Facts and Fallacies on Teamwork between School Administrators and Teachers in Secondary Schools in Mutasa District of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Teamwork between teachers and school administrators is of paramount importance for the achievement of organizational goals as a school. This quantitative research examined the factors affecting teamwork between school administrators and teachers. The study population was a purposeful sample of 33 respondents comprising of 28 teachers and 5 school administrators in three secondary schools in one district. Focus Group Discussions were used to elicit the views of the teachers. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to collect data from the school administrators. Participant observations were utilized to consolidate findings from the focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The study established that lack of teamwork results from gossiping, jealous, poor communication, mistrust, lack of respect, egocentrism, policies which are not user friendly and lack of transparency. This lack of teamwork was also discovered to bring challenges like witch hunting, hatred, and lack of cooperation, student indiscipline, and jeopardization of school programs, frustration, and demotivation of teachers, disgruntlements, and delay in implementation of policies and spreading of Malicious gossip. Recommendations from this research were that staff development workshops on teamwork be held for teachers and school administrators, a two way communication channel between teachers and school administrators be embraced and truth and reconciliation forums for the two parties concerned be created. Policy makers were recommended to review their policies and adopt user-friendly ones which cultivate teamwork between teachers and school administrators.