School leadership in neurotic contexts : surviving or drowning?

Abstract

This paper seeks to bring forth into the contemporary education landscape the issue of institutional neurosis based on schools in the Zimbabwean context. There are a lot of disorders and disengaged gears in schools that have crippled the provision of quality education to learners who are in dire need of it. Broken educational bridges are a common feature and this is failing to take education to greater heights. The study was undergirded by the interpretivist philosophy. Qualitative research methodology was thus employed. Purposive sampling was used to select participants who were school leaders and school teachers because they were the information-rich cases for study. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were employed to generate data. The major findings were that there is serious lack of communication in schools. Leadership is not instructional at all and such lack of direction results in neurotic conditions in the schools. Teachers lack deep cutting approaches to teaching and employ information processing approaches which scratch the surface. There is high level of burnout by teachers due to eroded salaries and poor working conditions, the situation which culminates into neurotic conditions. The study thus recommends a series of capacity building workshops on issues to deal with instructional leadership, morale for teachers and school leadership, technology use, ethics and professionalism, leadership development, among others. These will go a long way towards dissolving neurotic circumstances that have found a home in most schools.