Open AccessFormal and Informal basis of Authority in Instructional Supervision: A Perspective of Heads of Schools and Teachers in Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Stephen M. Mahere
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of interdisciplinary academic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2617-2976
pISSN - 2617-2968
DOI - 10.32476/e8caa510-85ce-4b24-a231-1e97e8de27b3
Subject(s) - excellence , supervisor , quality (philosophy) , perspective (graphical) , psychology , sociology , pedagogy , mathematics education , medical education , political science , medicine , mathematics , philosophy , geometry , epistemology , law
Zimbabwe has achieved quantitative expansion in education. The focus is now on achieving academic excellence. One of the ways of improving the quality of education is instructional supervision. Effective supervision of instruction, through changing teacher behaviour, can improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. The basis of authority a supervisor has in a school is one of the supervisory dimensions that could impinge directly on the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Two major bases of authority in a school organization may be identified, namely, formal and informal authority, and both influence supervisee’s behaviour. The study sought to investigate which of the two bases of authority (formal and informal) is perceived by school heads and teachers in Zimbabwe to be more effective during instructional supervision. The investigation employed the survey research design. The study was conducted in 628 schools: 298 in Greater Harare, an urban province, and the 330 schools in Mashonaland Central, a predominantly rural province. Harare being the largest city was specifically selected as a typical urban province; while Mashonaland Central, with many responsible authorities, was specifically chosen to represent a predominantly rural province. The sample size was 729 school heads and teachers randomly chosen as follows: 368 from Greater Harare and 361 respondents from Mashonaland Central Province. Data were analysed using the SPSS. The findings showed that school heads and teachers perceived Informal Basis of Authority in instructional supervision as more effective while Formal Basis of Authority was perceived as generally not quite effective. The study recommended that supervisors broaden their supervisory influence, power and formal authority base by tapping into the informal organisation resource. Therefore, they should possess and tap both their expert and referent authorities, so as to augment and buttress their formal positional authority.