will have enough time to concentrate, not on teaching, but on other
things including supervision of instruction.

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Negative attitude of teachers toward supervisors

Some teachers generally adopt uncooperative attitude toward instructional
supervisors. This is probably one of the most potent factors that hinder
instructional supervision. Some teachers believe that their knowledge of
what they do in the classroom is superior to that of the head of school or the
visiting supervisor from some distant education office. Hence the supervisor
is not received cheerfully by some teachers. This is particularly the case
when the teachers concerned are holders of a diploma or degree from
universities. Such diploma and graduate teachers may not fully accept the
competence of their circuit supervisors who may not hold degrees, the rich
professional experience of the latter, notwithstanding. In the teaching job,
academic qualification seems to carry more weight than professional
experience. This phenomenon militates against effective supervision.

As a teacher who has been in the classroom for several years, what do you
think can be done to remedy this situation?

I suggest that the Ghana Education Service (GES) should select a good
number of experienced graduate teachers who have specialised or
demonstrated interest in the art of teaching in the school, give them further
training and appoint them as Head of schools and Circuit Supervisors to
supervise instruction in the school.

Lack of mobility on the part of supervisors

How many times in a year does the circuit supervisor of the school in which
you work visit your school to help the teachers improve upon teaching and
learning? These instructional supervisors who are supposed to visit teachers
in their schools to help them develop professionally are in most cases unable
to do so as frequently as one would expect.

The question then is, what prevents them from visiting the schools?

Supervision demands frequent movements between the district office, the

circuit offices, and the various schools wherever they may be located. For
such frequent movements, supervisors require a means of transport. Under
the present economic situation in Ghana, it is impossible for individual
officers to acquire personal means of transport. Each district education
office currently has two vehicles one of which is reserved for the use of the
District Director of Education. The other vehicle which is meant for
miscellaneous functions, is generally not available when it comes to
transporting supervisors from the district capital to schools.

Although some circuit supervisors have been supplied with motor bicycles,
the problem has only been partially solved, because those supervisors who
have motor bicycles face the problem of irregular supply of fuel for the
bicycles due to inadequate funds available at the district education offices.

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As a result of lack of official vehicles most supervisors have to rely on

public means of transport. Under such circumstances the schools in the very
remote areas who need the supervisors most, rarely receive visits from them.

Some supervisors are able to travel to the schools using their own money
expecting reimbursement shortly after their visits. Such reimbursements are
deferred until the quarterly government subventions are paid. These
subventions, besides being sometimes delayed, are often inadequate. Such
supervisors therefore do not usually get a full refund of their expenses, a
situation which discourages them from undertaking any further journeys at
their own expense.

Solving the problems of instructional supervision

To solve the problems of instructional supervision which have been
described earlier, I offer the following suggestions
 All categories of supervisors who operate in schools must each have
their jobs clearly defined to avoid duplication and conflict.
 Head of schools should be detached, that is, should not be saddled with
teaching a class of their own. This will free them to do a better job at
helping teachers to improve teaching and learning.
 Supervisors who operate at the school level should be carefully selected
to ensure that they are both academically and professionally qualified to
earn the respect of classroom teachers
 All supervisors of instruction must be helped financially by the Ghana
Education Service to acquire their personal means of transport which
they can use in going round the schools to step up instructional
supervision.
 Reasonable levels of vehicle maintenance allowances should be paid to
supervisors who use their personal vehicles to go to the schools
 Supervisors must be granted weekly allocation of fuel.
 All circuit supervisors must be helped to own motor bicycles which will
be fuelled regularly to enable them reach the village schools.
 All district directors of education must be helped to own their personal
means of transport. This will enable them to release the official vehicles
at the district offices for the purpose of stepping up instructional
supervision in the remote areas.
 The conditions of work of instructional supervisors should be made
attractive to entice highly qualified personnel to the district education
offices to help improve teaching and learning in our schools.

Activity 5.1
1. Identify and explain three factors that hinder effective supervision of
instruction in our schools.

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2. If you were a District Director of Education, what three steps would you
take to help improve instructional supervision in the schools in your
district?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

In this section I have discussed with you the problems that hinder the
promotion of effective instructional supervising in our schools in Ghana. I
have also tried to identify some ways through which these hindrances can be
cleared.

Until we meet again at Section 6, the last one in this unit, I say keep reading.
Good luck.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION MANAGING INSTRUCTIONAL TIME
UNIT
AND 3 SECTION
SUPERVISION 6
Unit 3, section 6: Managing instructional time

You are welcome to the last section of this unit. In the preceding section, I
discussed the problems that are associated with supervision of instruction in
schools. I am sure that you now know the things that prevent your head of
school, circuit supervisor, and other supervisors from coming to your
classroom to help you improve upon your teaching.

In this section, I am going to discuss one important factor that is crucial to

improving teaching and learning in a school, ie making effective use of
instructional time. When a teacher does the right thing at the right time,
he/she is making efficient and effective use of instructional time.

By the time you work to the end of this section you should be able to:
 explain what is meant by instructional time
 describe how to help teachers to use syllabuses and schemes of work to
plan for the effective use of their instructional time
 explain the regulations governing the use of instructional time
 discuss how to plan the school timetable
 explain how to manage instructional time in the classroom

Activity 6.1
Explain in your own words what instructional time means.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

What instructional time means

Instructional time refers to the time when teachers are supposed to be in
school to teach students. Teachers must make effective use of instructional
time so that students will reap the full benefit of the time they spend in
school. It is therefore crucial for teachers to learn how to use instructional
time properly without wasting the time of students. For this reason head of
schools, circuit supervisors and district directors of education must ensure
that instructional time is properly used.

Can you think of some ways through which teachers misuse instructional
time of their students?

Some teachers often absent themselves from school. Some of them, who
may be in school, do things other than teaching, such as conversing with
other teachers and receiving visitors. Teachers also sometimes send the
students on errands and thus deprive them of instructional time, and for that
matter, instruction.

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Syllabus and scheme of work

In order to ensure effective use of students’ learning time, the teacher must
engage the students in relevant learning activities. It is the duty of the head
of school, who is also an instructional supervisor and is always in the
school, to help teachers in this direction by making sure that the most
current syllabuses are in use at the school. Head of schools have to
encourage teachers to study their syllabuses to enable them know the topics
and other requirements outlined in them.

How can a head of school help his/her teachers to study the syllabuses?

A head of school should organise periodic inservice training sessions where

he/she can lead the teachers in a discussion of the current syllabuses. The
head of school should encourage the teachers to use the syllabuses in
preparing schemes of work for all the subjects that they teach.

Of what importance is the scheme of work?

The scheme of work helps the teacher to use instructional time effectively.
To prepare a scheme of work the teacher breaks down the broad topics of
the syllabus into subtopics and arranges them in a logical order. The teacher
then estimates the amount of time (in weeks) to be spent on each topic.
He/She plans in such a way that topics will be taught at the most suitable
time of the year. The scheme of work indicates the topic(s) that will be
taught every week of the term.

Lesson notes
The head of school should make sure that the teachers write adequate and
up-to-date notes for teaching in the classroom. In order to do this well, the
head of school must himself/herself be very conversant with the syllabuses
so that he/she can vet the teachers’ schemes of work to find out whether
they have followed the syllabuses. The head of school should vet the
teachers’ notes at the beginning of every week. The notebooks should be
returned to the teachers with the necessary comments and suggestions
before they start teaching on Monday.

Activity 6.2
Some of the things teachers do with children can be aptly described as a
waste of time. State four of such things.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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Regulations on instructional time

I’d like to turn your attention to the rules regarding the use of instructional
time as laid down by the Ghana Education Service (GES). These rules are
meant to guide the head of school and the other teachers to know what they
are supposed to do during school hours.

To ensure proper allocation of time during school hours, the GES has
provided blank timetables to be filled by the head of school. The periods can
be adapted to suit the local situation of the school concerned. In order to
minimize the loss of student’s learning time, the Director General of the
Ghana Education Service (GES) issued a circular Reference Number
GES/DG/011/11/22 dated 22nd April 1993 to all District Directors of
Education.

The letter stated among other things that:

 all meetings of head of schools and teachers with District Education
Officers or Circuit Supervisors should be reduced to a minimum and
should take place outside official school hours.
 preparation for and holding of sporting and other events should take
place outside official school hours except as are authorised by the
Minister of Education.
 except for very urgent reasons, head of schools and teachers wishing to
visit district or regional education offices or the national headquarters
should do so outside official school hours.

I hope you know that these directives on meetings cover staff and GNAT
meetings as well.

The GES regulations on instructional time state that:

 all one-session schools start at 8:00am and close at 2:00pm.
 in shift schools the morning shift starts at 7:00am and ends at 12:15pm
while the afternoon shift begins at 12:15pm and ends at 4:45pm.

Teachers are advised to use instructional time as specified on the timetable

and not on any other activities. Hence teachers should start class work just
after morning assembly. They should mark the class register and close them
on time and hand over these registers to the head of schools soon after they
have marked and closed them. Once the registers have been marked lessons
should start.

This brings us to another important sub topic, planning the school timetable.

Planning the school timetable

As has been discussed earlier, the GES has suggested blank timetables for
the head of school to fill, and in the process, adapt the periods to suit local
situations. For example, a head of school has to consider the local
conditions in deciding when the school day will begin. The following are

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examples of occasions when the head of school may have to modify his/her
timetable:
 During the rainy season when the school may have to open late because
of morning rain, the head of school should make up for lost time by
closing later than normal.
 Sometimes certain local ceremonies or annual festivals take place in the
morning. On such days, in order to solve the problem of mass lateness, it
will be necessary to open late and close late.
 In some instances the festivity may take place in the afternoon. Unless
you start and close school early, you may find yourself in the situation
where many children will absent themselves from classes. As a result,
they lose valuable instructional time.
 On market days, some children come to school late because they help
their parents with their wares to the market. The head of school can open
school late on market days to enable the students to give this help to
their parents and yet come to school on time. This may encourage the
children who always absent themselves on market days to stop that
habit. However, head of schools must remember to seek the prior
approval of the District Director of Education about any amendments
they intend to make in their timetable.

The head of school should prepare a general timetable and display it openly
in his/her office. (Teachers should then copy their individual class timetable
and display it prominently in their individual classroom). Thus, the head of
school can at a glance see what is happening in every class. This can help
him/her to monitor what is going on in each classroom.

Managing instructional time in the classroom

Head of schools should ensure that teachers make good use of students’
learning time. They should therefore know how students and teachers
manage instructional time in the classroom. They should make sure that
both students and teachers are punctual at all times. Break times and lesson
times should be adhered to strictly.

Activity 6.3
Identify three things which teachers do to cause the loss of students’
learning time.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Lesson plans
It is important for the teachers to follow their lesson plans as much as
possible. The head of school must vet the lesson plans of his/her teachers to
see if they contain the following:

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 a proper introduction
 a logically-ordered presentation
 appropriate student activities
 well-prepared teaching-learning materials
 an evaluation component to check whether the stated objectives have
been achieved or not.

It is also important for head of schools to vet the lesson plans of their
teachers because instructional time is used effectively when teachers present
lessons systematically in the classroom.

Group work
Teachers can also use instructional time effectively by doing group
activities. Group work can help students learn better in some lessons. Group
work can be very useful if students have to:
 learn at different rates or levels
 use different sets of materials
 share and examine items
 observe something
 perform an experiment
 talk about things together
 solve problems

Grouping the students in a lesson, enables them to do things systematically

so that they avoid wasting instructional time in the classroom. As a teacher,
you can use learning time effectively by:
 asking students questions
 calling upon students randomly to do some activity
 moving around the class to assist individuals who may need help

Marking of students’ work

Teachers sometimes lose a great deal of instructional time by marking
students’ work during instructional hours. The head of school should,
therefore, ensure that teachers mark students’ work while going round to
supervise children’s work, and also during their free time. By way of
finding out whether instructional time has been used profitably by the
teachers and the students the head of school should inspect students’work
from time to time to find out the following:
 the progress of work
 amount of work done
 relevance and appropriateness of the work done
 quality of the teacher’s marking

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Activity 6.4
State two circumstances in which a head of school may have to modify
his/her timetable. Describe the modification that will have to be made in
each case.
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..

In this section you have learned the definition of instructional time. You
have also learned of some ways through which teachers misuse instructional
time. You have considered the rules guiding the use of instructional time,
how the timetable is planned, and finally how the teacher can manage
instructional time in the classroom.

Let me congratulate you on your having come this far. Keep reading over
the unit and note down the salient points.

Bye for now.

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AND SUPERVISION Unit 3,
This page
section
is left6:blank
Managing
for your
instructional
notes time

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4
AND SUPERVISION

C S
ON
TENT

PARTNERSHIP IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

SECTION 1 SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS 172

SECTION 2 PRINCIPLES OF GOOD SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS 180

SECTION 3 DECENTRALISATION: TYPES AND BENEFITS 186

SECTION 4 EFFORTS AT DECENTRALISATION IN GHANA 192

SECTION 5 TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ADMINSTRATION 198

SECTION 6 VARIOUS PLAYERS IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 206

the adinkra symbol used in the UEW crest

Mate masie I have heard what you have said

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 PARTNERSHIP IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
XXXXXXX 4
UNIT Unit X, section X: XXXXXXX

Dear learner, I am pleased to note that you are about to start the fourth and
final unit of this course on school administration and supervision. The
theme for this unit is Partnerships in School Administration. In Unit 3 you
learnt about instructional supervision in the school.

In this unit I am going to discuss some interesting issues such as why and
how the school should relate to the community.

By the time you work to the end of this unit, you will be able to:
 discuss why the school should relate to the community
 discuss how the school should relate to the community
 identify the barriers to the relationship between the school and the
community
 explain what decentralisation means
 discuss the opportunities given to teachers to participate in school
administration
 identify various players in school administration

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UEW/IEDE 171
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS
UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 1
Unit 4, section 1: School – community relations

Welcome to the first section of Unit 4 which deals with school-community

relations. In this section I will focus on the nature of school-community
relations, why there should be a relationship between the school and the
community in which it finds itself, and lastly, what is it that prevents the
school and the community to have the type of relationship which they need
to have.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

 distinguish between the school and the community
 discuss what is meant by school-community relations
 explain why there is the need for the school and the community to relate
to each other
 identify the factors that prevent the school and the community from
relating to each other

School community versus school’s community

Before I start discussing what school-community relations is, I want you to
be clear about the two important concepts in the topic. These are school and
community.

A school is a formal organisation for educating or giving instruction,

especially to children under 19 years of age. It is an institution that is set up
to help control the environment and ensure the development of young
children to enable them live as useful citizens. It has a population
comprising students, teachers, and non-teaching staff. It has a compound
with a number of buildings, playing grounds and gardens. The authority in
the school has been so structured that the head of school is at the top with
the assistant head directly under him/her. After them come the individual
teachers, school prefects, class prefects, and the rest of the students. In a
school community, there are social relationships in which teachers interact
with students, teachers interact with fellow teachers and students interact
with other students. As a result of these social relationships in the school, its
population have a sense of belonging together; hence it is referred to as the
school community.

Pause and cast your mind back to your present school, and reflect on what
happens in the school on a typical school day.

Can you rightly call it a day in the life of a school community?

Now, let me go on to what I mean by community. A community is a group

a individuals living in an area and who share a common life, practices and
sentiments. This definition, as you can see, can apply to a village. It cannot,
however, apply to a non-village community. In an urban centre the people in
the community do not have common sentiments, because they have different

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interests, and different aspirations. There are sub-communities within an

urban community.

Now, let us turn our attention to what is meant by a school’s community.

The school’s community is the area within which the school finds itself and
from which the school is fed with children. A school’s community can be a
village or group of villages in a rural area. A village school that draws its
students entirely from the village has a limited community composed only
of the people in that village.

On the other hand, the community for a school like Mfantsipim School is
the whole country as the students in that school are drawn from the whole
country. The students are also trained for the community which, in this case,
is the whole country.

Important constituents in the community include traditional rulers,

individual citizens, voluntary organisations, business concerns, institutions
of higher education, parents and external organisations. Campbell et al
(1977) observe that school communities can be characterised as rural or
urban, as farm or non-farm, industrial or residential, and as upper, middle or
lower class. The type of community obviously has a strong impact on the
type of school that may be established as well as the kind of relationship
that can exist between that community and the school.

Activity 1.1
Briefly state the difference between a school’s community and a school
community.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

School-community relations what is it?

I know you are eager to find out what is meant by school-community
relations. School-community relations simply refers to what the school (on
one hand) and the various agencies in the community (on the other hand)
have to do with each other. Kindred (1957) defines school-community
relations as

a process of communication between the school and the community for the
purpose of increasing citizen understanding of educational needs and
practices and encouraging intelligent citizen interest and cooperation in the
work of improving the school.

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The question one may ask is What has the school got to do with the
community and what has the community got to do with the school? This
brings me to the next sub-topic:

Why the school should relate to the community

Every modern society sets up a school as a social vehicle to transmit its
culture to the young ones. Max Lener, cited in Asiedu-Akrofi (1978:45)
says

the school is concerned in getting the society to confront and know itself ---
its purpose, its limitation, its aims and ethics…. In this kind of
confrontation, the school must dare to play a very important role.

The school and the community must therefore relate closely for very good
reasons. Citizens in the community are part-owners of the school. They own
shares in the school by virtue of the fact that it is their children that are
being prepared for the community and more so it is their taxes that support
the schools. As part-owners of the school, the citizens in the community
receive dividends in the form of formal education for their children. Because
the ownership of the school is shared by the people in the community, the
citizens in the community as well as those who administer the school have a
responsibility to each other. The school administrator must supply people in
the community with accurate and adequate information about how the
school operates to enable the people in the community to form intelligent
opinions and transmit their thinking to the officials of the school. If the
school furnishes taxpayers and parents with complete and accurate
information about its needs and activities the people in the community,
participating as partners in the educational enterprise, will help the school
meet its needs. The people in the community must also have access to
pertinent facts and ideas to enable them participate in rational discussions
among themselves and with those who manage the school. Hence the
importance of the school relating well with the community in which it finds
itself cannot be overemphasised.

Benefits of school-community relations

Keith and Girling (1991) point out that the establishment of strong school-
community relations brings benefits in several important areas such as the
following:

Student achievement
There is ample evidence that when parents are closely related to the school,
student and organisation performances are enhanced. For example, in a
study involving second and third grade classrooms, Herman and Yeh (1983)
found that parental participation is positively related to both student
achievement and parent satisfaction with the school. Levin and Young
(1994) have also observed that when a school relates closely with its

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community, students perform better than those in schools where the

community does not relate with school.

Political support
Schools that work closely together with their communities gain political
support from such communities. A major benefit from such support is
public funding. This is because the community understands and sympathizes
with the school, its objectives, goals, and programmes. As a result of this the
community establishes a positive political will toward the school. The
school enjoys improved mobilization of resources. When a school adopts a
good-neighbour policy, it can count on the community for continued
support. Business houses, for example, will donate materials and services to
help augment both regular and co-curricular activities. Parents and voluntary
agencies can help with special events such as field trips and open days.

Dissemination of information
When a school relates closely with the community, the latter is kept
informed of changes that are going on in the school. The community, for
example, can be informed of the government’s educational policies such as
the FCUBE, decentralisation, and cost-sharing in education. The community
may also be informed of the number of teachers the country has, and how
many more are needed, how much money the government spends on
education, the number of children in school and those that are not in school
and many more.

Positive child development

While the school has been assigned the primary responsibility of educating
the child, parents also have important roles to play in supplementing at
home what the school provides the child. A close school-community
relation, therefore, assists in meeting the child’s educational needs fully.

Reinforcement of people’s belief in education

A sustained school-community relationship reinforces people’s belief in
education. For this reason, the school must try to provide high quality
instructional programmes for the children. Such programmes should satisfy
the needs of all the children: the gifted, the average and the backward alike.
One sure evidence of the quality of a school’s instructional programme is
scoring high in external examinations. Student success of this type
motivates the members of the community to support the school and satisfy
its needs.

Avoidance of conflicts
When school authorities and communities relate closely, they are able to
take good decisions. The absence of a dialogue can lead to confusion where
every person in the community interprets official action in the way he/she
thinks fit. The resulting misinterpretation will work to the detriment of the

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school and community alike. Hence good school-community relations can

avoid conflicts.

Positive fulfilment of societal goals

A society establishes a school so that it can fulfil the goals and aspirations
of the society. How can the school fulfil this mission without its close
cooperation with the society that established it in the first place? A school
that ignores its community is likely to go astray and operate in a vaccum.
Thus a school’s success is closely related to the degree to which the culture
of the home corresponds with the culture of the school. (Levin and Young,
1994:211).

Conducive learning environment

Collaboration between a school and its community creates learning
environments that are more inclined to address the diverse needs of the
heterogeneous student population. The school becomes open to educational
options that encourage administrators, teachers, parents and students to
think beyond the limits of the organisational and educational paradigms (e.g
particular form or class) within which they are expected to function.

From what I have discussed above, you will realise that cordial relationship
between the school and the community is very beneficial to the two. On the
other hand if the two bodies do not relate well the results include high
school drop-out rate, poor examination results and student indiscipline.

Now, take a break and perform the following activity.

Activity 1.2
 State and explain four reasons why a school should relate well with the
community in which it finds itself.
 Describe five negative things that will happen to the school if it doesn’t
relate well with its community.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

I am sure you know that despite the numerous benefits that a school stands
to gain when it relates well with its community, some schools do not relate
well with their communities. I shall now turn my attention to the factors that
prevent a school and its community from relating well with each other.

Barriers to school-community relations

Lack of recognition of the community
Many school administrators tend to focus so much on monitoring and
planning of specific elements of the school that they fail to recognise that

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the school’s community has potential to influence the school as an

organisation.

Meeting the needs of the clients

Another social barrier arises from the expectation that the school should
serve an array of diverse clients who are different culturally, ethnically,
linguistically, socially and economically. Unfortunately, public schools have
not organised themselves to meet the specific needs of this vast,
heterogeneous student population. At best, schools only organise special
education for students with specific learning needs, such as the hearing or
vision impaired. Students who do not see their needs served by the school
may desire to stand aloof or may go to some private schools which will
serve their specific needs.

Teacher professionalism
The long-standing pursuit of teachers to be accorded professional status
with a unique and specialised body of knowledge makes teachers unwilling
to share their knowledge with non-professional community members even
though such sharing of knowledge brings the school and the community
together. The result is that parent-teacher relations remain poorly developed.
Thus information flow is usually one way, ie from school to parents, usually
informing parents of administrative matters eg impending field trip, a
special holiday on which students should not attend school, or special
school event at which teachers want parents to be present.

Community interference
One complication a school has to face is that of having to deal with the great
diversity of people it serves and the legal obligation to provide equal
educational opportunity for all people. However, school authorities see the
involvement in school affairs of some community members as a nuisance.
They consider that some citizens put up unpredictable behaviour that
damages the school’s carefully planned programmes, while some parents
may insist on the school following their ideas.

Lack of time
Lack of time particularly on the part of parents, has been cited as the
greatest obstacle to the coming together of the school and the community. In
an era when both parents must work to make ends meet, people do not seem
to have enough time to engage in school matters. However, community
members may be able to collaborate in ways that do not always require their
presence at the school site.

Activity 1.3
Identify and briefly explain three factors that hinder the coming together of
the school and the community.
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

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In this section you have learnt that:

 there is a difference between the school’s community and the school
community
 there is the need for the school to relate well with the community from
which it draws its students and gets its funding.
 there are some factors that prevent the school and the community from
relating well to each other.

Bye for now.

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is left notes AND SUPERVISION
relations
blank for your

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UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 2
Unit 4, section 2: Principles of good school – community relations

In Section 1 you learnt the definition of school-community relations, the

need for such a relationship, and the barriers to the relationship. I hope you
did not find any problem with the section and you are ready to tackle
Section 2.

In this section, I am going to identify and discuss the principles that should
guide a good relationship between the school and the community. I will also
discuss the means through which the school can reach the community.

By the time you complete studying this section, you will be able to:
 identify the various principles that should guide a good relationship
between the school and the community.
 describe the different means through which the school can relate with
the community

Principles underlying good school-community relations

I have already pointed out to you how important it is for the school to relate
well with the people in the community. In an attempt to promote a good and
strong relationship with the community which the school serves, the head of
school and the teachers of the school should be guided by certain rules.

The relationship must give special attention to the aims and aspirations of
the school. In other words, the head and the teachers must assess the desires
and aspirations that the citizens have for their school. This can be done
through informal conversation with the citizens. Only what the citizens
expect will be meaningful to them.

The school should be able to give precise and correct information to help
build public confidence in the school. Dissemination of information about
the school to the community is an important obligation to every school
administrator. For example, an increase in school fees should be
communicated to the parents.

Every member of staff should support community relations programmes.

The teachers should demonstrate an active interest in the life of the
community by participating in suitable social activities. Some teachers can
serve as members of local committees.

Information that the school circulates to the community should deal with all
dimensions of school activities. The people in the community for example
will want to know the following about their school:
 What is being taught in the school
 How the basic subjects are being taught
 How the school’s disciplinary committee operates and reaches decisions.

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Good public relations should encourage school children to share fully in the
community life of the people. The school should encourage the inclusion of
certain aspects of community life in the school curriculum, for instance, its
history, geography, culture, religion, and the people’s way of life. The
students should be knowledgeable about the life of the people in the
community. Educational visits to places of interest in the community could
be arranged for students. In this way the school will be able to demonstrate
in practical terms the school’s interest in promoting and sharing the cultural
life of the community.

The difficulties, aspirations and needs of the people in the community

should be thoroughly known to the staff of the school and should be used as
a means of building successful programmes. To foster effective relationship
between the school and the community, the teachers must have a thorough
knowledge of the local people, their customs, beliefs, values, what they
want to achieve, their occupation, and how they accept outsiders.
Understanding the needs and problems of the community will help the
school to adjust meaningfully its demands on and expectations of the
community.

The common functional areas of the home, the school and other community
agencies should be exploited to provide a good base for a public relations
programme. A public relations programme should be carefully thought out;
it should have both short and long-term objectives. A plan must be
developed for community relations or little will happen. An administrator
may for a long time feel the need for a public relations programme, but it
won’t happen unless someone develops a plan and makes a commitment.
The head of school or someone delegated by the head of school must be
given the time and resources to develop a sound programme to be used in
communicating to the people in the community. The school should also
have objectives and establish ways and means of fulfilling them. A school
should make short, medium, and long term plans which should be spelt out
clearly and circulated to the school’s immediate stakeholders and the
community as a whole.

Any reading material on the relationship between the school and the
community should be simple, clear and concise. Attempts should be made to
reach all classes of people in the community.

Activity 2.1
1. How can you, as at teacher, support the school-community relations
programme of your school?
2. As a teacher, in what ways can you encourage your students to share
fully the community life of the people?
……………………………………………………………………….………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………….…………………………………………..

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Practical ways through which the school can relate with the
community
I hope by now you have come to believe that the people in the community
as well as the teachers in the school can influence and shape the behaviour
of the youth, hence the need for both the school and the community to
cooperate. Opportunities should therefore be created for the two parties to
exchange views on policies, means and ends. However, this will only be
possible if there is a good relationship between the school and the
community.

For good relations to exist between the school and the community, a good
school and community relations programme should be mounted. Once this
programme is mounted, a way must be found to reach all parents and people
who are interested in the affairs of the school. The following are some
means through which the school can reach the people.

Open door policy

The head of school should first establish an open-door policy to foster closer
cooperation. Under this policy, everything about the school should be made
known to the community and vice versa. The school authorities should
explain to members of the community PNDC Law 207 which makes all
schools community-owned. The adoption of this policy should be initiated
by the head together with the staff. Under this policy, the community should
not see the school as a detached government property. After all the school is
educating the youth for the community. Thus in educating the youth, the
school and the community should complement each other’s efforts.
Teachers’ behaviour in the community is very crucial in maintaining this
policy.

Special events in the school

Speech and prize-giving days are organised annually to mount an exhibition
to display students’ work and recount the school’s achievements, problems
and aspirations to the entire community. During these days the school also
honours citizens who have made significant contributions to the
development of the school. Active executive members of the School
Management Committee (SMC) and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA),
and other standing committees receive awards. Such days pave the way for
the community to actually identify with the school and to kindle their
interest in the school.

Open days
These are specific days on which the gates of the school are opened for
members of the community, particularly parents and guardians, to spend
some time in the school. These days serve as an opportunity for teachers to
discuss individual students’ problems with parents and guardians, and
together seek ways of dealing with those problems. During such days the
school may perform cultural displays to showcase the culture of the people

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in the community. Mini-fairs can be organised to launch some important

products of the school such as the school magazine and news bulletin, which
disseminate information about the school’s programmes. Drama or debate
may be organised at which people from the community can be invited to
participate. All these are ways that the school can explore to present itself to
the community.

Durbars and forums of community leaders

The school can hold durbars or forums during which there will be a
discussion on social issues such as teenage pregnancy, the use of corporal
punishment in the school, wholesale promotion of students, HIV and AIDS,
child delinquency, school drop-out and drug abuse. In these social
discussions the school can make use of community leaders such as the chief,
member of parliament, district chief executive, assembly members, medical
officers, the police and church leaders.

Resource persons
The school can make use of some people in the community as resource
persons. People like kente weavers, artisans such as carpenters and masons,
artistes like singers, dancers, drummers and professionals like agricultural or
veterinary officers can be used as resource persons to enable students to
discover their potentials. The school should also tap all human resource in
the community to improve the quality of learning in the school. The head of
school and the teachers can in this way arrange for students to see new faces
in their classroom instead of the regular teachers.

Use of school facilities

The school can put the school building at the disposal of the community.
They should make the community feel that the school is indeed its property
by allowing them to use the facilities of the school. School facilities such as
the sports field, classrooms and furniture can be used by the people in the
community for social functions such as church service or conventions, mass
education, concerts, out dooring or funeral ceremonies. The people in the
community must, however, use these facilities with proper care.

Communal labour
As the school benefits from various types of material and moral support
from the community the school should reciprocate this gesture by
embarking upon activities such as periodic clean-up campaigns in areas such
as the clinic, market, and community centre. The school can also offer
services during communal labour. If the school is a mission school, the
school can organise biblical drama during important feasts of the church.

Community education
The school can organise educational campaigns for the community as done
during Health Week. The people in the community can be educated on
health matters such as prevention of AIDS, tuberculosis, and guinea worm.

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In addition, school authorities can educate parents on children’s basic needs

such as food, clothing, and health care. Parents can also be told the
importance of providing school materials such as exercise books, pens and
stationery for their children. Teachers can also bring home to the parents the
need for them to have time to supervise their children’s activities at home.

Reciprocal visits
You will recall that it has been mentioned earlier that the people in the
community should be given the opportunity to visit the school and
familarise themselves with what goes on in the school. These visits should
be reciprocal. Teachers should also periodically visit the homes of the
students to acquaint themselves with the conditions under which they live.
This will help the teachers to make informed decisions on the students’
learning. When there are important occasions such as funerals or outdooring
in the community, the school should be able to send a delegation which can
present gifts or donations on its behalf.

Dialogue
The school can hold constant dialogue with the Social Services Committee
of the District Assembly to let them know the problems of the school. The
school can provide suggestion boxes at vantage points in the community for
people in the community to put in written suggestions for the betterment of
the school. These boxes can be opened once in a week. Constructive
suggestions given by the people should be accepted and implemented.

Employment opportunities
Whenever it becomes possible for the school to offer employment to people,
the school should consider the people in the community first. They can be
employed to work full-time or part-time as craftsmen to teach vocational
skills or as security men.

By now you may have realised that there are many ways in which the school
can relate with the community so as to enhance cooperation between the two
parties. As a practising teacher, you are encouraged to be conversant with
these ways of forming relationship so that you can explore them to the
benefit of your school.

Activity 2.2
1. List four means through which your school has been relating to the
community in which it is.
2. As a practising teacher how, in your opinion, can reciprocal visits
enhance your work?
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………..

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In this section I have examined the principles that should guide the staff of a
school to be able to promote good and strong relationship between the
school and the community. I have also discussed many ways through which
the school can relate to the community so as to enhance cooperation
between both parties all in an attempt to improve teaching and learning in
the school.

I hope you have enjoyed this section. You have my congratulations!

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION DECENTRALISATION: TYPES AND BENEFITS
UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 3
Unit 4, section 3: Decentralisation: types and benefits

I congratulate you on your having worked diligently through Section 2.

I hope you did all the activities in that section. They were meant to help you
to find out whether you really understand what you have gone through in the
section.

I have great pleasure to welcome you to Section 3. In this section I will

discuss the concept of decentralisation, then look at the problems and the
reasons why its implementation has not yet seen much success, and then in
Section 4, I will touch on the attempts that Ghana has made towards
decentralisation.

By the end of this section you will be able to:

 explain the concept of decentralisation
 identify forms of decentralisation
 discuss the rationale and benefits of decentralisation

What is decentralisation?
Decentralisation is a policy that has engaged the attention of politicians and
administrators in developing countries. In Ghana, we have realised that the
central government is not capable of providing all the social amenities that
the people need so to encourage Ghanaians to supplement the central
government’s efforts at providing social services, decentralisation has been
recommended as one good strategy.

What is meant by decentralisation?

Decentralisation is the process of re-locating from the centre to the

periphery (outer edge) a certain package of political, economic, legislative,
fiscal, security, and administrative powers. Essentially, therefore,
decentralisation is sharing of power between the centre and the periphery,
such that it doesn’t make people think that one has given up its power to
another or that one has taken power from another without permission.
Simply put, decentralisation is the transfer of power from a central
government or body to a local authority. Put in another way,
decentralisation is the transfer of power, competence, responsibility and
means to a recognised body at a local level.

Financial decentralisation
This is a process whereby the central government allocates funds to sub-
national levels like the district assemblies to be used according to their
priorities. It also gives the sub-national levels appropriate powers to raise
their own finances and use them in accordance with their own priorities.

Educational decentralisation
Educational decentralisation is a systematic devolution of decision-making
power in education from the national headquarters through the

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administrative hierarchy to the community level. This makes the individual

school head of school and the School Management Committee (SMC), the
basic decision making unit in the Ghana Education Service (GES). The
SMC is a representative body of the school and the community. Its
membership consists of representatives of the District Education
Directorate, the community, the teaching staff at the school and other key
stakeholders of the school.

Activity 3.1
Briefly explain the concept of decentralisation in your own words.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Forms of decentralisation
Decentralisation takes several forms such as:

Deconcentration
This occurs when a centralised administration introduces extra branches of
government without handing over significant decision-making powers.
Sometimes deconcentration extends central government power and
improves supervision, but it can be a stage towards greater local sensitivity
and local influence.

Delegation
It is a more extensive form of decentralisation. Decentralisation is carried
further when powers are delegated. It implies a greater degree of decision-
making power at the local level, though power in a delegated system still
basically rests with the central authority which has chosen to lend them to
the local one.

Devolution
Devolution occurs when power is most firmly decentralised. Therefore,
devolution is the most decentralised system of administration. Decision-
making powers are formally transferred to local bodies. The process
involves the strengthening of sub-national units of government such as the
municipal and district assemblies.

Privatisation
Privatisation occurs when governments divest themselves of functions such
as the production of goods or supply of services by transferring the
ownership of the organisations that produce the goods and services to
private voluntary organisations or allowing them to be performed by the
private sector. Such functions have often been transferred to national and

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industrial trade associations, professional groups, religious organisations,

political parties and cooperatives.

Participation
Participation occurs when negotiation creates opportunities for increased
communication among people who define what the organisation is and
should be. It is a means of facilitating the development of mutual
understanding and shared meaning of events and activities. Participation
involves those located at the sub-national levels (ie region, district, local,
town, and village).

Let’s pause here to enable you find out whether you have grasped the gist of
what I have been discussing.

Activity 3.2
What is the difference between delegation of power and devolution of
power?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

The rationale for decentralisation

You may have observed that even in the one school where you teach, if the
power to take decisions were vested solely in the head of school he might
not always take the right decision. The same thing may happen if at the
national level power is concentrated at the centre where every important
decision is taken for the other levels of administration, namely, the regions,
districts, towns and villages.

The main reason for the decentralisation programme is that the tasks of
development cannot be tackled alone by the central government because its
resources have a limit, and that the local people are the best people to
identify what they need in their local communities. Therefore, the policy of
decentralisation
 brings government down to the area, town, and village levels. It is aimed
at bringing development to the door-step of the local community.
 is a device that is aimed at the development of the people by having the
people concerned to plan to improve their living standards
 provides the general framework within which decision-making and
management of operations will shift to the place of need so as to
encourage local participation and for the role of the bureaucrat to shift to
positions where it will promote development by stimulating the local
systems
 enables administrative authority and responsibility to be shared among
the national, regional, district, local, town and village levels so that they

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can plan and effectively implement plans to realise their objectives and
goals;
 embodies development schemes which, if formulated centrally at the
national level, will run the risk of being rejected at the local levels
because the local communities were not involved in the planning
process

If you study critically the reasons advanced in favour of the policy of

decentralisation you will realise that a variety of specific benefits can be
derived from decentralisation. Our next sub-topic will therefore discuss
these benefits. Meanwhile refresh your memory by doing Activity 3.3.

Activity 3.3
Why do you think that it is good for the head of school of your school to
appoint teachers to be in charge of some aspects of school work such as
sports and games, discipline, and environmental sanitation?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Benefits of decentralisation
Decentralisation improves the delivery of government policies, services and
development at lower levels. It also promotes the participation of the local
people in deciding their needs and contributing to development efforts.
Development efforts include the attempt by the people to mobilize resources
to provide social amenities such as schools, hospitals, housing, water,
electricity and roads. These efforts also include the provision of social
services such as education, health, welfare and transportation.
Decentralisation in education for example, results in:
 improved database for all decisions and increased awareness of the
decision-making process
 improved staff morale
 clarification of roles and responsibilities of staff, and professional
associations
 improved fiscal management with redistribution of resources in
accordance with system and school priorities
 increased understanding of the cycle of management with an integration
of management and instructional planning process
 more opportunities for parents and the community to participate in and
influence decision-making
 increased responsiveness to school needs
 emergence of the head of school as a manager, a role which includes that
of an instructional leader.
 greater attention to staff development;

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 the specification of outcomes, and the analysis of results in tests and

surveys, which have become catalysts for desired changes.
 the emergence of new programme choices for students.

Activity 3.4
Give three reasons why you would recommend decentralisation as a policy
for administering education in Ghana.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

You have come to the end of another section. In this section I have
discussed the meaning of decentralisation, and shown you some types of
decentralisation. I have also touched on the reasons why government would
want to implement the policy of decentralisation, and the benefits that
accrue from decentralising an administration. You may want to observe the
administration of your present school and see whether the policy of
decentralisation is being implemented there.

Have a nice time!

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types
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benefits

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS AT DECENTRALISATION IN GHANA
UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 4
Unit 4, section 4: Efforts at decentralisation in Ghana

I am happy that you have progressed steadily through this course. In the
previous section I discussed the concept of decentralisation and different
types of decentralisation. I also discussed the reasons why we would want to
decentralise and how the implementation of the policy of decentralisation
can benefit the nation as a whole. All these things are very important for you
to know as a teacher as you operate in an organisation which is supposed to
have been decentralised.

In this section, I am going to discuss the problems that are associated with
decentralisation, the efforts that Ghana has made so far to implement the
policy of decentralisation, the reasons for our inability in the past to
decentralise and what the country has achieved in that direction.

By the end of the section you should be able to:

 identify the problems that have been hindering the smooth
implementation of the decentralisation policy
 discuss the efforts that Ghana has made at decentralisation
 explain why Ghana failed in the past to decentralise
 discuss the progress that Ghana has been able to make towards
decentralisation

Problems of decentralisation
Let me start by drawing your attention to the fact that in spite of the many
benefits that a country stands to derive as a result of decentralisaton, a
number of problems have been found to militate against its implementation.
Bray (1984), Okulo-Epak (1985), and Rondinelli (1983) have identified the
following problems of decentralisation:
 Decentralisation permits and even encourages regional diversity within
the country that may even threaten national cohesion, although this is
not always the case.
 Decentralisation makes it more difficult to achieve such national goals
as national equalities and the development of a coherent national
manpower policy.
 There is the tendency for a decentralised administration to be more
costly than centralised ones. A decentralised administration may require
a large number of administrators and politicians, and frequently the
central authorities resist the idea that they should reduce their staffing to
match an increase in the regions or the districts.
 Coordination becomes a major exercise and the result of spreading
decision-making is that it takes a much longer time to reach a
conclusion.
 Although decentralisation may permit greater local involvement in
decision-making, it cannot be assumed that everybody is either able or
willing to participate.
 Decentralisation may mean that distant autocracies are merely replaced
by local ones, and regional planners may find that they are more highly

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exposed to pressure groups and political interests which do not reflect

the opinions of the majority of the population.

Activity 4.1
State and explain two problems that have militated against the
implementation of the policy of decentralisaton in Ghana.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Efforts at decentralisation in Ghana

It will interest you to know that despite these numerous problems that are
associated with the implementation of the policy of decentralisation
governments in Ghana since the colonial days have made persistent efforts
to bring into fruition the policy of decentralisation.

Now, let me take you through the various attempts that have been made
since the colonial days to have the administration of this country
decentralised.

Pre-independence (colonial) period

The administrative history of Ghana indicates that the British colonial rulers
established a centralized administrative structure at the national
headquarters of Accra from where directives were issued to the people
through the native authorities. Through the system of indirect rule in Ghana
(then Gold Coast), the British made use of decentralised structures in the
form of native administrative institutions to elicit some degree of local
participation (Asibuo, 1992:65). These early attempts at local administration
centred around a chief or some unit of local royalty which was, however,
not well defined (Ministry of Local Government, 1994). The main interest
of the colonial government was to provide some limited involvement of the
native authorities in local administration by helping to maintain law and
order. You can see therefore that even under the highly centralised
administration of the colonial government, there was some amount of
participation by the local people.

The colonial government continued to make efforts at decentralising the

administration. With the enactment of the Municipal Ordinance of 1859,
municipalities were established in the coastal towns. Under a new ordinance
passed in 1943, town councils were set up in the four major towns of Accra,
Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, and Cape Coast. These town councils further
developed into municipal councils in 1953. All these were moves by the
colonial government to redistribute the power of decision-making from the
centre to the local level.

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Post-independence period
When Ghana obtained her political independence from Britain in March
1957, and the country’s administration passed on to Ghanaians, a Local
Government Act (Act 54) was passed in 1961 to effect significant changes
in the previous colonial administration. In this act, the distinction between
the central government and local government was maintained. There were
two different machineries for the administration of Ghana: one based at the
capital, which was the central government and the other based in well-
defined localities (districts) and referred to as a local government. (Ministry
of Local Government, 1994). Under this arrangement where the
responsibility of the government was limited, the primary responsibility of
the government of Ghana at that time was provision of social services such
as health care and education up to the university level. The branches of the
central government at the local level dealt with national matters. The local
government bodies were vested with authority specifically for local matters.
These local government bodies grew side by side with the central
government agencies that operated at the local level. The local government
bodies were required to provide municipal services and amenities in their
localities irrespective of whether they had the resources to deliver them.

You can see clearly that although an attempt was being made at
decentralisation, at this time of the history of the country, the local
administrative personnel had less clearly defined powers in terms of local
responsibilities, hence the personnel at the local level referred to Accra – the
centre of government administration – for most decisions to be approved
before implementation.

How were decisions taken at the local level?

In these circumstances, decisions in matters of significance which were

taken to a Ministry in Accra, took an unduly long time to get sanctioned.
Thus, as Tordoff, cited in Ayee (1992:3) explained, the so-called local
government units as described under the 1969 second Republican
Constitution functioned as units of deconcentration because they remained
extensions of the central government – the central government therefore
guided, controlled, and influenced their activities. As you can see, the
implementation of the policy of decentralisation has not been smooth.

Activity 4.2
Explain how the Local Government Act (54) of 1951 helped to advance the
cause of decentralisation in Ghana.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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Can you suggest reasons for the inability of the various past governments in
Ghana to decentralise government business?

Reasons for the failure of past decentralisation attempts

Now, read on and find out for yourself why past governments in Ghana
were not successful at decentralising government business. According to Nti
(1977), one important reason is that of the centric nature of leadership. That
is, political and administrative leadership of the past did not feel sufficiently
committed to the principles involved in decentralisaton. The leaders were
not happy with the implications of decentralisation so they did not give the
policy their recommendation, political will and the administrative support
needed for its implementation. Nti (1977) concludes by saying

There is nothing more difficult to carry out, or more dangerous to handle

than to initiate a new order of things. For the new order has enemies in all
who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in those who
would profit by the new order.

Secondly, the agencies that operated at the local levels which were vested
with authority for local matters lacked personnel with the requisite skills and
professional expertise. In addition, they were unable to raise funds to meet
their obligations and to attract competent officers. Consequently, the local
government bodies succeeded only in creating for themselves an unpleasant
image, in most cases, of ineptitude and incompetence. (Ministry of Local
Government, 1994:3)

Thirdly, the government was not prepared to risk the possible far-reaching
political consequences that decentralisation was likely to have. For example,
there was the fear that the full implementation of the policy of
decentralisation would encourage regional diversity within the country that
may even threaten national cohesion.

It is clear from the discussion above that a number of factors have operated
as impediments to attempts at decentralisation in Ghana. One point that you
must bear in mind in the current decentralisation attempts in Ghana is that
the policy involves far more than simply declaring a policy of bottom-up
decision-making, reorganising the administrative structures, and
establishing local planning procedures. You must also know that the
implementation of policy is not merely a technical process of executing
preconceived plans, but a dynamic unpredictable process of political
interaction.

Therefore, no one should assume that once a policy is promulgated, the

intended goals will be achieved in an apolitical and mechanical efficient
manner (Asibon, 1992).

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Decentralisation as is currently practised in Ghana evolved over the years

from the stage of power delegation to devolution, and although it is now a
house-hold word you must not lose sight of the fact that it has taken the
country a long time to arrive at this stage.

At this juncture, I would like to discuss how Ghana has fared so far with the
implementation of the decentralisation policy.

Some achievements of Ghana towards decentralisation

Since 1987 when the decentralisation policy was implemented nationwide,
the following steps have been taken to give meaning to the policy:
 Institution of district assemblies as the highest decision-making bodies
in all the 110 districts in the country.
 Award of development grant of 5% of the national revenue to the district
assemblies.
 Appointment of experienced administrators capable of making high
quality decisions, as heads of district education directorates.
 Decentralisation of over 20 major departments and services including
the Ghana Education Service.

Community participation in education

Community participation and decision-making at the grass-root level form
the cornerstone of the District Assembly concept (Sitta 1992). Participation,
of course, includes the provision of educational services. Hence under the
Structural Adjustment Programme, District Assemblies were expected to
direct the efforts of the people to contribute to educational costs. PNDC
Law 207 of 1988 clarifies and legalizes community involvement by making
the district assemblies a pivot in the provision of services for the local
community. The local Government Legislative Instrument (1988) for
example, enumerates 86 specific functions that district assemblies are
charged to perform. Sections 40 to 42 which pertain to educational
provisions specify that it shall be the duty of the assembly to do the
following:
 Build, equip, and maintain all primary, junior secondary and special
schools.
 Advise the Minister of Education on all matters relating to primary and
junior secondary schools and such other matters as may be referred to it
by the Minister for Education.
 Be responsible for:
 posting and transfer within the area of authority of teachers
including untrained teachers;
 keeping records of teachers;
 discipline of teachers in accordance with the disciplinary code laid
down by the Ghana Education Service;
 appointment of school welfare officers;
 recommending teachers for study leave;

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 appointment of head of schools in accordance with rules laid down

by the Ghana Education Service;
 supervision of primary and junior secondary schools;
 formation of education committees;
 collection of statistical data and other information;
 inservice training for teachers;
 nursery school education;
 approval for opening of private primary and junior secondary
schools;
 payment of teachers’ salaries from funds made available by
government;
 supply and distribution of textbooks;
 disbursement of education grants.

The District Director of Education, who is the head of education in the

district, works closely with the District Assembly through the District
Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) of which he/she is a member and
can thus influence any local educational policy that may be formulated for
schools in the public system.

In this section I have considered the problems that have been encountered in
the implementation of the policy of decentralisation. I have also discussed
the efforts that succeeding governments in Ghana, since the colonial days,
have made to decentralise administration.

Lastly, I discussed the achievements made in an attempt to decentralize

administration in Ghana. I hope this section has been useful.

Keep reading. Bye-bye for now.

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ADMINSTRATION
UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 5
Unit 4, section 5: Teacher participation in school administration

You are warmly welcome to Section 5 of Unit 4. You are gradually getting
to the end of this unit, and for that matter, the end of this course.

In the previous section you learnt about how past governments in Ghana
tried to decentralise the administration of the country, the problems
associated with decentralisation, how Ghana failed in the past to
decentralise and how far Ghana has reached in her bid to decentralise.

In this section, you are going to have another interesting topic that will help
you as a teacher to participate in the administration of your school

After studying this section you will be able to:

 explain clearly what is meant by teacher participation in school
administration
 describe what is involved in teacher participation
 discuss the factors that prevent teachers from participating in the
administration of their schools.

What is participation?
According to Owens (1987), participation is a mental and emotional
involvement of a person in a group situation that encourages the individual
to contribute to goals, and to share responsibility for them. Keith and
Girling (1991) state that participating in management refers to regular and
significant employee involvement in organisational decisions that affect the
entire organisation as well as their individual standards and making sure
their organisation is on target in terms of responding to the needs of the
clients it serves.

Participation implies an employee having a share in the decision-making

process and the things that are done in the organisation. Participative
management in an organisation such as a school means that the head of
school shares decision-making, goal-setting and problem-solving activities
with the teachers. Once you have understood the concept of participation the
question that may engage your mind is:

Of what importance is participation?

Importance of participation
In spite of the real or perceived problems that may arise from staff
participation in school affairs, it is very essential that every individual
member of staff participates actively in all school activities – both academic
and co-curricular. For example, there is so much work to be done in the
school that the head of school cannot do it single-handed. He has to involve
all the other teachers in the running of the school.

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For instance, one way in which the head of school can take advantage of the
expertise of teachers is to provide them with opportunities to participate in
decision-making. When teachers take part in decision-making they can
come together to define clearly the goals of the school. Once they are party
to a decision on these goals, they will be committed to their implementation.
Moreover, when all teachers on a staff participate in making decisions, they
will not only accept the decision they helped to make but will also
contribute to the taking of good decisions in subsequent times.

Activity 5.1
Briefly explain what is meant by teacher participation.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

From what you have read in this section, you may have been convinced that
involving teachers in the administration of the school in general and
decision-making in particular is of great importance. Despite its importance,
however, some factors prevent teachers from participating effectively in the
administration of the school.

Barriers to effective participation

Barriers to effective participation in school administration by teachers can
be grouped into three. There are: organisational barriers, managerial
barriers, and employee barriers.

Organisational barriers
These are factors that are associated with the school. For instance, when the
head of school of a school adopts a closed climate instead of an open one,
teachers, knowing that they don’t have any organisational support, will feel
threatened and think that they will be subjected to unfair criticism for any
mistake they commit, however genuine it might be. Hence such teachers
will not have the urge to participate in any activity in the school. In some
schools, those teachers who, in their eagerness to participate, speak their
minds may be considered as malcontents or trouble-makers who must be
kept under control. Teachers who find themselves in such a situation may
withdraw from participating in any activity of the school.

Managerial barriers
Some head of schools do not feel secure and therefore fear the use of
participatory methods in their schools. They believe that sharing their
authority over certain decisions may reduce their power. Some head of
schools also create conditions for pseudo-participation, that is,
participation without authority. For example, a head of school may invite
teachers to consult with them on decisions he/she intends to make, but in the

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actual implementation of the decision, he/she will stick to his/her initial

point of view. This is false participation that can frustrate teachers.

Employee barriers
Some teachers may view participation in other activities and decision-
making as increased workload. Such teachers may want to teach their
classes or subjects without any added form of administrative responsibility;
such teachers consider participation as another added task to an already
intense work schedule.

Another employee barrier is a situation where a teacher may feel that he/she
lacks professional competence. If a teacher is indeed professionally weak,
he/she may think that he/she is not competent to participate, and hence will
stay aloof.

Activity 5.2
State and explain four factors that prevent teachers from participating in
administrative activities of the school.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Now let me turn my attention to another important sub-topic. This is how

teachers can be involved in decision-making in their schools.

How would you feel if you were left out of the decision-making process in
your school?

I know you wouldn’t take kindly to that at all.

Modes of participation
Your head of school may make you participate in the administration of the
school through one of three strategies: delegation, teamwork and
empowerment.

Delegation
When you become a leader or a head of school in a school you have to
accept that one of your tasks is to get other people to do some of the work
rather than do it all by yourself. No head of school can do all the work in the
school or have the expertise to do all the work there. It is tempting for the
head to do something himself/herself though he/she knows that it will be
quicker and more efficient to ask someone else to do it. If, as a head of
school, you do all the work by yourself you may not have time to do other
more important work. You will also be preventing others from learning and
practising skills which you have already acquired. Hence, delegation is an

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important part of the work of a head of school. It is a way of preparing

teachers and students to handle higher and more challenging responsibilities
in future, therefore a way of training and developing them

As our schools grow in size and complexity, delegation of authority and

responsibility becomes increasingly important.

What then is delegation?

Delegation of authority includes assigning duties and responsibilities to

those who the administrator or the head of school expects to help him/her in
doing work in the school (Musaazi, 1982). Brech (1976) defines delegation
of authority as the passing on to others of a share in the essential elements of
the management process. Mobiti (1974) also states that delegation is the
process whereby the leader of the organisation transfers to some of his
subordinates the responsibility of taking some particular actions as well as
making decisions in a particular department or job area of an institution. As
a head of school whatever you want to delegate (according to Bell and
Rhodes 1995) should be planned carefully. You should do the following
things to make delegation effective:

Stages in effective delegation

Plan delegation
 Decide what is to be delegated and to whom
 Identify the objective of the task
 Decide the standard of work required and success criteria
 Consider suitability, experience and expertise of the delegatee

Identify person
 Decide how much training, guidance and support are needed.
 Discuss your plan with the delegatee. Make clear why the task is being
delegated and the benefit to him/her and the school.

Organise training
 Brief and train the member of staff or delegatee.
 Define the tasks and its limits clearly.
 Define authority limits clearly.
 Share expertise and arrange for skills to be practised where necessary.
 Agree on levels of resourcing
 Discuss and agree on success criteria
 Establish time limits and deadlines
 Agree how performance will be monitored and reviewed.

Implement plan
 Inform all relevant people of what has been delegated and to whom.
 Be available to give advice.

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 Monitor outcome, not process.

 Encourage but do not interfere.

Evaluate plan
 Appreciate and praise what the delegatee has achieved.
 Ask the delegatee to review performance.
 Ask if problems arose and how they were overcome.
 Check that objectives were achieved and success criteria met.
 Discuss process adopted
 Agree on any follow-up tasks and who does them.
 Identify ways to improve performance next time.

Another way that a head of school of a school can involve the teachers in
the administration of the school is to use teamwork.

Teamwork
Teamwork refers to any task that is done by a team or group of workers. A
team is a group of persons with shared goals who communicate with one
another, often over a span of time. The members of the team must be small
enough so that each person may communicate with all others face-to-face,
not second-hand through other people.

What conditions must exist for the members of your staff work as a team?

First, the members of the team must be able to see each other and hear each
other. Second, each member must be able to engage in personal
communication with every other member. Third, the individuals must see
themselves as members of a team with shared goals. (Hellriegel et al
1992:311). It is clear therefore that members of a team must constantly
interact.

The following are some common forms of interacting groupings that you
can use to foster teamwork in your school: committees, task forces, project
teams, boards, advisory councils, work crews and review panels. When you
are able to use some of these interacting groupings to do work in your
school then you are on your way to creating a team environment in your
school.

Types of teams
Now, let me examine some types of teams that you can build in your
schools for the purpose of giving your teachers the chance to participate in
the administration of the school. These are problem-solving teams and
special-purpose teams.

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Problem-solving teams. This type of team may consist of five to twenty-

one people drawn from different areas of your school. They may meet one
or two hours a week, or as often as needed, to discuss ways of improving
quality, productivity (efficiency) and the work environment. These teams
are sometimes called quality circles.

Special-purpose teams. This may consist of five to thirty employees often

from various departments in your school, or sometimes from two or more
schools. They are assigned tasks such as designing and introducing work
reforms, new technology, or reviewing current policy practices, or meeting
with students and parents. These teams usually operate with a much greater
degree of empowerment than problem solving teams.

Empowerment
The next strategy to use to get your colleagues to participate in the school
administration is empowerment.

What does empowerment mean?

Power is the capacity or ability to influence the behaviour of other people.

The term, power, can refer to individuals, groups, organisations, and
countries. For example, if an individual, group or department within an
organisation is labelled as powerful, it means that it has the ability to
influence the behaviour of individuals in other groups or department. This
influence may affect resource allocation, goal-setting, decisions or many
other outcomes and behaviours in the organisation.

Power is a social term, that is, an individual has power in relation to other
people, a group has power in relation to other groups, and so on. The skill of
sharing power with employees or other people in an organisation is
empowerment. For example, if a head of school in a school shares his/her
power or authority as the head of the school with some of the teachers, it
means he/she is empowering his/her teachers. It means the head of school
allows teachers in the school to share his/her duty of developing goals and
strategies to improve the school. The satisfaction that comes as a result of
reaching the goals is shared by the head of school as well as the other
teachers he/she empowered to help him/her reach the goals.

It may interest you to know that effective leaders are usually not dictators.
They are powerful but sensitive to the needs of subordinates. They tap the
motivation and capabilities in others to pursue shared goals. The behaviour
associated with empowerment includes taking delight in an employee’s
development, and realising that visions are achieved by teams and not by
single employees. Empowerment means that every employee is expected to
accept responsibility for getting his/her job done, as well as helping others
to complete their work – no one in the organisation is allowed to say, It is
not my job.

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Go through the following exercises to find out whether you have understood
what you have read up to this point.

Activity 5.3
Explain each of the following modes of participating in the administration
of the school.
1. Delegation
2. Teamwork
3. Empowerment
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

In this section you have learned that teacher participation means involving
teachers in the administration of the school. You have also found out that
although it is important for teachers to get involved in the administration of
the school, there are some barriers preventing them from doing so. I also
discussed three ways through which teachers can be involved in decision-
making in the school. These are delegation, teamwork, and empowerment.

If you can remember all these, then you are on your way to success. Bye-
bye for now!

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SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION VARIOUS PLAYERS IN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
UNIT
AND 4 SECTION
SUPERVISION 6
Unit 4, section 6: Various players in school administration

You are warmly welcome to Section 6 of Unit 4, the last section of this
course. I congratulate you on your coming this far. I hope you have found
the course interesting and useful both as a teacher and a potential school
administrator. In Section 4, I told you of the importance of giving your
subordinate teachers the opportunity to participate in your administration,
the ways through which you can encourage your teachers to get themselves
involved in your administration, and the things that prevent this
participation from occurring.

In this section, I shall discuss seven important bodies that have some roles
to play in the running of schools. These are:
 Ghana Education Service (GES)
 District Education Oversight Committee (DEOC)
 District Education Planning Team (DEPT)
 School Management Committee (SMC), and
 Unit Committee
 Zonal Coordinators
 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

By the time you get to the end of this section, you should be able to:
 state the composition of each body
 discuss the role that each of these bodies plays in school administration

The Ghana Education Service (GES)

The GES was legally established by National Redemption Council Decree
(NRCD) 247 of 1974 as the Ghana Teaching Service, but in 1975, the
decree was amended by NRCD 357 and the name was changed to Ghana
Education Service (GES).

The membership of the GES is made up of all teaching and non-teaching

staff in pre-university educational institutions in Ghana. These pre-
university educational institutions include
 Basic schools
 Senior Secondary schools
 Technical and vocational institutes, and
 Teacher training colleges,

The non-teaching members of staff of the GES are all those involved in the
day-to-day administration of the schools under the GES. They include
bursars, accounts clerks, matrons, clerks, messengers and labourers in the
schools.

What are the functions of the GES?

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Functions of the GES

NRCD 247 of 1974 specifies that the GES shall do the following:
 manage, supervise and inspect pre-university educational institutions
 register, supervise and inspect private schools
 provide teacher education, general education, business education,
technical education, and special education
 arrange to recruit and register teachers
 encourage the development and publication of textbooks and syllabuses
 maintain professional standards of members by running inservice
courses for teachers
 supply furniture, textbooks, syllabuses, and other stationery to public
basic schools
 submit to the government, from time to time, recommendations for the
formulation of educational policies of the Ministry of Education at the
pre-tertiary level.
 maintain the conduct of teachers

Noted that the duties of selected management personnel of the GES were
discussed in detail in Section 1 of Unit 1 of this course. You may refresh
your memory by reading over that section.

Let us now examine the composition and the functions of another body that
plays an important role in the running of schools. Every education district is
supposed to have one. This is the District Education Oversight Committee.
(DEOC)

District education oversight committee (DEOC)

Under the education reform programme in Ghana, the Ghana Education
Service (GES) is required to appoint a DEOC in every education district.
Membership of the committee consists of:
 the District Chief Executive as chairman
 the District Director of Education
 the District Director of Health
 the District Inspector of Schools (AD Supervision)
 the District Social Welfare Officer
 two representatives from the district assembly of whom one shall be a
woman
 one representative each of Christian and Muslim groups
 one representative of the Ghana National Association of Teachers
(GNAT) in the district.
 one representative of the traditional rulers in the district
 one representative of the district PTA
 one woman identified generally with social development in the district

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Functions of the DEOC

The following are the functions of the DEOC. The committee is to concern
itself with, and oversee the following:
 the conditions of the school buildings and other infrastructural
requirements of the schools
 the provision of teachers and the regular and punctual attendance of
teachers and students
 the proper performance of duties by staff at the schools
 the moral behaviour of staff and students and matters relating to general
discipline
 complaints relating to or from teachers, non-teaching staff and students
 the environmental cleanliness of schools and the facilities therein
 the supply of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials
 utilization of funds from the District Assemblies’ Common Fund to
education

District Education Planning Team (DEPT)

To strengthen the management of Basic Education Schools at the district
and local levels, District Education Planning Teams have been established
in all the 110 districts of the country. The establishment of DEPT was also
meant to enhance the capacity of districts to generate education action plans.
One of the major activities carried out by DEPT is community sensitisation.
The functions of DEPT, however, include the training of community
structures like SMC, PTA and Unit Committee.

Objectives
The DEPT concept has the following objectives:
 To enable effective consultation, planning, implementation and
evaluation of intervention measures at the district level
 To fill the consultation and planning gap in the structures (DEOC, PTA,
SMC, Social Services Sub-Committee of the District Assembly, District
Director of Education etc) established for implementing educational
activities at the district level
 To assist the District Director of Education in the planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of educational activities that
will promote effective teaching and learning.
 To create the environment for harnessing resources to enhance
ownership and commitment to the implementation of all educational
measures at the district level.

Who are the members of DEPT?

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Composition
A District Education Planning Team (DEPT) is composed of 15 members
consisting of three permanent members and twelve others selected from
the following:
 1 representative of the District Assembly
 1 representative of SMC
 1 representative of the Health sector
 1 representative of the Social Welfare Department
 1 representative of Ghana National Commission on Children
 1 representative of the Community Development Department
 1 representative of PTA
 1 representative of the Unit Committee
 1 representative of NGOs operating in the district
 1 representative of Religious Bodies
 1 representative of the Traditional Authority
 Other personalities supportive of educational efforts in the distict.

Who are the permanent members of DEPT?

The three permanent members of DEPT are

 District Girls’ Education Officer
 1 representative of the Information, Education and Communication
(IEC) Unit
 District Planning Offcier

Activity 6.1
Give reasons to justify the permanent membership of each of the three
members mentioned above.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

School Management Committee (SMC)

As a teacher, you must be familiar with the School Management Committee
(SMC)

Who are members of the SMC of your school?

The SMC is a committee designated under the Ghana Education Act of

1994. It is a community-based institution aimed at strengthening community
participation and mobilization for education delivery. The SMC is a
representation of the entire community. The community therefore is its
constituency. The SMC represents the community.

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The membership of the SMC is made-up of:

 the district director of education or his/her representative as an ex-officio
member
 the head of school/headmaster/headmistress of the school
 one member appointed by the district assembly
 one member appointed by the PTA
 one member appointed by the town/village/unit committee
 one member appointed by the chief of the town
 one member appointed by the educational unit (if it is a mission school)
 two members appointed by the teaching staff (one each from the primary
and JSS)
 one representative of the old students’ association

The district director of education is described as an ex-officio member of the

SMC. What does ex-officio mean?

The term ex-officio means that his/her membership on the SMC is by virtue
of his/her position as a district director of education. Although he/she takes
active part in all discussions of the committee, he/she does not vote to
influence decisions made by the committee.

Activity 6.2
State five members of a school management committee (SMC).
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Let us find out the powers of the SMC, and what its members are expected
to do to help the administration and the welfare of the school that they serve.

Powers and functions of the SMC

The SMC as a body which has power to control the general policy of the
school, is expected to perform the following functions to help improve the
school:
 hold ordinary meetings at least, twice in a term (one at the beginning
and one at the end of the term)
 hold emergency meetings as and when necessary
 develop a yearly education action plan for the improvement of teaching
and learning in the school
 present periodic reports on all matters involving finance of the school to
the Director-General of Education through the District Director of
Education
 ensure that the premises of the schools are kept in a sanitary and
structurally safe condition and are generally in a good state of repair.

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 ensure that head of schools present an annual plan for action for review
and approval at its first meeting in the year.
 receive termly report from the head of school and advise him/her on
certain pertinent issues
 make proposals for review and design of general policy of the school.
 vet and approve all expenditures on the projects of the school
 mobilise efforts and resources to promote quality teaching teaching and
learning in the school in collaboration with the PTA, and the unit
committee
 submit termly reports to the District-Director of education
 inform the community at large of the state of their school

You may have realised by now that it is very necessary for every school to
have a School Management Committee (SMC). However, it must be noted
that under no circumstances should the SMC take over the authority and the
responsibilities of the head of school.

Unit Committee
Unit committees, which form the base structure of the present Local
Government System, were set up by Legislative Instrument in 1994.

A unit is normally a settlement or a group of settlements with a population

of between 500 – 1000 in the rural areas and a higher population (1,500) for
the urban areas. Unit Committees being in close touch with the people play
important roles in education, including organisation of communal labour,
raising of revenue, ensuring environmental cleanliness, registration of births
and deaths and implementation and monitoring of self-help projects.

Composition
A Unit Committee shall consist of not more than fifteen persons which shall
be made up of:
 ten persons ordinarily resident in the Unit elected at a meeting called by
the Electoral Commission for that purpose; and
 such other persons ordinarily resident in the Unit not exceeding five in
number as may be appointed by the District Chief Executive acting on
behalf of the President after consultation with the Presiding Member and
any traditional authorities and organised productive economic groupings
in the Unit.

Functions
The functions of a Unit Committee include the following:
 supervise the staff of the District Assembly assigned duties in its area of
authority
 mobilise members of the Unit for the implementation of self-help and
development projects

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 monitor the implementation of self-help and development projects

 take all lawful steps to abate any nuisance
 be responsible, under the guidance of the Registrar of Births and Deaths,
for the registration of births and deaths in the Unit.
 provide a focal point for the discussion of local problems and take
remedial action where necessary or make recommendations to the
Assembly where appropriate through the relevant Urban, Zonal or Town
Council.
 organise communal and voluntary work especially with respect to
sanitation.
 make special proposal to the Assembly for the levying and collection of
rates for projects and programmes through the relevant Urban, Zonal or
Town Council.
 educate the people on their rights, privileges, obligations and
responsibilities in consultation with the district branch of the National
Commission for Civic Education

Zonal Coordinators
Zonal Coordinators constitute one of two teams that are referred to as
Decentralisation Support Teams. The other is the District Support Team.

Zonal Coordinators are GES counterparts to the District Support Team

(DST) consultants. Essentially, they serve as a link between preservice and
inservice programmes. They link the district’s inservice programmes to
teacher training colleges (TTCs) and regional management personnel. As
counterparts to the DSTs they provide technical support to District
Education Directorates to
 improve the quality of education
 increase access and participation, and
 improve resource and financial management

What are the major duties of Zonal Coordinators?

Major duties
The major duties of Zonal Coordinators include:
 assisting District Education Directorates to develop annual plans for the
conduct of inservice training in the districts for capacity building in
District Education Offices and in schools.
 coordinate Principals of TTCs and District Directors for the provision of
inservice for quality improvement
 coordinate and link Regional Accountants and Auditors to District
counterparts on financial management control systems
 coordinate and link districts to NGOs, the Basic Education Division of
GES and communities on issues relating to increasing access and
participation and community involvement in education delivery.

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What specific duties do Zonal Coordinators perform?

Specific duties
In addition to their major duties, Zonal Coordinators
 provide on-the-job training to District Head of school Advisers (DHAs).
 ensure the mapping out of enrolment, retention and quality problems and
needs
 provide support to District Education Planning Team (DEPT), Circuit
Supervisor (CS) and District Teacher Support Team (DTST)
 liaise with DTST, DHA, DEPT and SMC for providing quality teaching
and learning
 identify resource persons to solve problems emanating from school and
cluster-based INSET.
 discuss with District Director of Education (DDE) strategies and
initiatives of the district to identify needs and solve problems.
 track down the status of implementation of all interventions taking place
in the District against the Whole School Development (WSD) criteria
 provide support to the four frontline ADs in the district directorate in
designing work plans to improve
 the quality of teaching and learning
 access and participation
 the quality of school inspection
 head of schools’ managerial skills
 supervisory and observation skills of circuit supervisors and DTST
 teaching methodologies

I shall now discuss the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) which has always
played an important role in the management of schools.

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

I am sure your school has this association of which you are a member by
virtue of your being a teacher in the school. As you are aware, PTA is an
association of parents and teachers in a particular school or cluster of
schools. Parents and guardians who have their children or wards in the
school and teachers who teach in the school are members of the association.
The executive members of the association are the following:
 Chairman
 Vice chairman
 Secretary
 Financial secretary – a parent
 Treasurer – a parent
 First committee member – a parent
 Second committee member – a parent
 Third committee member – head of school
 School welfare officer – ex-officio member

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Functions of the PTA

The PTA involves itself in the activities of the school in the following ways:
 Assists in the maintenance and repairs of school infrastructure
 Negotiates for land for projects in the school, eg school farm, and
football field
 Sees to the welfare of the children and teachers in the school, eg
provision of accommodation for teachers, and books for the students
 Visits the school regularly to monitor the performance of students
 Helps to resolve conflicts and problems in the school
 Helps in maintaining school discipline
 Cooperates with other organisations and agencies which have interest in
improving quality of teaching and learning in the school.

I wish to emphasise that despite the fact that this association has a very
important role to play in the school, it must not encroach upon the authority
of the head of school who is responsible for the day-to-day administration of
the school.

This is the last section of this unit, and for that matter, the whole course. In
this section, you have identified the major bodies that have diverse roles to
play in the interest of the school. I have discussed with you what the GES is,
its functions and the various ranks in the GES. I have also looked at the
composition and functions of other bodies namely, DEOC, DEPT, SMC,
Unit Committee, Zonal Coordinators and PTA, which are all involved in the
improvement of the school, and its work.

I hope that this course has been interesting and useful to you as a potential
head of school of a school. I hope you have noted all the salient points
raised in the book to enable you become an effective and efficient head of
school one day.

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