THE TEACHER AS MANAGER BY DR. A. Y. ABDULKAREEM ABSTRACT Nowadays, more than ever before, there is much emphasis on managing educational institutions to achieve the institutions' goals effectively. Since the fulcrum of the educational lever is the teacher, in this paper, he is therefore seen and described as the fundamental manager of the students, their learning activities and the school educational resources. There are many functions concerned in the process of management. Such functions identified and discussed as components of managerial activities of the teacher are planning, organizing, leading, co-ordinating, directing, supervising, controlling, evaluating, and reporting. It is concluded that all the management functions are interrelated and interdependent. The teacher, as manager, is therefore advised to be well grounded in the rudiments and application of the theories and practices of school manage-
INTRODUCTION The importance of school - education, as a powerful means for effecting individual as well as national development, is being realised by people all over the world, especially in the developing nations. This belief in the efficacy of education had resulted into increasing commitment to the establishment of educational institutions and expansion of enrolment in schools all over the world in recent years. As aptly noted by Adesina (1984), the twentieth century has witnessed a hysterical expansion of educational system all over the world. The school, as a social organisation, is increasingly getting complex as a result of: population explosion in the school; expansion of school programmes and resources; the resources available to die school are far less than the demands; increased pressures on the school to respond to the needs and expectations of the society; increased demand for accountability of the school
and its management; explosion of knowledge and information inside and outside the school environment; awareness of the rights of students, parents and the society at large to education and educational institutions, and demand for such rights from the system more than ever before. As remarked by Dalin (1978). educational institutions are complex organizations not because they are complicated in terms of technologies, but because they reflect a complex mission in a rapidly changing environment. Nowadays, more than ever before, there is. therefore, much emphasis on managing educational institutions to achieve educational goals effectively (Hostrop. 1975; Nwankwo, 1980; Abdulkareem. 1988). In fact, people advocate applying management principles and techniques to achieve the desired educational objectives in the school (Adaralegbe, 1979; Adesina, 1980). This call has been necessitated, as earlier on mentioned, because schools, which are the institutions for people to acquire the much needed knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, ethics, abilities and competences, have become tremendously complex. Thus, it is quite important for those charged with the affairs of the school to be well groomed in the knowledge, skills and techniques of management. The fulcrum of the educational lever is the teacher, since "no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers" (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981, p.38). Thus, the teacher is the fundamental manager of the students, their learning activities and the school educational resources. However, it should be remembered that the principal, who is the general manager of the school, is primarily a teacher. Every conscientious teacher should, therefore, be adequately prepared to manage the human and material resources available to him/her so that he/she can be efficient and effective in his/her onerous task of imparting knowledge and inculcating right values and attitudes to his/her pupils/students (the educands). There are many functions concerned in the process of management. Such functions are sometimes referred to as the "elements" or "components" of management. These management functions have been described to be universal in all social organizations like the school (Nwankwo, 1980; Adesina, 1980). The teacher, as manager, would have to be concerned with the complex activities of planning, organizing, directing, leading, coordinating, evaluating and reporting among others. Specifically, physical resources would have to be properly arranged and controlled to assist students in their learning process; while the performances of the students and the teacher himself have to be evaluated to determine effectiveness of the classroom encounter (teaching learning process).
This paper examines the following managerial functions of the teacher: planning, organizing, leading, coordinating, directing, supervising, controlling, evaluating, communicating, reporting. (a)
Planning
As succinctly described by French and Saward (1975. pp. 310 & 31!). "plan is a projected course of action that is designed to lead to desired result, and one of the essential elements of management." Planning, as one of the essential functions of the teacher as manager, is basically on classroom learning activities. This deals with the process of identifying lesson objectives, mapping out the strategies for achieving these objectives, specifying and procuring the needed instructional materials; and allotting times for the different activities within the specified time for the lesson. This is short term planning, and the paper work on this is the daily lesson plan. Planning for a classroom setting is of primary importance to the classroom manager, for this provides a basis for directing and guiding actions in the class, and provides targets which enable efforts to be observed and aided. The teacher, as manager, is also involved in medium-term and long-term plans in the educational system. The medium-term plan in the system is the scheme of work which stipulates the expected teaching and learning objectives; the course units/components or modules for a particular subject in a particular level; the needed resources; the methodology, and the procedures for evaluation. The syllabus for a particular level of the educational system is a long-term plan that deals with the philosophy; aims and objectives; the courses to offer to lead to certification at that level; the course requirements; the needed human and material resources; methodology for imparting knowledge; the procedures for evaluation, and feedback. The teacher is the fundamental planner and implementer of all the educational plans (short-term, medium-term and longterm). Decision-making is part of the activities involved in the process of planning (Abdulkareem, 1988), while policies are a process of decision-making and activity. Policies, according to Pollitt, Lewis. Negro and Pattern (1979), customarily involve a series of decisions taken over, and any other instructional materials being used. (b)
Organization
Classroom organization also involves the selection of competent class leaders. The teacher, as manager, should watch out 'for leadership qualities in the students (educands), and help develop such qualities by assigning certain
duties (functions), such as those of group leader, class monitor (representative), class/ school prefect, etc. to such students. It should be noted that grooming students to become future leaders is part of education, which is one of the responsibilities of the teacher as manager. The teacher should arrange the instructional materials available in the school within the reach of the students. He should be actively involved in the proper care and maintenance of these facilities to be in good condition for use at all times, because the teacher is a school plant manager (Abdulkareem, 1988). (c)
Leading
Leading, as part of the teacher's managerial activities, may be conceived as an act of guiding or giving direction to the students in the education process. Moyle (1979, p.43) is of the view that leadership is: "the behaviour of any of the group - usually the designated leader, who influences the other members to perform in a manner which will help the group to reach its goals, maintain itself in good working order, and adapt to change in the environment." Adesina (1980) corroborated this by remarking that it must be admitted that leadership connotes the ability to get things done with the assistance and cooperation of other people within the institution, organization or system. A teacher is qualified to be called a leader because, according to Good (1973, p. 586), he is "a person who because of rich or unusual experience or education or both in a given field is able to contribute to the growth and development of other persons who come in contact with him..." The teacher is seen as a pace-setter, a model, a socializer. a transmitter of virtues and, in fact, the custodian of the societal values and ethics. Furthermore, Chauhan (1983) regards the teacher as an important constituent in the instructional process, and that the way the teacher handles the students has an effect on the future personality of children. In fact, the way the teacher, as manager, carries out his roles will affect the mental and psychological health of the students, as well as the school atmosphere in general. There are autocratic, democratic, psudo-democratic. group-centred, and laissez-faire teachers in the school system. The teacher's styles of leadership mostly depends on his personality; background, that is, knowledge, skills and exposure; and sometime environmental circumstances. It has been discovered by Lewin, Lippit and White (1939), in their classical experiment on "Social Climates" created by authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire teachers and their corresponding influences on students' personality development, that:
(i)
autocratic atmosphere tends to create aggression and hostility; while
(ii)
democratic atmosphere leads to constructive, thoughtful and cooperative behaviour.
In corroboration, Anderson (1945), hi his independent studies, found out that autocratic atmosphere was Ml of threats, orders and criticism; while democratic atmosphere was flexible and child-centred. Thus, we may infer that democratic teaching - learning process would enhance the development of positive personality traits of self-reliance, independent thought and cooperative attitudes. The teacher, as manager, in the educational system, js exposed to various styles/types of leadership and the circumstances for their effective use. Since leadership is often described to be synonymous with administration and management in organisations, and the fact that a teacher is primarily a leader in the education process, a teacher could therefore be described as a manager in the educational system. (d)
Coordinating
Coordinating the efforts or the activities of students by the teacher is another aspect of his managerial activities. Really, as noted by Nwankwo (1980), coordination is the process whereby an orderly pattern of group efforts among all the parts in the group is developed to secure unity action hi the pursuit of common objectives. This is the guidance, leadership and harmonization of the students' efforts in order to achieve the school goals. The teacher, as the classroom manager, does not sit himself rigidly hi a place; rather, he goes round to see students at work. He equally gives rational treatment to students' responses and questions. He ensures that everybody is busy participating in the school activities. (e)
Directing
The teacher, as manager, is the director of knowledge. Thus, he should motivate, influence, guide and stimulate the students' actions toward the achievement of the school goals, The teacher is also a mediator of learning. He does not only transmit knowledge, he guides his pupils/learners in ways of acquiring knowledge, skills and competences to be able to solve problems for themselves, so that, with time, they will become independent of the teacher's guide. To be an effective director of knowledge and a good manager, the teacher is expected to be conversant with the message he wants to pass across
to students; he must be competent in his use of medium/media of communication; language of communication; and must generally ensure effective learning through effective communication system. He must be approachable to all students.
(f)
Supervision and Controlling
These two elements of management functions are grouped together for the purpose of discussion in this paper. Nwankwo et al. (1981, p.9) succinctly defined supervision as: "The process or act of seeing to it that the policies, principles and methods established for achieving the objectives of education are properly and successfully carried out." Furthermore, they argued that: "This process involves using expert knowledge and experience to oversee, evaluate and cooperatively improve the conditions and methods of doing things connected with the teaching-learning process in schools" (Nwankwo etaL, 1981,P.9). The teacher is the direct and primary supervisor of the students and their activities, especially during the school session. Thus, as a manager, the teacher should ensure that the students are assisted in adjusting themselves to the school setting, and help them solve any attendant problems. The teacher is a key figure hi the design and implementation of the school auricular and co-curricular activities for all-round development of the educand. The teacher is, in fact, called upon to oversee student activities as class-master, house master, games master, matron or patron/adviser, as the case may be. In all these, the teacher is performing the functions of a manager (human resource manager) hi the school. The teacher, as manager should ensure that school rules and regulations are obeyed. This is a way of controlling students' behaviour. Thus, controlling, as part of the teacher's managerial functions deals with orderliness. However, the teacher must be conversant with the educational policies, as well as the school rules and regulations. He should also ensure that students are not only conversant with these rules and regulations; but obey them. To be an effective supervisor and controller, the teacher himself should be alive to his responsibilities of serving as a model for his students. He should have respect and care for all his students; encourage creativity and innovation; be loyal to his ideals and ideas; be respectful of the beliefs, rights, worth and dignity of his students; and be approachable and alert to get the best out of his students. In fact, the teacher should always act in loco-parent is to the
students/educands. The teacher should not be bossy, as a manager, in controlling the students/learners. (g)
Evaluating and Reporting
These two related teacher's managerial functions have also been grouped together for convenience. Evaluation deals with judging the relatedness of school activities to the school plan, programmes, and the achievement of the school goals. The teacher, who is the evaluator, plays the role of a judge to the students. And as a judge, according to Balogun et al. (1981, P. 167), "the teacher also keeps discipline in his class and in the school as a whole." He decides what is right and what is wrong; and also what is good and what is bad hi social interaction between pupils and teachers and among the pupils themselves. Evaluation may be: Summative, this is meant for certification or grading of students at the end of a unit semester or course; Formative, which is meant for feedback to students and teacher on student progress through a unit It points to errors in terms of the structure of a unit so mat remedial alternative instruction techniques can be prescribed, and ( Diagnostic, which is meant for placement. The presence or absence of prerequisite skills is determined. The student's prior level of mastery is also determined. The student can be classified according to various characteristics known or thought to be related to alternative modes of instruction. Underlying causes of repeated learning difficulties are determined. The teacher, as a manager, is expected to integrate all these types of evaluation in judging students performances in the school educational programmes. There are various ways of evaluating the students' works. Whichever method is used, it must be remembered that both students and teachers must be evaluated, and that the method to be applied must be valid (that is, the testing or evaluating procedure should measure what it is intended to measure) and reliable (that is, it must be trustworthy and must not be doubtful). This is the job of the teacher. Constant reports of the students' progress are necessary from time to time. These are sometimes referred to as continuous assessment. The teacher, as manager, carries out this function of reporting. He should promptly intimate the appropriate authorities with any problems in the school plans, programmes
and procedures so that appropriate actions could be taken for improvement. The teacher's reports should be properly documented and fed the school authority, the students and their parents/guardians. This could serve as a means of feedback in school management process. The teacher is, in fact, an information manager and a managerial psychologist. Such person is expected to be a liaison officer between the school and the home in the overall interest of the educand. And as a manager of the student welfare services, the teacher is expected to provide first-aid counselling services to the students.
Conclusion All the management functions discussed thus far are interrelated and interdependent. For the teacher, as manager, to be successful in his role of producing well balanced individuals, he should be well grounded in the rudimentary knowledge and application of the theories and practices of school management. This would enable him to do the right things rather than do things right; optimize the use of resources rather than safeguard resources; produce creative alternatives rather than solve problems; and achieve goals rather than follow duties. There is no gainsaying the fact that the teacher of today should be a MANAGER.
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