Enkele bestuursfunksies van die sekondêre skoolhoof met spesiale verwysing na interpersoonlike verhoudingstigting

[摘要] The principal of a secondary school has a managerial task toperform. Many of his managerial functions have been describedin literature.In the performance of his duties he makes contact with variousgroups of people. The group with which he interacts most frequentlyis his staff. The purpose of this study is to investigatethe influence of the interpersonal relations between theprincipal and his teachers on successful teaching and education.The basic assumption is that the school manager cannot functioneffectively if the relations with his teachers are negative.It is therefore one of his basic managerial functions to createsound interpersonal relations with his teachers.The aim of this study is to take a closer look at the managerialfunctions of the secondary school principal with the purpose offinding a definition for the concept of managerial functions.Using this definition as basis it is further the intention totry and establish whether the creation of sound interpersonalrelations with his teachers can be classified as a managerialfunction of the secondary principal.A theoretical study was made of the development of the humanaspects of management and of the growing awareness that thecare and consideration for the employee is a very importantfacet of management.The research instituted by various management schools onmanagement, was taken into consideration.In the Scientific Management School attention was given tothe research of Taylor and Fayol. Special considerationwas given to the principles of management as stated byTaylor. Taylor's work was based on his point of view thatco-operation between management and employee should be encouraged.Attention was also given to Fayol's principles of management.Some of these principles like fairness, reward and espritde corps that were focussed on motivation, job satisfactionand a feeling of unity among employees, emphasize that he wasaware of the effect of sound interpersonal relations.In the Human Relations School the contributions of Follett,Mayo and Roethlisberger were summarized.Follett's human interests motivated her to integrate thesocial sciences into management in a practical way. Shepleaded for recognition of the needs of the individual and thegroup within an organization.Mayo and Roethlisberger placed the emphasis on the humanaspects in management.The experimental work that was undertaken by them led to theimprovement of the interpersonal relations between employerand employee.The work of some of the Behaviorists was also consulted. Thecontributions of Barnard, Simon and Argyris to management werebriefly touched on. They stressed the important role of groupformation within an organization as well as decision-making.The important role that interpersonal relations between managementand employees play in productivity, was pointed out.Hostility between the management and the informed group leadto diminished productivity.Various management theories with regard to the principal werealso treated. Consideration of these, combined with the definition of management leads to the conclusion thatthe principal can be regarded as a manager.The next aspect that had to be considered was the nature ofthe managerial functions of the principal. These are:planning, organizing, giving instructions, co-ordination,control, decision-making, delegation, evaluation, in-servicetraining of teachers, initiation and renovation, feedback,personnel management, disciplinary activities.The next step was to take the act of creating interpersonalrelations into consideration. It became clear that, to createinterpersonal relations, is a conscious act that makes demandsupon the personality and skills of the principal. The skills,necessary to create sound inter-human relations are thefollowing: empathy, respect and warmth, genuineness, concreteness.Factors that influence the creation of sound interpersonalrelations are the following: the philosophy of life of thepeople concerned, communication, the ability to listen, response,guidance, human dignity, problem-solving, motivation, managementstyles, leadership and authority, group dynamics, experienceof the principal, the personality traits of the principal,common interests.Consideration of the properties of interpersonal relations led tothe conclusion that the way in which the principal performshis managerial functions, has an influence on his relationswith his teachers, which in turn has a bearing on the qualityof the education and teaching in his school. In order todetermine what the teachers expect of their principal in thisconnection, a questionnaire was compiled, and circulated amongAfrikaans and English secondary schools in Transvaal.The opinions of the respondents were compared on the followingbases: �?principles vs teachers in senior posts vs teachers; �?male teachers vs female teachers; �?teachers with varying experience; �?teachers with different qualifications; �?Afrikaansspeaking teachers vs English speaking teachers. The one-way analysis of variance and the x2-analysis were usedto test the data. The aim was to establish differences ofopinion between the respondents.The more relevant conclusions derived from the analysis, canbe summarized as follows:The South African principal: �?has to be a genuine Christian and patriot �?should consult his teachers in the formulation of policy �?should preferably be a strong, convincing leader maintaining narrow contact with his staff, but often faithfully carries through his own opinions �?is the institutional leader who understands the art of delegation and effectively supervises the execution of duties �?should encourage and praise his teachers where applicable �?show interest in their activities �?bestow trust upon those who deserve it �?train them in service. Teachers readily accept that their principal has a say abouttheir conduct and appearance, and that it is part of his dutyto pay class visits.They expect their principal to: �?maintain discipline in school �?communicate his considered thoughts and instructions clearly and briefly �?include them in the planning in the school �?keep them informed of any new departmental policy and any other developments �?art as mediator when complaints are brought in against any one of them �?protect them in such cases �?create sound interpersonal relations with them �?take measures against any one of them who is at fault. Corporal punishment is generally accepted as the ultimate formof punishment. Furthermore it is acceptable practice for aprincipal to punish pupils misdemeanour conducted outside theschool grounds.Most respondents are agreed that one of the most importanttasks of a principal is to create sound interpersonal relationswith his teachers.The following are, amongst others, regarded as positivecharacteristics of a principal. They are in order of preference:humanity and sound interpersonal relations, fairness, consistency,determination, good discipline and acknowledgement towards hisstaff, personal interest in his staff, personal interest in allfacets of the school activities, strong leadership, the abilityto organise, strictness, loyalty, Christianity, friendlinessetc.The following are regarded as irritating characteristics:indecisiveness, autocracy, scolding the mass when an individualis guilty, partiality, long-mindedness, egotism, spyingon teachers, treating teachers as children, unnecessary delayin decision-making.In conclusion the following can be stated: �?The creation of interpersonal relations is of fundamental importance to a principal for effective teaching and education. �?The way a principal conducts himself in his interaction with his staff, determines his success as principal. �?The principal should be aware of how his staff feels about the way he conducts himself in certain situations. Should his conduct provoke antagonism he should take steps to alter his behavior. �?Sound interpersonal relations between the principal and his staff go hand in hand with strictness, discipline and control. �?Principals should be trained for the specific managerial task before they assume their position. �?Not only should principals create sound interpersonal relations, but they should also take steps to maintain these. The final conclusion would therefore be that sound interpersonalrelations occupy a primary and central place in school management.

[发布机构] North-West University