© Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by anymeans,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author or the University of Zambia,
Institute of Distance Education.

Any enquiries concerning reproduction or rights and requests for additional training materials
should be addressed to:

The Director,
Institute of Distance Education
The University of Zambia
P O Box 32379
Lusaka
Zambia
Tel: +211 290719
Fax: +211 253952

E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.unza.zm

Module Overview

Introduction
Welcome to module two-Sociology of Education. The module is designed for second year
education students pursuing the Bachelor of Primary Education (B.Ed-Primary) of the University

1
of Zambia. Sociology of Education is compulsory for students of education. The module has
been divided into the following five units.

● The School as a social organisation

● Roles of the teacher

● School and the community

● Status of teachers

● The teaching profession.

The material in this module is written in such a way that it will facilitate easy reading and give
you comprehensive information. A lot has been written on these topics in Zambia, in the
Southern African region, in Africa and world over. It is hoped that you will dedicate enough
time to study and reflect on the contents of this module and that your experience in teaching
will help you relate and understand issues raised in this module.

Aim
This module aims at equipping you with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
regarding the School as a social organisation, Roles of the teacher, School and the
community, Status of teachers and the teaching profession.

Objectives
At the end of this module you should be able to:
1. Analyse the school as a social organisation
2. Discuss the school-community relations
3. Analyze the roles of a teacher
4. Discuss factors behind the status of the teacher
5. Discuss the nature of the teaching profession in Zambia
Structure of the module

2
 This module is divided into 5 units. These units are further divided into sub-units. You will find
that each unit has core text and an exercise at the end. The exercise has been provided for self-
evaluation. You are encouraged to read the text before attempting the exercise. Ensure you do
the exercise before proceeding to the next unit.

Assessment
Continuous Assessment 50%
Assignment I 10%
Assignment II 10%
Test 30%

Final Examination 50%

Prescribed Readings
Blakemore and Cooksey (1986) A Sociology of Education for Africa. London: Casell.
Datta, A. (1988) Education and Society: with Special Reference to Africa. London:
Macmillan.
Ezewu, E. (1983) The Sociology of Education. Lagos: Longman.

Recommended Readings
Ballatine, J.H., and Hammack, F.M. (2009) The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis
(6th Ed). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Parkay, F. W. (2006) Social Foundations for Becoming A Teacher. Boston: Pearson Allyn and
Bacon.

Parelius, A. N. and Parelius R. J. (1978) Sociology of Education. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

Time Frame
You are expected to spend at least 48 hours of study time on this module. You are also advised to
spend your time wisely so that you may benefit from this module. There shall also be arranged
contacts with the course lecturers from the University of Zambia.

Study Skills
Being a distance student, you may encounter challenges as you study, especially that learning will
mostly be done individually. Therefore you will need a study time table that you will adhere to at
all times. You will also have to ensure that you submit your assignments on time.

Resources
In order for you to successfully complete this module, learning activities will require

3
more readings from the lists of text books in this module. The era of computers has brought
knowledge closer to your doorsteps, you will need more input from the internet services available
in most parts of Zambia. It is therefore important that you use the following reliable website for
more information on all the topics in this module. At the end of this module you will find a
‘References’ page, some of the books can be found in the University of Zambia Library and others
can be outsourced from some book vendors within Zambia.
http:www.wikipedia.com (sociology of education)

Need Help?
In case you have difficulties during the duration of the course, please contact the Director, Institute
of Distance Education, or the resident lecturer in your province.

The Director,
Institute of Distance Education
The university of Zambia
P O Box 32379,
10101 Lusaka

Coordinator, Learner Support Services (Land Cell) ????

Senior administrative officer +260 978772248

Programme development and production +260 977639993
IDE land line: +260 211 290719
IDE fax: +260 211 290719
IDE E-mail [email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Copyright……………………………………………………………………… i
Module overview……………………………………………………………… ii
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… ii
Aim…………………………………………………………………………… ii

4
Objectives………………………………………………………………………. ii
Structure of the module………………………………………………………… iii
Assessment……………………………………………………………………… iii
Prescribed Readings…………………………………………………………… iii
Recommended Readings……………………………………………………….. iii
Time Frame……………………………………………………………………… iii
Study Skills……………………………………………………………………… iii
Resources………………………………………………………………………… iv
Need Help? ……………………………………………………………………… iv
Unit Six: The School as a Social Organisation………………………… 1
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 1
Aim…………………………………………………………………………… 1
Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 1
Content……………………………………………………………………… 1
Time required………………………………………………………………… 1
Lesson One: The School as a social organisation………………………… 1
Introduction to the Lesson…………………………………………………… 1
Objectives of the Lesson……………………………………………………… 1
Introductory activity…………………………………………………………… 1
Explanation on the introductory activity……………………………………… 1
What is an organisation? ……………………………………………………… 3
The School as a social organisation…………………………………………… 4
The organisational goals of the school………………………………………… 5
What should schools teach? …………………………………………………… 6
Formal school culture…………………………………………………………… 6
Informal school sub-culture……………………………………………………… 7
Similarities between formal and informal social organisations………………… 11
5
Differences between formal and informal social organisations……………… 11
Practical activity……………………………………………………………… 12
Summary of Lesson…………………………………………………………… 13
Lesson Two: Bureaucracy as a form of social organisation……………… 14
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 14
Objectives……………………………………………………………………… 14
Introductory activity…………………………………………………………… 14
Explanation on the introductory activity………………………………………… 14
Bureaucracy as a form of social organisation…………………………………… 15
Characteristics of a bureaucracy………………………………………………… 16
Practical activity………………………………………………………………… 21
Summary of the Lesson………………………………………………………… 22
Lesson Three: Advantages and dysfunctions of a bureaucracy…………… 23
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 23
Objectives……………………………………………………………………… 23
Introductory activity…………………………………………………………… 23
Explanation on the introductory activity………………………………………… 23
Advantages of a bureaucracy…………………………………………………… 24
Dysfunctions of a bureaucracy…………………………………………………... 24
Practical activity……………………………………………….………………… 28
Summary of the Lesson………………………..………………………………… 28
References……………………………………………………………………… 28
Unit Seven: Teacher Roles………………...………………………………… 30
Lesson One: What is teaching?…………….………………………………… 30
Social roles…………...………………………………………………………… 30
Contemporary teacher………………………………………………………… 32
Activity………………………………………………………………………… 33
6
 Sub-roles of a teacher…………………………….……………………………… 33
Inter and Intra-role conflict…………………………………………………… 34
Summary of Lesson……………………..……………………………………… 35
Activity…………………….…………………………………………………… 35
References……………………………………………………………….……… 36

Unit Eight: School and the Community……………………………………… 38

Lesson One: Relationship between school and the community…………… 38
Learning Outcomes…………………………………………………….……… 38
Introductory Activity…………………………………………………………… 38
Explanation on the Introductory Question……………………………………… 38
Definition of the school and the community…………………………………… 38
How do the Schools and Communities affect each other?…………………… 39
Activity………………………………………………………………………… 39
Closed Door Position………………………………………………………..… 40
Open Door Position…………………………………………………………… 40
Balanced Door Position……………………………………..…………………… 41
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 41
Summary of the Lesson…………………………………………………….…… 42
Activity………………………………………………………………………… 42
References……………………………………………………………………… 43

Unit Nine: Status of teachers in Zambia…………………………………… 45

Lesson Two: Status of teachers in Zambia………………………………… 45

1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 45
1.2 Aim………………………………………………………………………… 45
1.3 Time Frame………………………………………………………………… 46

7
1.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 46
1.5 Reflection…………………………………………………………………… 46
1.6 Definition of status…………………………………………………………… 46
1.7 Types of Status……………………………………………………………… 48
1.8 Importance of Status………………………………………………………… 49
1.9 Current state of teachers’ status…………………………………………… 51
1.10 Status of teachers during colonial period…………………………… 53
1.11 Status of teachers after independence……………………………… 57
1.12 Summary of the Lesson…………………………………………… 58
1.13 Exercise…………………………………………………………… 59
References……………………………………………………………………… 59

Lesson Two: Factors which have Affected the Status of Teachers in Zambia
Since Independence…………………………………………………………… 61
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 61
2.2 Aim………………………………………………………………………… 61
2.3 Time Frame………………………………………………………………… 61
2.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 61
2.5 Reflection…………………………………………………………………… 61
2.6 Factors which have affected teachers’ status……………………………… 61
2.2 Improving the status of teachers…………………………………………… 70
2.9 Summary of the Lesson…………………………………………………… 73
2.10 Exercise…………………………………………………………………… 74
References……………………………………………………………………… 74
Lesson Three: Prestige Rating Study………………………………………… 76
3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 76
3.2 Aim…………………………………………………………………………… 76
3.3 Time Frame…………………………………………………………………… 76
3.4 Objectives……………………………………………………………………… 76
8
3.5 Reflection……………………………………………………………………… 76
3.6 How to carry out a prestige rating study……………………………………… 77
3.7 Standard deviation…………………………………………………………… 82
3.8 Summary of the Lesson……………………………………………………… 83
3.9 Exercise……………………………………………………………………… 83
Reference……………………………………………………………………… 84
Lesson four: The 1966 Education Act and Regulations……………………… 85
4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 85
4.2 Aim………………………………………………………………………… 85
4.3 Time Frame………………………………………………………………… 86
4.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 86
4.5 Powers of the Minister of Education……………………………………… 86
4.6 Education (Primary and Secondary Schools) Regulations………………… 87
4.7 Education (Parent-Teacher Association) Regulations……………………… 91
4.8 Summary of the Lesson……………………………………………………… 94
4.9 Exercise……………………………………………………………………… 95
References……………………………………………………………………… 95
Unit Ten: The Teaching Profession…………………………………………… 96
Lesson One: Definition and Characteristics of a Profession………………… 96
5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 96
5.2 Aim………………………………………………………………………… 96
5.3 Time Frame………………………………………………………………… 96
5.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 96
5.5 Reflection…………………………………………………………………… 96
5.6 Definition of a Profession…………………………………………………… 97
5.7 Characteristics of a Profession……………………………………………… 98
5.8 Summary of the Lesson……………………………………………………… 106
9
5.9 Exercise……………………………………………………………………… 106
References………………………………………………………………………… 107
Lesson Two: Is Teaching a Profession in Zambia?.............................................. 109
6.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 109
6.2 Aim…………………………………………………………………………… 109
6.3 Time Frame…………………………………………………………………… 109
6.4 Objectives…………………………………………………………………… 109
6.5 Reflection…………………………………………………………………… 109
6.6 Is Teaching a Profession in Zambia?………………………………………… 109
6.6.1 Semi-Professions…………………………………………………………… 114
6.7 Professionalisation and the Future of Professions…………………………… 115
6.7.1 Professionalisation………………………………………………………… 115
6.7.2 The Proliferation of Information…………………………………………… 116
6.7.3 The Bureaucratisation of Professions……………………………………… 117
6.8 Summary of the Lesson……………………………………………………… 118.
6.9 Exercise……………………………………………………………………… 119
References………………………………………………………………………… 119

UNIT SIX
THE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL ORGANISATION
Introduction

Welcome to unit six which deals with the school as a social organisation. In this unit, we are
going to examine the school as a social organisation. In doing so, the different groups found in a
school will be examined and discussed with illustrative examples. This unit will also look at
characteristics of a bureaucracy, its advantages and dysfunctions. It will also discuss the school

10
 as a bureaucratic organization. You should then be able to assess objectively the school as a
social organisation.

Aim of the unit

This unit aims at introducing you to key concepts in the study of the school as a social
organisation. It begins by defining a social organisation, proceeds to examine different
characteristics of social organizations while focusing on the school as a social organization with
its different social relationships among the different groups within it. At the end the unit provides
practical activity questions to help you revise.

Objectives of the unit

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain the administration, organisation and types of secondary schools in Zambia.

2. Discuss the formal lines of authority and control in a school.
3. Analyse the social relationships within the school.

Content

This unit is divided into the following three lessons:

1. The School as a social organisation

2. Bureaucracy as a form of social organisation
3. Advantages and dysfunctions of a social organisation

Time required
You will need to spend about six (06) hours per week interacting with this material.

Lesson one

The school as a social organisation

Introduction to the lesson

Welcome to lesson one which deals with the school as a social organisation. In this
lesson we will discuss the major characteristics of a social organization and the school
as a social organization by focusing on the formal and informal subculture of a school.
In doing so, we shall not only look at its structural organisation of a school but also at
11
 the various statuses and roles occupied and played by the members of the school
system, including the relationship existing between members and the authority structure
of the school. Lesson one will also discuss the organizational goals of a school as well
as discuss the similarities and dissimilarities between formal and informal social
organizations.

Objectives of the Lesson

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the characteristics of Max Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy.

2. Explain how bureaucracy manifests itself in a school.

Introductory activity

What do you understand by social organisation? Having spent many years as a pupil in a
school and probably many other years as a teacher, you will be aware of some of the ways
in which schools operate. Can you think of some of the procedures and activities in a
school which constitute aspects of a bureaucracy?

Explanation on the introductory activity

It should not have been very difficult to identify aspects of bureaucratic organization in a
school. Understanding these aspects, their form and why they are necessary, will help you
understand school organization better. Below is a detailed discussion of the school as a
bureaucracy. Some organizations appear to be arranged along bureaucratic lines while
others may not be so clearly bureaucratically organised. Looking at the characteristics of a
bureaucracy will help you to determine which organization is a bureaucracy. You should
have by now come across several definitions and interpretations of social organisations.
You should have come up with a lot of answers to the above question, as you think of
different kinds of organizations that you know. The term is used by different people, in
different contexts, to mean different things. This section examines the different definitions
and the implications they have.

12
What is an organisation?

Organizations are groups of individuals pursuing a set of collective goals with established
roles, methods of coordination, procedures, culture and space. Organisations have been
defined by A. Etzioni (1964) as social units that pursue specific goals which they are
structured to serve. Typical organisations include prisons, churches, schools and
universities. Organizations can include political bodies (political parties, parliament,
prison service), social groups (churches, clubs, athletic associations), economic bodies
(unions, cooperatives, corporations), and educational bodies (schools, training centers,
colleges), (North, 1990). In each social organisation there are members interacting with
one another in their efforts to reach the organisational aim, which may be either profit-
oriented or client-oriented.

Social organisations can, therefore, be described operationally as the ways in which

human conduct becomes socially organised. The structure of the social relations within
social organisations and the shared beliefs and orientations that unite the members of the
organization does affect the members' conduct. The relationship between components can
be said to involve patterns of social interaction: in the case of the school, how are the
teachers expected to interact with the headteacher on the one hand and the pupils on the
other, when, where, how often, for how long, who reports to who, and so on.

From the above, we can see that social organisations involve both the structural aspect and
the behavioural aspect. The term organization is in sociology sometimes used
interchangeably with the term institution, as when referring to a formal organization like a
hospital or a prison.

The school as a social organization

The formal organization of the school is the official structure which has deliberately been
created by the school and agencies superior to it such as the Ministry of Education. It is
13
this structure that the school authorities recognize and make every effort to sustain it.
Social relations can be defined as any social interaction that exist within a given context
or institution in society. The school manager has formal relationship with several people
or groups of people both inside and outside the school system. He has dealings not only
with his teachers and pupils, but also with parents, the members of the community which
the school serves, school standards officers (inspectors) and so on.

In what aspects do schools qualify as social systems? The main characteristics that might
qualify a school as a social system include the following.

In every school system there is a definite system and a definite territory. Every school has
its own physical boundaries like the school campus. It also has a population made up of
the students, teachers, non – teaching personal or support staff. There is also a network of
social relationships made up of individuals and how they relate to each other for instance,
how the headteacher relates to teachers, pupils, support staff as well as the community
and other outsiders. It also includes how teachers relate to each other and to pupils, pupil
to pupil indiscipline as well as the school and the community. The network of social
relationships is divisible into two, namely the formal sub-culture and the informal
subculture.

The organisational goals of the school include:

Since the goals of the school are determined by the values of the larger society and as
there is no clear consensus of opinion as to what goals the schools should pursue, talking
about organisational goals of the school becomes somewhat difficult. This is why the
goals of the school will be largely descriptive rather than prescriptive in the sense that a
limited attempt only can be made to identify what is considered to be the goals of the
school. In doing so there is no assumption that there is a clear consensus of opinion
among educators as to the goals the school pursues.

Generally, however, schools;

14
a). teach the culture of the society at large to its members occupying the position of
students.

b). prepare these members to have a good character and to participate in society
effectively

c). give the members cognitive orientation for the development of themselves and,
consequently, of society.

In terms of its goals the Ministry of Education (1996: p. 6-7) through its policy document,
Educating our Future; National Policy on Education, has prescribed the following goals
for the education system in the country:

a) producing a learner capable of

(i) being animated by a personally held set of civic, moral and spiritual values;

(ii) developing an analytical, innovative, creative and constructive mind;

(iii) appreciating the relationship between scientific thought, action and technology on the
one hand, and sustenance of the quality of life on the other;

(iv) demonstrating free expression of one's own ideas and exercising tolerance for other
people's views;

(v) cherishing and safeguarding individual liberties and human rights;

(vi) appreciating Zambia's ethnic cultures, customs and traditions, and upholding national
pride, sovereignty, peace, freedom and independence;

(vii) participating in the preservation of the ecosystems in one's immediate and distant
environments;

(viii) maintaining and observing discipline and hard work as the cornerstones of personal
and national development

15
b) increasing access to education and life skills training

c) building capacity for the provision of quality education

d) creating conditions for effective coordination of policies, plans and programmes

e) rationalizing resource mobilization and utilization.

What should schools teach?

There are many interest parties in education as indicated below:

-Politicians who demand that what is taught should be in line with their political ideology.
-Traditional chiefs who would demand for cultural values to be taught.
-Religious leaders who would demand for religious morals.
-Economists who demand for major roles on economic development.
-Philosophers who demand for everything to be taught.

Formal school culture

Within the school the culture that prevails in the school may be either formal or informal
subculture. Subculture refers to the general atmosphere prevailing in the school. The
formal guides the students on all types of behavior. The formal subculture refers to
activities that are recognized. By sub-culture we are looking at a certain institution as a
sub-set of the main school or larger community. Whatever we see at the school is a
reflection of what is happening in society. In a school there is the mainstream culture
which are the ideas and opinions thought normal because they are shared by most people.
It is goal oriented, follows a specific programme and has content and a curriculum. It
encompasses programme testing. In simple terms the formal aspect of school organization
is the official structure which is recognized by the school authority.

Sub-culture can be divided into categories, that is, formal and informal. The formal sub-
culture largely conforms to the dominant culture of the total society. In other words these

16
are things that are acceptable by certain institutions as rules and regulations for example,
curriculum and a syllabus backed up by the school, uniform for identification and for
symbolizing the student’s acceptance of the school authority, on the official part of the
school organization the official structure covers other extra-curricular activities such as
games. There is also age grading whereby pupils are put according to age and put in
grades which seem to be in line with the age. Time is formalized meaning there is some
regulation. Time is organized on calendar basis and pupils know when to play, when to go
on holiday, and when to be in school. Physical space is formally arranged. There are
special areas for pupils and for teachers, for instance, teachers homes are out of bounds. In
the classroom, physical space is formalized, and the teacher has his/her own space where
no pupils play. Classroom privacy is formalized but the teacher has a right to inspect his
pupils’ desks. Respect between teachers and pupils, for example, each time a teacher
passes pupils stand, kept quiet or greet him/her to show respect.

Informal school subculture

a). Teachers

When we talk about social relations in school, we are referring to the interactions that go
on within the school. These social relations could be formal or informal depending on
whom the person is interacting with. Informal organization refers to the non-official
organization, often unrelated to school duties, but operating to form a hierarchy of
prestige. The teachers do interact with one another to ensure that they have common
values and goals in order to upgrade or uphold their school on different activities be it
academic or non academic. The informal organization among the teachers are based on
several factors, which factors are at play or influence the informal set up of teachers based
on such factors include :

● Seniority in the service. New teachers group together. Senior teachers also group

together – but as the year progresses, they tend to mix well.

17
 ● Age of teachers; the younger you are the more you want to belong to the young

group and vice versa.

● Age and grade of the children they teach; this gives the teacher a special pride for

example, those teaching grade 12 classes carry a higher prestige and a special
pride.

● Subjects taught; some subjects such as Additional Mathematics and English carry

more prestige than others.

● Self appraisal; when teachers notice they are not being noticed, or they do not

make the grade, they give each other names, like chief, permanent secretary and
the names give them special pride.

● Cliques; cliques are formed out of common interest and promote values such as

drinking, womanizing, academic pursuits etc.

● Marital status; the married people see themselves as special and do not want to

mix with the unmarried, in case society suspects them.

● Gender; males flock together, so do females.

● Religious beliefs; those with similar religious beliefs blend together.

● Social class related to type and location of school.

It is important for headteachers to know and understand the informal behavior patterns or
sub-culture of their teachers so that they can guide their professional conduct. This is
because they tend to have a general impact on the running of a school, particularly with
regard to discipline. Moreover, the culture we find in the school is often a reflection of
what we find in the local community. Unless the head teacher is aware of what values his
teachers have, he may fail to control them.

18
b). Pupils

In every school no matter how strong the mainstream culture is pupils always develop a
sub-culture. The same language is divided into various languages to depict a particular
group to which each member belongs. There is also dressing as a sub-culture. Boys and
girls develop styles of dress as an identity. The way they dress depict a certain group of
belonging. Pupils also engage in acts of preparing themselves for future rules. These
relationships that exist between boys and girls are very strong. This becomes serious as
they tend to help each other both materially and financially and in forming alliances
against competing groups or individuals. The relations are easy between age mates.

The informal aspects refer to the features of school organization that may be friendly or
flexible. These are unofficial norms which arise out of social interaction of individuals
and groups working together within the formal structure. This refers to things that happen
outside the classroom. It refers to the latent function.

If the formal aspect is instrumental in transmitting the academic culture of the school, the
informal activities provide the pupils with other, but no less important information and
skills. It is by means of participation in peer group activities that young people obtain
factual knowledge about certain areas of life, for example, sex which is neglected by the
family and the formal school organization. The same may apply to the acquisition of the
skill to establish close relation with persons not related. This can also be referred to as the
informal aspect of school organisation. This is the non-official organization, often
unrelated to school duties, but operating to form a hierarchy of prestige. is based on
primary relationships. Values, students create own values. The most common forms of
this informal subculture manifest themselves through social and physical interaction.
These are discussed below.
Socio-economic background. Poor/rich people group themselves together due to the
economic power either both are rich or are poor. Extracurricular activities may bring them
together. They cement each other or even because of athletics. Also physical attraction
people group themselves according to either beauty or opposites.
19
Academic ability. Those who score high marks tend to select themselves though this is not
always the case.

Social personal attitudes. The way individuals carry themselves, use their English, general
cleanliness. Some students tend to have a special tone when speaking; you want to be with
some one you will be comfortable with.

Similarity of interests, childhood friendships, physical attractiveness, personal attributes,

age grade whereby for example, grade 12s associate with fellow grade 12s, but they tend
to exploit grade 8s.

Gender; males flock together and so do females.

A special curriculum e.g. those doing French, pure sciences, additional mathematics etc
all feel special and move together.

Similar interests and patterns of recreation such as deviant behavior like drinking and
smoking together, the ability to fight others, .
Athletic ability or skill in sports, drama, debate and so on.
Linguistic backgrounds.
Pupils belonging to the same school tend to have a sense of solidarity.
Success with the opposite sex in terms of dating. Those with friends of the opposite sex
have a special status. It also brings rivalry between boys themselves and also between
girls as there is a competition for both boys and girls.
Physical appearance especially for the girls.

However, there exist also relationships within the pupils’ body that are counter to the
mainstream culture of the school. These include deviant behavior like drinking and
smoking, drug abuse, fighting, and many others.

It is important for teachers and head teachers to know and understand pupils’ informal
behavior patterns or sub-culture so that they can guide their life patterns. This is because

20
they tend to have a general impact on the running of a school, particularly with regard to
discipline. Moreover, the culture we find in the school is often a reflection of what we find
in the local community. Unless the head teacher is aware of what values his pupils have,
he may fail to control them.

Pupils’ cliques are not permanent, they keep changing due to others failing, or completing
school, so they keep forming new groups.

Similarities between formal and informal social organisations

● They have similar goals and objectives.

● They are both centers of social cohesion. Both influence the emergency of new

cultures.

● They are both living organisms in which individuals must adapt while coping with

environmental pressures.

● Both are arranged hierarchically and have an official structure which describes the

allocation of duties and responsibilities.

● There is time stipulated for given activities, for instance time to sleep for prisoners

in prison, time to start church meetings in churches and time to commence classes
in schools.
Differences between formal and informal social organisations

● For girls they come up with special groups whose interest is to go out and scout for

money. They know each other very well and they are identified mostly by way of
dress.

● In a school we deal with younger people of a certain age limit while in a social

organization there are mostly elderly people.

● In schools, their products, pupils, are also their members.

21
 ● Socialisation also tends to be much more unstructured in a peer group setting,

because the focus within the peer group is on subculture, group goals sometimes
are at odds with the goals of the larger society.

School organisations’ formal aspects prepare the individuals for wage employment.
Through competitions like interschool sport the winners will show joy, the losers will also
console each other in a group.

Local conflicts, for example, between the school and communities for example, if pupils
from a particular school are drinking and a fight breaks out in a local community, their
friends will join and help to fight even if they do not know the reasons. There is a sense of
solidarity, usually shown by the use of the flag, anthem, wearing of uniforms, legends or
old time stories about the school, life in the school and so on.

In addition to the teachers, there is also the non-academic staff of the school. In practice,
the school bursar is the head of the non-academic staff and although ranked below the
classroom teacher, reports directly to the headteacher. A clear understanding of the system
in which the teacher works should normally help in operating effectively in the system.

Practical activity

Go back to the section on introductory activity at the beginning of this lesson and write
down your points. Ask yourself the following questions: Have I learnt anything from this
lesson, and if so then what? How can I best remember this new knowledge and apply it in
my daily work as a teacher? How well can I best mix it with my previous knowledge on
this topic? What have I not understood? These and similar questions will help you to get
a good grip of Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy. Also discuss ways in which a school functions
as a bureaucratic organization and write down your points.

Summary of the Lesson

22
As Ezewu (1983) has stated the school has been looked at as a formal social organization
because it possesses all the characteristics of social organizations. In doing so, it was said
that the school has clear-cut organizational tasks distributed among its members, the
positions are organized into a hierarchical authority structure, there are formally
established rules and regulations guiding the action of its members, officials are supposed
to assume impersonal roles, and employment in the school system constitutes a career
which can be entered through technical qualifications.

UNIT SIX

23
 Lesson two

Bureaucracy as a form of social organization

Introduction
Welcome to lesson two which deals with the bureaucratic organization of social
organizations. In this lesson we will discuss the major characteristics of a bureaucracy as
postulated by Max Weber and apply these characteristics to a school setting. An
understanding of Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy should help in understanding the operations
of institutions, particularly learning institutions such as schools.

Objectives of the lesson

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

i. Discuss the characteristics of Max Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy.

ii. Explain how bureaucracy manifests itself in a school.

Introductory activity

What do you understand by bureaucracy? Having spent many years as a pupil in a school
and probably many other years as a teacher, you will be aware of some of the ways in
which schools operate. Can you think of some of the procedures and activities in a school
which constitute aspects of a bureaucracy?

Explanation on the introductory activity

It should not have been very difficult to identify aspects of bureaucratic organization in a
school. Understanding these aspects, their form and why they are necessary, will help you
understand school organization better. Below is a detailed discussion of the
characteristics of a bureaucracy and of the school as a bureaucracy. Some organizations
appear to be arranged along bureaucratic lines while others may not be so clearly

24
 bureaucratically organised. Looking at the characteristics of a bureaucracy will help you
to determine which organization is a bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy as a form of social organization

Before we begin to discuss different aspects of authority anchored on bureaucratic organization, it

is
important to mention here that generally three types of legitimate authority exist. These are:
Traditional authority. These include kings, chiefs, headmen etc. These perpetuate
existing goals and norms of social order. It is ill-suited to adaption to social change and
holds on to what is valued and generally is resistant to change.
Charismatic authority. Such authority is based on affectionate ties to an individual.
Personal affection and personal allegiance of followers toward their leader/ruler is key.
People are convinced that particular persons’ actions embrace new wonderful ideas. The
individual ruler is cherished. Rulers’ natural pleasantness attracts followers. The ruler is
naturally endowed with ability to load. Such authority has one major problem. It is usually
unstable because it is linked to or dependent on one person who is believed to be the best
hence followers cannot trust anyone else. There is usually a crisis of leadership when the
current ruler leaves his /her position due to death, etc.
Rational-Legal authority. This relates to aspect of authority which is legitimated in the
supremacy of formally established law. It is embedded in an established body of social
norms and anchored on a rational pursuit of achieving goals. Rules and laws can be
enacted to control the running of an organization and these rules and laws can be changed
to suit what the management wants.

This last type of authority, legal authority, represents what is known as bureaucracy and
this is the authority structure under consideration in this unit. It gives birth to what is
known as a bureaucracy. The distinctive characteristic which distinguishes it from social
structures like the family is that it has formally been established for the specific purpose
of achieving certain goals. In other words every organization has a formally instituted
pattern of authority and an official body of rules and procedures which are intended to

25
achieve its specific goals. School organization therefore refers to how the local school is
structured in various areas.

Bureaucracies are formal organisations generally recognisable by certain characteristics.

Bureaucracy is a form of administration which provides a hierarchal structure that
normally operates according to certain procedures. Bureaucracy is the hierarchical
arrangement of a structured organization or institution. It is found in large scale
organizations characterized by formal rules, impersonal procedures, a centralization of
authority and the specialization of tasks and abilities (Datta, 1984). Understanding
bureaucracy is the key to the analysis of formal organisation of any institution.

Fundamentally, a bureaucracy is a rational arrangement of ‘offices’ providing certain

means for administration and control of the office-holders actions. Officials enter the
bureaucracy expecting security, specialisation, salary and seniority based upon
achievement and examinations. Every organisation has a formally instituted pattern of
authority and an official body of rules and procedures which are intended to achieve its
specific goals.

Characteristics of a bureaucracy

According to Max Weber, a German sociologist, all social organisations must ideally have
the following characteristics:

1. Hierarchy of authority

The positions or statuses in an organization are organised into a hierarchical authority

structure. This means that there are fewer positions at the uppermost part of the pyramid
while there is a large number of positions at the base. In this structural arrangement each
official occupying a position is responsible for his subordinates' actions and each official
has authority over the officials under him within the limits of the rules and regulations of

26
the organisation. Rules and commands come from the top to the bottom. Lower officials
accept and execute commands/implement these rules.

For differentiated division of labour to operate efficiently and also for proper co-
ordination to occur, some positions have more authority and status than others. Positions
carry with them responsibilities and these must have clearly demarcated roles.
Everybody knows who they are responsible to and channels of communication and how to
relate to each other as per their different positions. Communication is generally
downwards. The hierarchy of officials thus ensures the co-ordination of the various
functions and provides formal channels of communication from the board down to the
operations through directors, managers, supervisors, foremen and charge hands. Weber
believed that such a structure was not only the most rational but also the most efficient
form of administration. Offices are hierarchically arranged so as to facilitate demarcation
of responsibility and promotion according to ability.

The structure of an organisation is expected to have fewer positions at the top than below,
and it thus possesses an apex. Positions in the school are arranged in a hierarchical
manner, so that the top most position is superior to the lower ones. There is division of
labour and specialization. This includes the subdivision of pupils into classes according to
their ability based on assessment. Every school is organized under some specific rules and
regulations which contribute towards constituting an authority structure. We should note
that the school is a bureaucratic organisation. This being so, the positions in the school are
arranged in a hierarchical manner, so that the topmost position is superior to the lower
ones. Outside the school system, the head teacher receives orders from the Ministry of
Education through District Boards and so on. Within each school, he is the most superior
officer and all the other positions are subordinated to him. The head teacher oversees to
the day-to-day functioning of the school and gives directives to his subordinates, other
academic or non-academic staff. He is accountable for the actions of every other person

27
occupying a position in the school. One crucial point here is that no official of the school
system is bureaucratically allowed to have dealings or communications with others
outside the school system without the knowledge or approval of the principal or any other
person acting on his behalf at any given time. Thus, all communications between teachers
and outside the school are routed through the principal, the aim of which is to prevent
actions by subordinates that might not be approved by the principal.

The school also has a control; rules and regulations have to be followed for instance break
time, knocking off time, walking in a single file and so on. The physical space of the
school is also formally arranged. There are certain rooms for the teachers, and within the
typical classroom the teacher’s desk occupies a special part of the room, and others for
pupils. Time is formalized into special ways, the school year is divided into terms, the day
into periods such that every person is expected to be in a given place engaged in a given
activity at every period of time. The school’s formalism can be seen in the prescribed
standards of behavior that characterize the relationships between the teachers and the
pupils and among the teachers themselves. In other words these are things that are
acceptable by a certain institutions as rules and regulations. There is a curriculum and a
syllabus backed up by the school. There is also a uniform for identification and for
symbolizing the student’s acceptance of the school authority.

In practice, for reasons of efficiency, the communication channels are ignored. The
headteacher can communicate directly with teachers and students without necessarily
passing through his deputy or heads of departments. In maintaining the ideal situation,
however, it might be expected that clear lines of communication would make the
organisation more efficient; that is acting and communicating strictly according to the
structural positions of the school system. Moreover, having the authority structure of the
school more efficiently ordered should result in a proper coordination of all the activities
of each of the positions within the hierarchy. Coming to the level of the students, the

28
senior prefect is superior to all the other prefects and the student body. The primary
functions of bureaucratic control in the school is how to regulate pupils and teachers in the
formal learning situation. What is taught, by whom, when and where the lesson takes
place, how performance is assessed.

2. Operation according to rules or procedures

There are formally established systems of rules and regulations which govern or regulate
official decisions and actions. There are also written rules which have to be followed to
the letter.

Every bureaucracy has rules and regulations controlling the actions and operations of the
organisation to its set goals. Each official has defined duties, and his activities and
interactions with other are governed by the formal rules of the bureaucracy. However,
informal groups/relationships and informal leaders arise, as workers interact. Usually
there is vertical flow of communication and authority (mainly top-bottom). This is
founded in the exclusion of personal considerations from official business.

Three types of rules and regulations can be identified in the secondary school system.
Positions, rights and obligations are also clearly specified by a set of rules and regulations
on which decisions are made. Officials are required to observe established, usually
written, rules and procedures. Bureaucracies are concerned with mechanisms of control,
rewards for conformity and punishment for descent/deviance. There are also unwritten
rules. Unwritten rules may sometimes contradict or avoid the written rules. These are
explicit rules which define the responsibility of each member of the organisation (and the
co-ordination of different tasks). The rights, duties and qualifications of the official will
be carefully defined so that he/she s replaceable with a minimum of upheaval to the
smooth running of the organisation. The rules ensure uniformity, rational decision-
making and efficiency. There is a job definition for everyone and individuals in the
organisation, to avoid ambiguities and bring about specificity. How every individual must
29
behave is well defined by an organisational code of conduct, for instance, General Orders
in the government as well as Teaching Service Regulations. A teachers’ authority is partly
derived from the laws which relate to education generally, or to that in a particular school.
He marks the register, and reports absentees; this is accepted as legitimate because he is a
neutral agent in a legal procedure which binds him as well as the class. If the head teacher
insists on all classrooms being vacated during break, and this is written into school rules,
the right of an individual teacher to clear rooms is derived from these regulations. The
class obeys the teacher with less complaint when it sees that his actions are derived from
regulations for which he serves as agent. Teachers frequently have to enforce regulations
which they neither make nor interpret. Rules and regulations exist in a school to ensure
conformity, compliance and cooperation.

3. Functional division of labour (specialisation)

Organisation tasks are distributed among the various positions as official duties. This
implies that there is a clear-cut division of labour among the positions, which calls for a
high degree of specialisation. All bureaucracies have clearly designated positions.
Everyone knows their position in the organisation according to their skills and expertise.
This is established to achieve specific goals in the most specific, rational and efficient
manner possible. The functions are highly differentiated. The narrower the tasks of the
individuals, the higher the expertise. Division of labour is deliberately planned to achieve
specific ends.

4. Impersonality and uniformity

Officials are expected to assume an impersonal orientation in their contacts with clients
and with other officials. A bureaucratic organisation is governed by notions of impartiality
and uniformity. If the goals of the organization are to be achieved the actions of each
office holder will have to be predictable according to the specifications of the rights and
duties attached to his/her positions. The whole arrangement is specifically designed to
minimise the personal idiosyncrasies and irrationality of the officials. Every person in a
bureaucracy is treated equally. Personal or emotional considerations are secondary or not

30
important at all. What matter is how the individual performs. Officials and clients are
subject to the same rules of procedure. There is impartiality in the treatment of
subordinates and clients. This means that personal interests and other individual business
must come second.

A principal is not supposed to treat a relative, if he has one in the school, differently from
others. Impersonal detachment is designed to prevent the personal feelings of principals
and their staff from interfering with their rational judgment in carrying out their official
duties.

5. Sphere of competence and security of employment

Employment in the organisation constitutes a career for the officials. As a rule, an official
is a full-time employee and looks forward to a life-long career in the system. Employment
is based on the technical qualification of the employee rather than on political, family or
other connections. A bureaucratic organisation is meritorious. People must be qualified
for their jobs and promotions must be on merit. This entails that not only are people
divided into specific roles, they are experts/specialists in those fields. Trained and skilled
personnel are appointed to occupy specific roles. There is the possibility of moving up
through the rank (depending on how they form). Each person should be conversant with
his duties and everybody becomes an expert in his field.

6. Definition of staff roles as offices

Authority is used in a special way in a bureaucracy. Authority is clearly demarcated.

These boundaries relate to the work in the offices. Authority resides in the offices of the
organisation and not the people occupying those offices. Office implies duties.

Practical activity

Go back to the section on introductory activity at the beginning of this lesson and write
down your points. Ask yourself the following questions: Have I learnt anything from this
lesson, and if so then what? How best can I remember this new knowledge? How well
31
can I best mix it with my previous knowledge on this topic? What have I not understood?
Ask yourself the following questions: How can I best remember this new knowledge and
apply it in my daily work as a teacher? These and similar questions will help you to get a
good grip of Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy. Also discuss ways in which a school functions
as a bureaucratic organization and write down your points.

Summary of the Lesson

The school has been looked at as a formal social organization because it possesses all the
characteristics of social organizations. In doing so, it was said that the school has clear-cut
organizational tasks distributed among its members, the positions are organized into a
hierarchical authority structure, there are formally established rules and regulations
guiding the action of its members, officials are supposed to assume impersonal roles, and
employment in the school system constitutes a career which can be entered through
technical qualifications.

The school has been looked at as a formal social organization because it possesses all the
characteristics of social organizations. In doing so, it was said that the school has clear-cut
organizational tasks distributed among its members, the positions are organized into a
hierarchical authority structure, there are formally established rules and regulations
guiding the action of its members, officials are supposed to assume impersonal roles, and
employment in the school system constitutes a career which can be entered through
technical qualifications.

32
 UNIT SIX

Lesson three

Advantages and dysfunctions of a bureaucracy

Introduction

In the previous lesson we discussed the major characteristics of a bureaucracy as

postulated by Max Weber. In this lesson we will discuss the advantages of a bureaucracy
to an institution and to the public that the organization has been established to serve. We
will also discuss the dysfunctions of a bureaucracy.

Objectives

The objectives of this lesson are:

1. To identify and discuss the advantages of a bureaucracy.

2. To discuss the dysfunctions of an bureaucracy.

Introductory activity

Why do you think Max Weber thought a bureaucratic system of running an organization
was the best way to run an organisation? You probably know by now from experience that
no matter how good anything is, it always has a bad side to it. Can you think of any of the
dysfunctions or weaknesses of a bureaucracy?

Explanation on the introductory activity.

Understanding the strengths and shortcomings of an bureaucratic organisation will help

you differentiate organizational problems from the failures of office bearers. Below is a
detailed discussion of the dysfunctions of a bureaucracy. You should have come up with a
lot of answers to the above question, as you think of different reasons as to why Max
Weber thought a bureaucratic way of running an organization way better than any other.

33
Understanding these advantages will help you to understand why many organizations run
they way they do. Below is a detailed discussion of the advantages of a bureaucracy.

Advantages of a bureaucracy

1. According to Weber, one of the most striking features of industrial society was that
when organisations were administered in strictly ‘bureaucratic’ way, they were capable of
achieving the highest degree of efficiency. The bureaucratic division of labour combined
with technological innovation has greatly increased the production of goods and services.
Bureaucratic administration is ‘superior to any other form in precision, in stability, in the
stringency of its discipline and in its reliability. It thus makes possible a particular high
degree of calculability of results and is formally capable of application to all kinds of
administrative tasks. Therefore, far from being synonymous with irrelevant form-filling,
red tape and inefficiency in general, bureaucracy, Weber says, can be the most efficient
and rational means known of co-ordinating human resources to obtain desired ends.
Weber stated that Bureaucracy was the efficient, effective and cheapest way of doing
things. Olive Banks (1968) states that bureaucracy also ensures good utilization of
resources. These resources are human, natural and financial resources.

2. Secondly, a bureaucracy usually ensures a degree of predictability: production quotas

are pre-determined.

3. Thirdly, partly because of its very impersonality, bureaucracy is often a condition of

fairness. People are appointed to offices on the basis of qualifications and merit rather
than patronage. Further, clients are dealt with by bureaucrats on the basis of equality and
need, not favouritism.

Dysfunctions of a bureaucracy

Bureaucratic organisations are no longer functioning as defined by Weber. They have

become pathological, they have undermined their goals and objectives, and they are not
meeting the need of their clients. According to Chakulimba (2002) sick bureaucracy can
be defined as a type of administration which largely undermines its goals and objectives
34
through the structures and processes it has instituted and primarily schools are examples
of bureaucratic systems.

1. Compulsive rule following. No interest in looking at specific issues as presented but

tending to apply some rules blindly to all problems. There is a danger that those rigidly
trained to obey rules rather than to consciously achieve goals will become ritualistic. This
means that they attach more importance to observing rules and procedures than to
achieving the purpose for which they exist. This is referred to a goal displacement. As
lower level bureaucrats are often not kept informed about general organisational goals,
ritualism must be considered as potential fault of bureaucracy, rather than an individual
failing. Functional utility of the hierarchical authority structure in these organisations may
encourage willing coordination and compliance which leads to rigidity and compliance to
rules becomes an end and not a means to production. There is no room to argue against
the rules. There is a well-defined chain of command. A lot of implicit contradictions
exist, for example, expert superiors may not be experts all round and subordinates may
have more knowledge in certain areas than their superiors.

Rigid adherence to bureaucratic rules may prevent an official from improvising a

necessary response to unexpected circumstances. This stifles initiative, confidence and
imagination. Bureaucracy does not always teach these qualities can actually smoother
them. This limits the capacity of bureaucrats to adapt to changing circumstance which
were not envisaged by those who drew up the rules. The officials still think in terms of
rules which are not to be questioned, and overlook the fact that absolute rules which make
for efficiency in general produce inefficiency – even injustice in specific cases. And yet
to be effective, bureaucrats must behave consistently, and follow regulations strictly.
These pressure for formal, impersonal treatment may be harmful when clients come to the
bureaucracy, as in a maternity clinic or employment exchange, because they desire and
need more individual attention. If impersonal treatment is stressed, relations with clients
maybe unsatisfactory. ‘Clinical treatment of clients’. Rules and regulations may have
adverse effects. Division of labour stifles initiative among the workers (job ceases to be

35
challenging) and leads to excessive boredom. They have become rigid. They were
initially established to ensure efficiency but they have created red tape and inefficiency.
too much red tape (rigid adherence to rules and regulations). Procedures bog employees
down and this forces them to take shortcuts.

2. Tendencies to make decision in committees so that no single official will be held

responsible. No one is personally accountable for decision making. Committees are
usually responsible for making policy decisions. In addition, there is a tendency of
running away from authority and responsibilities when a school is faced with a problem
among the members of staff. For example, if a pupil is discriminated against and left out
of a school drama group on tour, the patron might say it was the clubs committee which
sat and made the final judgment. This manifests issues of sick bureaucracy.

3. Rebellion of the lower officials against the directives from the top.

4. Peer-pressure – this is how we do things here. New members as a result find problems
since they are just expected to follow the procedures that they find in an institution
however bad they may be. Officials want to protect their positions and so initiative is
stifled.

5. Self-centeredness – protection of erring lower/junior officials by their subordinated.

Junior officers protect each other. They are interested in themselves (in self-preservation).
jealousy of other departments (conflicts).

6. Horizontal division in the organisation – each division is interested in only what it is

doing and not in what the other section of the same organisation is doing. Again issue of
protectionism comes in. Tendency to create jobs for relative and friends. They have
become self-centered and protective.

7. The sometimes alienating effect of bureaucracy on both bureaucrats and the public with
whom they deal can be dysfunctional. Bureaucratic or ritualistic characters are not the
most adaptable and efficient of people, and clients who have to submit to long
bureaucratic procedures before, say, they can receive needed social security are unlikely
to be very co-operative. Impartiality may lead to low morale and alienation. It is precisely
36
because men in bureaucratic structures perfume specialised, segments roles which they
may have no control, and in which they have little or not opportunity of using their
rational judgement – the very feature Weber praises-that they so often feel a sense of
‘alienation’ in industrial society. Instead of a man being responsible for his own
behaviour at work, he feels that he is controlled by it and separated from the product of his
labour. Bureaucratic institutions are not conducive solely to efficiency.

8. Bureaucracies tend to focus too much on formal impersonal components of their

oragnisation/formal relationships. Informal relationships are ignored, thereby failing to
understand that workers benefit more from the social and psychological needs/informal
relations among the workers (occurrence of informal leaders). Emotional plus social
aspects of the employee are ignored. Alongside this formal aspect of the organisation,
however, are networks of informal relations and unofficial norms which arise out of the
social interaction of individuals and groups working together within the formal structure.

9. Bureaucracy relies in being convertible into routine. The more unforeseen

contingencies arise, the less comprehensive and effective are the rules and regulations.

10. It brings about inefficiency. Procedures are usually elongated due to many offices.

11. There is rampant nepotism despite ideal of impartiality. Nepotism destroys the smooth
running of the bureaucracy.

12. There is a lack of delegation of duties. Managers can’t trust anybody so that others do
not know the privileges available to some offices. There is the fear of juniors taking over
from them fear of power-sharing hence ending up with less influence.

13. Adjudication of duty. Often times bureaucrats who fail to perform their duties ask
their clients to take up their duties on their behalf. This is represented in the statement ‘if
you do not mind, I can give you his/her phone number so that if possible you can follow it
up directly with him/her’. This on face value looks very promising to the client who
cherishes the opportunity of dealing directly with the person who holds the authority in
the hope of fast results. They do not realise that work supposed to be done by some else is
being transferred to them.
37
 Practical activity

Discuss the major advantages of running any organization that you are familiar with.
Discuss the dysfunctions of a school as a bureaucracy and how these can affect education
delivery . Ask yourself the following questions: Have I learnt anything from this lesson,
and if so then what? What knew knowledge do I need to remember? How well can I best
remember this new knowledge? Ask yourself the following questions: Have l learnt
anything from this lesson, and if so then what? How best can I use this new knowledge to
work better with my fellow teachers and the school administrators?

Summary of the Lesson

All these lead to pathology in bureaucratic organizations. Sick bureaucracy always

undermines its goals and objectives the school has put in place. It leads to confusion,
rebellion and inefficiencies with the administration of the school and may result in poor
delivery of services hence producing low caliber graduates. It provides springboard of in
competencies and mismanagement of the schools at all levels in society. This should be
criticised highly so that such vices are minimized by the culprits involved to a larger
extent.

However, inspite of the above shortcomings, without bureaucracies society could not exist
and any criticism of them will have to be about how they can be improved. Some
bureaucracies are more efficient than others.

References

Unknown author (19…), Teaching as a Profession, Cosetco, Kitwe.

Kunkhuli, S.M. (1999) The school and the Teacher, Lecture Noted, University of Zambia, Lusaka

O’Donnell, M. (1997) Introduction to Sociology Thomans Nelson. London

Banks O. (1968) Sociology of Education. London: B.T. Baltstord Limited

Chakulimba, O.C. (2002) Selected readings in the Sociology of Education. Lusaka:

University of Zambia Press.
38
Datta, Ansu (1984) Education and Society; Sociology of African Education. London:
Macmillan Publishers.

Etzioni, A., (1964). Modern Organisation. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice –Hall

Ministry of Education (1996) Educating Our Future; National Policy on Education.

Lusaka: Government Printers.

39
 UNIT SEVEN

TEACHER ROLES

Lesson One

WHAT IS TEACHING?

Teaching from time immemorial was done informally. A traditional healer would teach
his apprentice the art of healing as well as the art of identifying medicinal and non-
medicinal herbs in the forest. A father would teach his son how to play soccer. Today
teaching is done both informally and formally. Who then is a teacher? A teacher is a
person who has been trained in various knowledge for onward transmission to another
person resulting in the behavioral change of that person (learner).

SOCIAL ROLES

As a teacher you will face a lot of conflicting roles, that will affect you by virtue of
external and internal pressures. What is a social role? A social role is said to be a
changeable aspect of a status. Whereas we occupy a status, we play a role (Diana Kendall
et.al, 2007). Other scholars have said that a social role is the expected behavior of an
individual in relation to one’s social position. A role does not occur in a vacuum/isolation
but is always related to one’s position. E.g. a teacher, parent, pastor or a child. Such a
pattern of behavior is usually determined by the culture of the group in which the social
position exists. In every society , occupational roles are accorded different places or
statuses in the social hierarchy. Among the factors that determine the status of a
occupational role, relative to other roles are the level of remunerations, the general working
conditions, the qualifications and experiences necessary for the performance of the role.
The importance attached to the role can also be measured by the amount of money the
state spends on it, and the social influence exerted by members of the occupation, which
includes some historical factors.

40
The above mentioned factors do affect the status of teaching, like any other occupation.
For instance, the education explosion during the last four or five decades has resulted in a
serious shortage of qualified teachers, The shortage still remains lower because of a large
number of unqualified teachers.

A teacher like any other occupation has roles that he is expected to play. The society
expects the teacher to perform certain roles, which are role expectations. A role
expectation is the way a role is supposed to be palyed, whereas a role performance is how a
person actually plays the role. The role performance does not always match the role
expectations, since some are highly specific than others for example a University Professor
has more structured expectations than a friend or significant other.

Role ambiquity occurs when the expectations associate with a role are unclear. How do
you separate the surrogate role of teacher to that of the real parent?

Role conflict. Most people occupy a number of statuses, each of which has numerous role
expectations outlined. A person who is a teacher, a trader, a father, uncle, brother and all
these make demands at the same time might have roles that conflict each other. Role
conflict occurs when incompatible roles demands are placed on a person by two or more
statuses held at the same time. When there is role conflict the role player may feel being
pulled in different directions. To deal with this situation, the role player may decide to
prioritize the roles.

Role strain occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status that a person
occupies(Goode, 1960 in Diana Kendall et.al, 2007) Work overload, marital inequality,
exclusive parenting responsibilities and lack of moral support may put a strain on the role
of a married woman. Role strain takes place within ones status. A teacher is no exception.
It is reported that women experience more role strain than men in teaching. Is this true?

Role distancing occurs when people knowingly foster the impression of a lock of
commitment or attachment to a particular role and merely go through the motions of a role
performance. This is done when people do not want others to look down upon them,
especially if the role player himself/herself believe that the role is beneath them. A student
41
from UNZA, working in a hyper supermarket would rather talk to customers about the
University than about how useful a particular product is that the supermarket is offering.

Role Exit. This occurs when people disengage from social roles that have been central to
their self-identity (Ebaugh, 1958 in Diana Kendall et.al, 2007). Sociologist Helen Rose
Fucks Ebaugh studied this process by interviewing ex-convicts, ex-nuns, retirees, divorcees
etc who exited voluntarily from significant social roles. According to this sociologist, role
exit exists in four stages.

1. Doubt. This is when an individual experiences frustrations or burnout and they

begin to reflect on other existing roles.

2. Search for alternatives. Here the role player seeks temporary leave from work even
from a spouse.

3. Turning point. Here an individual decides to take final action such as quitting

their job.

4. Creation of a new identity. Here the individual finally decides to exit the initial role.

A teacher can exit his/her role when they find that their profession is not fulfilling enough.

CONTEMPORARY TEACHER

The education explosion resulting in enormous expansion of the school system has made it
difficult for government to match the material emolument of teachers like that of doctors even
if it is highly committed to teaching. The teacher’s role in any contemporary society is shaped
by the public image and the self image of the teacher. The public image of the teacher’s role
(that is, the way others see his role) is closely linked with the status accorded to the teacher by
the public. What about the self image of the teacher?(that is the way the way the teacher
himself defines the behavior expected of him).

42
 Frank Musgrave and Philip Taylor (Society and the Teacher’s Role, pp.8-16) point out that the
contemporary teacher comes to develop a notion of his proper role under the influence of
several factors, that is, his own experience as a pupil, his experiences as a teacher, his training ,
his reading, exchange of ideas with others, and, more especially, with his colleagues, and
reflections.

The self image and the public image of the teacher do not necessarily correspond to each
other. And later in the lecture I will show you the gap between the two, in terms of aims of and
emphasis in teaching which in some cases result in role conflicts. Sociologists agree that the
teacher’s role in more diffuse that that of those who are engaged in traditional professions like
medicine and law.

ACTIVITY: What is a social role?

Do this activity in less than two minutes.

43
A diffuse role, as opposed to a specific role is distinguished by the absence of A) set tasks which
are to be performed within a set time by the manipulation of defined expertise. B)a formal
limitation to the competence of the role performer and C) a delimitation of this commitment. The
teacher must know at what point exactly the enactment of his part should come to an end. The
task of the teacher is somewhat complicated hence making proper evaluation of the teacher’s role
difficult in comparison with other professions e.g. doctor or lawyer. Another general trait of the
teacher’s role is its affectivity. Socialization is more effective when the socializing agent(the
teacher) is able to establish effective rapport with the pupil. In the west the family as a
socializing agent is slowly losing its grip on the learner and the teacher supplements the work of
the family at home as an effective socializing agent.

SUB-ROLES OF A TEACHER.

Havighurst and Neugarten (Society and Education. Pp 434-444) mentioned the American
teacher’s participation in various community affairs leading in some cases to the assumption of
community leadership, and his tendency to operate as “the surrogate of middle-class morality” as
reflected in correct speech, good manners, modesty, prudence, honesty, responsibility,
friendliness, and so on. Additionally, the teacher is expected to be a person of refined tastes and
sophistication, an explorer in the world of ideas, and an expert in child development.

All these sub-roles seem to be relevant to the African context except the one about representing
supposed middle-class virtues. In sport, religious and recreational activities the local community
looks to the teacher for guidance in the normal way of living. Havighurst and Heugarten also
identified a set of six separate sub-roles for the teacher in the school. These are 1)
Disciplinarian 2) A mediator of learning 3) A parent substitute 4) A judge 5) A confidant
6) A surrogate of middle class morality. (Society and Education, pp. 444-450).

44
The teacher maintains some kind of order in the classroom as a disciplinarian, transmits
knowledge as a mediator of learning, supplements in the school what the parents do at home,
decides what is right and what is wrong in the academic field as well as in social interaction,
shows sympathy and understanding to the children so that the latter feel confident to confide in
the teacher and is supposed to exhibit middle class values.

The teachers roles especially 3, and 5 are comfortably performed by teachers in primary schools.
The way the teacher’s role is fulfilled in any particular case depends on various factors including
age, sex, marital status, socio-economic background, personality structure, and experience of the
teacher. Furthermore, the institutional arrangement in which the teacher finds himself has an
impact on his role performance. In other words, all these factors are likely to influence the extent
to which conflict is produced or avoided when an individual teacher plays his occupational role.

45
INTER AND INTRA-ROLE CONFLICT

Often a distinction is made between inter-role conflict and intra-role conflict that occurs in the
performance of a single role. The teacher is both confidant and disciplinarian of the pupil, a
failure to balance the two sub-roles may generate conflict. Conflicts may also arise as a result of
the vulnerability of educational institutions to the outside pressures. Compared to other
professions teachers have very limited control of the institutions where they have to operate.
Everywhere outside pressure is brought to bear up classroom contest and procedures that often
go against the teacher’s best professional judgment.

Another conflict may arise as a result of the role being inadequately supported by the
institutional framework. Thus a lecturer who teaches the social sciences in a technical college is
dubbed as a” vendor of precarious values” or as “a piece of ministerial whitewash with no
significance for the real business of the institution”. This kind of conflict arises for “the teacher
whose role is marginal“ to a given institutional order.

Furthermore Bryan Wilson, draws our attention to a “a most significantly role conflict arising
from the divergence of role-commitment and career orientation”(see p. 11 for reference). Like
everyone else in contemporary society, a teacher is also subjected to societal pressure to improve
his career.

Summary of the Lesson

A more basic source of conflict of the teacher is the divergence between the values he is
supposed to stand for and the inadequate support the wider society extends to them. These
values, mores, concretely are moral virtues, honesty of purpose, tolerance, sobriety, readiness to
help others, attention to others, convenience, truthfulness, and the like. The media, electronic
and print media add to the confusion in the children’s lives and are another source of conflict for
the teacher’s roles.

ACTIVITY: This activity will assist you in identifying, the different sub-roles of a teacher.
46
1 What are the sub-role of a teacher?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

2 What do you understand by education explosion?

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Ansu Datta (1988): Education and Society Anthology of Issues and Problems. Riverside, New
Jersey: Macmillan Co.

Ballatine, Jeane and Hammack, Floyd M.(2009) The Sociology of Education – A Systematic
Analysis (6th Ed.) New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Brookover, Wilbur and Erickson, Edsek (1975), Sociology of Education.

Banks, Olive (1968) The Sociology of Education. London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd

Chakulimba, Oswell C. (1986) “Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study Analysing

the Factors Affecting the Status of the Zambia primary and Secondary School Teachers,” PhD.
Thesis, University of Toronto.

Clark, Burton, R. (1962) Educating the Expert Society. San Franscisco. Chandler York: Random
House

Durkheim, Emile (1956) Education and Sociology. Translated and with an Introduction by
Sherwood D. Fox, Foreword by Talcott Parsons. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press.

Ezewu, E (1986) Sociology of Education, London: Longman.

47
Giddens, Anthony and Sutton, Philip. W (2010) Sociology, New Delhi: Wiley India Pvt Ltd.

Goode, E (1984) Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc

Horowitz, Irving L. (ed) (1964) The New Sociological: Essays in Social Science and Social
Theory in Honour of C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press)

Karabel, Jerome and Halsey, A.H. (1977) “Educational Research: A Review and
Interpretation” Power Ideology in Education, Edited by Jerome Karabel and A.H. Halsey,
New York: oxford University Press, pp. 1-77

Kendall,Diana, Murray, Jane Lothian and Linden ,Rick (2007) Sociology in our Times, 4th
Edition. Canada: Wadsworth

Kibera, Lucy Wairimu and Kimokoti, Agness(2007) Fundamentals of Sociology of Education,

Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press.

Kunkhuli, S.W.M. (2006) ZOU Module 8: Sociology of Education. Lusaka:

Zambia. ZOU

Lawton, D (1975) Investigating Society. London: Hazel Watson and Viney Ltd.

Thomas LaVerne, W (1995) Sociology – The Study of Human Relationships, New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston Harcourt Brace and Company.

LaVerne, W.T. (1995) The study of Human Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc

Mills, C. W. (1970) The Sociology Imagination. Harmondsworth: Middlesex

48
 UNIT EIGHT

SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY

Lesson One

Relationship between School and the Community

Learning outcomes:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

● Define School and Community.

● Discuss the place of schools within communities and the effect that they have on each other.

● The three schools of thought on School and the Community.

● Discuss Cartons’ Seven Models.

● Explain the relationship between the School and the Community

● Explain the influence of the community on education and influence of Education on the

Community

● Discuss Politics and Education.

2.1 Introductory Activity: Discuss the significance of the school and community relations.
(45 minutes)
49
Explanation on the Introductory Question: You should answer the question given in the
best possible way you can, taking cognizes of the fact that people live in communities where
schools are found.

DEFINITION OF THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY

Warren (1966) defines the community as ‘a combination of social units(with a high degree of
interdependence and common ties) which perform a major function, having locality relevance.’
Schools exist in communities. People the world over are discovering that some of the cherished
ideals associated with the community are somewhat being eroded. Another Scholar defined a
community as a group of people who live together, share particular interests as well as basic
conditions of common life. (Maclver in Ezewu, 1966). The school on the other hand is defined
as an institution or building where instructions are given especially to learners.

Webster’s Enclyopedia (1966). Parents, local leaders, the society as a whole all interact with
schools in different capacities. Some of these members of the society i.e. parents, local leaders
etc have children who attend these schools. This hence, makes them stakeholders, and
whatever happens in these schools becomes their concern. Schools are also said to take up the
cultural, physical and social characteristics of the communities. The geographical location of a
school is vital in understanding the needs and aspiration of a school, though much emphasis is
placed on the families that serve, feed, and supply the children with school prerequisites.

HOW DO THE COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS AFFECT EACH OTHER?

The schools professional effort is to increase each child’s education. This is done through
motivational efforts and academic achievements. The child is motivated and encouraged to be
a high achiever by teachers, parents or guardians. The schools help children to develop
qualities of good citizenship. The more knowledge and skills the learners acquire, the better the
citizenry (public/community) the educators will mould. The school and community relationship
also ensures that a relevant curriculum is put in place. This includes what to teach, when to
teach and why teach. The knowledge and skills acquired are for the benefit of the learners
50
 themselves, their families, the community as well as the nation as a whole. Whereas the school
offers expert knowledge to the learners through the teaching of subjects and skills, the
community on the other hand provides the non-expert tasks e.g values, clothes, food, shelter,
language, attitudes, norms and so on. The school and the community as active partners prepare
the child for readiness to learn.

ACTIVITY: Give the definitions of the school and the community.

Do not take more than two minutes to do this.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY

The community is a socializing agent just as a school is a socializing agent. The school and
community share benefits as well as conditions of common life. Collective tasks to which all
members contribute are found in both the community and the school. The community performs
educational functions just as the school does. The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) acts as
a liaison agent between the school and the community. The community is there recognized as
the major agency of education after family and peer groups. Schools like communities enhance
the teaching of community values.

The three schools of thoughts as advanced by some scholars have made the relationship
between the school and the community to be well understood. These are:

a) Closed door position

b) Open door position
c) Balanced door position

CLOSED DOOR POSITION

This position argues that community involvement in school affairs is extraneous, tedious,
harmful and injurious to the child’s education. The premise is that schools can handle all the
four walls of major problems that schools face, They do not need interference from anyone.
Talcott Parsons and Max Weber add further in saying that there’s fear among educators on the
performance of the learners. Traditional parents have emotional attachments to their children
and act out of professional judgment
51
OPEN DOOR POSITION

The open door position is a direct contrast to the above thought. The proponents of this position
believe that many of the basic education process take place outside the school building, but in the
home environment this includes the family, peer groups, and the neighbours. This position has
the child centered philosophy and believes that the child gets the motivation, to learn from
his/her everyday life or plays in a supervisory role. Close contacts are preferred between the
school and the community.

BALANCED DOOR POSITION

This thought favours both the open and closed door positions. The thought acknowledges two
possible errors between the School and Community relations:

● Relations can be so close as to weaken professional standards

● Relations can be so far apart that lack of co-ordination causes contradictory influence to

evaluate both sides hence the need to balance the two positions.

There are four linking mechanisms between the School and the Community:

1. Auxiliary voluntary associations e.g. PTA, Educational Boards etc

2. The Opinion Leaders – People of influence/who matter in society, MPs, Ward
chairpersons
3. Mass Media – Public communication through the press
4. Formal Authority - Those delegated with power to represent the organization, Head
teacher, DEO,PEO etc.

Many sociologists assert that schooling can be best understood in the context of the wider
society. Knowledge must satisfy the needs of society.

52
CONCLUSION

A school is not an island but is a part of the community in which it is located. Pupils are
members of that community. School activities must therefore reflect as far as possible the nature
and aspiration of the community. The School Manager must know the members of the
community well enough to make them interested in what the children are doing. The School
Manager must follow up the progress of his pupils. He can only succeed through the team work
of his staff and the community. Schools are considered to be mirrors of society.

The public has its own notations towards the schools. Most societies all over the world have
blind faith where schools are concerned, which is termed as nomadic sense, this is where people
tend to believe differently regarding what schools are.

Carton, R.A in his book “Popular Images of the school”, came up with seven models of what
people generally regard schools to be.

1. Familiar Model – extension of what families are doing. (role of socialization)

2. Political Model – schools play the function of govt.(governmental Political task)Teachers
civil servants
3. Economic Model – individuals want to believe that why send people to school if not for
economic gain. Curriculum to be relevant to the needs of the economy.
4. Religious Model- Those that are moralists – extended the school – good citizens (they are
upright and conscious of the activities –Personal subversion – people’s education should
more soul searching and serving. The education system should produce learners who are
morally upright
5. Collegial Model – Promotes that schools are meant for highly educated individuals
(professionals) they think that others are not special but themselves.
6. Custodian Model – implies that the school also plays the role of keeping people in custody
(mental – prison) conscious of how one looks after them.

53
7. Community Model – Total community by itself. Community within the community.
Meaning that the school can be treated in isolation or together with the school, A reflection
of the wider/larger community because of its complexity and heterogeneous (diverse/mixed).

Summary of the Lesson

This unit has revealed how schools and communities relate and influence each other. Three
schools of thought have been highlighted. The linking mechanisms have been discussed as
well as the seven models by Carton, R.A.

Activity 2.2 (About 1hour)

What kind of relationship does your community have with the schools that are located in your
neighbourhood?

Do the different schools of thought apply in your neighbourhood?

References

Ansu Datta (1988): Education and Society Anthology of Issues and Problems. Riverside, New
Jersey: Macmillan Co.
Ballatine, Jeane and Hammack, Floyd M.(2009) The Sociology of Education – A Systematic
Analysis (6th Ed.) New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Brookover, Wilbur and Erickson, Edsek (1975), Sociology of Education.

Banks, Olive (1968) The Sociology of Education. London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd

Chakulimba, Oswell C. (1986) “Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study

Analysing the Factors Affecting the Status of the Zambia primary and Secondary School
Teachers,” PhD. Thesis, University of Toronto.
Coser, Lewis (1956)The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: Free Press

54
Durkheim, Emile (1956) Education and Sociology. Translated and with an Introduction by
Sherwood D. Fox, Foreword by Talcott Parsons. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press.

Ezewu, E (1986) Sociology of Education, London: Longman.

Giddens, Anthony and Sutton, Philip. W (2010) Sociology, New Delhi: Wiley India Pvt Ltd.

Goode, E (1984) Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc

Horowitz, Irving L. (ed) (1964) The New Sociological: Essays in Social Science and Social
Theory in Honour of C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press)

Karabel, Jerome and Halsey, A.H. (1977) “Educational Research: A Review and
Interpretation” Power Ideology in Education, Edited by Jerome Karabel and A.H.
Halsey, New York: oxford University Press, pp. 1-77

Kendall,Diana, Murray, Jane Lothian and Linden Rick(2007) Sociology in our Times, 4th
Edition. Canada: Wadsworth

Kibera, Lucy Wairimu and Kimokoti, Agness(2007) Fundamentals of Sociology of

Education, Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press.

Kunkhuli, S.W.M. (2006) ZOU Module 1: Sociology of Education. Lusaka:

Zambia. ZOU

Lawton, D (1975) Investigating Society. London: Hazel Watson and Viney Ltd.
Thomas LaVerne, W (1995) Sociology – The Study of Human Relationships, New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston Harcourt Brace and Company.
LaVerne, W.T. (1995) The study of Human Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc

55
 Mills, C. W. (1970) The Sociology Imagination. Harmondsworth: Middlesex

UNIT 9

STATUS OF TEACHERS IN ZAMBIA

Lesson One

Status of teachers in Zambia

1.1 Introduction
This unit introduces you to teacher status. In this unit, five issues are discussed. These
are: definition of status, importance of status, current state of teachers' status, the status of
teachers in the colonial period and status of teachers after independence. This unit is
based partly on a lecture first given in a course called, ED 210 - Educational Psychology
and Sociology to the second year students in the School of Education in 1977, and partly
based on the PhD thesis of Dr O.C. Chakulimba.

A lot has been written on both the status of teachers and of the teaching 'profession' in
Zambia, in the Southern African region, in Africa and world over. Studies have tried to
analyse the status of primary and secondary school teachers and the factors which do
56
 affect their status. Some studies have dealt with this issue of status from a historical
perspective, other studies and activities of teachers' organisations have tried to suggest
ways and means of improving the teacher's status and the teaching profession.

This module will focus on various aspects of the teacher as well as the professional status
of teachers. The status of teachers in Zambia will be examined to determine how this
status affects you as a teacher in the teaching and learning process.

Aim

The aim of this unit is to equip you with knowledge on the status of teachers in Zambia.

1.2 Time Frame

You are expected to spend at least 6 hours on this unit, remember to spend your time
wisely.

1.3 Objectives
At the end of this unit, you should be able to

i) Explain the importance of status in the teaching ‘profession’

ii) Discuss the current status of teachers
iii) Discus the status of teachers during the colonial period
iv) Discuss the status of teachers after independence
v) Analyse factors that affect the status of teachers in Zambia
vi) Discuss the importance of status in the supply and retention of teachers in the
teaching "profession" in Zambia

1.4 Reflection
Imagine you are an employee! Do you have enough money to meet your
needs? Will you manage to get a mortgage? Will you get a reasonable pension?
What make of a car would you like to get? How is your status in the
community? How do people in your working place treat you? How much
influence do you have upon them? Do they wonder how much education you
have attained?

57
Now imagine that you are that same employee, only that this time you are a teacher. That alone
makes a great difference! You have no car. You cannot afford a mortgage. You are staying in a
slum or renting a servant's quarter from a wealthy person. Nobody is sure of your academic
qualifications. You cannot make an impact on the scene, and the children you teach know that you
are powerless. The community does not approve of your behaviour, does not appreciate your
service, and looks down upon you. Whatever the shortcoming is, the whole picture changes
because you are a teacher.

1.5 Definition of status

According to Chinoy (1967), the concept of status has its origin in certain basic observations about
the nature of the society and institutions. In any society, there are rules, norms, behaviours, values
and resources which are not equally applicable and acquired. This means that, each society has men
and women who are treated differently because of whom they are, and what they have or the
positions they hold in society or organisations. The mere fact of who they are or/and the things or
positions which they have, make it possible for them to be identified as either superior or inferior to
others. These positions are culturally, socially and administratively arranged in a social hierarchy
according to the perceived values attached to them by society or an institution. Let us note that in
our modern societies, the values attached to these social positions are, to a large extent, based on
the kind of occupations or offices which individuals hold. Some occupations are regarded more
valuable and superior than others and thus, more respected than others. Cabinet ministers, for
example, are more respected or given higher social honour than secondary school teachers, and
secondary school teachers than police officers, and police officers than general workers, because
these occupations are perceived to be more valuable, superior or responsible than others.

Making a distinction between classes and status groups, Weber (1946: 186 -7) makes an interesting
observation about status groups which may be closely associated or linked to an occupational
group. He writes:

In contrast to classes, status groups are normally communities. They are, however,
often of an amorphous kind. In contrast to the purely economically determined
"class situation" we wish to designate as "status situation" every typical component
of the life fate of men that is determined by a specific, positive or negative, social
58
 estimation of honour. This honour may be connected with any quality shared by a
plurality, and, of course, it can be knit to a class situation: class distinctions are
linked in the most varied ways with status distinctions.

This social honour or respect, we are all aware, though based upon the kind of occupation or office
one has, is, in most cases determined by the power or authority and wealth which a particular
occupation or office carries with it; although social honour may sometimes be a source of power
and wealth. Some occupations and offices carry with them more power and wealth than others, and
those which carry more power and wealth or economic gains, or both power and wealth are more
highly esteemed than those which carry less power and wealth, and so are the incumbents of those
occupations or offices regarded accordingly. Hence, a cabinet minister is more respected than a
teacher because he/she has more power and wealth than the teacher by virtue of his/her office, and
can use power and wealth to obtain other material and non-material benefits which, together with
power and wealth, contribute to (high) status.

In general, the term "status" refers to one's position in comparison with other people's positions in a
social context and the deference or prestige granted by others within that context. When we,
therefore, speak of status in this chapter what we have in mind is the question of where one stands
on an "imaginary" social hierarchy - whether one is a person highly respected and envied or
despised and treated with contempt by other members of the society or institution.

1.7 Types of Status

Stub and Barnard speak of two kinds of status for a teacher. These are: teachers' status in the
community and their status in the organisation (the education system). Stub (1975) makes a
distinction between the teacher's status in the community and the teacher's status in the school or
education system. He calls one community status and the other organisational status.
Corresponding to Stub's community and organisational status are Barnard's functional status and
scalar status respectively.

Community or functional status

According to Stub (1975:350):

59
 Community status will refer to the teacher's status and prestige in the community.
An empirical referent of this status involves others' opinions of teaching as an
occupation (occupational prestige) and its place relative to other occupations held
by community members.

Community or functional status is the status that you have as a teacher in the community. What,
therefore, we have in mind when we speak of community or functional status is the social position
of, for example, a teacher as is perceived in the community in comparison with a bank teller, a
police officer, a nurse or a cabinet minister. Community/functional status is a general attribute
which does not depend on authority and spheres of influence. Do you as a teacher command respect
from members of the community as compared to a police officer, nurse or a lawyer even if there is
no formal or legal authority involved in their relationship?

Organisational or scalar status

According to Stub (1975:350) “the term organisational status will refer to the teacher's position and
prestige within the organized structure of the school.” Barnard's scalar status (or organizational
status), refers to one's position in an organizational hierarchy. Scalar status has the amount of
formal authority as the criterion of one's position in the structure. According to Barnard (Stub,
1975:350), "Scalar status is determined by (i) the relationship of super-ordination or subordination
in a chain of command or formal authority, and (ii) by jurisdiction."

Thus organisational or scalar status of a teacher, is the position of a teacher in relation to the
positions of those who are with him/her in the education system. It is a position which is based
upon the relationship of commands and authority and defined sphere of influence or operation,
resulting in esteeming or despising one party by another. Those who are regarded superior on
account of their positions or titles, giving them access to important decisions, which affect those
below them (subordinates), are highly esteemed by their subordinates. In other words, it is the
position of a teacher compared with that of a head teacher's or of a Provincial Education Officer's.
Their relationship involves some kind of struggle over control of authority, thus affecting their
status positively or negatively.

60
 In short, status is a socially identified position of an individual or a group of individuals relative to
another individual's or group of individuals' position in the community or institution. But as it is
used in this chapter, the concept of status, refers to (i) a teacher's position relative to the positions of
other members of the community, and (ii) his/her position relative to the positions of those within
the educational system, and the deference or prestige given to him/her as compared to that accorded
other members of the community and of the school or educational system.

1.8 Importance of Status

Is there something important about status (of teachers) that it should be discussed, and that so much
has been written about it? Is there any need to improve the status of teachers? To those who are
concerned about the education of the young people, and who treasure the importance of education
in the society, the answer to these questions is a "big yes."

Sociological literature has shown that status is one of the social phenomena which men and women
desire to have and which they guard jealously. Status is one of the things for which men and
women can lay their lives, and over which struggles are waged in the society. Each person is
conscious of how he/she is perceived by those around him/her. Lenski (1966:38), for example,
argues that:

Self-respect is a necessary element in every healthy, properly functioning

personality. Where self-respect is destroyed, motivation is undermined. This
self-respect is in large measure, a function of respect accorded by others. . . . the
image we form of ourselves is largely a reflection of the image others form of us.
Hence, our psychological health and well-being are greatly dependent on our
status in groups we value.

In the latest advertisement of bullet detergent paste on radio and TV, atimvelela jelasi chifukwa
tiwashila bullet (they feel jealousy of us because we use bullet), it is not just the use of bullet
detergent paste which is the issue, but it is the status which other people may accord to users of
bullet because of their smart appearance which is attributed to bullet detergent paste.

Stub, 1975:364) commenting on the formal status (occupational or organisational status) of a

teacher, states clearly the importance of status, quoting Barnard as follows:

61
 Formal status provides . . . prestige for its own sake, as a reinforcement of the
ego, as security for the integrity of the person. . . . a status system is a strong and
probably an indispensable developer of the sense of responsibility and therefore,
of stability and reliability. . . . the function of status in creating and maintaining
dependable behaviour is probably indispensable.

It has also been shown that status is an important determinant of motivation, morale, performance
and attitudes of workers toward their work. Mills (1951) attributed the dissatisfaction of clerical
workers to their declining prestige, while Bame (1972) found that the low status of Ghanaian
elementary school teachers contributed to their dissatisfaction and frustration with their work.
Humphreys (1968:45) in his study of the prestige of teachers of different subjects, states that,
"Changes in status are sufficiently powerful stimulants to positive or negative attitudes that they
may require a careful study."

When respect or prestige is not forthcoming or when status is threatened, dissatisfaction,

frustration, low morale and low motivation are likely to result. Workers may turn to things, which
they feel could earn them some respect, and neglect their work.

Further social status does play a crucial role in the supply and retention of workers in occupations.
It is little wonder we find that those who belong to well-established professions (which enjoy high
social status in the society) remain in those professions until they die. It is a fact that social status
does enter into the choice of a career, and in the incumbents remaining in it. All factors being
equal, a young person who is choosing his/her first career is more likely to enter an occupation that
will bring him/her a sense of importance than one that does not, and is likely to stay in that career
for a long time.

The importance of status in determining teachers' attitudes, performance, supply and retention, and
consequently, the effect these attitudes may have upon the education system and, later on, the
nation, cannot be overemphasised. If teachers have their status threatened, or have low status
(which they have) they are likely to divert their energies from teaching pupils to activities which
they think are meaningful to them. This is very real when we think of teachers whose status has
been affected partly by low salaries. We have seen teachers getting engaged in various economic
62
 activities even when they are within the school or classroom. They would also like to sing
“atimvelela jelasi chifukwa tiwasila bullet."

1.9 Current state of teachers’ status

The Zambian teacher today is different from the teacher of the colonial period who might have
been second to the colonial administrator in terms of prestige as Fulilwa, quoted by Tiberondwa
(1976:53), states:
It is true now that teachers are no longer held in high esteem. . . . Before
independence, the teaching profession was perhaps the most highly respected and
envied among the Africans. Everywhere the teacher went, a green carpet was led
for him. The teacher was second only to the District Commissioner in the
number of eggs and chickens he received from people around in appreciation of
his services. Unfortunately that "golden age" for teachers is gone, and perhaps
gone forever. Now . . . after independence all the teacher can receive for his
services is constant ridicule from students and the public.

In a prestige rating study carried out in 1982 in which 30 jobs were rated by 556 respondents,
composed of secondary school pupils, primary and secondary school teachers, and the public, the
secondary school teacher was ranked number 13, while the primary school teacher was ranked 20 th
(Chakulimba 1986). But in a study done before independence in 1959 in Northern Rhodesia
(Zambia), the African secondary school teacher was ranked number two and primary school teacher
number eleven in terms of prestige among thirty occupations (Mitchell and Epstein, 1959). We will
look at how to carry out a prestige rating study in unit 3.

The table below shows the prestige of teachers as compared with other worker's prestige in Zambia.

Table 1: Prestige ratings of teachers and other workers in Zambia as obtained from 556
respondents
OCCUPATION RANK MEAN SCORE SD
Member of Central Committee 1 1.32 0.65
Lawyer 2 1.49 0.70
Pilot 3 1.50 0.69
Medical Doctor 4 1.51 0.76
Member of Parliament 5 1.63 0.81
Accountant 6 1.70 0.83
University teacher 7 1.72 0.84

63
District Governor 8 1.80 0.90
District Secretary 9 2.15 0.89
Priest 10 2.25 1.13
Party Regional Secretary 11 2.42 1.02
Air Hostess 12 2.53 0.99
Sec. School. Teacher 13 2.63 0.89
Nurse 14 2.65 0.85
Miner 15 2.77 1.11
Medical Assistant 16 2.85 0.83
Motor Mechanic 17 2.98 1.04
Agric. Demonstrators 18 3.09 1.10
Small Scale Commercial 19 3.17 1.06
Farmer
Primary School. Teacher 20 3.20 0.91
Shop-keeper 21 3.23 1.03
Policeman 22 3.32 1.02
Typist 23 3.47 0.92
Bus Driver 24 3.65 1.07
Carpenter 25 3.77 1.03
Fisherman 26 3.91 1.10
Bus Conductor 27 3.94 1.11
District Messenger 28 3.96 1.04
Marketer 29 4.21 1.05
Office Orderly 30 4.40 0.97

64
Source: Oswell C. Chakulimba. "Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study Analysing the Factors Affecting the Status of Zambian
Primary and Secondary School Teachers." PhD Thesis, University of Toronto, 1986, pp. 194-195.

1.10 Status of teachers during colonial period

Teachers during colonial period enjoyed high status in the community. Many factors
contributed to the high status which teachers enjoyed. Among these factors were the nature of
their job, economic rewards, their social behaviour, knowledge, authority and the prevailing
educational situation during the colonial era.

In Northern Rhodesia, in particular, and in Africa in general, teaching was perhaps the most
respected and envied "profession" among the Africans. As early as 1915, teachers in Northern
Rhodesia were regarded as the "aristocracy" of the African people. According to the British
South Africa Company administrator, "the teacher, the boma capitao (supervisor) and the store
boy represented the native aristocracy" (Snelson, 1974:219). This was not surprising, for
teaching was the only responsible job open to the Africans in the country, and only those who
were deemed to be educated could get the job which was denied to the majority. Furthermore,
by association, teachers enjoyed high status as their work was associated with the work of the
Europeans; and rightly so since the first teachers in formal schools were European missionaries.

By virtue of his/her job, the teacher had all that he/she wanted, materially lacking almost
nothing. Pupils and their parents brought fish, eggs, meat and the like to the teacher, while the
pupils fetched water and firewood for him/her. The pupils' labour was always at the disposal of
the teacher, employing it either in the garden or on building of a latrine or a house, or making
an extension to the house. In fact, in some cases, if not all, it was the responsibility of the
people in the village to build a school and a house for the teacher, and to feed him/her.

Economically, the teacher was surrounded with higher than average luxuries, and was generally
much better off than the people among whom he/she worked despite the fact that his/her actual
65
pay was not adequate, which in early days was in form of beads and pieces of cloth. Later, the
teacher could afford to buy a bicycle, a hand-operated gramophone whose speed was
determined by the energy of the operator; a sauce-pan-like radio with a long-life heavy duty
battery around which people of the village sat to listen to favourite radio programmes such as
Malikopo, Kaleya Mateyo, Foloko, Pompolyongo and Alick Nkhata's and others' popular songs
such as Uluse lwalile nkwale, or Mwe baleya kwi shilya mucenjele na masoshi. The teacher was
dressed in Pan-American styled trousers, Rex Roy trousers, cream or navy blue blazer jackets,
small-bottomed skirts with pointed and high heeled leather shoes, most of which were ordered
from Oxndales in the United Kingdom or South Africa. The wife of the teacher was dressed
immaculately in high heeled and pointed shoes (makokolo), fashionable dresses, skirts and
blouses from Britain.

By reason of this new life style, which the teacher enjoyed because of the status symbols which
the majority did not have, he/she belonged to a different status group which was associated, by
many, with a "European life style" in some ways, and which was envied and respected in the
community. He/she was set apart from the rest of the people.

With the small amount of money and privileges, the teacher was in a position to fulfil some
kinship obligations materially and socially since in those days, material things were not as
important and desired as they are now. His/her job placed him/her in a position of leadership,
able to counsel his/her own people and others. The teacher was a man of the people at whose
home some of the family members stayed in order to go to school. Where forced labour was
prevalent, the teacher ran no danger or risk of being taken for forced labour or having the house
burnt down for failing to pay taxes because he/she had a salaried job. The teacher could not run
away or climb up a tree (some times under which the District Commissioner sat with his team
during those annual inspection tours), or being pronounced dead or mad by other members of
the village in order to hide him from the wrath of the law. All these earned the teacher respect
and high status in the community where many did not have what the teacher had, and were
vulnerable to forced labour or simple imprisonment.

66
Socially and religiously, teachers' behaviour was highly approved in the community. They were
seen to be upright as they stood behind the pulpit exposing and condemning the evil of the
people among whom they worked. Even if they might have not been living righteously in
privacy, they appeared so in public. They tried to live what they preached and, as such, they
were ensamples who could be emulated by both the young and the old. They very well knew
that their job demanded the greatest care and self-sacrifice since it was governed by strict rules
and regulations, which protected it from the morally and socially corrupt. Beer drinking,
smoking, polygamy and any other unbecoming behaviour or practice called for instant
dismissal from teaching, among some missionary societies. Teachers were "self-possessed and
at the same time their inborn softness of manner lent a peculiar grace to their whole bearing"
(Bame, 1972:122). They were men and women of responsibility who inspired confidence and
trust in the people by providing leadership in many and diverse ways. "This trust was, in fact,
not misplaced since the teacher lived up to the expectations of the community in which he
lived" (Siwo, 1978:74).

Teachers' knowledge also contributed to their high status in the community. It was that of
experts, not the expertise of traditional teachers or of the rest of the community. Like the white
missionary teachers, the African teachers were "everything". They were teachers, preachers,
advisors, agricultural demonstrators, dispensers, clerks, interpreters and letter writers. They
wrote and read letters of those who had their relatives and children in Bulawayo, Elizabethville,
Johannesburg and Zomba etc. They thus knew the secrets of most of the people in the village;
and the chiefs' palaces were wide open to them while the headmen hid nothing important from
them. Their students, unlike those of the traditional teachers, easily found employment as
carpenters, builders and interpreters for the district commissioners or district officers, and
enjoyed a relatively high standard of living just like their teachers. Students owed what they
were, after school, to their teachers. Their parents could also say their children were as they
were because of their teachers.

Except for those who had fought in the First and Second World Wars, and those who had
worked as carriers for the colonial administrators, teachers were the only ones who "knew"

67
Asia, North Africa, Burma, North America, Britain and other European countries by reading
about them and listening to the people who had come from those places. In most cases teachers
were the only local elements who presented the marvels and mysteries of the world beyond -
the world of the white people, of motor cars and trains, of new knowledge about the earth, the
sun and the moon, including the eclipse of the sun or of the moon, and of new knowledge about
the human race and new methods of tilling the land.

Long (1968: 157), in his study on the changing patterns of social status in a rural place in
Zambia, found knowledge as one of the factors which his subjects gave for ranking the primary
school teacher second on a prestige rank order of ten occupations, stating:

He is wisdom itself, his authority derives from book knowledge, and he is

helping the people to advance. He teaches children to speak English so that they
can converse with Europeans and so that they can write letters for those villagers
who cannot write.

It should be noted that though their knowledge was very limited, the same limited knowledge
placed them in a separate class, and gave them considerable influence and high status in a
generally unlettered community.

The fact that teachers, especially teachers in village schools, were left without much
supervision from their employers meant that they held considerable authority in their hands.
The heads of schools ran the schools single-handed, and they always received support from
their employers for the decisions they made. They could suspend or expel any pupil without
any challenge from the parents, and without much or any explanation to the top. The whole
school system was, indeed, notorious for expulsions and suspensions before and shortly after
independence. Teachers had literally held the future of their pupils in their hands. The
isolation in which teachers were found, and the great responsibilities placed upon them by their
employers resulted in powers, which would not be suspected and questioned, and which, in
turn, contributed to their high prestige in the community and in the school system. Indeed,
teachers were a symbol of authority.

68
Teachers in the colonial period had "earned a name" for themselves, partly because of the work
they had and all that it offered, and also because of the position in which their work put them.
Murray (1929:91), writing about the work of the village teachers states:

The village teacher is the hub of the whole educational system. . . . He is a child
of both his own native village and also of the European school. He has a foot in
both worlds. If he is good at his job, he interprets the one to the other. He is really
a priestly function, and both church and state owe him more than they can well
imagine.

It was because of the nature of their work, their economic rewards, behaviour, knowledge and
their authority, coupled with a situation in which they were the only educated people that
teachers in the colonial period had high social status in the schools and in the community as a
whole. The teacher was a man or woman of the people and was everything to the people.
He/she was a leader, a letter-writer, preacher, counsellor, agricultural expert, interpreter of
languages and mysteries, and the like.

1.11 Status of teachers after independence

Any change comes with good and bad things. To some, change may be a welcome thing, a
blessing, while it may be a curse to others. It may "promote" some and "demote" others. It may
take power or influence from some and give it to others. The attainment of independence
brought with it some changes, which affected various people in the society differently. It has
been generally argued that the coming of independence has affected teachers adversely, and one
could say, thanks to independence that teaching is no longer a profession or no longer held in
high esteem.

The status of teachers in Zambia is generally lower than that of a lawyer, a medical doctor or
that of a high-ranking government official; even that of a party official. In the University of
Zambia, students from other schools look down on students in the School of Education. Some
students in the School of Education tend to hide or usually hide their real identity while on
holidays, even while on campus, when they meet those they feel would not be impressed with
the tag of education.

69
 It is not only the students of education themselves or other university students who have low
opinion of the teaching "profession". Pupils in high schools also have low opinions about
teaching. They sympathise with their own teachers for having spent four years at the university
doing education instead of any other programme.

Literature on the status of teachers has shown that since the attainment of independence in
Africa, in general, and in Zambia, in particular, the status of teachers has eroded, Mwanakatwe
(1968), Datta (1975), Tiberondwa (1976), Snelson (1974), Siwo (1975), and Chakulimba
(1986). Commenting on the status of teachers in Zambia, Mwanakatwe (1968:121) states that:

Since independence there has been a gradual but conspicuous erosion of the
teacher's status as more Zambians reach the upper rungs of the civil service.
While in pre-independence days the African teacher, more especially the African
headmaster, held an enviable position of leadership and influence, today it is the
senior administrative officer who commands authority and respect as the true
successor of the former colonial administrator….

1.12 Summary of the Lesson

It is clear that the community and organisational status of the teacher in Zambia and in other
countries is low. When status is low, there is likelihood that the performance and attitudes of
teachers towards teaching may be affected negatively. It may also create a problem of
attracting and retaining competent people in the teaching profession.

Teachers in the colonial period enjoyed high social status in the community. This high status
was a function of their economic standing, knowledge, social behaviour and authority in the
community and school.

But after independence, there was a decline in the status of teachers in comparison with other
workers such as lawyers, medical doctors, other civil servants and politicians. The factors
which have adversely affected their status, range from those of their own making to those over
which they have no control. Among these factors are those which are political, educational,

70
 economic and social in nature. In the next unit we will discuss factors that have affected the
status of teachers since independence, as well as how the status of teachers can be improved.

1.13 Exercise

1. Discuss the difference between the teacher's organisational status and community status.

2. All things being equal, a young person looking for a job, will choose one which will give
him/her high social status in the community. In light of this statement, discuss the
importance of status in the supply and retention of teachers in the teaching "profession"
in Zambia.

3.Why do you think it is easier for a teacher to lose respect in the community than it is for other
workers?

4. There is nothing better and more satisfying for a teacher than seeing his/her pupils get to
university and/or become an influential persons in the community. What is your view of
a teacher? What benefits are you expecting to derive from teaching?

References

Bame, K. N (1972) “The Ghanaian Elementary Teacher and his Career: A Study of the
Sociological Factors which Influence the Job Satisfaction and Career Aspirations of Ghanaian
Elementary School Teachers." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Toronto.

Chakulimba, Oswell C. (1986) "Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study

Analysing the Factors Affecting the Status of the Zambian Primary and Secondary
School Teachers." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Toronto.

Datta, Ansu (1984) Education and Society: Sociology of African Education. London:
Macmillan Publishers.

Datta, Ansu (1975) "The Teacher's Role in Contemporary Society." Lecture Material Prepared
for Correspondence Students in the Centre for Continuing Education, University of
Zambia.

Gerth, H.H and Mills, C. Wright (1946) From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York:
Oxford University Press.

Humphreys, Edward H. (1968) "Interaction, Prestige and Occupational Concepts of

Secondary School Teachers in the Province of Ontario." Ed.D. Thesis, University of Toronto.

71
 Lenski, Gerhard (1966) Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. New
York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Mitchell, J. C. and Epstein, A. L (1959)"Occupational Prestige and Social Status among

Urban Africans in Northern Rhodesia." Africa, 29 Pp 22-40.

Mwanakatwe, John M. (1968) The Growth of Education in Zambia Since Independence.

Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

Stub, Holger R (1975) "The Professional Prestige of Classroom Teachers: A Consequence of

Organisational and Community Status." The Sociology of Education: A Sourcebook. Third
Edition, pp. 349 -366. Edited by Holger R. Stub. Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press.

Tiberondwa, Ado K. (1976) "The Status of African Teachers in Independent Africa" Education
in Eastern Africa, 6 (1): 53-59.

Long, Norman (1968) Social Change and the Individual: A Study of the Social and Religious
Responses to Innovation in a Zambian Rural Community. Manchester: Manchester University
Press.

Murray, Victor A (1929) The School in the Bush. London: Longmans.

Siwo, Peter A (1978) "Secondary School Teachers: Requirements, Status and Responsibilities."
Education and Development: Education in Zambia. Ed. 110 Readings, compiled by Trevor
Coombe, School of Education, University of Zambia. (Unpublished).

Snelson, Peter D (1974) Educational Development in Northern Rhodesia 1883-1945.

Lusaka: NECZAM.
Lesson Two

Factors which have Affected the Status of Teachers in Zambia Since Independence

2.1 Introduction

In the previous unit we looked at the definition of status, types and importance of status. We
also discussed how status affects the supply and retention of teachers. We also looked at the
current status of teachers, status of teachers during colonial times and after independence. This
unit will focus on the factors that have affected teacher status in Zambia as well as ways of how
to improve teacher status.

2.2 Aim

The aim of this unit is to equip you with knowledge on the factors that have affected the
status of teachers and how the status of teachers can be improved.
72
 2.3 Time Frame

You are expected to spend at least 6 hours on this unit, remember to spend your time
wisely.

2.4 Objectives

At the end of this unit, you should be able to

i) Analyse factors which have affected the status of teachers since independence
ii) Discuss ways of how teacher status may be improved in Zambia

2.5 Reflection

The status that teachers enjoyed in colonial times began being eroded with the
attainment of independence, and since then the status of teachers has been low
compared to other occupations. Before you read on, write down brief notes on
how attainment of independence affected the status of teachers.

2.6 Factors which have affected teachers' status

There are political, educational, economic, social and cultural factors which have affected, and
continue to affect the status of teachers. These include teachers' limited or lack of authority or
control over various aspects of their work; improvement in educational standards of various
professionals and the general public, denying the teachers monopoly of knowledge which they
once enjoyed; the substantial number of unqualified or incompetent teachers in the system; great
number of teachers serving only one employer (government), making it difficult for the employer
to match the material rewards of teachers with those of other workers who are in short supply and
have richer employers or have a multiplicity of employers; the predominance of women in
teaching in a male dominated society; the behaviour of teachers; and the inability of teachers to
help those who may be in need of their help - those who are related to them. Some of these factors
are briefly discussed below.

The attainment of political independence

Independence brought with it many changes and opportunities for Zambians. It was now possible
for the no bodies to be some-bodies as they replaced the British administrators. The situation of

73
human resource on the eve of independence was such that any Zambian could take up a post
regardless of his/her formal educational achievement. About one hundred degree-holders were
given high posts. The remaining responsible posts were to be given to those who had played an
active role in the struggle for independence, as was the case in any newly independent country.
But for the teacher, he/she could not be "promoted," probably for two reasons: (i) with the policy
of universal primary education, the teacher was badly needed in the school system; (ii) the teacher
had played an insignificant role in the struggle for independence, and it was thus not appropriate to
promote him/her.

Therefore the teacher who was highly educated, now came under those who were not as educated
as him/herself. From the District Governor's office, the Regional Secretary's office etc., came
instructions to the teacher to take his/her students to a public meeting. The teacher could be
dismissed or transferred to another place by those who were once looking up to him/her.

In a big city like Lusaka, the home of ministers, permanent secretaries, managing directors, bank
managers, judges and the like, who affect the lives of the working population including the
teacher's, the teacher is a nobody. He/she is "somebody" only to the pupils who give him/her all
sorts of names. Parents of the pupils may not even know the teacher, but they know a local
cultural dancer, a nurse at a local clinic, a teller in the bank and others who affect their lives.

Indeed, many people in our country have risen to posts of power that affect the lives of adults, but
the teacher has remained without power. In his/her hands are only minor decisions that do not
make any impact even upon the pupils. As if this is not enough, regulations have been imposed on
the teacher which have made him/her even more powerless.

Educational regulations
After independence, power was given to the people. Schools were no longer run by the heads and
their teachers alone. Teachers and heads could no longer carry out important decisions as was the
case during colonial period. They had now to refer to the decisions to those who were outside the
school.

74
In the school, no ordinary teacher is allowed to punish a student without the knowledge of the
Head or Deputy or the Disciplinary Committee. Only the Head and those appointed by him/her
can administer corporal punishment to the pupils. Suspension of a pupil should be preceded with
warnings and notifications to the pupil, the parents of the pupil, and to the Provincial Education
Officer. For the Head to expel a student from school, he/she has to act upon the approval of the
higher authorities in the Ministry. Parents have the right, during a given period, to bring the case
and their views about the suspension or expulsion of their child before the higher authorities.
These regulations have made the teacher powerless before the students as well as the community.
Note that unit 4 deals with the 1966 Education Act in some details.

Spread of knowledge
Gone are those days when the teacher was "everything", when everyone consulted him/her about
everything. He/she is no longer a "letter writer," a "doctor", a "lawyer" an "agriculturist" and the
like, as there are many people who know more about even the subjects the teacher teaches.

His/her source of knowledge is still the textbook, whereas many people - politicians, his/her
students and others have been to those places about which the teacher talks confidently in civics,
history or geography lessons.. We have a population which is highly educated and which thinks
knows more than what the teacher knows. Some parents feel that teachers are incompetent, and
that, had it not been for the low pay which teachers get, these parents would have joined teaching
and would have done a better job than what teachers are doing.

In the modern society where the world has become a global village through information
technology and through travel, where everyone knows something about events in the world, the
source of the knowledge for teachers has still remained the textbooks, some of which may be
erroneous and out-dated. Many people in the society - politicians, pupils, messengers or
secretaries - have been to the places about which the teacher talks with confidence in history,
geography, civics or English lessons, and yet the teacher has not been to those places him/herself.
In history, the teacher talks confidently about the atomic bomb which the Americans dropped on

75
Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan in the Second World War, and about Sarajevo in Yugoslavia in
connection with the First World War. In geography, he/she teaches about wheat growing on the
Prairies, and gives pupils a very good map of the City of Quebec in Canada. In civics, he/she
teaches pupils on United Nations or on National Assembly in Lusaka.

Alas, when he/she is in a group of National Troupe Dancers, secretaries of the top executives,
soccer players or athletes, the teacher feels out of place as they talk about their visit to Hiroshima
in Japan or Sarajevo, as they talk about their experiences in the Prairies, in the City of Quebec,
their lunch in the rotating restaurant in the CN Tower in Toronto, and about their visit to the
National Assembly in Lusaka! In a composition of one of the pupils on how they spent a holiday,
the teacher reads about the climbing lions in a National Park in East Africa, a totally new and
foreign piece of information to the teacher. Marking such an essay is a big problem. Should the
pupil be penalised for the "wrong" information which is, in fact, not wrong? If the teacher marks
the pupil wrong, it is not that the pupil is wrong, but that the teacher is ignorant of the new
information. The only weapon which the teacher has against his/her pupils and which saves
him/her from embarrassment, because of his/her limited knowledge, especially in subjects like
social studies, is the examination in which he/she carefully chooses to ask what he/she knows
which pupils should produce, or else they fail.

I remember when I was teaching civics, relying on the textbook in a class of pupils who had more
and better sources of information than I had, I confidently taught my pupils about the sub
committees of the Central Committee of the Party (UNIP). At the end of explaining all those
subcommittees, I thought I had done a very good job, and that I had given the information to the
ignorant audience whose existence and future depended on me. To my disappointment and
embarrassment, what I thought was a finished work turned not to be so, because one pupil in the
class told me there was another subcommittee which had been created the previous night about
which I knew nothing. I had to tell the pupil to explain it to a hushed, seemingly polite group of
pupils who did not want to show disapproval of my ignorance publicly, as I wondered how they
thought of me deep down in their innocent hearts. It was agony!

76
In a community where the teacher knows little of what the experts know, and where the mass
media can probably do much better than the teacher in a classroom, and where most of the parents
think they would do a much better job than teachers, if it had not been for the little money which
teachers get; the teacher cannot be held in high esteem. This situation, it should be noted, is not
only unique to Zambia. Ballantine (1985: 235) illustrates the problem faced by the American
teachers in an article from Newsweek Magazine of September 1972 as follows:

Until not so long ago, they were at least thought to be smarter - in a general impractical
sort of way - than almost everybody else. But today. . . . we have a public which is as
well educated or more educated than the teachers. Instead of looking up at the
teachers, they can look straight at them or down on them. Teachers are surrounded by
parents who feel they could do as good a job teaching their children if they weren’t too
busy making more money.

The nature of the teaching "profession"

There are two things, which are very clear about the nature of the teaching "profession". These
are: (i) its vagueness or ambiguity and (ii) its being well known to the public - a great
contradiction indeed! These two features of the teaching profession have made it difficult for
teachers to enjoy high social status in the community.

(i) The teaching profession is ambiguous to many people, partly due to the term being all
embracing. When one speaks of having met teachers, it is like speaking of having caught fish,
because the term fish embraces all types of fish. The word teacher is not restricted to a specific
group of people, but is applied to people (teachers) of different "shapes" and "shades" in terms of
professional and academic qualifications. Most of us have a vague and confused idea about the
word "teacher" because it is an ambiguous word. By this, I mean that, we cannot tell with
certainty what kind of a person we are dealing with if one tells us he/she is a teacher. The term
"teacher" usually leaves us with numerous unanswered questions at its best, and with troubled
mind at its worst, making us wish we had asked this person to explain clearly what kind of a
teacher he/she was.

Let us imagine we are on Cairo Road, and we meet a well-dressed person. As we stop to speak to
this person we ask him/her what he/she does in life. Assuming the answer we get is that he/she is

77
a teacher; this answer may leave a number of questions in our minds, because this teacher may not
be, and usually is not, a true representative of all the teachers. It is a case of "if you have seen one,
you have not seen them all". Surely this teacher on Cairo Road is only one teacher among a variety
of them, leaving us with questions such as: what kind of a teacher is this - a high school or basic
school or pre-school teacher; a trained or untrained teacher; a University of Zambia, a Nkrumah or
a Malcolm Moffat-trained teacher? Does he/she stay in Kalikiliki or Kabulonga? These and many
other questions usually linger in our minds when we meet a teacher. But these questions may not
arise in case of a medical doctor or a lawyer. We would be sure he/she is a university graduate,
trained, and may give him/her a benefit of doubt that he she does not stay in Kalikiliki, but in
Kabulonga in a big house, although these days we may have a medical doctor in a small room
within the hospital premises.

(ii) The other aspect or nature of teaching is that it is very well known to the community. Everyone
knows the kind of working place where the teacher works, and the kind of working conditions the
teacher generally has. It is clear that the teacher has a very humble place called staff room, which
he/she shares with many other teachers, or may not even have one if we consider some basic
schools. This staff room is usually open to intruders, who include pupils, who walk in and out at
will, unless the school has chosen a hefty character (bouncer-teacher) to stand at the door to keep
at bay intruders, some of whom walk in, conveniently, ignoring the "Out of Bounds" sign on the
door of the staff room.

If you take time to visit staff rooms of some schools in this country, you will notice how stylishly
teachers drink their tea during tea break. They all have handkerchiefs, if not serviettes, in their
hands as they hold the cups. Close observation may reveal that many of these cups have no
handles and have chipped edges. In these staff rooms, teachers just fall short of giving a big notice
to the visitors, "you take tea at your own risk," because the cups have no handles and are chipped
and so can either drop or cut the drinker's lips. Some of the chairs may have lost their original
colour, but worse still they are "traps" on which one sits at his/her own risk.

78
If, however, one is a head of department, he/she may have an office where books for the
department are usually kept. But even then, he/she is always found in the staff room with the rest
of the teachers because the office is too narrow "for human habitation".

This is the kind of a place where a teacher works, and everyone knows how lowly the working
place is, and how bad the working conditions are. This has contributed to the decline of the status
of teachers.

The economic factor

Economically, the teacher has gained very little from the attainment of independence. The teacher
gets very little compared to someone who joins a private company who may own a car, buy or rent
a house in a low-density residential area with allowances on top of his/her monthly pay. The
teacher may, and usually, runs for public transport (minibuses) together with his/her pupils who
sometimes feel pity for the teacher and pay for him/her the fare. Expecting to see the teacher
going to Roma, they see him/her get off the mini bus at UNZA bus stop and heads northward in
Lusaka; instead of remaining in Kansenshi, he/she proceeds to Kawama in Ndola; and thinking
he/she is going to Nkana West, but goes to Mulenga Compound in Kitwe.

In a society where what matters is what one has, not who he/she is, where the first question may
be whether one has a car or not, and if so what kind of a car one has; or whether one lives in
Kabulonga or in Matero, in a flat, in a bungalow or in a mansion, it is very difficult to hold a
teacher in high esteem.

The teacher's behaviour

Teachers have themselves contributed to the decline of their status in the community because of
their behaviour. After the attainment of independence, what was known to be a "profession" of the
morally upright was open to all sorts of characters. The drunkards, the morally weak, the do-not-
care types, the "let's beat the heat with bear backs and hot pants", and the like, have been
welcomed into the teaching "profession".

79
The high morals, the smart appearance and dressing required of teachers during the colonial period
are no longer necessary requirements for one to be a teacher, and to be adhered to by a teacher.
Any teacher can behave like anyone in the community without being dismissed, as was the case in
mission schools in the colonial era. In co-education schools, teachers and pupils clash over girls or
boys. Some teachers have made schoolgirls pregnant (and some dismissed), while others, for fear
of being dismissed if discovered, have ended up marrying their pupils. In some cases male pupils
have made female teachers pregnant. In girls' high schools, female teachers clash with pupils over
male teachers or outsiders. There are cases where married teachers have their pupils as girl or boy
friends.

In this country the public expects a lot from the teacher, expecting the teacher to live an exemplary
life, reforming those children whom their parents have failed to reform, and being an inspiration to
the young generation. But because teachers have not lived up to these expectations, they have lost
respect from the people. Personal appearance of the teachers (dressing and cleanliness), the
uncombed hair and untidy beards of teachers drinking habits, wearing of mini-skirts, hot pants,
bear backs, tight trousers, the latest styles for ladies such as the so called pay more for less
(material), (which make them look like those les sans culottes [without shorts], of the French
Revolution), are all issues of great concern in our society.

Those who are already teachers and those who are being trained to become teachers, need to know
that by the nature of this job as leaders and a bridge between youth and maturity, they are more
likely to lose respect from the society if they behave contrary to the expectations of the society,
even if the society itself does not behave according to its own expectations, because they are
dealing with the delicate and innocent lives, the young generation upon whom the future depends
(imiti ikula e mpanga). It does not matter what a barmaid in Corner Bar does or how she behaves
toward a client in or outside the bar, or how a secretary and the boss behave in the office, or how a
lady and a man behave on the street, because they are already spoiled. But it matters what the
teacher does to a pupil, because the pupil is still young and is not yet spoiled.

Kinship obligations and teacher's status

80
 In an African society, one belongs to a kinship group which expects its members to fulfil kinship
obligations. One's social estimation among one's own people may depend, to some extent, upon
the fulfilment of social and material obligations.

For one to fulfil obligations, one should have the means, and this may depend on the nature of the
job one has. For example, for one to find a job or a school place for a relative who might have
failed to get it on merit, one needs to have a job that will give him/her access to power or privilege
to employ or enrol a relative. If some one's job does not enable one meet the obligations, he/she
may be faced with a status dilemma among his/her own people and members of the community.
Likewise, if one fulfils the obligations in a dubious way, he/she is considered corrupt and is likely
to lose prestige in the community.

Teaching is, however, a job that does not offer the teacher power, privilege or money to enable
him/her fulfil kinship obligations. If it is true that fulfilling of obligations may contribute to one's
prestige in the community or among his/her own people, we may conclude that teacher's inability
to fulfil kinship obligations because of the nature of their job has contributed to the decline of their
status in the community.

2.2 Improving the status of teachers

There has been a lot written and said about the means of improving teachers' status. Some direct
and indirect measures in various countries have been taken and tried in order to raise the status of
teachers. One of the most important works on raising the status of teachers is the Handbook for
Raising the Status of Teachers in Africa (1964) by the World Confederation of the Organization of
the Teaching Profession. In this handbook, one of the recommendations put forward, in order to
raise the status of teachers, was to raise the salaries of teachers and improve their working
conditions.

Other works have been done, and efforts made, on the issue of professionalising teaching, through
improving the knowledge of teachers by running refresher courses. But all these measures and
efforts have not done much to improve the teacher's status. This may be due to the fact that factors
which affect teacher's status are multiple.
81
In this section of the unit, I shall suggest a few recommendations which, I am sure, have been
suggested by competent authorities like the teachers' organisations, associations or unions. These
are related to the factors outlined in the above section of this unit. I shall try to do so under three
main headings: professional, economic and social. (As you read this unit, I would request you to
look at the two readings listed in the reference section- "Teachers Are in Trouble" and "Partial
Professionalization of Elementary Teaching."

Professional improvement
Raising the professional status of teachers requires teaching to have some of the qualities or
characteristics which are associated with established professions like law and medicine. These are:
complex knowledge, authority over entry, long training and code of conduct. (we will consider
these in more detail in unit 5)

If teachers have to enjoy high social status, they need to have knowledge which is complex, but
this is not possible in teaching, because teaching does not have its own body of knowledge. It uses
knowledge, which belongs to other realms. Even if it did, it would be difficult for teachers to
practice such knowledge by the fact that for a teacher to be a good teacher, and to help the pupil,
he/she has to come to the level of the pupil. Big words and high resounding phrases would make
it difficult for teachers to help their learners.

There are, however, some things that may be done to raise the status of teachers. There should be a
minimum qualification for one to enter training and that the training period should be long enough
to prepare the trainees for their job. Trainees have to be prepared with the kind of care and
intensity such as that which is applied to trainee doctors.

Further, teachers' organisations should establish training institutions or centres that would upgrade
teachers' knowledge and skills once they come out of the colleges. These centres may even be
some sources of income for the teachers' organisations. They can make these centres open to
teachers in private schools who may be in a good position to pay for their training.

Teachers' organisations should have the means of controlling who is coming in the profession on
ground of knowledge and behaviour. There should be associations preoccupied with the standards
of teaching among their members, and deal with their own members when they deserve praise and
82
when they deserve punishment. Praise or punishment from within or from colleagues may be more
effective than that which comes from outsiders, such as employers.

There may be also a need to increase the range of statuses within the school system; by this I mean
creating more positions vertically to which teachers may be promoted. A good example is the
introduction of the status or rank of a senior teacher, though the positions are very limited and not
just administrative positions which will always be in short supply, but high positions or titles
which could be open to more teachers. These positions could be available to hard working and
deserving teachers for promotions. Creating a wider range of opportunities for promotion would
make teaching be like other professions, and this would attract and retain more competent and
ambitious young men and women from teacher training colleges. Great opportunities for
promotion might help the Ministry of Education to do away with the hardship allowances for
teachers teaching in rural places. The Ministry could instead offer promotions at a faster pace for
those teachers who could meet the hardship in rural and more problematic schools successfully.

Of course, these are things, which are "easier said than done." Historically, teaching has been the
possession of the public, the government, and has never been a private possession. So, to change
this state of affairs will require a lot of determination and radical change which may not be
accepted by the community which feels should have a say on teaching, because it feels that
teaching is its possession.

Economic improvement
What teachers may need is a high pay, coupled with favourable conditions of service. Teachers
need to have status symbols - cars, houses and other items which have given others high status.
Unfortunately teachers get meagre salaries which parents of the children whom teachers teach
cannot accept even for doing a simple one-day's job.

But if teachers have to be rewarded economically, they may not have to rely on this one big
employer who may not have the means of meeting their needs. It may be necessary that instead of
83
unions trying to make governments improve conditions of service for teachers, they have to
contribute financially to the welfare of teachers in one way or another. They may have to
supplement teacher's salaries, build teachers' houses or help teachers build their own houses. They
may have to act like employers. There are measures in this country which are taken by parents and
teachers to raise the status of teachers; paying incentive allowances and paying for the tuition of
the pupils who are taught after the normal teaching hours. One would have liked to see teachers'
unions taking the lead in this direction rather than concentrating only on trying to get some pay
increments from the one big, but poor and mean employer.

Social improvement
Socially, teachers have to discipline themselves, knowing very well that their work demands the
greatest care. Teachers are national builders who are dealing with delicate lives of the innocent
children upon whom the future depends. It does not matter what happens between the boss and
the secretary because these are people who are responsible or are already spoiled, but it matters
what happens between the teacher and the pupil, or what example the teacher shows to the pupils.

We are aware that some of the problems in the schools are caused by bad behaviour of the
teachers. Sometimes teachers have watched fellow teachers misbehaving, but have not rebuked
them. They have turned a blind eye to the gross misconduct of their fellow teachers. They behave
like a crowd of people on street watching a thief attacking a person, but doing nothing to protect
the innocent person because "they are not the police." They wait for our employers to notice the
misdeed of a colleague, and to deal with him/her. They wait for others to clean up their house.

It may be necessary for teachers to set up their own code of conduct and deal with their own
problems. They should exert pressure upon themselves - punish their own errant members and
promote and praise those members whose work and behaviour are outstanding.

2.9 Summary of the Lesson

There are political, economic, professional, social, educational and cultural factors which have
affected the status of teachers, which may have to be dealt with in order to raise the status of
teachers. These factors range from those over which the teacher has no control, to those of
84
teachers' own making. But, note that these are not the only factors that have been responsible for
the decline of teachers' status in Zambia. But whatever measures may be taken to improve the
status of teachers, may need determination, and may call for radical change, which may not be
easily accepted by the community and those in power.

Let me end this unit with an encouraging and challenging word from Confucius.

When he can be a teacher indeed, he can be the Head of an official

department. When he can be such a Head, he can be the ruler of a state.
Hence it is from the teacher indeed that one learns to be a ruler, and the choice
of a teacher demands the greatest care; as it is said in the Record, "The three
kings and the four dynasties were what they were by their teachers (Ulich,
1954:22).

2. 10 Exercise

1. Account for the difference in the status of teachers during the colonial period and in
the period after independence. 3. What measures can teachers take to improve their
social status in this country?

2. What should the teachers' unions do to improve the status of teachers? Should their
measures be different from those of the teachers'?

3. Account for the government's failure to improve the salaries and working conditions of
teachers in this country.

References

Bame, K. N (1972) "The Ghanaian Elementary Teacher and his Career: A Study of
Sociological Factors which Influence the Job Satisfaction and Career Aspirations of
Ghanaian Elementary School Teachers." Ph D. Thesis, University of Toronto.

Ballantine, Jeane (ed) (1985) Schools and Society: A Reader in Education and
Sociology. Palo Alto, California Mayfield Publishing Company.

Chakulimba, Oswell C. (1986) "Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study

85
 Analysing the Factors Affecting the Status of Zambian Primary and Secondary School
Teachers." PhD Thesis, University of Toronto.

Datta, Ansu (1976) "The Teacher's Role in Contemporary Society". Study Lecture
Materials, University of Zambia.

Long, Norman (1968) Social Change and the Individual: A Study of the Social and
Religious Responses to Innovation in a Zambian Rural Community. Manchester:
Manchester University Press.

Murray, Victor A (1929) The School in the Bush. London: Longmans.

Mwanakatwe, John M (1968) The Growth of Education in Zambia since Independence.

Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

Newsweek Magazine (1985) "Teachers Are in Trouble." Schools and Society: A Reader in
Education and Sociology, pp. 234- 241, Edited by Jeanne H. Ballantine, Palo Alto,
California. Mayfield Publishing Company.

Siwo, Peter A (1978) "Secondary School Teachers: Requirements, Status and

Responsibilities." Education and Development: Education in Zambia. Ed. 110 Readings,
compiled by Trevor Coombe, School of Education, University of Zambia. (Unpublished).

Snelson, Peter D (1974) Educational Development in Northern Rhodesia 1883-1945.

Lusaka: NECZAM.

Tiberondwa, Ado K. (1976) "The Status of African Teachers in Independent Africa."

Education in Eastern Africa, 6 (1): 53-59.
Ulich, Robert (ed) (1954) Three Thousand Years of Educational Wisdom: Selections from
Great Documents. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

World Confederation of the Organisation of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP)

(1964) Handbook for Raising Teachers' Status in Africa. Washington D.C.: WCOTP.

86
 Lesson Three

Prestige Rating Study

3.1 Introduction

In the previous unit we looked at factors that have affected the status of teachers. We also examined
ways in which to improve teacher status. In this unit we will look at how teachers get to be ranked
as ‘low’ in status in relation to other occupations. Thus you will learn how to carry out a prestige
rating study in order to determine the status of various occupations.

3.2 Aim

The aim of this unit is to equip you with knowledge and skills on how to carry out a prestige rating
study.

3.3 Time Frame

You are expected to spend at least 6 hours on this unit.

3.4 Objectives

At the end of this unit you should be able to;

i) . Explain a prestige rating study
ii) Demonstrate how to carry out a prestige rating study

3.5 Reflection

You may now be probably wondering how researchers determine the status of
various occupations or how they reach a conclusion that the status of a teacher is
lower. Well, they conduct a prestige rating study.

How researchers arrive at the conclusion that the status of a teacher is lower than that of a lawyer or
a medical doctor, is the issue of prestige rating study. We hope that by the end of this unit, students
in this course, Learning Processes: A Sociological Perspective will be able to carry out a prestige
rating study of various occupations or teachers of different subjects.

87
 3.6 How to carry out a prestige rating study

There are generally two ways or methods in which a prestige rating study is carried out. One
way is to arrange the jobs from one to whatever number of jobs one wants to study, and ask
respondents to number them in order of their perceived status, starting from one for a job with a
very high prestige to the last one for a job with the lowest prestige. The problem with this
method is that it is difficult for an individual to number many occupations, from one to twenty,
for example, with some clarity. Respondents tend to number these jobs without much thinking
about their perceived prestige, as they go down the list.

The other method, which we shall use, seems to be a little easier to the respondents than the
first one. In this method, respondents are asked to indicate whether they think a particular
occupation has very high respect, high respect, average respect, low or very low respect.

Let us discuss in details the procedure of carrying out a prestige rating study by looking at an
hypothetical study of 20 occupations. Note that, before carrying out a prestige rating study, the
following things should be considered:

1. It is advisable to avoid indicating a "do not know" alternative in a questionnaire because

respondents usually opt for this alternative any time they are not very sure of the degree of
respect or prestige a job may have, or when they are tired. One can however put a "do not know"
alternative when analysing the data for those responses which might have been left blank or
where a respondent might have ticked two alternatives for one job.

2. Considerable care should be taken to choose those occupations, which are well known to
the respondents. It would not be possible, for example, to get a clear picture of the prestige of
the jobs such as, pathologist, endodontist, chiropractor, urologist and neurologist, if the general
public was asked to rate them, because they may not know what these jobs are. The following
jobs, on the other hand, may be rated with certainty because they are well known to the public:
teacher, pilot, office orderly, cabinet minister, charcoal burner, accountant, nurse, cleaner,
medical doctor, etc.

88
 3. Jobs should be arranged haphazardly by a means of a series of random numbers. They
should not be arranged approximately in order of their perceived status - high or low. For
example, the following jobs should not be arranged in this order: office orderly, cleaner,
woodcutter, charcoal burner, and gravedigger. These jobs are generally considered low, and
respondents could easily rate them accordingly.

It is assumed that, provided the occupations are known to the respondents and are roughly
representative of those occupations to which individuals have some access, and that these
occupations are randomly arranged, it is possible to determine roughly the overall patterns of
prestige accorded various social personalities in the community by using this method.

Note that in rating the jobs, individuals put into consideration a number of things associated with
the jobs they are rating. Some of the things that are considered in rating the jobs are, income
associated with the job, security, importance of the job to the community, power associated with it,
the relationship between the rator and the rated job etc.

When carrying out a prestige rating study, the question may read like this: Below are some
occupations in Zambia. We are asking you to indicate the kind of prestige or respect which you
think each of these jobs have. There are five responses showing whether the job has "very high
prestige", "high prestige", "average prestige", "low prestige" or "very low prestige". Put "X" in
the box against each job corresponding to the kind of prestige (respect), which you think the job
has. Note that there is no wrong or right answer. What we are interested in is your opinion on the
prestige or respect, which each of these jobs have.

Let us assume that 200 respondents have filled in the questionnaire and that the results are as
shown in Table3. 1 below. The question now is "how are the ranks arrived at; that, the medical
doctor is number 1 and the office orderly is number 20"? Or, in general terms, how does one
determine the status of one occupation in comparison with another?

89
Job Distribution of Prestige Rank Scores Mean Rank
Score Order
Very High Average Low Very Do Not
High Prestige Prestige Prestige Low Know
Prestige Prestige
Nurse 20 60 80 20 16 4 2.775 9
Lawyer 123 50 10 8 5 4 1.581 2
Air Hostess 30 50 80 20 15 5 2.692 8
Sec. Sch. Teach. 18 48 100 30 3 1 2.758 10
Miner 20 30 80 35 30 5 3.128 12
Accountant 90 80 18 10 2 0 1.770 4
Shopkeeper 10 8 112 50 18 2 3.292 18
Police officer 8 10 100 60 22 0 3.390 19
Med. Doctor 120 60 10 5 3 2 1.540 1
Motor Mechanic 18 40 112 20 10 0 2.820 11
Carpenter 11 10 130 30 15 4 3.142 15
University Lect. 80 70 35 10 3 2 1.919 6
Office orderly 6 10 12 100 70 2 4.101 20
Typist 10 12 120 50 8 0 3.170 16
Prim. Sch Teach 12 18 98 70 0 2 3.141 14
Clinical Officer 14 16 100 60 5 5 3.133 13
M.of Parliament 100 60 20 15 3 2 1.792 5
Priest 68 87 50 5 5 5 2.035 7
Pilot 118 62 5 10 5 0 1.610 3
Bus Conductor 8 9 133 50 15 5 3.282 17
Table 3. 1: Prestige rating results of 20 jobs from 200 respondents

To determine the status of each occupation in this study, the five prestige categories are given
arbitrary weightings as follows:
90
1 for very high, 2 for high, 3 for average, 4 for low and 5 for very low prestige.
A residual category of "do not know" is given an arbitrary weighting of 0. This category, it should
be remembered once again, is used for responses, which may be left unfilled, or in a case where
two or three prestige categories are marked for one occupation. If the average proportion for "do
not know" responses for all the occupations is very minimal, say about one or two percent, this
proportion is too small to affect the results. In other words, if out of 200 respondents (for one job),
five respondents leave it blank or indicate, "do not know", this number (five) is too small to worry
about. Even if it were left out in calculating the mean score (which is the case in this example),
the results will be just as valid as if all 200 respondents had responded. In this case, 195
respondents are used to get the mean score.

The mean score for an individual occupation is calculated from the sum of the weighted prestige
scores for the whole population of 200 or less than the number of "do not know" responses. In
other words, the number of respondents for each prestige category is multiplied by its arbitrary
weighting, then all these products are added to get the sum, and the sum is then divided by the
number of all respondents (minus the "do not know" responses) to arrive at the mean score. For
example if we take a nurse in Table 7.1 above, the mean score is arrived at as follows:

(20x1)+(60x2)+(80x3)+(20x4)+(16x5)=540÷196=2.755. (In words, the sum of the weighted

prestige scores (540) is divided by the number of the respondents (196) who gave the answers, to
arrive at the mean score of 2.755.)

The twenty jobs are then ranked according to their mean scores. The smaller the mean score the
higher the prestige or status of the job. The opposite is true; if the arbitrary weightings were 5 for
very high and 1 for very low prestige - the greater the mean score the higher the prestige or status.

Supposing some jobs are rated the same; have the same mean score or if there are tied scores, will
there still be No. 20? This is a question usually asked by some students. The answer is yes, there
should be No. 20 or else the picture will be false if, for example, the last job is No. 18. This will
mean that there are only 18 jobs considered which is not true. In case of tied scores, we would
91
still show number 20. Look at Table 7. 2 where there are tied scores which were arrived it by
taking the same mean scores in Table 7. 1 to two decimal places. Notice that two numbers, 10 and
15 are missing in Table 7. 2, because these numbers have been taken care of by one of the two
jobs sharing number 9 (9.5) and 14 (14.5) respectively. To arrive at 9.5, we add 9 for nurse and 10
for secondary school teacher, the two jobs which are sharing the same mean score, and find the
average by dividing the sum of 9 and 10 by two (jobs with the same mean score). Nine or 9.5 has
taken care of 10, and so the next job - motor mechanic - has been given No. 11. The same goes
with the carpenter (14) and primary school teacher (15) to arrive at 14.5, which has taken care of
number 15, so the next job is given No. 16.

Table 3. 2: Rank order of 20 jobs with tied mean scores

Job Distribution of Prestige Rank Scores Mean Rank

Score Order
Very High Average Low Very Do Not
High Prestig Prestige Prestige Low Know
Prestige e Prestige
Nurse 20 60 80 20 16 4 2.76 9
(9.5)
Lawyer 123 50 10 8 5 4 1.58 2
Air Hostess 30 50 80 20 15 5 2.69 8
Sec. Sch. 18 48 100 30 3 1 2.76 9
Teach. (9.5)
Miner 20 30 80 35 30 5 3.13 12
Accountant 90 80 18 10 2 0 1.77 4
Shopkeeper 10 8 112 50 18 2 3.92 18
Police 8 10 100 60 22 0 3.39 19
officer
Med. Doctor 120 60 10 5 3 2 1.54 1
Motor 18 40 112 20 10 0 2.82 11
Mechanic
Carpenter 11 10 130 30 15 4 3.14 14(14
.5)
University 80 70 35 10 3 2 1.92 6
Lect.
Office 6 10 12 100 70 2 4.10 20
orderly
Typist 10 12 120 50 8 0 3.17 16
Prim. Sch 12 18 98 70 0 2 3.14 14(14
Teach .5)
Clinical 14 16 100 60 5 5 3.13 12
Officer
M.of 100 60 20 15 3 2 1.79 5

92
 Parliament
Priest 68 87 50 5 5 5 2.04 7
Pilot 118 62 5 10 5 0 1.61 3
Bus 8 9 133 50 15 5 3.28 17
Conductor

The mean scores for the jobs range from 1.54 down to 4.10. This means that the jobs are in four
prestige rating categories- high prestige, average prestige, between average and low prestige, and
low prestige.

A close look at the results show that at the top of the prestige rating scale is a group of 6 jobs,
ranging from the medical doctor down to the university lecturer. Their average mean score is
1.702. These jobs have high prestige or status.

The second group is made up of 5 jobs. They are from priest to motor mechanic. These jobs have
an average mean score of 2. 612. Their prestige is close to average or fall between high and
average prestige category.
There are 8 jobs in the third group. They range from the miner at the top, to the police officer at
the bottom of the scale. Their average mean score is 3.209, falling in the average prestige
category.

At the lower end of the prestige scale is one job - office orderly. This job has a mean prestige
score of 4.10. It has low status or prestige.
Note that it is very difficult to have a mean score of 1or of 5, which will mean a job is rated as
having absolute "very high prestige" or absolute "very low prestige."

Table 3. 3: Jobs grouped according to their group mean scores

Group I (High Prestige Group II (High to Group III (Average Group IV (Low
Category) Average Prestige) Prestige) prestige)
Group Mean Score Group Mean Score Group Mean Score Group Mean Score
(1.70) (2.61) (3.21) (4.10)
Medical Doctor Priest Miner Office orderly
Lawyer Air Hostess Clinical Officer
Pilot Nurse Primary Sch.
Accountant Sec. School Teacher

93
 M. of Parliament Teacher Carpenter
University Lecturer Motor Mechanic Typist
Bus Conductor
Shopkeeper
Police officer

3.7 Standard Deviation

If one wants to know whether or not respondents have agreed about the type of status or prestige
these jobs have, a Standard Deviation for each occupation can be calculated using the following
formula:

_
S= Σ ( x - x )2
n-1

If the Standard Deviation is smaller or less than 1, it will mean that the respondents have agreed on
the kind of status the job has. This can also be seen in the manner the scores are distributed, for
example in the case of the office orderly. The majority of the respondents for office orderly have
indicated low and very low prestige, while very few have indicated other categories, meaning that
the majority are convinced about the type of status the office orderly has. If, on the other hand, the
Standard Deviation is greater than 1 or is close to 1, it will mean that there is no agreement about
the status the job has - that is, some think it has very high, others, high, while others think it has
average prestige. This can be seen in the distribution of scores for the priest.

3.8 Summary of the Lesson

In this unit we have discussed the prestige rating study, showing how we can determine the relative
status or prestige of occupations or teachers of different subjects. In the next unit we will look at the
1966 Education Act and Regulations, it will help you further understand how the status of teachers
was affected with the attainment of independence.

94
 3.9 Exercise

1. What do you think are the factors which people take into account when rating the
occupations? Ask a few students in your class what things they would take into
consideration when rating a job. What is the most prominent one?

2. Supposing you plan to carry out a prestige rating study of the following specialisations in
the medical field. What problems would you encounter and how would you get around those
problems? (Psychiatrist, Orthopaedist, Chiropractor, Endodontist, Pathologist, Physician,
Dentist, Paediatrician, Allergist, Gynaecologist, Anaesthetist, Neurologist, Obstetrician,
Ophthalmologist, Podiatrist, Cardiologist, Orthodontist, Urologist, Dermatologist and
Surgeon.)

Reference

Chakulimba, Oswell C. (1986) "Status of Teachers in Zambia: A Sociological Study

Analysing the Factors Affecting the Status of Zambian Primary and Secondary
School Teachers." PhD Thesis, University of Toronto.

95
 Lesson Four

The 1966 Education Act and Regulations

4.1 Introduction

In April 1966, the Parliament passed an Education Bill, which became Act in September of the
same year. The Act provided "for the establishment and operation of a National Council of
Education for the Republic and of Regional and Local Councils of Education . . . for the promotion,
development and control of schools, educational institutions and services . . ." (Laws of Zambia:
1966, Cap 234:4). The Act made it possible for the Ministry of Education to integrate the two
separate education systems (African and Non-African), which existed during colonial rule and for a
short time after independence.

The Act, which forms Chapter 234 of the Laws of Zambia, is divided into various parts dealing with
general principles of the organisation and administration of the school system in the country. It
empowers the Minister of Education to make regulations on various issues in order to enable the
Minister to have effective control over policy implementation (Mwanakatwe, 1968). A number of
regulations (by the Minister) on some of the issues contained in various parts of the Act are found in
the Subsidiary section of the Act.

It is worth noting here that, in colonial days, teachers were left to themselves to run schools without
much control or interference from their employers (who were mainly missionaries). In many areas
where regular school visits by missionaries were not possible, teachers yielded considerable powers
in their own hands. They suspended and expelled students from schools without consulting and
giving account to the authorities, and administered corporal punishment without restrictions from
authorities above.

4.2 Aim

The aim of this unit is to equip you with knowledge of the 1966 Education Act.
4.3 Time Frame

You are expected to spend at least 4 hours of study time on this unit. You are again
reminded to spend your time wisely.
96
4.4 Objectives

At the end of this unit you should be able to;

i). Discuss the powers of the Minister of Education.
ii). Discuss how the 1966 Education Act and Regulations affected the status of
teachers.

4.5 Powers of the Minister of Education

The Act has conferred both general and specific powers upon the Minister of Education. In
part 1 of the Act, under section 4, subsections 1 and 2, the Minister's functions are defined as
follows;

(1) It shall be the duty of the Minister, subject to the provisions of this Act, to promote the education
of the people of Zambia and the progressive development of institutions devoted to that purpose
and to secure the provision of a varied and comprehensive educational services throughout the
Republic.

(2) In the exercise and performance of all powers and duties conferred and imposed on him by this
Act, the Minister shall have regard to the general principle that, so far as is compatible with the
provision of efficient instruction and learning and the avoidance of unreasonable public
expenditure, pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents.

Under the General Provisions (Part VI), the Act confers upon the Minister the power to prohibit,
through writing, the use of any book or material for any reason he may think fit (sec. 26, subsection
1); and any person going against his direction may be guilty of an offence (subsection 2).

Under section 29, subsections (10 and 12) of Part VI of the Act, the Minister may recognise any
association representing teachers and parents formed in connection with any school, and the
association's procedure and functions.

Apart from the general powers, the Minister has certain specific and clearly defined powers which
he/she may exercise at his/her discretion. He/she has the power to establish, maintain and close the
97
government schools and hostels as he/she may consider it necessary (sec. 11, subsections 1 and 2).
He/she may further prescribe and regulate conditions necessary for enrolment of persons as pupils
and admission of pupils to hostels in government and aided schools. He/she may prescribe the
calendar and syllabus, the subjects of instructions and the conduct of examinations (sec.12,
subsection 1(a) and (b). Under the same subsection (paragraphs c, d and e), the Minister may, by
statutory instrument, make regulations:
(c) regulating the administration of corporal punishment to the pupils at Government and Aided
schools and hostels;

(d) prescribing and regulating the conditions of the suspensions, expulsion or exclusion of pupils
from Government and Aided schools and hostels, on grounds of age or discipline;

(e) providing for the transfer of pupils between different Government and Aided schools and hostels.

4.6 Education (Primary and Secondary Schools) Regulations

More important and relevant than the powers of the Minister as a factor affecting the status of
teachers in Zambia after independence, are the regulations governing the administration of
government and aided schools, known as Education (Primary and Secondary Schools) Regulations,
related to section 12 of the Education Act. These regulations (by the Minister) are divided into
seven parts. Of the seven parts, only two will be dealt with in this chapter. These are: Part V,
regulations 26 through 29, dealing with corporal punishment, and Part VI, regulations 30 through
34, dealing suspension, expulsion and exclusion of pupils from school or school hostel on grounds
of discipline.

Corporal punishment
Regulation 26 of the Education (Primary and Secondary Schools) Regulations prescribes
circumstances under which corporal punishment has to be administered to the pupils. Only where it
appears that other disciplinary measures would not be adequate and appropriate to meet the
circumstances of the offence, should corporal punishment be administered to a pupil.

98
Under regulation 27, only the head or a teacher or superintendent of a school hostel authorised by
the head, is allowed to administer corporal punishment. It is further stated in this regulation that
male teachers should give corporal punishment only to male pupils and female teachers to only
female pupils, and that the one who gives corporal punishment can do that only in the presence of
another member of staff of the school or hostel. It should be noted that this regulation is intended to
protect teachers from false accusations from pupils who are likely to frame up the female or male
teachers, accusing them of immoral conduct or cruelty; and also protects the teachers from
temptations.

Regulation 28 prescribes the nature of corporal punishment; it should be moderate and reasonable,
and can be administered only on the palms of the hands or across the buttocks with a light cane or
suitable stripe.

Under regulation 29, the one who administers corporal punishment has to record the date of
punishment, name of the pupil, nature of and reason for such punishment. The record should also
show the signatures of the one who administers punishment and of the witness. The same
regulation requires that on request, the record of corporal punishment should be made available to
any officer of the Ministry authorised by the Minister to inspect the school.

Suspension, expulsion and exclusion of pupils

Regulation 30 prohibits the suspension, expulsion and exclusion of pupils from school or school
hostel on ground of discipline. The school head has no power to expel a pupil from school or
school hostel even if the pupil's behaviour may be reprehensible. The only action the head can take
is to punish a pupil in accordance with the provisions of Part V (regulations 26 through 29).
However, the regulation provides in serious cases of discipline, for the head to suspend a pupil from
school or school hostel, and subsequently recommend to the Chief Education Officer to have the
pupil concerned permanently expelled or excluded from school or school hostel.

Regulation 31 (1) allows the head to suspend from attendance at school:

(a) any pupil whose language or behaviour is habitually or continually such as to endanger the
maintenance of a proper standard of conduct in school;
99
 (b) any pupil who has committed an act of a reprehensible nature;

(c) any pupil who fails to attend school regularly without reason;

(d) any pupil who wilfully refuses to sing the National Anthem or to salute the National Flag
when he is lawfully required to do so under these regulations.

Except, however, where it is felt that notifying the pupil and parents and affording them opportunity
to make representations against the head's action would cause substantial delay, and it appears to the
head that such delay might endanger the interests of the school, the head cannot suspend any pupil
from school or exclude any pupil from the hostel until, according to regulation 31(3), he /she has
done the following: (a) notified the pupil and his/her parents of the action which he/she proposes to
take and why he/she proposes to take such an action, (b) given the pupil and his/her parents
reasonable opportunity of making representations to the Chief Education Officer against the action
he/she proposes to take; and (c) given proper consideration to any representations made by the pupil
or parents.

The regulations oblige the head of the school to report immediately to the Chief Education Officer
the facts about suspension or exclusion of any pupil from attendance at school or hostel for
consideration and final judgement. The chief Education Officer, upon considering the report, may
direct the head to withdraw or reinforce the suspension or exclusion in force against the pupil. The
head has to comply to such direction (Regulation 32).

Regulation 33 provides for the pupil and parents to make representations in writing to the Chief
Education Officer against the suspension or exclusion within ten days after the date the suspension
or exclusion takes effect. They are further entitled to appeal to the Minister of Education against the
decision of the Chief Education Officer.

According to regulation 34, sub-regulation 1, the Chief Education Officer after considering the
report from the head and /or representations from the pupil and parents may, in case where a pupil
has been suspended from attendance from school:
(i) direct the head of the school to withdraw the suspension in force against the pupil;

100
 (ii) direct the head of the school to expel the pupil from school, either permanently or for a
period determined by the Chief Education Officer;

(iii) direct the transfer of the pupil to another school;

(iv) give such other directions as appear to be just in the circumstances.

The head of the school has to effect any direction given to him/her by the Chief Education Officer.
To make regulations and directions abiding on part of the head, sub-regulation 2 of regulation 34
provides for the Chief Education Officer to attach conditions to his/her directions or decisions. If
the head fails to fulfil such conditions to the satisfaction of the Chief Education Officer, the latter
may, if he/she thinks fit, exercise further the powers entrusted to him/her by sub-regulation 1 in
relation to the case.

The enactment of the Act, and especially these regulations, has been justified on teachers'
inexperience, humanitarian, national and educational grounds as Mwanakatwe (1968: 208), states:

Before independence and after independence, the education system was notoriously
ridden with large-scale expulsion of pupils from school - especially secondary schools.
Although the conduct and behaviour of students in a number of secondary schools has
not been exemplary during the post-independence period, the administration considered
necessary to devise safeguards in the regulations against expulsion of pupils from
school on trivial grounds. To less experienced staff who inevitably assume
responsibility before they are ready for it, owing to the very fast expansion of
education, expulsion of pupils from school . . . appears to be the easy way out of a
difficult problem of school indiscipline - to teach the pupils concerned a lesson and to
scare the rest against the danger of recklessness. Often little regard is shown for the
social problems attendant on an expelled pupil or for the effect it has on the national
effort to increase the supply of educated manpower.

To put the regulations into practice, disciplinary committees have been set up in schools, especially
secondary schools, and at the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Education. Each secondary
school has a School Disciplinary Committee whose membership is composed of a few teachers,
school prefects and ordinary pupils. This committee is authorised by the head to deal with cases of
pupils' indiscipline. It is the responsibility of the chairperson of the committee, or the deputy head
or the head of the school to administer corporal punishment.

101
The committee may take serious cases to the head of the school who, with the help of the
committee, may decide what action to take. Should the head decide to suspend the pupil on grounds
of discipline, he/she gets the details of the offence from the committee upon which he/she bases
his/her warning to the pupil and parents, and his /her report of the case to the Chief Education
Officer. Teachers who discipline pupils physically do that at their own risk and are liable to criminal
charges.

At the regional headquarters, there is the Pupils Disciplinary Committee, which handles the
disciplinary cases from the heads of schools in the region. This committee on which sit the Senior
Education Officer and the Education Officer, reviews the cases before they are passed on to the
Chief Education Officer for a decision. The secretary of the committee makes sure that, in
presenting the case (of suspension or exclusion) to the Chief Education Officer, the head has given a
detailed report showing that (a) he/she had given formal and informal warnings to the pupil and
parents at previous times, but the pupil did not give heed to the warnings, and the parents took no
steps before the pupil was suspended from school or excluded from school hostel; (b) he had given
an opportunity to the pupil to explain his/her case, and an opportunity to be accompanied by his/her
parents to the office of the Chief Education Officer to present their case against suspension or
exclusion. The committee may indicate to the Chief Education Officer, who makes the final
decision, the action he/she might take depending on the reviewed facts of the report. He/she may
direct the head to reinstate or expel or transfer the suspended pupil.

4.7 Education (Parent-Teacher Association) Regulations

The Education (Parent Teacher Association) Regulations (by Minister), which are related to Section
9 of the Education Act, form another important part of this chapter as regards teachers' authority and
its consequences on status.

Each government or aided primary and secondary school has a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
recognised by the Minister, and whose functions are defined in regulation 4 as follows:

102
(a) To ensure, through regular contacts between parents and teachers, the welfare and best possible
education of pupils, an enlightening of parents on all aspects of pupils' progress in school and an
enlightening of teachers on the home background of their pupils as full individual personalities
and thus cater the better for their individual needs;
(b) Any other function approved by the Minister;
(c) To raise and control funds.

Regulation 5, sub-regulations 1, 2, and 3 prescribe the composition of the membership of the

associations. Their membership is composed of parents or guardians of children attending the
school where the association has been formed, all teachers of the school as ex-officio members, a
District Executive Secretary or local chief of the area where the school is situated or any other local
dignitary. Each association has a committee, which controls and conducts the affairs of the
association. The committee consists of six members elected by the association from its members at
its annual general meeting; two teachers appointed by the head of the school, the head and the
deputy head of the school. On the recommendation of the head of the school and with the
Minister's approval, the District Executive Officer, the local chief, any local dignitary or two of
these may be appointed to the committee.

These associations which have replaced the school councils, which existed in some schools during
the colonial rule, are a means of encouraging parents to have an informed interest in the education
of their children and of helping teachers run schools smoothly. It was hoped that when parents
support teachers in their disciplinary actions, it is possible for teachers to discipline pupils or
maintain discipline in schools. But, in practice, there seems to be power sharing between the
associations and school authorities. Regulation 9, sub-regulation 5, for example, prescribes that all
acts, matters or things required to be done by the association or committee in relation to the school
have to be decided by a resolution passed by a majority of the votes of the members present and
voting at the meeting. This means that, by a simple majority, the association can effect a decision
even if teachers may not like the decision.

103
In some cases, the associations have assumed more authority than they are supposed to have. They
or their individual members can take actions which they may feel are for the welfare of the school
independent of the teachers. They can decide how the school funds should be used, the kind of
uniform they want for their school etc. In extreme cases, association members have decided the kind
of manual work pupils should do, when to do it, and what kind of punishment pupils should accept
from their teachers, making teachers powerless and ineffective in dealing with the school discipline.

It has been argued in certain circles that the Act and these regulations were a deliberate attempt by
politicians to curb the influence and authority which teachers enjoyed during colonial period and to
bring them under the control of politicians and administrators. It has further been argued that the
Act was originally aimed at protecting politicians' children, and the children of the upper and middle
class parents who, exited by the attainment of political independence, went "wild" and were
consequently being expelled from schools in the few years following the attainment of
independence.

It would appear that these regulations, by restraining teachers' authority to deal with matters of
punishment, suspension and expulsion of pupils, the matters, which they dealt with during the
colonial period, have made teachers look "helpless" and "powerless" before their pupils and the
public. Not only do they look powerless, they also no longer provide the leadership they provided
during colonial days. While in the colonial days "the African teacher, more especially the African
headmaster held an enviable position of leadership and influence, today it is the senior administrator
who commands authority and respect as the true successor of the former colonial
administrator . . . ." (Mwanakatwe, 1968: 121).

The fact that after independence, teachers, including the head teachers, were not allowed to dismiss
pupils from schools while they themselves could be dismissed by administrators and political
leaders, these regulations have not only brought teachers under the control of administrators and
political leadership whom they have to look up to for decisions, but have also affected teachers'
status adversely.

104
One may further argue that if teachers are unable to deal with school discipline, or to effect
decisions which they feel may be for the good of the school because they have to look up to the
administrators outside the classroom, their status in the school and in the community may be
affected adversely, while the status of the administrators may be enhanced. It is men and women of
authority and influence - those who are on top of the rank and order structure, giving directions to
those below them - who are more likely to enjoy prestige than those who have no authority.

The primary and secondary school regulations have placed teachers at the bottom of the rank and
order structure, relegating them almost to a position like that of a typist or a factory worker, as they
have to refer their actions or decisions to the top officials. At the same time, the Parent-Teacher
Association regulations have increased local lay control over the teaching profession, reducing the
professional influence of teachers over schools matters. These regulations, it can be argued, have
affected teachers' influence, and contributed to the decline in both their organisational and
community status.

4.8 Summary of the Lesson

The 1966 Education Act, especially, the powers of the Minister, Education (Primary and Secondary
Schools) Regulations, The Education (Parent-Teacher Association) Regulations, have restricted
teachers' authority and subordinated them to the administrators and politicians, and have enabled
pupils and the public to share responsibilities and authority over school matters with teachers.
Because teachers cannot punish, suspend, expel or exclude their pupils without the approval from
higher authorities, and without the knowledge of the pupils' parents, they appear to be powerless
before their pupils and pupils' parents. This lack of authority on the part of teachers may have
contributed to the decline of their status in the school and in the community.

4.9 Exercise

1. Discuss the effects of the 1966 Education Act on the status of teachers in Zambia.

2. Critically examine the regulations discussed in this chapter. Were they based on
educational or political considerations?
105
 3. In light of the prevailing situations in our school, discuss the relevance of the 1966
Education and the latest Education Act.

4. In whose interests were the regulations concerning capital punishment, suspension,

exclusion and expulsion of pupils made? In the interest of teachers, pupils or
government? Why?

References

Mwanakatwe, J. M. (1968) The Growth of Education in Zambia Since Independence.

Nairobi: Oxford University Press

Tiberondwa, A. K. (1968) "The Status of African teachers in Independent Africa."

Education in Eastern Africa 6(1): 53-59.

Zambia. The Laws of Zambia, Education Act, 1966, Cap 234

106
 UNIT 10

The Teaching Profession

Lesson One

Definition and Characteristics of a Profession

5.1 Introduction
This unit introduces you to the teaching profession. In this unit you will establish the meaning of the
word ‘profession’ and you will also learn about the characteristics of a profession. It is these
characteristics of a profession that will enhance your understanding of a profession. You will also
learn of the standards and ethics of professionalism.

A lot has been written on the teaching 'profession' in Zambia, in the Southern African region, in
Africa and world over. You will be introduced to the concept of professionalism and
characteristics of a profession; these will help you determine whether or not teaching is a
profession in Zambia. The last unit of this module discusses

5.2 Aim

The aim of this unit is to equip you with knowledge, attitudes and skills of the characteristics of
professions.

5.3 Time Frame

You are expected to spend at least 8 hours of study time on this unit. You are again
reminded to spend your time wisely.

5.4 Objectives
At the end of this unit you should be able to;

i) Discuss characteristics of a profession.

ii) Distinguish between a quasi-profession and a true-profession.
iii) Explain whether or not teaching in Zambia can be classified as a profession.

5.5 Reflection
When you hear, see or think of the word profession what comes to your mind?
Write down a list of jobs that you consider to be professions.

107
There are certain occupations that are generally referred to as professions. In the 19 th century only
divinity, medicine and law (Perks, 1993) respectively were regarded as professions. Although with
time a number of occupations have attained the status of a profession some occupations are still
struggling to attain the status of a profession. So what really is a profession? What is encompassed
in a profession?

5.6 Definition of a Profession

Before we define the term profession, it is important that you know that there is no agreed upon
definition of the word profession. A number of scholars have defined the word differently. Even
though it has been differently defined, all these definitions have the same central themes which
characterise every profession. We will examine these characteristics at a later stage. The themes
have been underlined to help you take note of them.

A profession is a special type of occupation possessing prolonged specialized training in a body of

abstract knowledge, a service orientation and comprises implicit codes of behaviour, generates a
sense of companionship among members of the same profession, and ensures them certain
occupational advantages (Jackson, 2010).
Some scholars have defined the term profession as a social stratum of well educated, mostly salaried
workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged
in creative and intellectually challenging work (Beeghley 2004; Ehrenreich, 1989; Eichar, 1989).

Australian Council of Professions (1997) defined a profession as a disciplined group of individuals

who adhere to high ethical standards and are accepted by the public as possessing special
knowledge and skills derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to
exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.

Brown (1992) states that, a profession has a high degree of systematic knowledge, strong
community orientation and loyalty, self-regulation and a system of rewards defined and
administered by the members of the profession.

108
According to Bullock and Trombley (1990:689) a profession arises when any trade or occupation
transforms itself through "the development of formal qualifications based upon education,
apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and
discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights."

According to Larson (1978:220-221) a profession is an occupation that has a "professional

association, cognitive base, institutionalized training, licensing, work autonomy, code of ethics,
high standards of professional and intellectual excellence."

Based on the above definitions we may conclude that a profession is an occupation that requires
extensive training (education) in order to acquire specialist knowledge and its practice is guided by
a code of ethics in order to diligently serve the clients/community. People practicing a profession
belong to an association which controls entry into the profession, disciplines erring members of the
profession and gives the practitioners autonomy in their work. They also enjoy high social and
economic prestige.

5.7 Characteristics of a Profession

You will now consider the emerging themes from the above definitions. These themes characterise
every profession. These characteristics will help you understand what is meant by a profession. Bear
in mind that every occupation that is called a profession should possess all these characteristics.

Look at the list of jobs you wrote a while ago. What makes you think these jobs are
professions?

For any occupation to be considered a full profession it should have the following characteristics;

Complex knowledge/skills and monopoly of knowledge

Professions have complex knowledge monopolised by those in the profession, this separates the
professionals from the general public. Thus professionals offer specialized services based on theory,
knowledge, and skills that are most often peculiar, and unique to their profession and generally

109
beyond the understanding and/or capability of those outside of the profession. Those outside the
profession are ignorant of this complex knowledge possessed by professions.

Professions have control or monopoly over their knowledge base and dominate it. For instance,
engineers have engineering, lawyers have law and doctors have medicine. Complex knowledge and
monopoly over knowledge also extends to the tools and technologies used in the profession
Routledge (2011). For instance medical equipment can only be used by a qualified and well trained
medical doctor.

Your ignorance of the complexities of the medical field is cardinal as it creates the need for you to
consult the doctor. This ignorance creates an atmosphere of absolute trust in the doctor. To illustrate
this point; if you are sick you go to the clinic because you are ignorant of the nature of your illness
and you trust the doctor to cure your illness similarly you will hire a lawyer simply because you are
ignorant of the complexities of law. According to Musgrave (1972) this situation is the basis upon
which the social fact of the professions rests. Even the practice of the earliest professions was
recognized on the basis of this client-practitioner relationship. Taylor and Runte (1995) have argued
that it is the monopoly over a body of theoretical knowledge which is the most fundamental
characteristic of professions because it creates the need for other elements.

A lengthy period of time

Professionals are trained for a long period of time enabling them to master the subject matter. The
long period of training provides adequate time to learn theories which greatly enhance the chances of
one practising the profession very well. For Instance, for one to become a medical doctor one has to
undergo seven years of training. Engineers have to train for a period of five years. The law degree is
four years but for one to practice as a lawyer, one needs to attend the Zambia Institute of Advanced
Legal Education, ZIALE for an extra year. Musgrave (1972) states that extensive training is required
in medicine and law due to the nature and complexity of the knowledge.

During this lengthy period of training, one acquires a significant period of hands-on, practical
experience in the protected company of senior members before being recognized as a professional.

110
There is also internship provided for the newly recruited professional for example a newly recruited
doctor has to work under the close supervision of a senior doctor for a period of time until the newly
recruited doctor gets acquainted.

There is also on-going education toward the profession through continuing professional
development, CPD, and this is compulsory for all professions. For instance one of the objectives of
the Health Professions Council of Zambia is to develop, promote, maintain and improve appropriate
standards of qualification in the health profession (The Health Professions Act of 2009).

Professional Associations, Licensing and Control over entry

In professions individuals are required by law to be qualified or registered by a local professional
body or association before they are permitted to practice in that profession. Professional bodies also
issue licenses for their registered members to practice the profession. These professional associations
determine who practices that particular profession hence controlling entry into the profession. In
order to clearly understand how professions control entry let us consider the professions of law and
medicine in Zambia.

In order for a person to practice as a medical doctor in Zambia there is need to be registered with the
Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) formerly known as the Medical Council of Zambia.
Among the functions of this council, is to register members of the health profession, license public
and private health facilities and accreditation of health services (The Health Professions Act of
2009). The Act further states that a person shall not practise as a health practitioner, unless that
person holds a practising certificate issued by the Council, neither can a person operate a health
facility without a license issued by the council.

Lawyers are also required to be registered with the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) for them to
practice. It is the duty of the Association to issue practising certificates to authorize the practitioners
to practise as advocates (Legal Practitioners Act of 2009). According to the Legal Practitioners
(Amendment) Act, 2009 a person may be admitted as a practitioner if that person is a holder of a
Degree in Law obtained from a public/private University established under the University Act, 1999,
and whose programme has been accredited by the Council of ZIALE.
111
Likewise, the professions of engineering and accountancy are also regulated by professional bodies
through Acts of Parliament.

Thus professions have statutory laws that guide admission into the profession and failure to adhere
to these regulations is a punishable offense. It is the professional bodies that set the standards for
admission into a profession. They have to ensure that one is qualified to practice. Thus in a
profession only qualified people practice there is no infiltration from unqualified persons. This
control of entry helps maintain the set standards of these professions making it easier to improve on
the quality of services offered to the public members. In other words the doors to professions are
closed (occupational closure) as there are associations that are responsible for who should go in and
go out. According to Musgrave (1972) these professional bodies keep a register of practitioners and
ensure that only those fit to practice are on the register. Academic qualifications and length of
training are laid down in detail. This ensures that all practitioners are professionally qualified
thereby guaranteeing the general public that professional advice rendered to them is thorough.

However, in some countries, individuals may not be required by law to be qualified by a professional
body in order to practice. In such cases, qualification by the professional bodies (which are not
statutory regulated) is effectively still considered a prerequisite to practice. For example, in order to
become a fully qualified teaching professional in Hong Kong, one needs to have successfully
completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education or a Bachelor's degree in Education at an approved
tertiary educational institution or university. This requirement is set out by the Educational
Department Bureau of Hong Kong, which is the governmental department that governs the Hong
Kong education sector.

Autonomy
Professions are autonomous. In other words professions have the freedom to exercise their
professional judgement; they have the liberty to work and make judgements on their own.
Professionals have control over and ultimate responsibility for their own work as they tend to define
the terms, processes, and conditions of work to be performed for clients. This is because they are
capable of making judgements, applying their skills and reaching informed decisions in situations
that the general public cannot, because the general public has not received the relevant training. This

112
means that professions have a high degree of control of their own affairs as they make independent
judgments about their work (Bayles, 1981).

You may be wondering why professions should be autonomous. It is necessary for professions to be
free from too much supervision as this brings interference in the work of the profession. As such
professionals are let to practice their profession without being burdened by administrative duties
which is the work of administrators. Professional autonomy is often maintained by members of the
profession subjecting their activities and decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of the
same profession (Hoogland & Jochemsen, 2000). This is because every member of the profession is
assumed to be qualified to make professional judgement on the nature of the work involved. Thus,
medical doctors are evaluated by fellow medical doctors likewise accountants are evaluated by
fellow accountants. Professions have the right and freedom to practice anywhere and at any time as
they are not bound by space and time. For instance, doctors attend to patients at any time of the day.
The concept of autonomy can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgement, but also self-interest
and a continuous process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within the profession
itself.

Code of ethics/conduct
All professions have principles or values that they adhere to. These principles guide their behaviour
and conduct within the profession (even outside the profession). These principles can be referred to
as professional ethics. These professional ethics are regulated by a code of ethics. A code of ethics is
a guideline that regulates the conduct or behaviour of professionals. In other words a code of ethics
is a set of statements about appropriate and expected behaviour of members of a professional group
and, as such, reflects its values (Chadwick, 1998). Thus codes of ethics are standards which regulate
professional ethics. What values do you think professions should have? Among the values that
professions should possess are; honesty, integrity, transparency, accountability, confidentiality,
objectivity, respectfulness and working within the law.

Codes of ethics also contain details which discuss difficult issues that may arise or difficult decisions
that may need to be made. As a result they provide a clear account of what behaviour is considered
ethical, correct or right under prevailing circumstances.
113
 For example you are a teacher and not a medical doctor so you cannot be held
responsible for failing to save a road accident victim, because you do not possess the
knowledge or experience to do so. However, if a qualified medical doctor fails to help
this victim, this would be regarded as negligent and unethical behaviour because the
doctor’s help would have saved the victim. Meanwhile you will not be considered
negligent for failing to help, because you do not possess the expertise, however you will
be considered negligent if you potentially cause harm or even death by trying to help
this victim as you do not possess the knowledge of what to do and what not to in such a
situation.

Failure to comply with a code of ethics can result in expulsion from the professional organization.
Thus all professions have a code of ethics which is established by their respective professional
bodies. In the case of law, medicine, accountancy and engineering the code of ethics is embedded
within the Acts of Law. For instance, one of the functions of the HPCZ is to regulate the professional
conduct of health practitioners.

Professions usually take an oath (vow) upon appointment swearing that they will maintain
professional conduct within their practice. The insert below shows examples of some of these oaths.
One of the earliest examples of professional ethics is the Hippocratic Oath to which
medical doctors still adhere to this day. This oath is taken by newly graduated medical
doctors/practitioners to observe the ethical standards of their profession, mainly to
endeavour to preserve life (Whitbeck, 1998).

Lawyers in Zambia take the following oaths; which in part state that;

“Oath of Allegiance”... swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the
President of the Republic of Zambia, and that I will preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of Zambia as by law established.

“Oath of Office”... swear that I will truly and honestly demean myself in the practice of
114
an advocate according to the best of my knowledge and ability.

“Oath of State Counsel”… will faithfully represent, to the best of my ability, without fear
or favour of any person, all those who shall entrust me to represent them before any
Court of law.

(Legal Practitioners Act of 2009)

According to Taylor and Runte (1995) codes of ethics were meant to restrain professionals from
taking advantage of their specialized knowledge. For example, doctors have the power of life and
death over their clients; only a lawyer can judge if a contract is valid; and only another accountant
can tell if your accountant is fiddling the books. An untrained or unscrupulous person in any of these
positions could do great harm, so the professions evolved to protect the public by ensuring that
anyone undertaking these crucial jobs is first certified as knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Professions through their professional associations are responsible for disciplining members of the
profession that do not adhere to the code of ethics.

Codes of ethics are very important because they provide boundaries for the conduct of professions
within their professional careers. Professions have codes of conducts and ethics which do not only
guide them on how to behave in work places and with clients but also on matters such as dress code,
socialising arenas and people to socialise with. As a result of these codes of ethics, professions also
tend have a common identity for their members or the group norms of conduct. Goode (1957) has
stated that professions are communities within a community. Professionals are like a community or
group of individuals who share common things, have similar values and speak common language.

Codes of ethics are there not only to prevent professions from exploiting their clients but to also
preserve the integrity of the profession. This is not only for the benefit of the client but also for the
benefit of those belonging to the profession as this maintains the public’s trust in the profession,
encouraging the public to continue seeking the services provided by the professions.

Disinterestedness

115
A profession is not interested in personal or economic gains, but in abstract things like quality of
profession, advancement of knowledge and service or assistance to others. That is professionals put
service first and monetary rewards last and they are committed to their career for life. Therefore
professionals are not supposed to go on strike, as they put service first, and they assist the public
clientele for love of the job. Professionals owe a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of
confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to
pay the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interests of the client ahead of his
or her own interests (disinterestedness), (Gilbert, 1998). However, it is important to take note that in
this modern era this may not be present in most professions.

One of the functions of the Health Practitioners Council according to the Health Practitioners Act of
2009 is to protect and assist the public in all matters relating to the practise of the health profession.

Merit-based
In a profession, members achieve employment and success based on merit rather than on corrupted
ideals. Therefore, a professional is one who must attract clients and profits due to the merits of his or
her work. In the absence of this characteristic, issues of responsibility, accountability, and ethical
constraints become irrelevant. Professionals are also highly trusted individuals who are expected to
do their job without being doubted.

High prestige and economic standing

Professions enjoy a high social status (Tinsel and Hardy, 2009) conferred upon them by society. This
high status arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital
to society as a whole and thus of having a special and valuable nature. All professions involve
technical, specialised and highly skilled work often referred to as "professional expertise." Lian and
Laing (2004). Training for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications (and
licensure) without which entry to the profession is barred. Training also requires regular updating of
skills through continued professional development. Due to these a profession is characterised by the
power and high prestige it has in society as a whole.

116
Professions also possess power, Johnson (1972) prestige, high income, high social
status and privileges (Royal College of Pathologists, 2005 and Tinsel and Hardy, 2003). The high
income and privileges makes it possible for those practicing a profession to lead exemplary lives
full of luxuries. For instance have you ever seen a Doctor live in a shanty compound, even doctors
that are posted to work in rural areas live in housing that is much better than the local people.
Members of a profession soon come to comprise an elite class of people, cut off to some extent
from the common people, and occupying an elevated station in society. The power, prestige and
value that society confers upon a profession are also what clearly define professions from non-
professions. Professionals also lead an exemplary life full of luxuries.

5.8 Summary of the Lesson

Professions have a body of expertise knowledge and skills which they monopolise. Professions are
usually regulated by statute (by law). The various respective professional bodies such as LAZ, EIZ
whose function is to define, promote, oversee, support and are also responsible for regulating the
affairs of its members. These bodies are also responsible for the licensure of professionals. They
may also set examinations of competence and impose adherence to an ethical code of practice.
However, all professions require that the practitioner hold at least a first professional degree before
licensure. Other than this they also enjoy high levels of prestige and economic status. Professions
also are disinterested meaning that they put interests of their clients before their own interest. In the
next unit we will discuss whether or not teaching in Zambia is a profession. The characteristics of a
profession we have just finished looking at, will help us determine if teaching is a profession in
Zambia.

5.9 Exercise

1. What characteristics should an occupation fulfil in order to be considered

as a profession?
2. What do you understand by mediated entry?
3. How do professions maintain occupational closure or professional
exclusivity?
4. How do professions control entry into the profession? Explain with
relevant examples.
5. What is meant by autonomy to practice a profession?
117
References

Australian Council of Professions’ view', during proceedings of a joint conference on competition

law and the professions, Perth, April 1997)

Bayles, M. D. (1981) Professional Ethics. California: Wadsworth.

Brown, J. (1992) The Definition of a Profession: the Authority of Metaphor in the History of
Intelligence Testing, 1890-1930. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bullock, A & Stephen Trombley, S. (1999) The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought.
London: Harper-Collins.

Chadwick , R. (1998) Professional Ethics. In Craig. E (Ed). Routledge Encyclopaedia of

Philosophy. London: Routledge.

Ehrenreich, B. (1989) Fear of Falling. The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York. Harper
Prennial.

Eichar, D. (1989) Occupation and Class Consciousness in America. Westpoint,CT:Greenwood

Press.

Hoogland J. & Jochemsen H., (2000) ''Professional Autonomy and the Normative Structure of
Medical Practice,'' Theoretical Medicine, 21.5 pp.457-475.

Jackson, J. A (2010) Professions and Professionalization:Sociological Studies. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.23-24

Larson, M. S. (1978) The Rise of Professionalism: a Sociological Analysis. Berkeley,California:

University of California Press.

Lian, P.C & Laing, A.W (2004) “The role of professional expertise in the purchasing of health
services” Health Services Management Research, 17.2, pp.110-120.

Perks, R.W.(1993) Accounting and Society. London: Chapman & Hall.

Routledge, A. (2011) Design Professionalism. http://designprofessionalism.com/copyright.php.

Taylor, G and Runte, R. (1995) Thinking about Teaching: An Introduction. Toronto: Harcourt
Brace.

The Accountants Act, Chapter 390 of the Laws of Zambia.

The Engineering Institution of Zambia Act, Chapter 432 of the Laws of Zambia.

118
The Health Professions Act, Chapter….of the Laws of Zambia.

The Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Act, Chapter 30 of the Laws of Zambia.

Tinsley, R. & Hardy, C. J ''Faculty Pressures and Professional Self-Esteem: Life in Texas Teacher
Education. http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:3bUoc0ranJ0J:www.usca.edu/essays/vol62003/
tinsley.pdf+professional+esteem&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=uk

Whitbeck, C. (1998) Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research. Cambridge: University Press.

Johnson, T. (1972) Professions and Power, London: Heinemann.

Royal College of Pathologists, (2005)The role of the College and benefits of

membership, http://www.rcpath.org/index.asp?PageID=28

Lesson Two
119
 Is Teaching a Profession in Zambia?
6.1 Introduction
In this unit you will establish whether or not teaching is a profession in Zambia. The
characteristics of a profession that you are from looking at will help you establish
whether or not teaching is a profession. We will also look at factors that may cause
professions to lose their professional status.

6.2 Aim
The aim of this unit is to determine whether or not teaching is a profession in Zambia.

6.3 Time Frame

You are expected to spend approximately 6 hours on this unit. Remember to spend your
time wisely.

6.4 Objectives
At the end of this unit you should be able to;
i). State the characteristics of a profession that teaching fulfils
ii). Discuss whether or not teaching is a profession in Zambia
iii). Discuss how occupations may acquire the status of professionalism.
iv). Explain how professions may lose their professional status

6.5 Reflection

Before you read on write down the characteristics that you think teaching
possesses. Would you qualify teaching to be a profession? Give reasons for your
response.

6.6 Is Teaching in Zambia a Profession?

In order to establish if teaching is a profession, we will have to examine each characteristic of a
profession and see whether it applies to teaching.

Complex knowledge/skills and Monopoly of knowledge

120
In unit 5 we discussed that a profession has complex knowledge and monopoly of knowledge.
However, teaching has no definite body of knowledge as it borrows from other disciplines, it is on
the basis of this that a teacher can be challenged over his/her knowledge by any learned person.
Think of subjects that are taught in high schools such as history, biology, geography, maths,
physics, chemistry, agriculture, religious education even music, these subjects belong to other
disciplines. It is on the basis of this that teachers do not have unique knowledge or monopoly over
any knowledge base of these subjects. However, professions like law, medicine and engineering
have that monopoly of knowledge which teaching lacks. Ballatine and Hammack (2009) state that
even though teachers have specialized skills they do not have monopoly of knowledge like
professions do and that the knowledge and skills that professions possess are seen as vital compared
to that of teachers.

Besides a lawyer/doctor needs to be above the level of the client, but a teacher has to come down to
the level of the pupil for the pupil to understand (Musgrave, 1972). This implies that a doctor can
use his/her complex knowledge which a patient is not able to understand and make a diagnosis.
However as a teacher you will need to simplify your knowledge base so that the pupils are able to
understand your lesson. Thus you bring yourself down to the level of the pupil for the benefit of the
pupil. A doctor will still achieve his/her objective of helping the client with his complex knowledge,
but a teacher cannot achieve his/her objective if the knowledge base is above the level of the pupils.

Lengthy period of training

Some of you could be teachers at pre-school, primary, basic or high school level, you are now
studying for your degree. This could imply that you either have a Teacher’s Certificate or Diploma.
Perhaps you have neither a certificate nor diploma but only have a grade 12 certificate. Maybe you
could be an untrained teacher. Nonetheless these are realities in our education system. If you hold a
Teacher’s Certificate or Diploma then your teacher training was between 1 to 3 years. If you are
teaching with just a grade 12 certificate then you did not undergo any training. This is the problem
with teaching; it is diverse as there are different periods of training and qualifications needed for
one to teach.

121
However, professions have a lengthy period of training, usually more than four years, mostly with a
minimum qualification of a Degree. You may want to argue that some teachers have degrees or
even a PhD, but we are looking at teachers as a whole. Besides all medical doctors have degrees
(more than 4 years of training) just like all practicing lawyers have degrees (plus one year of
ZIALE). Take this scenario for instance, if someone was introduced to you as a medical doctor, you
will definitely know that this person has a minimum qualification of a degree and spent at least
seven years at university to acquire it. However, if you introduced yourself as a teacher, the other
person will begin to wonder, what sort of teacher you are; pre-school, primary or secondary school
teacher. Neither will there be certainty about how long you were trained and what qualification you
have.

Thus teaching does not fulfil this characteristic of a profession. In order to do this, teaching requires
uniformity in the length of training (which should be increased) and or minimum qualification of a
Degree for one to teach at any level. Ozga (1998) recommends lengthening teacher preparation and
raising admission standards. However, Ozga cautions that teacher shortages are likely to reverse this
trend. According to Ballatine and Hammack (2009) teacher training programmes need to be
improved and extended to at least five years. That is a four year degree in a particular subject area
and then a year of teacher training. However, there is fear that a five-year training programme
would discourage potential teachers.

Professional Association, Licencing and Control over entry

Professions have professional bodies which control entry into the profession. For instance LAZ for
lawyers, HPCZ for medical doctors, EIZ for engineers, ZICA for accountants. Certain minimum
competencies are required to enter certain professions. However teaching may accept even
unqualified people to teach. This is because teachers in Zambia do not have a national professional
association to regulate who qualifies to teach. For instance, a biologist, lawyer, doctor, archaeologist
or nurse can teach, even a person with just a grade 12 certificate. Even among the qualified teachers,
it is common practice to find teachers teaching in areas outside their expertise, for instance a
biology teacher teaching English, or a physics teacher teaching maths. However, it is not just
anyone that can go to court and present a case, or go to theatre and operate on a person, for one to
do this one has to be well trained in that particular field and be registered and licensed.
122
Professionals are registered and licensed to practice but teachers leave colleges and universities and
start practicing immediately without any registration or licensing.

Teachers do not have professional associations to represent their professional interests apart from
the militant trade unions that are almost solely concerned with fighting for better salaries and
improved conditions of service. Due to lack of a national professional association there is no
professional exclusivity in teaching. Furthermore “professions are successful in maintaining high
barriers to entry in terms of qualification requirements and registration. Teachers, on the other hand,
tend to have weak, state-dominated professional organisations with several trade unions” (Bennel,
2004:4).

Furthermore teachers do not have control over who enters and leaves teaching as the system is fully
run by government. Musgrave (1972), states that a teacher registry will only be significant if
untrained teachers will be barred from teaching. However with the shortages in teachers it is likely
that untrained teachers may still teach. Due to the above factors the control of entry into teaching is
slack as compared to established professions. Besides the large size of the teaching force works
against ‘professional’ exclusivity. Thus teaching in Zambia does not fulfil this requirement.

Autonomy
A profession has to be autonomous. Do you think teaching is autonomous? Let us see to what extent
teaching is autonomous. Teachers have always been and will always be subject to direction from
their school boards, DEBS, provincial education office and ministry of education. Thus teachers do
not have the freedom to practice teaching as they would want to. Almost the entire practice is
dictated to them. The only freedom they may have is to determine which teaching method to use.
They are rarely involved in policy making, curriculum development; they simply adhere to what the
higher offices dictate. Ballatine and Hammack (2009:187) state that,

In bureaucratic settings, teachers must contend with close supervision, emphasis on

rules, and centralization of decision making. These factors of standardization and
centralization are alienating to those who want to be considered as professionals.
123
This implies that teachers do not have the freedom to practice their occupation as profession do.
According to Ozga (1998) government has control over teaching and since one needs schools before
they can have school teachers, teachers are stuck with their status as salaried employees working
within large bureaucratic organizations. Teachers unlike professions do not enjoy a high degree of
self-regulation. For instance professionals have the right to dismiss a fellow practitioner but teachers
do not have this right. Even though doctors and lawyers may be employed by government, they are
not subjected to the same supervision as that of teachers. Thus teachers do not have the freedom or
autonomy to practice or teach without interference from their employers.

Furthermore Ballatine and Hammack (2009) have stated even if teachers established professional
associations like in the case of the National Education Association (USA) teachers are still
employed by bureaucracies thus direction comes from the bureaucracy rather than the teachers’
association. Thus teaching does not fulfil this requirement.

Code of ethics/conduct
Professionals have a code of ethics to regulate professional conduct. Failure to adhere to the code of
ethics results in punitive measures against the erring member. However, teaching does not have an
established code of ethics and teachers unlike professionals are not responsible of inflicting punitive
measures against their fellow teachers, but government is. Thus it is easier for teachers to get away
with acts of misconduct. According to Bennel (2004) standards of professional conduct among
teachers are declining this is due to declining status, morale and motivation among teachers. For
instance reports of “teachers having sexual relationships with pupils have been widely reported in
the media in East and Southern Africa…the incidence of corrupt practices among teachers, in
particular charges for educational services, are also believed to have increased” (Bennel, 2004: 6).
Teachers do not have a code of ethics to regulate teacher behaviour.

Disinterestedness
Professions should not be unionised, as unions fight for better conditions of service and professions
are not interested in conditions of service but in quality delivery of their services. As much as
teaching may want to be service oriented, the conditions of their service negate them to do so. They

124
may prioritise money generating ventures and frequently go on strike in the quest for better
conditions of service. Associations may not call strikes like the way trade unions do because strikes
are not in the interest of the client. Teachers have an obligation to their pupils and strikes work
against the pupils’ interest and would therefore be seen by the general public as unprofessional
conduct. This contravenes the ethical code of any profession. Teaching does not fulfil this
characteristic as well.

High prestige and economic status

Professions enjoy high occupational status as they have high prestige and economic status. Thus
professions have high prestige in occupational rankings unlike teaching which is not even near the
top of prestige rankings (we dealt with prestige rating in unit 3 and teachers’ economic status in
unit 2). However, teachers are paid substantially less than the professionals. As a result you will
find that the living conditions of most teachers are low with most of them residing in shanty
compounds and high residential areas. Even their socialization is generally in low status places such
as taverns, chibuku depots and shabeens with low status groups. According to Bennel (2004) the
diverse nature of teaching coupled by less educated and minimally qualified entrants as well as
lower salaries has contributed to the lower status of teachers as a whole and amounts to the
‘casualization’ of teaching. Occupational status depends on the ‘public valuing’ of the competence,
role and overall contribution of a particular occupation to individual and societal welfare.

It seems that teaching does not fulfil most if not all of these characteristics of a profession. What
then is teaching if it is not a profession? This is what we will now look at, the semi-profession as
this is what teaching is in Zambia. Note that in some countries teaching has acquired the status of a
profession in some like Zambia is has not.

6.6.1 Semi-Professions

A semi-profession is a type of occupation, work or trade similar in some respects to professions, but
different in some way. Thus a semi-profession is an occupation that does not fully meet all the
characteristics of a profession (but fulfils some of them). Semi- meaning partial, somewhat,
resembling or having some characteristics of something. The term quasi-profession means the same
as semi-profession, as quasi means almost but not quite or resembling something in some way but
125
not the same. So in the same manner, teaching is not a profession it just resembles a profession in
some way. Semi-professions are generally characterised by the following;

● Lower occupational status

● Shorter training periods

● Less or no autonomy as they are employed by bureaucracies and are subject to

administrative control by employees
● Little or no involvement in matters of life and death as compared to professions, and as such
are considered of less importance/value by society. For example a doctor can save your life,
a lawyer can prevent you from being unlawfully sentenced to death, or imprisoned, an
accountant can help keep your financial on track or help you from being swindled, an
engineer can certify the safety of a project. As a teacher can you professionally do any of the
above?
● Less specialised body of knowledge and skills

6.7 Professionalisation and the Future of Professions

Just as some occupations rise in status and power to attain professional status through various
stages, some professions may decline in their professional status. In this unit you will acquire
knowledge of how some occupations acquire the status of professionalism and how already existing
professions may lose their professional status. Everything that will be discussed in this unit borders
on the characteristics of professions discussed in lesson two. So ensure that you have clearly
understood lesson two before proceeding with this section.

Having looked at the characteristics of a profession, do you think professions will always
maintain their professional status? Or maybe one day some professions are bound to lose
their professional status?

6.7.1 Professionalisation

Initially, there were only three professions these were divinity, medicine and law. By the 19 th
century these were seen as the only professions. According to O'Day (2000) professionalism as an
institutional process with privileged associations and legal enforcement had for most part to wait
until the 19th century. Professionalisation refers to the social process through which any occupation
126
or trade transforms itself into a profession by meeting all the requirements of a profession. These
requirements are the characteristics that we looked at in unit 5, thus we will not go in detail regards
the characteristics of a profession.

Thus the process of professionalization entails that occupations wishing to be professions should
● establish a professional body or association to oversee the conduct of members using an
established code of ethics,
● license members and regulate entry into the profession.

● also be a high level of training, the minimum being at least a four year degree programme.
This, to some degree creates a hierarchical division between the knowledgeable or qualified
professions from the unqualified amateurs (Cavanagh, 2003).
● possess expertise skills that a lay person cannot easily acquire unless trained within the
profession.
● also possess power and high prestige and high income.

● also possess autonomy to freely practice the profession.

By fulfilling these requirements an occupation builds itself into a profession of the highest integrity
and competence.

6.7.2 The Proliferation of Information

We now live in the era of information technology. Thus with the advent of computers information
quickly spreads from one end of the globe to the other with the simple click of a button. Through
the use of computers people are able to access all sorts of information from the internet (e-learning)
and are being educated on various issues without the need to be in class or acquire a qualification.
Nowadays people are becoming more and more enlightened and educated such that it is becoming
easier for them to understand knowledge within other professions/outside their careers. As a result
most of these professions are losing monopoly over their knowledge base. According to Taylor and
Runte (1995:5)

as education levels rose among the general public, doctors, lawyers and other
professionals began to lose their status as only educated, literate members of the
community. Once patients had had university degrees themselves, they were much

127
 less willing to defer to the doctors judgement and started to insist on clearer
explanations and perhaps a second or third opinion.

Thus as professionals lose their monopoly over particular bodies of knowledge, they also to some
extent lose the rationale as professions for their special status.

Computers have become increasingly sophisticated, and these are handling much of the routine
workload for lawyers and other professionals. Who needs to consult a doctor or lawyer when, by
simply following the instructions on the screen, one can use a desktop computer to diagnose ones
symptoms or print out a contract? However, it is true that you would still need a doctor to perform
the actual surgery, or a lawyer to present your case in court or to persuade the jury, but you should
bear in mind that these sorts of activities only occupy a fraction of the professionals’ actual work.
Much of the rest has now been delegated to computers (Taylor and Runte, 1995).

6.7.3 The Bureaucratisation of Professions

Other than the spread or proliferation of knowledge, bureaucracies have also created opportunities
and a demand for employees to work within institutional settings. Thus professionals such as
doctors and lawyers now tend to work in institutional environments such as large corporate
bureaucracies, hospitals and law firms. Remember in the earlier times professionals were self-
employed meaning they had the freedom to practice the profession without interference. Thus if
they are employed by institutions then they tend to some extent lose the autonomy that they are
supposed to have as professionals (Giddens, 2009). According to Taylor and Runte (1995)
professionals who are employed in bureaucratic organizations are subjected to increased supervision
(by employers who may be non-members of the profession). This supervision leads to loss of
autonomy because the professionals have to work according to the schedule and standards of the
organization rather than their own.

There is also a likelihood of conflicts occurring between professionals and the bureaucratic
institutions they work for which may affect the aspect of disinterestedness. Ballatine and Hammack
(2009) state that, conflict arise as a result of professionals for instance doctors’ commitment to

128
fellow doctors and principles of HPA (professional associations) and commitment to the principles
of the bureaucratic institution. According to Giddens (2009:784)

a major weakness of bureaucracy is the difficulty it has in addressing cases that need
special treatment and consideration. Reliance on rules and procedure (processing
and filling in forms correctly) could take precedence over needs of the client who
has suffered a loss.
This implies that professions who work in bureaucracies may not possess the critical trait of
disinterestedness which is cardinal to professions.

Bureaucratisation has led to professions becoming salaried. According to Deber (1983) when
professionals become salaried employees rather than independent practitioners, they begin to face
the same challenges and problems of unemployment, reduced mobility, isolation from policy
making, and declining intrinsic rewards as the non-professions do. Thus professions undergo
proletarianisation (they become part of the working class and sell their labour in exchange for a
monthly wage/salary). (Deber, 1983). For instance professions do not allow their members to go on
strike. However, if they face poor conditions of service within the institution they work for they also
tend to withdrawal their labour (go on strike), an act which is very unethical. I am sure you do
remember at one point doctors at UTH went on strike lamenting poor conditions of service as they
wanted a salary increment. This act was ethical because they put their interests before that of their
clients/patients.

6.8 Summary of the Lesson

Initially there were only three professions, divinity, medicine and law. However with time many
occupations attained professionalization by meeting the requirements of a profession. However just
as occupations attain professional status, it is also possible for professions to lose this professional
status. Bureaucratization of professionals has led to some professionals being stripped of autonomy
to practice the profession as the state or employer also has control over the profession. Other than
that, the aspect of client-centeredness is also compromised, for instance in medicine there may be
reliance on procedure and following of rules at the expense of giving treatment to the patient.
Bureaucratization has also led to some professions having traits of unionism as they bargain for
better conditions of service from their employers.

129
Regard the professional status of teaching; teaching falls far below what a profession constitutes.
Thus teaching is a semi-profession as its status is less legitimate than a profession on the account of;
lack of a well-defined body knowledge, their relatively low levels of education and training in
relation to professional occupations such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, it has less autonomy
and it lacks professional registration and regulation. According to Ballatine and Hammack (2009)
teachers just like nurses, social workers and librarians are semi-professionals and have common
characteristics which involve nurturing, helping and supporting responsibilities. Teaching in Zambia
will only be recognized as a full profession when it fulfils all the requirements of a profession. It is
not so ironic, that the same teaching that produces professionals is not a profession itself?

6. 9 Exercise

1. We concluded that teaching is not a profession. From this conclusion, what characteristics
of a profession should teaching fulfil in order to be fully recognized as a profession?
2. How feasible is it for teaching to acquire and maintain the characteristics you have
mentioned above?
3. Why have some scholars (Ballatine and Hammarck, 2009; Bennel, 2004; Ozga, 1998 and
Musgrave 1972) stated that it is difficult to control entry into teaching?
4. What makes it impossible at the moment for teachers to practice autonomy within
teaching?
5. How can the spread of knowledge affect the professional status of an occupation?
6. Discuss how bureaucratic organizations may affect the professional status of an
occupation?
7. Is it possible for a profession to completely lose its professionalism? Discuss.

References

Ballatine, J. H and Hammack F. L (2009) The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Bennel, Paul (2004), Teacher Motivation and Incentives in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Brighton:
Knowledge and Skills for Development.

Cavanagh, A. L. (2003) “The Gender of Professionalism and Occupational Closure: The

Management of Tenure Related Disputes by the ‘Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of
Ontario’ 1918-1949,” Gender and Education. 15(1), pp 39-57.
130
Deber, C. (1983) “Managing Professionals:Ideological Proletarianization and Post Industrial
Labour” Theory and Society 12, p 311.

Giddens A (2009) Sociology, 6th Ed. New Delhi: Wiley India Pvt. Ltd.

Musgrave, P. W (1972) The Sociology of Education. London: Methuen and Co, Ltd.

O’Day, Rosemary (2000) The Professions in the Early Modern England, 1450-1800 Servants of the
Commonweal. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.

Ozga, J. (1988) Schoolwork: Approaches to the Labour Process of Teaching. Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.

Taylor, G and Runte, R. (1995) Thinking about Teaching: An Introduction. Toronto: Harcourt
Brace.

131