The effect of management styles on teachers in Indian education

Abstract

This study is motivated by growing concern among teachers and principals about who controls the learning process and was conducted in the Chatsworth/Phoenix area of KwaZulu-Natal among selected primary and secondary schools from the former House of Delegates. The findings are thus applicable to these schools only. Since both groups lay claim to this control, a clash between them becomes inevitable. Principals have been blamed for "objectifying" teachers. Level-1 educators accuse these autocratic principals of treating them as pawns in a public service chess game. Teachers desire stability and security in the classroom and want to be appreciated. Like other professionals, they tend to regard suggestions about how they should do their work as reprimands. Teachers want to control their destinies and influence their working conditions. Instead of growing in their jobs, teachers complain of being "locked-in". Topdown bureaucratic principals prevent these educators from developing their decision-making skills. With these conditions prevailing in the teaching profession in the early nineties, the researcher set out to examine the effect of management styles on teachers in the classroom. Furthermore, he wanted to gauge the extent to which teachers were allowed to participate in decisionmaking, especially in those areas which affected their efficiency and job satisfaction. With the gradual empowering of level-1 educators as a result of the teacher's trade union (SADTU) and the resultant decline of the prescriptive role of superintendents, principals have had to rapidly adjust their management style to become more democratic and recognise teachers as the key personnel in the education process. At present principals have a high regard for their staff and view them as dedicated and motivated. Their managerial style show a strong bias towards participative decision-making, and they encourage teachers to initiate and implement new ideas. These principals have come to realise that if education in general is to benefit, they will have to adopt the "bottom-up" approach. Teachers dislike prescription and supervision of their work and cited these factors as a major cause of increased stress levels. However, it is important for level-1 educators to understand that if they expect to enjoy the confidence of educational managers and to be part of the decision-making mechanism, they need to show a high degree of professionalism and a deep sense of responsibility - both of which they undoubtedly have in abundance.