Preface

These materials were prepared co‑operatively under the Training and Support Programme for School Headteachers in Africa in the 1990s. They were updated considerably in Guyana in 2000 and again in 2008 to meet the needs of the Guyanese educational context.

Governments in developing Commonwealth countries wishing to reproduce or adapt the materials in whole or in part in any language should inform the Commonwealth Secretariat which may be able to offer some assistance in doing so.

For further information, write to the Director of the Education Programme, Commonwealth Secretariat, London.

COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT

Education Programme
Human Resource Development Group
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London,
United Kingdom
SW1Y 5HX

or

THE DIRECTOR

National Centre for Educational Resource Development
3, Battery Road,
Kingston,
Georgetown,
Guyana

Prepared for publication by the MPU, NCERD
Originally designed and formatted by Geoffrey Wadsley.
Updated design and format by NCERD staff in partnership with

© Copyright Commonwealth Secretariat & Ministry of Education, NCERD Guyana 2008

Notes on Assessment
Please note that each of the unit contains two kinds of activities as follows:

1. Reflection – You will see these from time to time throughout the text. They are in white type and highlighted in black. E.g. Reflection. You are not required to submit your thoughts on these issues to your Master Trainer. You may make notes if you wish but they are your own personal reflections on the issues raised.
2. Activities – These are formal assessments which you will have to submit to your Master Trainer as part of your portfolio. You should number them in the same way as the units and carry out the activity as stated.

Principles of Educational Leadership

Module 2

Introduction
The task of running a school requires imagination and common sense. But there are also certain principles of management which can provide useful guidance for the practising school head, and a number of these are examined in this module. The principles covered here include: aspects of human and public relations, communications, delegation, decision making and problem solving. We hope that the module will encourage you to reflect on your own performance and consider ways in which you might improve your own school management processes to become more effective in your role as school head and as a manager of change.

All references throughout this module refer to Headteachers who are already in post. If these are not your circumstances and you are perhaps an aspiring Headteacher, please make the necessary adjustment in your reading.

Individual study time: 20 hours

Objectives
After working through this module you should be able to:

¨ discuss the contribution which management theory can make to under­standing management practice
¨ relate your responsibilities and duties as a school head to the functions of the Guyana Government and its Ministries and especially the Ministry of Education.
¨ differentiate between the main functions of the head of a school and identify some of the tasks associated with each
¨ understand the importance of good human relations and communica­tions in promoting a suitable working environment for teachers, pupils and non‑teaching staff in a school
¨ outline the importance of delegation and outline the key principles and procedures involved in delegation in schools
¨ explain decision making and problem solving and list the major factors which contribute towards effective practice
¨ describe the nature of the change process and identify the key manage­ment functions and tasks associated with the effective management of school

Units
Unit 1: Introduction to educational management 3 ½ hours
In this you will learn about some theoretical perspectives on management
and identify key concepts and principles. A deeper understanding of the nature of educational management should enable you to improve your practice as a school manager.

Unit 2: Government organisation and functions 2 hours
Here you will find out about the nature of government as an organisation, and how it may well affect the quality of management in your school. You are encouraged to apply the general principles of management introduced in Unit 1 to the running of public affairs in Guyana.

Unit 3: The functions of school management 3 hours
The major functions of management include planning, organising, directing, supervising and evaluating. In this unit you will examine how they relate to each other and how together they describe the role of the school head.

Unit 4: Human and public relations 3 hours
As school head you are responsible for a large number of people and you must therefore know something about the behaviour of people in organisations and how best to motivate people to ensure the success of your school.

Unit 5: Delegation in a school 2 hours
As a manager of your school you need to be well aware that you cannot achieve your goals and objectives if you do all the tasks alone. In this unit you will consider the process of delegation, considering its importance and some of the barriers to its effectiveness.

Unit 6: Communication and negotiation 2 hours 2 hours
Communication is an essential part of management and here you will learn about the concept of communication, different forms of communication, and the importance of effective communications for staff meetings and negotiations.

Unit 7: Decision making and problem solving 2 hours
Here you will focus on these two key management functions and examine some of the major factors which contribute towards effective decision making and problem solving.

Unit 8: The management of change 2½ hours
In the final unit, you will consider the nature of change in schools and focus on your role in bringing about change. It is suggested that the effective manager of change is one who adopts strategies derived from many of the management principles and practices explored in the earlier units of the module

Introduction to Educational Management

Unit One

Introduction
In this first unit we introduce some theoretical perspectives on management and examine a number of key management concepts and principles. We believe that a deeper understanding of the nature of educational manage­ment will enable you to improve your practice as a school manager.

Individual study time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
· discuss the contribution which management theory can make to understanding management practice
· explain the meaning of the terms: management, organisation, administration, supervision, and leadership in education
· understand how to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes in educational management to enable more effective and efficient planning of resources for use in your school, organising and co‑ordinating of school programmes, projects and activities, and directing, controlling and evaluating of the teaching and learning processes in school.

Concepts of management in education
Management can mean different things to different people at different times, and a variety of definitions have been offered. The term 'management' itself, derives from the verb 'to manage', which can mean:

• to handle
• to control
• to make and keep submissive
• to organise
• to alter by manipulation
• to carry out for a purpose.

Activity 1.1
1) Give an example of how you manage your school in the way suggested by each of the above meanings.
2) Which of these meanings most closely matches the way you manage your school?

Comments
Some of the meanings given above appear almost offensive. Do you really, as a head, make and keep your staff and pupils submissive? These terms suggest to us a variety of styles of management, some of which will be more acceptable and productive than others. Another way people talk of management is to describe it as an art, a science, an organisation, a person, a discipline, or a process. Let us consider each of these in turn.

Management as an art
As an art, management is about carrying out organisational functions and tasks through people. This art involves the application of techniques in:
· human and public relations
· the delegation of an authority: assigning and sharing responsibilities and duties
· communication: including decision making and problem solving
· managing change.

Management as a science
Management here is concerned with establishing a philosophy, laws, theo­ries, principles, processes and practices which can be applied in various situations, including schools.

Management as an organisation
As an organisation, management is about creating formal structures and an establishment based on a mission (or goals), objectives, targets, functions and tasks. For example, social and welfare organisations in government management can refer to education and health services, whilst public security management services could refer to the police and military.

Management as a person
Managements may be seen as a person or a group of people. For example, a teacher could say 'The school management has changed the timetable in the middle of the term'. This could be referring to you, as the head alone, or to all the senior staff, or it could refer to the members of the board of governors (if the school has one) or school committee. In schools with several promoted staff a 'Senior Leadership Team' might be formed in much the same way as a govern­ment has a cabinet of ministers.

Management as a discipline
In this sense, management is a field of study with various subjects and topics. Knowledge, skills and attitudes in management can be acquired through learning, from experience and from certificated courses.

Management is a collection of processes, including such things as decision making, problem solving action‑planning and evaluating. These processes involve the management of resources including human, material, financial and time. These processes are also known as the functions of managers.

The functions of managers
We will briefly examine five main functions of managers, namely: planning, organising, directing, supervising and evaluating. These may be seen to form a management cycle as shown in below.

A cycle of management functions

Planning
If you have studied Module 1, Self‑Development for Educational Leaders, you will have learned that the first action of a school leader is to identify the mission of the school and to set the objectives. The head will then need to identify different strategies by which to achieve the agreed mission and objectives. Through the planning process the head aims to manage an efficient and an effective school. Efficient means using minimum resources to get maximum results on time. Effective means to achieve the set of objectives. The third part of the planning stage is thus to decide on an appropriate strategy

Organising
Organising involves putting in order of priority and preference the resources which are available. An Action Plan is needed in which actions and activities are scheduled. In order to give the plan 'teeth', targets are set. These targets should be quite easily attainable within a short period of time.

Directing
The manager needs to direct the implementation of the plan. He or she should provide leadership by delegating duties and responsibilities to staff, and by motivating them. The directing process also involves co‑ordinating and controlling the supply and use of resources.

Supervising
The manager will need to supervise the work which is being done, ensuring that activities are carried out in line with agreed standards, and taking steps to correct problems.

Evaluating
The final part of the management cycle is to assess the results and compare them with the set targets and objectives. The performance of all the staff including the managers should be assessed. The feedback is needed in the adjustment of future plans.
How useful do you find these views of management? Reflect on the processes followed in your school, noting down strengths and weaknesses in your management practice.

Comments
We hope that you are now beginning to have a better understanding of the nature of management and the range of processes you undertake in your role as manager. We will be commenting on management role and functions later in this unit and again in Unit 3, 'The Functions of School Management', when we will encourage a more detailed diagnosis of school management functions. But first, let us look further at management theory and principles.

Principles of educational management
A principle is a generally accepted truth, which is based on experience and the available information. The following are principles which are generally used to describe management generally:

¨ Everyone in the organisation takes a share of the work.
¨ Authority is given to groups and individuals to carry out tasks.
¨ Individuals and groups will take responsibility for their actions.
¨ Individuals and groups will be held accountable for their actions.
¨ There will be individuals who will take responsibility for command and direction.
¨ Organisations will have a chain of command and direction.
¨ Staff are paid for their efforts.
¨ Individual interest gives in to general interest.
¨ There will be equity within the organisation.
¨ Tenure of personnel will be stable.
¨ Efforts will be coordinated and planned.
¨ Everyone should be aware of the goals and objectives

Are these principles relevant in managing education in Guyana today? Look at current practices in your school. Can you think of examples for some of the above principles of management?

Two principles popularly practised are:

Chain of command
This means the optimum number of colleagues reporting to the same supervisor. It is often suggested that this number should be between five to eight; one person cannot effectively supervise above this supposed limit, and some delegation may be appropriate.

Co‑ordination
This principle highlights that effective organisational performance is achieved when all persons and resources are synchronised, and given directions. This implies deliberate planned action towards the achievement of specific goals or policy objectives.

Comments
You may have noted the principle of division of work. The idea of speciali­sation in all kinds of work, both management and technical, is widely upheld. For example, in primary education, we all have a responsibility to provide quality education for the pupil. Our roles at different levels as a teacher, school head, school inspector, REDO, are indeed based on this principle of division of work. Within your school there will be some clear divisions of work and it is not uncommon to find educational organisations structured into:

¨ policy formulation units: to make and regulate policies
¨ planning/ development units: to translate policy into action ‑ policy to goals and objectives in relation to resources
¨ implementation of policy units
¨ evaluation and monitoring units. (e.g. MERD Unit MOE)

So it will be seen that there is some universality in these principles of management. However, some writers consider that the special characteris­tics of educational organisations imply caution in too readily applying management models or practices drawn from non‑educational settings. Let us look further at the idea of schools as organisations.

Activity 1.2
Draw the organisational structure and supervisory establishment chart for your school starting with the Headteacher and ending with the position of the pupil. Preparing the chart should assist you in understanding the nature of your school as an organization. If this chart already exists, ensure that it is completely up to date and accurate.

The school as an organisation

Activity 1.2
Draw the organisational structure and supervisory establishment chart for your school starting with the Headteacher and ending with the position of the pupil. Preparing the chart should assist you in understanding the nature of your school as an organization. If this chart already exists, ensure that it is completely up to date and accurate.

Comments
A manager works for and is part of an organisation. Educational institutions are organisations. Your school is an organisation.

The word organisation comes from the word organ, and organs are living things. Your eye is an organ; so is your ear, mouth, heart, kidney, liver and many others. All these organs have specific work to do. A healthy living body has all its organs working properly. A healthy society has all its organisations working well in relation to one another. Societies set up organisations to do specific work. An organisation is thus the result of the grouping of work and the allocation of duties, responsibilities and authority to achieve specific goals In the management of education, it is important that the school head understands that a school as an organisation has a specific purpose.

We can summarise some important organisation concepts in terms of the following:

Mission and objectives of the organisation

Functions of the organisation: What the organisation is supposed to do in order to achieve the goals.

Responsibilities and duties: People in various positions in the organisation have to carry these out. These responsibilities and duties are worked out from the functions: responsibilities would include broad statements of the job; whereas duties are the day‑to‑day jobs arising from the responsibilities.

Tasks: These are specific activities within a duty.

Standards: These describe the amount and the quality of products from the organisation.

Targets: These are the amount and quality of products which an organisation wishes to give out over a given time. For example, a school which can enrol 105 pupils in Grade 1 can hope to have at least 90 of those pupils completing seven years of primary education. Targets are now becoming much more focused on educational outputs e.g. the number of children achieving a certain predetermined standard at a particular age,

You will come across many more terms about management and organisations during the course of this module, but we hope by now that you are beginning to appreciate how an understanding of the key concepts and principles of management may help you to improve your performance as a school manager.

As the summary of the concept of organisation highlights, a starting point for examining whether a school 'works properly' is to clarify its purpose as an organisation. Typical organisations have the following aspects clearly stated and understood by all the people in them and those who have interest in them:

¨ title of the organisation: its name, logo or symbol or emblem or badge or trade mark, motto, location and address
¨ the mission statement and objectives of the organisation
¨ functions of the organisation
¨ expected results, products or outcomes

Activity 1.3
State the following about your school: name, motto, logo; current mission statement and objectives; its functions; its philosophy; its expected and actual results for the last three years. If your school has none of these, it is maybe time you initiated them. These are all MOE requirements for schools in Guyana.

Comments
Efficient and effective schools are strongly guided by their vision and mission statement. An efficient school head uses the minimum number of people, mate­rials, machines, equipment, money and time to get maximum results. Efficiency in management is important because there will nearly always be an inadequate supply of resources for any job.

An effective head is able to produce expected results in a school. Factors used in judging an effective school include:

¨ excellent achievement by many pupils in examinations
¨ excellent progress by all pupils judged against the baseline assessment and based ability
¨ excellent performance in games, sports, athletics, drama, debates, music festivals, etc.
¨ well behaved pupils
¨ the success of past pupils.
¨ the school as a learning community
¨ excellent relationship among teachers, parents and pupils
¨ parents’ readiness to participate in school activities

Your management practice can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your school. We will be examining the concept of school effectiveness and the head's contribution towards this at a number of points in these Modules, particularly Module 6, Monitoring School Effectiveness.

Activity 1.4
There are many different types of organisations. Note down some of the similarities and differences between a school, a hospital, a bank, in terms of the organisation concepts discussed earlier. What might be the implications of these for management practice?

Comments
You may have noticed in comparing a school to a hospital that they are both service organisations, albeit with different client groups. Schools serve healthy people to change their behaviour. Hospitals serve unhealthy people to become healthy. Other organisations like banks aim to make a profit as they serve people. Some private and commercial schools also operate like banks. Other distinctive characteristics of educational management concern the objectives, which may be hard to define, and the fact that outcomes are rather difficult to measure. Another point relates to the time available for managerial activities, a point which may become clearer when we look at the role of the head.

The role of the head
As a school head, you fulfil a number of important roles. Your role ulti­mately involves changing the behaviour and attitude of each pupil. It is recognised that you get this job done through other people. This is the management role, and the key focus of this unit so far has been to explore the nature of the management practices which make up this role.

Note down some other major roles which might describe the way a school head undertakes his or her job.

Comments
The roles you noted might have included the following:

¨ Leadership
¨ visionary
¨ supervising
¨ pastoral care
¨ change agent.
¨ administrative
¨ team builder

We will be commenting on many of the functions associated with these various roles subsequently in this module. Here we attempt some clarifica­tions of the leadership and administrative roles to conclude this introduc­tory unit.

Leadership, Management and Administration
Pause for a moment and consider what you think to be the difference between Leadership, Management and Administration.

Leadership is the principal role of the Headteacher. It is not just a simple question of he / she leads and others follow. The Head is a facilitator to ensure that all within the school are agreed upon and follow common goals. He / she verbalises the vision for the school and ensures that all within it work together as a team to achieve it.

Some people use management to mean administration. However, management in an organisation involves planning, designing, initiating actions, monitoring activities and demanding results on the basis of allo­cated resources. It is policy making, policy control and monitoring.

Administration on the other hand involves implementation of the policies, procedures, rules and regulations as set up by the management.

A school head will only play the role of an administrator in the implementation of policies on education within Guyana. However, at this point we must offer a word of caution.

As stated above, the principle role of the Headteacher is the Leader of the School, often referred to as “the lead professional”. This involves being proactive in its development and the vision for its future, as well as ensuring quality and results for the pupils it serves.

It is common for Headteachers to play the role of Administrator, becoming too involved in procedures, regulations and bureaucracy. This is a dangerous approach as it will stifle creativity, slow down progress and become an excuse for the failure to develop the school.

To test the extent that you, as Headteacher, may have fallen into this mode of working, ask yourself the following questions?

¨ Do I spend more time in my office than walking the school?
¨ Do I always respond to every administrative task as it appears?
¨ Do I pride myself on keeping a tidy desk?
¨ Do I fail to advise teachers because I have paperwork to do?
¨ Do I fail to observe lessons, comment on them and suggest further development because day to day matters get in the way?
¨ Do I fail to get feedback from teachers, pupils and parents?

If you are answering “yes” to any of these questions, then you need seriously to consider your work practices.

Policies, paperwork, reports and records as such will not improve standards. Monitoring, evaluation, development, support and praise for staff in a supportive atmosphere of “working together” will have an impact on school development and ultimately results.

However, this does not mean that policy and administrative tasks can be neglected. It is a matter of creating a balance. To that extent, you will need, for example, to be familiar with educational policy state­ments in Guyana, such as:

· the language and numeracy policies
· policy statements on educational personnel matters and provision of education service as stated in the education laws
· policy statements on education by Ministry of Education Officers, especially those on the code of conduct for pupils and for teachers and curriculum development, implementation and evaluation
· five policy areas of education

Supervision and leadership
In addition to the leadership, managerial and administrative roles, the head also has a super­visory role. S(he) is responsible for quality within the school and this is achieved by a thorough monitoring and evaluation programme which involves the assessment of the work of others, evaluating performance and acting upon the information gathered to make further developments.

Consider the two distinct roles of leader and supervisor and how you would use each to implement strategies to improve results in Grade 7 mathematics which have been declining or several years.

Comments
Leadership: This involves the use of authority, power and influence in the process of managing resources at work to produce results.

Supervision: This involves being able to do the job oneself, showing others how to do it, checking that the job is well done and taking appropriate action when it is not.
Remember that an effective supervisor explains what is to be done, who is expected to do it, how it should be done, when it is to be done and the consequences of a job well done. On the other hand, an effective leader sets the targets and the standards. Success or failure in doing the job is measured against the set targets and standards.

Summary
In this unit we have introduced different perspectives on educational leadership, highlighting key concepts, principles and processes of leadership, management, supervision and administration. We hope that you have been able to relate the discussion so far to your own experience as a school head and that you have started to reflect on your role and functions as a leader and manager.

Government Organisation and Functions

Unit 2

In Unit 1 you were introduced to the concept of the school as an organisation. In this unit, we will look at the government as another type of organisation and how this is likely to affect the quality of leadership in your school. The unit should also enable you to relate the application of the general principles of management to the running of public affairs in Guyana.

Individual study time: 2 hours

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
· relate your responsibilities and duties to the functions of the central government ministries and organisations responsible for education and training
· advise teachers on their roles, responsibilities and duties in relation to functions of government
· promote responsible citizenship based on your understanding of the legislative, administrative and judicial provisions in your country
· abide by the laws of the land while discharging your official executive duties.

What is government?
A government is the part of the organisation of a state which has powers to legislate, that is to make laws. The purpose of a government is to promote and propagate justice for all the citizens of a country for the public good.

The legal framework of a government is the constitution of the country. A constitution describes all the constituent parts of the government, their composition and their powers and functions. It also states and guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of each individual.


It is important that you should realise that as headteacher you have a local role in determining the quality of governance in your country. Consider what this role might be?

Comments
You may help to determine the quality of government locally through voting, but also as a community leader. Although some people maintain that the social position of the head in the local community has diminished in recent years, this depends on the view heads have of themselves and what they can, and perhaps should, contribute to the wider community. You should be able to think of many cases of heads who have done this, and usually you will also find that their schools are recognised as good. By involving staff and pupils in the management of your school you Will be demonstrating in a practical way how (on a smaller scale) democracy may work.

Unitary and federal systems of government

Decentralisation
Three different types of decentralisation may be recognised:

¨ Deconcentration The dispersion of authority to branch offices, for example, the payment of teachers' salaries at district level.

¨ Devolution: Powers transferred by law to sub‑national bodies, for example, tax raising powers given to regions.

¨ Delegation: Central powers 'lent' to local authorities (but readily revoked without legislation), for example, regional education offices responsible for the opening of new schools.
In unitary systems of government, the central authority has all the principal powers of the state. The decentralisation of functions to regions may be done through deconcentration, devolution and delegation from the central authority.

In federal systems of government, provinces or states have powers delegated by the constitution. The United States of America is an example of this.

With increased demands for democracy, for people to take more deci­sions on matters affecting their lives, many unitary systems of government are increasing levels of decentralisation of some powers and functions to the administrative regions, districts and local authorities and also to schools.

Activity 2.1
(1) Do we have a federal or unitary system of government in Guyana?
(2) Give three examples of how authority has been decentralised in Guyana.

Comments
Guyana has a unitary system of government and is going through the process of decentralisation with much authority placed in the hands of the Regional Democratic Councils. However, educational policy is still created by the central Ministry of Education. In many countries, governments still maintain quite tight central control over most aspects of education. However, in Guyana, there are considerable moves to provide more local management and authority to schools.

The Ministry of Education in Guyana has gone through a process of decentralisation which will demand that regions will be accountable for the decisions they make which affect the quality of education.

The arms of government
Many countries have three main arms of government. In management, this is a principle involving the separation of powers. The three arms are:

¨ the Legislature
¨ the Judiciary
¨ the Executive.

The Legislature
Parliament is made up of the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the National Assembly. Elected, and maybe also nominated, Members of Parliament who belong to various political parties constitute the National Assembly.

Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, Parliament has the power to make laws for the peace, order, liberty and good governance of the country. Its main functions are:

¨ legislation and formulation of policies
¨ control of the public budget and expenditure
¨ control of the executive
¨ representation of the people on matters of national concern

The Speaker presides over meetings of the National Assembly. The Speaker is elected from among persons who are members of the National Assembly, excluding the President, The Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the Attorney‑General. The Speaker is an ex‑officio member of the National Assembly.

The Principal Administrative Officer of the National Assembly is the Clerk to the National Assembly. He is responsible for the management of the staff of the National Assembly, its finances, and all other matters relating to the operation of the National Assembly.

The Judiciary
The judicial arm of government settles disputes which arise out of the laws made by the Legislature. When such laws are administered by the Executive, disagreements inevitably occur, which need to be settled by an independent body, the Judiciary. This should ensure that justice prevails. Laws are intended to guide and regulate the behaviour of individuals in society for their own common good, and to serve individual interests without fear or favour. Justice is administered in courts of law where civil and criminal cases are heard before a judge or magistrate and with lawyers arguing for each side: the prosecution and the defence.

The Chief Justice and other senior judges are appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. Once appointed, it is not easy to remove a judge. The security of tenure for the office of the judge is stated in the constitution. The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary.

Types of dispute
Civil disputes between individuals and the state may be settled through the courts according to the provisions of the law. The individual is protected against the excesses of government through the arbitrary action of govern­ment officials. Civil disputes may also occur between individuals.

In criminal cases, the state prosecutes a person for an alleged crime. The sentence for those found guilty is within the discretion of the court.

Thus the Judiciary acts as the guardian of the constitution in both civil and criminal matters. The Judiciary makes sure that the action of the offi­cials of the Executive are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Thus it is that Acts of Parliament are seen to be constitutional in both word and deed.

Judges
Independence of the Judiciary is ensured through the security of tenure of judges. Salaries for judges are a permanent charge on the Consolidated Fund (Treasury) and are not subject to debate by Parliament in the National Assembly, except where the salaries of judges as a professional body are to be reviewed. “Sub judice” cases, that is cases which are before the court, are not subject to discussion outside courts. Questions and debates in the National Assembly concerning cases in court are not allowed by the standing orders. Like Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, judges in the courts enjoy special privileges and cannot be sued for anything they do while offi­cially discharging their duties. Any judge or magistrate can decide a case without any fear of recrimination for the decision made in a court of law. Decisions made by judges are legally binding and cannot be criticised in public. Such decisions can be reviewed, however, in a superior court of law on appeal by the aggrieved parties. People may be tried and convicted for contempt of court when they are found accused of discussing “sub judice” cases outside the law courts.

Module 7, The Governance of Schools, also touches on the relationship between schools and the law.

The Executive
The executive arm of the government administers and enforces the laws which are enacted by the National Assembly.
The Executive consists of:
¨ the President, who is the Head of State and Government; the Commander‑in‑Chief of all the Armed Forces
¨ the Prime Minister
¨ Ministers and Deputy Ministers: all these are members of the National Assembly
¨ all public servants.

Headteachers and teachers in Guyana are employed by the Teachers' Service Commission. In any case, all civil servants, judges, teachers, doctors, who are employed by the government and its agencies are public servants.

Some of the important bodies in the Executive include:

¨ the Cabinet and Government Ministries including Finance and Education
¨ the Office of the Attorney‑General
¨ the Public Service
¨ Regional Democratic Councils
¨ government agencies and state corporations
¨ non‑ministerial departments
¨ Please note that the Audit Department is an autonomous body

The Cabinet
The Cabinet consist of the President, the Prime Minister, Ministers and the Attorney‑General. The function of the Cabinet is to assist and advise the President on matters pertaining to the running of the country. The Cabinet considers and formulates the entire government policy. In the Cabinet, the principle of collective responsibility to the National Assembly is empha­sised. All things done by or under the authority of the President, the Prime Minister or any other Minister in execution of their office may be regarded as the best joint effort of the government. The members of the Cabinet are expected to act together as a team and speak with one voice.

The Attorney General
The Attorney General is an ex‑officio member of the National Assembly. He or she is the principal legal adviser to the government and is a member of the Cabinet with ministerial status. All the legal needs of government ministries and departments are provided by the Attorney General's chambers. The security of tenure of the office of the Attorney General is provided for in the Constitution. The head of a government school may have the representation of the Attorney‑General in all legal matters of an official nature.

The Public Service
The Public Service is made up of the civil service, the regional authorities and the government agencies. The Public Service Commission is the personnel agency of the government, involved, for example in all recruit­ment and disciplinary matters.

City and Town Councils
Georgetown is governed and administered by the Georgetown City Council. Other towns in the country, such as Linden, New Amsterdam, Anna Regina and others have Town Councils which fulfil the dame functions as the City Council but on a smaller scale. Local councillors are elected to these Councils.

Regional Democratic Councils
These are the democratic bodies outside of the City of Georgetown and the main towns. They exist mainly in rural areas and are composed of elected councillors, who are expected to control and administer local government areas.

Government Agencies
These agencies are state corporations which are established through Acts of Parliament in pursuance of government policy. The corpo­rations are manned by non‑civil servants but are in close co‑operation with and under the supervision of the parent government ministries.

Ministries
The civil service is divided into ministries and depart­ments. Each of these is responsible for some particular aspect of government activity.
The political head of the government ministry is the Minister, who is constitutionally and politically responsible and accountable to the National Assembly for its operation. The Minister is responsible for the general policy, direction, and control of the ministry.

The Permanent Secretary is the administrative head of the ministry. S(he) is the chief executive, accounting officer, and the authorising officer in a ministry for all operational and administrative functions. Beneath the Permanent Secretary there are Deputies who provide professional advisory services to the Permanent Secretary and to the Minister, as well as administer their fields of responsibility.

There are many different types of ministries, which may be broadly categorised into:

¨ Government policy co‑ordination ministries: These are primarily concerned with the formulation of high level policy and co‑ordination of func­tions and operations of other government ministries and departments. These ministries include: the Office of the President, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Treasury, the Ministry of Planning and National Development, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Administration.

¨ The service and welfare ministries: These include Education, Sport and Culture, Health, Public Works, Agriculture, etc.

The structure of a government ministry varies in matters of detail but generally, in most ministries, below the Permanent Secretary, there are one or more professional or technical divisions dealing with specialised areas. For example, there are administrative divisions to deal with Finance, Accounts, Supply Services, Personnel Matters, Planning and Development, Research and Evaluation.

In the Ministry of Education in Guyana, there is a Chief Education Officer (CEO) who has overall responsibility for the delivery of education, standards and quality in the Guyanese Education system. There are Deputy Chief Education Officers (DCEOs) with specific responsibilities such as administration, monitoring and evaluation and development. In a third layer, there are the Assistant Chief Education Officers (ACEOs) who have a much more focused responsibility such as the different levels of education (primary, secondary etc), inspection and curriculum support. In Guyana, the latter is mainly provided by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), a semi-autonomous arm of the Ministry of Education.

Within each ministry there will be ministerial management committees which are convened as and when required, for example:

· a Consultative Committee chaired by the Minister
· a Management Committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary
· an Advisory Committee and Tender Board chaired by the Deputy Permanent Secretary
· a Training Committee
· Directorate Management Committees for each of the various professional/ technical groups.

All these committees exist to ensure the effective management of a govern­ment ministry. Task Forces and ad hoc committees may also be set up to look into specific problems and issues.

Guyana Ministry of Education
Decentralization in the Ministry of Education, as well as three other Ministries began in 1980’s. This system of government involved the division of the country into ten Administrative Regions as it pursued a democratic process of national development. It was believed that more involvement and greater development would take place at the Regional level when the state discharges some of the responsibilities to these bodies.
This process met with varying levels of success over the years as roles and functions of central Ministry and the Regional system became clearer.

Responsibility of the Ministry of Education:
1) National Education Strategic Planning.
2) Policy formulation and development.
3) Resource Mobilization.
4) Providing centralized services such as teacher training and development, school inspection, curriculum development, text / exercise books, school feeding, administration of examination and reporting, setting of Academic and Non Academic Standards.
5) Monitoring, Evaluating, Reporting and Development of the entire education delivery process.

The actual implementation of the education programme in geographical Guyana is the responsibility of the ten (10) Regional Democratic Councils, (Georgetown is a special educational district that is presently directly managed by the MOE). This is evident since each region has its own education budget and is responsible for education, staffing and infrastructure. Indeed, the education departments in the regions are not accountable to the MOE but to the RDCs, which in turn reports to the Ministry of Local Government.

The MOE understands that education delivery is very complex involving many variables. However, we believe that much greater value can be gained if school leadership improves, that is, if all the factors which impact on school leadership are improved.

This required:

¨ Improved planning, monitoring and evaluating at the central level.
¨ Clear delineation of the responsibilities of the regional and national authorities.
¨ Better supervision of the schools system by the Regional Education Departments
¨ Development and implementation of education plans, programmes and projects.
¨ Designing education sector plans and strategy; and overseeing its implementation.
¨ Widespread stakeholder participation at the regional, sub-regional and school levels.
¨ Efficient day to day management of the school as an education unit.

The Political Head
The Minister of Education heads the MOE which has responsibility for establishing national education policy and the national curriculum for all administrative regions in the country. He has the authority over the educational system subject to Parliament and Cabinet. In addition, the MOE monitors education progress in all regions, and funds and distributes textbooks to all schools. MOE has its own budget, which is funded by allocation in the central government budget. The Teaching Service Commission is a semi-autonomous Government body not under the administrative control of the MOE, and is responsible for promotion, transfer, hiring, disciplining and dismissing of tenured teachers, throughout the country. Some schools are governed by School Boards which have similar functions to the T.S.C.

The Administrative Head
The Permanent Secretary is the Administrative Head of MOE who facilitates the efficient management of the MOE; acts as Advisor / Assistant to the Minister of Education in the formulation of policies and the preparation of Ministry’s annual work plan / programme, budget, annual report and provides responses to parliamentary question and motions. (S)he is assisted by two Deputy Permanent Secretaries (Finance and Admin), a Human Resource Manager and the Chief Planning Officer.

The Professional Head
The Chief Education Officer is the head of the professional arm of the Ministry of Education. Reporting to this officer are three (3) deputies: DCEO Policy Implementation and Monitoring unit, DCEO Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Development Unit, and DCEO (Technical Vocation Education and Training) and four (4) Assistant Chief Education Officers, three of whom have responsibilities for Monitoring Policy Implementation at the Nursery, Primary and Secondary Levels and a fourth, who is attached to the MERD Unit.

Activity 2.2
Either obtain an organisation chart for the Ministry of Education or, from the information provided above, draw one of your own. Indicate clearly your position on the chart as Headteacher and the lines of communication between you and the Minister.

In addition, four other officers: Director NCERD, Principal CPCE, Human Resource Manager and DPS (Admin) make up the Education Systems Committee (ESC). This committee has the overall responsibility for managing the entire education delivery process. This committee meets on average twice per month..

Summary
In all systems of government all ministries and departments are under political direction. In democratic systems, where the party in power has been chosen by popular vote in a public election held in free competition with other parties, Acts of Parliament and other statutes provide the rules which define how the education system is to be organised and managed. All public servants are accountable for their work, to Parliament and to the party in power.

The executive, judicial and legislative arms of government each provide a different balance in the operation of political power and its application to the government of our country. Thus, in theory, public servants including school heads should not be afraid of direct interference in the day‑to‑day management of their schools. In reality, a school head must be prepared to accommodate some political influence in the manner in which he or she manages the affairs of the school. This is an important point to bear in mind when considering school management functions, the topic of the next unit, Unit

The Functions of School Management

Unit 3

Introduction
In this unit, we will look at some of the management functions which you have as a school head, building on concepts introduced in Unit 1.

We look first at a case study on School Mismanagement Fever. We differ­entiate between the functions of planning, organising, directing, supervising and evaluating in a school, and we see how they relate to each other and how together they describe the role of the school manager, or head. Lastly, we consider some indicators of effective school management.

Individual study time: 3 hours

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
· differentiate between the main functions of the head of a school and identify some of the tasks associated with each function
· describe some of the inter‑relationships between these functions
· identify the key indicators of effective school heads.

Case study
The head of a disorganised school which has considerable problems and is very disorganised is asking for help.

The school is no longer supported by its Board of Governors. It has an inadequate number of teachers; the pupil drop‑out rate is high; the results in public examinations are poor; the buildings, equipment and materials are inade­quate and poorly maintained; the grounds are untidy and the morale of those connected with the school is low.

But the main lesson from the case study which is being emphasised is that, if as a head you are ASKing for help either to prevent further difficulties or to solve existing problems, you are miles ahead of those who do not recognise that they have a problem at all!

Clearly, you appreciate your role as manager of an organisation, which exists to provide the pupils with useful knowledge, skills and attitudes for responsible and successful living. To be a successful head you will need to acquire managerial Attitudes = A, Skills = S and Knowledge = K for running your school. Thus school managers who are seeking to find a cure for School Mismanagement Fever must recognise the need to ASK, that is, to involve others in developing solutions, but must also recognise the three key components: Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge, which they need to acquire. Maybe your S.M. Fever can be traced to a specific managerial issue which interferes with the processes of instruction and learning in the school, but, more likely, there are very many issues about which you are concerned. The successful school head is someone who is able to handle a range of problems or issues, at one time.

Activity 3.1
A school management diagnosis
Let us examine or diagnose, by means of a checklist, how well you are doing as a school manager. Complete the school management diagnosis checklist in below by ticking “YES” or “NO”

Indicate which of the following you have worked on, within the last school year, in your school. In each case you should be able to explain to someone what has been done.

PLANNING
1) Translating national education policies into school‑based teaching and learning objectives and targets.
2) Planning both the long‑term acquisition of relevant teaching and learning resources (including finances).
3) Preparing school syllabuses, schemes of work, timetables and schedules of activities.
4) Preparing schedules for meetings of the Heads of Departments, Level Heads, Parents Teacher Association, staff, etc.

ORGANISING
1) Preparing up‑to‑date job descriptions for all employed staff, and assigning roles, responsibilities and duties to staff and pupils.
2) Arranging for the appointment of new staff and the selection and appointment of all staff and students holding responsibility posts.

COMMUNICATION
1) Inducting new teachers, pupils and parents.
2) Communicating regularly and fully, by the most appropriate means, to all those with an interest in the school, about school programmes and activities
3) Holding formal and informal discussions with individuals and groups, including staff and students, and those outside the school, about all aspects of school life.

MONITORING AND SUPERVISION
1) Ensuring that classes are held, and that pupils' work is marked and assessed
2) Monitoring standards of learning and teaching in the classroom
3) Checking the schemes of work and lesson plans of the teachers.
4) Ensuring attendance and punctuality of both staff and pupils.
5) Conducting a full and fair appraisal of all staff, including observations, discussions and in written reports.
6) Taking stock and physically checking the resources and equipment of the school

EVALUATING
1) Preparing the Annual Report of the school.
2) Analysing examinations results and making recommendations for raising standards
3) Reviewing the performance of all aspects of the school
4) Setting new targets for individuals, departments and the school.
5) Presenting financial statements and reports to the appropriate authority

Comments
If your 'Yes' scores exceed 15 / 20, you are doing well.

However, if your 'No' scores exceed 10/20, then you will need to consider seriously your role as a school head and take appropriate steps to develop your skills.

The list indicates the five main management functions of school heads: planning, organising, directing, monitoring and supervision and evaluating all aspects of school life. Although they occur in sequence, in fact each function is a continuous process. As the list shows each may be broken down into several tasks.

Thus the work of a head is both complex and never complete!

The modules presented in this series for the training and support of school heads should guide you in improving your management capabilities.

Relating leadership functionsThe functions and tasks identified in the checklist may be put in the form of a flow chart.

Plan
Involve all stakeholders, especially Teachers, Parents, Pupils
Translation of national education policies into school level programmes, projects and activities

Organise
Yourself, Teachers and other staff, Parents
Teaching and learning activities

Direct
Yourself, Teachers and other staff,
Parents and Community
Communicate, discuss, motivate for support and active participation in the teaching and learning activities organised by the school

Monitor
yourself and others to achieve set standards in the quality of teaching and learning, using role models, exemplary behaviour and peer group support for setting targets to be achieved by individuals and groups in the school

Evaluate
The results of the monitoring of learning and teaching to inform development in the process at each stage

Activity 3.2
Take one of the main areas of life in your school, such as the curriculum. Use the diagram from Unit 1 in which we presented the five main functions or processes of school heads within a management cycle and demonstrate through specific examples, how you, in your school, undertake tasks within each function in relation to the curriculum.

Comments
This is not an easy activity to undertake as the range of tasks you have identified is probably quite large, but you should have gained a clearer idea as to how every task which you undertake as a school head in the various areas of operation may be analysed and described in terms of the broad functions which make up the management cycle. Moreover as noted in Unit 1, although presented cyclically, management processes inter‑relate. The flow chart depicted in Fig 4 highlights these relations. It is important that you become analytical about your job, so that you can make sure you are doing the right things, for the right reason, in the right way, and at the right time.

In examining the flow chart you probably thought 'How can I, as a school head, manage to plan, organise, direct, monitor, supervise and evaluate programmes, projects and activities in my school. The answer to this question lies in the application of the principles of:
¨ physical, programme, project and financial (budgeting) planning
¨ human and public relations
¨ communication and negotiation techniques
¨ delegation of authority, functions, responsibilities, duties and tasks
¨ decision making and problem solving
¨ management of change in relation to the operations in a school, through action planning.

School heads - Chief executives or lead professionals?
The central role of the school head is to manage the teaching and learning which determine the quality of education. Your attention is therefore drawn to current concerns for building the capacity in educational leadership at three levels:

¨ in the delivery of education in schools
¨ in policy implementation through regional education offices
¨ in strategic policy development within the Ministry of Education, the entire government, non‑governmental organisations (NGOs) and international agencies.

These concerns focus on the school as a social institution ‑ an agency through which the educational needs of the youth can be met. A school therefore is a means to an end and not the end in itself. This is reflected in the various roles the head performs. We introduced a number of these in Unit 1, for example, leadership, supervisory, managerial and administrative roles. Some people make a useful distinction between the head as the Chief Executive (CE) and the head as the Lead Professional (LP).

Chief Executive role examples
Examples of activities which illustrate the role of the head as Chief Executive are given below.
¨ setting out the mission and objectives of the school
¨ allocating duties to staff
¨ co‑ordinating and supervising staff activities
¨ evaluating school performance
¨ establishing working relationships between the Regional Education Office and the staff.
¨ ex officio member of the governing board (where there is one – only certain schools in Guyana)

Consider some of the activities which you undertake as a school head in your Lead Professional role.

Lead Professional role examples
Check which of the following items you listed:
• personal teaching
• professional guidance to teachers as individuals and in the development of school programmes
• counselling pupils and parents on ethics, norms and values of the school
• spokesperson for the whole school on all educational matters
• participation in subject panels, curriculum development and other external professional activities
Most jobs, not just that of a school head, involve different, maybe conflicting roles. Achieving a balance between them is very important. The school head who does not, or perhaps cannot, provide professional leadership will not be a credible person in the eyes of his or her staff. Yet a school head who fails in the role of Chief Executive perhaps should have stayed in the classroom.

Activity 3.3
Make a list of all the tasks you carry out as head of your school in a typical week. Beside each task indicate whether it is your Chief Executive Role with CE in brackets or whether it is your Leading Professional Role with LP in the brackets. Which role, CE or LP, has the largest number of tasks in your week? Are there any other tasks which you feel do not fit into either of these categories?

Comments
In your list of CE tasks you might have included 'signing purchase orders. In the LP the tasks might have included 'teaching Mathematics in Grade 4.’ You may have found separating some tasks between these roles quite difficult. For example, when you are chairing meetings, such as a staff meeting, you have both a Chief Executive and a Lead Professional role. The two roles both support and conflict with each other. Some countries have decided to separate the role totally and provide two separate people for these posts. Achieving a balance is important, and yet is quite difficult. What is important is that you realise their existence and work to improve your skills at carrying them out effectively.

Indicators of an effective school head
In Module 6, Monitoring School Effectiveness, we will be considering how we may evaluate the effectiveness of a school. Here let us consider how we might determine whether or not a school head is an effective leader.

An effective head demonstrates
Professional competence
¨ has wide-ranging and up-to-date knowledge and skills, including the ability to initiate, direct, communicate and delegate
Good relations and a concern for teamwork
¨ has good relations with pupils, staff and parents
¨ works for the development of the school through teamwork
¨ communications within the school are clear and on time
Leadership
¨ Creates confidence and inspires others
¨ Effectively evaluates the qualities and contributions of staff
¨ Can take difficult decisions

Activity 3.3
The list of items in above might be used to determine whether or not a school head is an effective school leader.

Do you agree with the three items listed here?
Can you think of anything else to add to each area?
Can you think of any other categories?

Comments
The three items included here provide some essential characteristics of effec­tiveness with regard to the work done by a school head. Notice that the list is not about an effective school, nor is it concerned with describing the detailed tasks of a school manager, such as planning the curriculum. We will come back to these again in Module 6. Not only do we need to explain what effectiveness is, but also what effectiveness is not. In the same way as we apply grades to the work done by pupils, so we should be able to describe the work of the school head as excellent, good, fair or below expectation, as appropriate, by using descriptive criteria such as you have just attempted to write.

Summary
In this unit we have looked at the main elements in school leadership. This has involved identifying the five main functions of a school head: plan­ning, organising, directing, monitoring and evaluating, and some of the tasks associated with each function. We have drawn distinctions between school heads as Chief Executives and as Lead Professionals. Lastly we have identified how indicators may be written up to produce criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of a school head. One item concerned human relations, which is the focus of our next unit.

Human and Public Relations

Unit 4

Introduction
As a headteacher who is responsible for a large number of people you will almost certainly agree that it is important for you to understand something about the behaviour of the people in your school organisation. The human factor in schools may cause problems and failure, or may lead to success, depending on the behaviour of the teachers, pupils, parents and all the other members of the school community. Apart from the nature and availability of the material and financial resources that are provided, the success of a school will also depend on:
¨ the level of training of the teachers
¨ the relations between the teachers and the head
¨ the relations between the teachers themselves
¨ the relations between the pupils and the teachers
¨ the relations between the school and the surrounding community.

In this unit you will study the relations between people and how this affects their work. From this you should understand how these relations affect the nature and quality of management in our educational institutions.

Individual study time: 3 hours

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
¨ understand the importance of good human relations and communications in providing a suitable working environment for the teachers, pupils and non‑teaching staff
¨ improve the motivation of the teachers and the pupils so as to ensure the success of the school
¨ establish and maintain good working relations with the educational authorities
¨ gain the support of the community in which the school is situated.

What are human relations?
We all belong to human society. In everyday life we live and work with people: they may be our family members or neighbours or friends or other relatives, or they may be people we work with in our places of employment. Whoever they are, we recognise their presence and relate to them through various means of communication.

We may say that human relations is being together with other people and interacting with them.


Human relations in a working place
As a head of a school your work will involve the following:

¨ planning the activities of the school
¨ organising the resources to be used, which includes getting the equipment and materials required; assigning work to each member of staff, agreeing how it should be done and when it should be done and ensuring that the work is done
¨ maintaining high standards of education in your school.

Activity 4.1
You may wish to explore the following questions by yourself, or, perhaps with some other trainees or colleagues informally in a group.
(1) Would the work listed above be for you alone as the head, or would other people also be involved?
(2) In what ways would other people be involved in each of these aspects of your work? What has this to do with human relations?
(3) Why is an understanding of human relations important to the head of any institution?

Comments
In every working place each person must be given his or her duties. The school head organises the programme for the school. He or she carries out the monitoring necessary to ensure that the programme is followed. Each teacher prepares a scheme of work, lesson plans and assessment records for their class. In addition some of the teachers may be in charge of out of class activities. At the end of each school term progress reports are prepared for the pupils. If the head does not produce the school timetable in good time, teaching may be delayed at the beginning of the term. The syllabuses may not be covered sufficiently. If the teachers do not prepare their schemes and lesson plans, the pupils may not be taught properly. When this happens, it is the responsibility of the head. He or she must organise it. If the subject teacher delays in preparing assessments for his or her subject, the class teacher will be late in completing the end of term assessments. Then, parents will not be informed of pupil progress.

In the working place therefore, we need to recognise that what others do affects our own work and our work affects what they do. This is because all the different tasks in an organisation are inter‑related, and the individ­uals in the organisation have a working relationship. Ensuring that everyone works in an agreed fashion is essential if all the staff are to work together harmoniously and effectively.

What do we know about the techniques of forming human relations? You will know that when two people meet and establish either friendly or working relations, the three stages listed below are involved.

Exploration phase
This involves seeking clues and information for forming opinions and impressions about each other. In schools, this phase should be planned, detailed and extensive. Learn about yourself and the people you work with.

Consolidation phase
First impressions can be deceptive due to misleading information. Repeated behaviour patterns help in gauging levels of frankness, openness, truthful­ness, reliability, credibility and integrity of a person. You may find it helpful to keep records on the behaviour of pupils and staff to help you understand them.

Preservation phase
This is the stage of mutual understanding based on trust and acceptance of each other's good and bad points, weaknesses and strengths.

Human relations and motivation

Staff motivation

Activity 4.2
The list below includes a number of items which are factors which might affect the quality of performance of the teachers in a school.

Read through the list, and then place the ten items in rank order with the most important factor 1, the second 2, and so on. The factor which you consider as least important will have a rank of 10.

The performance of teachers in a school will be improved if:

¨ they are given an increase in salary
¨ they have a feeling of job security
¨ they are supplied with all the basic resources required to teach
¨ the head regularly consults with them
¨ their work is appreciated
¨ quality monitoring and supervision takes place
¨ there are opportunities for promotion and personal development
¨ they are paid on time
¨ they are given advice to improve the quality of their teaching
¨ they receive sympathetic help with problems


Comments
The way you have ranked these questions is likely to depend, to a large extent, upon the culture and the context within which you live and work. Experts on management have observed that people in their place of work like to:

¨ feel that their work is regarded as important ‑ they do not like to be idle
¨ be praised for what they have done, but not to be blamed ‑ they fear to admit mistakes in public
¨ are given good advice as a result of monitoring and evaluation of their work
¨ know what their managers think about their work ‑ they feel encouraged when their own knowledge of the subject is appreciated
¨ be consulted when there are changes to be made in their organisation
¨ have a leader who is able to listen and to welcome suggestions
¨ sympathise with personal problems and give advice; show justice in dealing with problems concerning relations between staff; give respect to all workers, whether in low or high positions in the organisation; say
¨ 'Thank you' when good work is done and also to admit mistakes
¨ feel secure in their job ‑ nobody wants to work in a place where they feel they are not wanted, or where they are threatened with dismissal
¨ feel that they are appreciated by their fellow workers

Whether these factors are the ones which motivate your teachers in your school in your country would be very interesting to find out. What is impor­tant is that you realise the range and diversity of things which motivate people. Even a small thing like greeting your staff and pupils in a way which is generally accepted may make a difference.

Case study
Please read the following case study:

The absentee teacher
A primary school teacher, has come to the school head to ask for permission to be away for three days. Her nanny has left suddenly and she has nobody at home to look after her three month old baby. She wants to go to look for someone else to look after her child.

The school is already short of teachers. The Head tells her that looking for a nanny does not concern the school. She should make other arrangements to get one without affecting her work. He reminds her that the District Education Officer may visit the school any time during that week. He does not want any class to be found without a teacher. He refuses to give her permission. But the following morning the teacher does not come to work.

Activity 4.3
What is your comment on the following case? Consider:
1) Should the teacher be disciplined for being absent without permission?
2) What effect might this have on the motivation of the other staff who have children?
3) What actions would you take in this situation to maintain the motivation of your teachers?

Comments
A difficult case, and there is unlikely to be a right answer, but you will prob­ably
have noted that this example is an illustration of poor human relations and you may have suggested the need for improved communications and focused on the importance of working together and shared responsibilities.

The role of head is a difficult one. On the one hand s(he) must put the school first but must also recognise that to get the best out of people we must be sympathetic to their problems. Perhaps there were compromises that could have been made in this case. Maybe the child could have been brought to school for a day. Maybe she only needed one day to search for a nanny.

Pupil motivation
Like their teachers, the pupils in a school also need to be motivated.

Pause for a moment and think what steps might be taken to help motivate pupils.

Pupils are unlikely to be motivated unless:
¨ they are assured of care and protection in the school
¨ their problems are treated with understanding and justice
¨ the teachers show patience and are sincere in guiding them
¨ their efforts in class and in other school activities are appreciated by the teachers and the head
¨ their parents have a chance to see what they are doing in school.
¨ They can see the progress they are making and understand the reasons why they are doing what they are asked to do.

We could add other items to this list, but the important point to recognise is that it includes a wide range of factors. An understanding of the nature of motivation suggests that for learning to take place, pupils' basic needs, physiological, safety, love and belonging, must be met, as well as their need for self‑esteem and self‑fulfilment. School heads and teachers can try to ensure that external and situational factors both in and outside the class­room will stimulate their pupils to learn.

Human relations and communications
We will now examine the relationship between communication and human relations. Communication in an organisation is like the nervous system in the human body. If anything interferes with a nerve line it is no longer possible to co‑ordinate the work of the affected part with the rest of the body. Similarly, if anything interferes with the communication links between individuals in an organisation their work will be badly affected. Decisions will not be taken at the right time. Work will not be done as required. It may not even be done at all if the instructions are not communicated. Or, it may be done incorrectly, if the instructions are poorly communicated or received. Good communication is both about sending and receiving information. Good relations between sender and receiver will help ensure effective communication. Let us explore this relationship further.

Activity 4.4
1) Prepare a list of the different ways in which you, as a school head, might communicate with your teachers and pupils.
2) What affects the way you communicate with individual teachers and groups of teachers? How might this be improved?
3) Have you noticed that at times certain members of your staff do not seem to be talking to one another? How might this affect your work as a head? What can you do to help in solving this problem?

Comments
You are likely to have listed a wide range of patterns and methods of communication from meetings and loudspeaker systems through to personal one‑to‑one discussions. It may well be that some of these could be improved. You may need to check whether communications are actually getting through and consider changing your communication strategy if problems exist with current practice. We will be looking at communication and the communication process in further depth in Unit 6.

In this context, it is worth noting that many things can interfere with communication between individuals in a working place. One of these is the attitude that some people may hold against other workmates. If people we are working with know that we hold negative attitudes towards them, they will not communicate freely with us. They may even withhold certain information that is very important for carrying out a task; perhaps, for some reason, they want us to fail. It is important therefore that heads never hold a negative attitude towards their staff; or if they do, that they do not reveal it! Instead he or she should create a working environment in which all the staff are free to consult one another. Good communications and good human relations go hand‑in‑hand. This is also the case with regard to the relationship between the school and the external community.

The head as a public relations officer
A public relations officer is the spokesperson for an organisation. He or she provides information to the public on what the organisation is doing and also listens to comments by members of the public about the organisation. If these comments suggest that some justified improvements are needed, then action should be taken to bring about the required changes.

A school is part of the community in which it is situated. The members of the community in general and the parents in particular have an interest in the school because it provides education for their children. It is clear that the school head has an important role to play as a public relations officer to ensure that good relations are established between the school and the community, and with the education authorities. There are several ways of doing this.

1) The head or his / her representative (e.g. Deputy Head or Senior Teacher) should be ready to meet parents and other members of the public who come to the school to obtain information about education.
2) The head and his or her staff should be able to organise functions and ceremonies to which parents are invited. Such functions might include, for example:
¨ Parents' Teachers' Association meetings
¨ Open Days in the school
¨ Speech and Prize Giving Days
¨ Sports Days.
3) The head and staff should be encouraged to participate in some community development activities within the neighbourhood of the school.
4) Good working relations with the authorities in the Ministry and Regional Education Department will help ensure that any problems the school head encounters may be listened to with greater sympathy and that any assistance requested will be readily forthcoming. This in turn will help with community relations.
5) Encourage social interaction like school visits / games etc.

Activity 4.5
1) Can you suggest other ways in which the school head can help improve relations with the community?
2) Taking your school as an example, list down any community activities in which pupils could usefully participate, noting potential benefits for pupils, the school and the community at large.
3) What factors tend to give a school a bad image in its local community?

Comments
You will probably have been able to suggest a number of other methods for improving relations with the community. Better communications are a popular option, and some schools even produce newsletters for wider dissemination of school ideas and information. Contributions by pupils can add a further level of interest. A point perhaps worth noting is that although the head is responsible for external relations, there is of course much that can be undertaken by delegating specific tasks to members of staff.


Summary
This unit has looked at human relations in schools, drawing attention to motivational aspects and the significance of good communications. Attention has also been focused on the role of the head, staff and pupils in fostering good community relations.

It is easy for the headteacher to put blame on all around him / her for poor relations. However, the fact is that it is his / her responsibility to foster good relationships. If staff are antagonistic towards each other or towards the head, s(he) must ensure that this situation must not be allowed to continue by working hard to bring the two sides closer together. If this is not done, the school will be dysfunctional. If it is dysfunctional, children will not learn, If children do not learn, it is a failing school. We will touch on these various processes in subsequent units and modules, but we now consider the process of delegation, which is an important means by which staff can be motivated and, if used correctly, human relations improved.

Delegation in a School

Unit 5

Introduction
As a head, you are expected to manage the school through your own work, the work of other teachers, staff and even pupils. You may have heard of sayings like “Many heads are better than one”, “Many hands make light work”, etc. and certainly as a manager of a school you cannot achieve your goals and objectives if you do all the tasks alone. In other words, you cannot teach all the subjects in the school, head all the departments, be on duty every day of the week, deal with all the correspondence and discipline cases, be in charge of all the clubs and so on. You will need to use the talents of the teachers who work with you, not fearing that they will take over from you, but rather trusting them and having confidence in them. Moreover, making use of even the most critical or uncooperative members of your staff may result in their trusting you and feeling more motivated and needed. By doing the above you will actually be delegating responsibilities and duties to your teachers, and in this unit we will explore further the delegation process, considering its importance and the barriers to its effectiveness.

Individual study time: 2 hours

Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
¨ understand the importance of delegation, and outline the key principles and procedures involved in delegation
¨ direct, support, develop and motivate the staff working in your school by giving them responsibilities, duties and tasks that are appropriate to their talents, abilities and capabilities
¨ build a team amongst your teachers through sharing the school workload by more effective delegation
¨ improve your own managerial performance by alleviating pressures in your time and improving the flow of work in school.

What is delegation?
Delegation is a process by which managers, such as school heads, transfer part of their authority to their colleagues, for the performance of certain tasks and responsibilities. By assigning tasks to them to perform on your behalf, you can enable the decentralisation of authority or office functions, the sharing of duties/tasks within the school and the grouping of duties into departments with group heads for easier management. Since delegation can take place at all levels of management, department heads themselves may also become involved in delegation.

The importance of delegation

Activity 5.1
1) Think back over your work for the past few months and make a note of any tasks and responsibilities which you delegated to a colleague or which were delegated to you. Why did you do this?
2) List some of the factors to be taken into account to ensure effective delegation.

Comments
You will probably have given a variety of reasons for delegating the tasks you did, including such things as improving the flow of work and the management of your own time.

There is in some ways a conflict. Often peoiple say “I can do it better myself” or “It will take too long to explain” or “I can do it faster myself”. This may be true but how will colleagues learn to do it as well and as quickly as you when they are not given the opportunity to practice thew skills?

The following summary highlights the importance of delegation in schools:

¨ In a school of 1,000 learners and 60 teachers the head cannot control every activity.
¨ There is a physical and mental limit to the workload capacity of any individual or group in authority.
¨ Delegation gives time to the head to concentrate on other important matters.
¨ It is a way of preparing your colleagues to handle higher and more challenging responsibilities in future, therefore a way of training and developing them.
¨ It creates confidence in your colleagues.
¨ It encourages co‑operation and team work and thus colleagues feel part and parcel of the successes or failures of the school.
¨ As a school grows more specialisation in leadership, management and teaching areas is necessary.

Delegation is an act of trust and an expression of confidence of the leader in the colleague. It is one of the most important methods of creating and maintaining democracy in schools. What then are some of the factors which need to be taken into consideration to ensure effective delegation of tasks? They include:

¨ delegating authority with responsibility ‑ remember you remain accountable for the responsibilities delegated
¨ delegated responsibilities must be clear, specific and effectively communicated
¨ delegating authority with enough responsibility.

Determination of the right degree of delegation is part of the art of leadership. Effective delegation means delegating the right amount of authority and the right kind of duties. There will always be some tasks which should not be delegated at all. Let us summarise some of the key principles and procedures of delegation:

Principles and procedures of delegation
¨ Select the person to delegate to, on the basis of a sound knowledge of staff members in terms of their varying levels of competence, commitment and capability.
¨ The nature and scope of the work to be delegated must be clearly defined and be for the benefit of the organisation as a whole.
¨ Delegated tasks must be clearly described.
¨ The person to whom a task is assigned must be capable of carrying out the task or duty to the best of his/her ability and willing to take responsibility.
¨ Mutual co‑operation, understanding and faith between the manager and staff members is of the utmost importance to enable delegation to be successful.
¨ Some form of regular reporting to provide a means of progress control is required.
¨ Reward successful achievement of delegated tasks.

Barriers to effective delegation
Some managers are reluctant to delegate. They may choose not to delegate tasks feeling that they can do better than anybody else. They may feel that it will take too long a time to explain to the colleague undertaking the assignment. Such feelings may be contributed by concerns such as:

Insecurity: Where the leader is not ready to take chances/risks or fears that the colleague may let him down.

Loss of power: If the colleague does the task very well or even better than the leader would have done it.

Failure to plan ahead: This makes it difficult to decide which task to delegate and to whom and when.

Some colleagues are reluctant to accept responsibility due to insecurity. They wish their bosses to make decisions for fear of being held responsible for any failure. They may also feel that they are not given enough incentives and are not given proper guidance and support by the manager. Adequate means of communication may not be available to the delegatee for consultation with the manager if necessary.

Are you a good delegator?
A good delegator is one who stimulates and motivates colleagues to undertake duties and responsibilities delegated to them by:

¨ clearly indicating the standard of performance expected, time limit and any other conditions involved
¨ giving the delegatee a chance to perform the given task without undue interference
¨ appreciating the efforts the delegatee has made, and assisting whenever assistance is needed
¨ learning to accept that some delegated duties may not be done as perfectly as they would by oneself
¨ making use of the mistakes made to develop rather than to ridicule and threaten the delegatee: however, the delegator should make sure that the mistakes made will not endanger the institution.

How well do you stand up against these criteria?

Activity 5.2
1) Refer back to your responses to the questions raised in Activity 5.1, and taking each delegation act in turn, try to draw up an account of how effective you were as a delegator. You could use the above criteria to judge your performance in each case of delegation.
2) Are there other tasks and responsibilities which you could be delegating?
3) Draw up a brief plan of action for improving your performance in delegation.

Comments
We hope you will have found the activity useful as a means of reviewing your own performance in delegation and encouraging you to consider how you may ensure more effective delegation in the future. There are of course many tasks which a school head can delegate. Equally, there will be some which cannot be delegated. Much will depend on the rules, regulations and practices which pertain in Guyana. However, in general, the school head can delegate almost all the tasks except:

¨ finances: for example, authority to spend. However, the day to day work of accounting can be done by another and approved by the head.
¨ admission of new pupils into the school. Likewise the head must give final approval
¨ final decision making on policy issues and changes in the school
¨ assigning of duties to the Deputy Head and senior teachers
¨ final responsibility on examinations

Summary
In this unit we have examined the concept of delegation, the importance of delegation and some of the key principles of delegation. We have encour­aged you to consider how you might improve your own performance of this crucial leadership function, to enable you to build a team amongst teachers through the sharing of the workload of the school.

Remember that” building teams” and “empowering them” is one of the key functions of a leader.