MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY

SCHOO OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND CURRICULUM
STUDIES
UNIT CODE:BEM4109
UNIT TITLE:EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING
CAT1 AND 2
STUDENT NAME: KEPHER JUMA LINET
ADM NO:BEDA/2017/66446
1.a) Discuss Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory showing how these needs can be
fulfilled in a school. (10Marks)
Introduction
The human brain is a complex system and has parallel processes running at the
same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Maslow's
hierarchy can occur at the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and
their satisfaction in terms such as "relative", "general", and "primarily". Instead of
stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Maslow
stated that a certain need "dominates" the human organism. Thus, Maslow
acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at
any time in the human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of
motivation and the order in which they would tend to be met.
Physiological needs
In schools, Physiological need is a concept that is derived to explain and cultivate
the foundation for motivation especially students in schools. This concept is the
main physical requirements for human survival. This means that Physiological
needs are universal human needs. Physiological needs are considered the first step
in internal motivation according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This theory states
that humans are compelled to fulfill these physiological needs first in order to
pursue intrinsic satisfaction on a higher level. If these needs are not achieved, it
leads to an increase in displeasure within an individual. In return, when individuals
feel this increase in displeasure, the motivation to decrease these discrepancies
increases. Physiological needs include: Homeostasis, Food, Water, Clothes
Safety needs
Once a person's physiological needs are relatively satisfied especially in schools,
their safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of
physical safety due to war, natural disaster, family violence, childhood abuse,
institutional racism etc.people may experience post-traumatic stress
disorder or transgenerational trauma. In the absence of economic safety – due to an
economic crisis and lack of work opportunities – these safety needs manifest
themselves in ways such as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for
protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance
policies, disability accommodations, etc. This level is more likely to predominate
in children as they generally have a greater need to feel safe. Safety and security
needs are about keeping us safe from harm. These include shelter, job security,
health, and safe environments. If a person does not feel safe in an environment like
schools, they will seek to find safety before they attempt to meet any higher level
of survival, but the need for safety is not as important as basic physiological needs.
Safety and Security needs include: personal security ,emotional security, financial
security, health and well being.
Social belonging
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs
are seen to be interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. This need is
especially strong in childhood and it can override the need for safety as witnessed
in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of Maslow's
hierarchy due to hospitalism , neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc. can adversely
affect the individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant
relationships in general. Social Belonging needs include: friendship, intimacy
,family.
According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance
among social groups, regardless of whether these groups are large or small. For
example, some large social groups may include schools, co-workers, religious
groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, and online communities.
Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate
partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants. Humans need to love and be loved
both sexually and non-sexually by others.]Many people become susceptible
to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or
belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the physiological and
security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure.

Self-esteem
Esteem needs are status needs. People develop a concern with getting recognition,
status, importance, and respect from others. Most colleagues in school have a need
to feel respected; this includes the need to have self-esteem and self-respect.
Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others.
People often engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. These activities
give the person a sense of contribution or value. Low self-esteem or an inferiority
complex may result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy. People with
low self-esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek
fame or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their self-
esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological imbalances such
as depression can distract the person from obtaining a higher level of self-esteem.
Self-actualization
This level of need refers to the realization of one's full potential. Maslow describes
this as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that
one can be. Individuals perceive or focus on this need very specifically. People
may have a strong, particular desire to become an ideal parent, succeed athletically,
or create paintings, pictures, or inventions. Maslow believed that to understand this
level of need, the person must not only succeed in the previous needs but master
them. Self-actualization can be described as a value-based system when discussing
its role in motivation; self-actualization is understood as the goal-or explicit
motive, and the previous stages in Maslow's Hierarchy fall in line to become the
step-by-step process by which self-actualization is achievable; an explicit motive is
the objective of a reward-based system that is used to intrinsically drive
completion of certain values or goals. Individuals who are motivated to pursue this
goal seek and understand how their needs, relationships, and sense of self are
expressed through their behavior.

b) Explain the role of the head teacher in ensuring that their needs are met in
school situation. (10 Marks)
Role as a Teacher Evaluator
Most principals also are responsible for evaluating their teachers’ performance
following district and state guidelines. An effective school has to have effective
teachers and the teacher evaluation process is in place to make sure that the
teachers in your building are effective. Evaluations should be fair and well
documented pointed out both strengths and weaknesses.
Spend as much quality time in your classrooms as possible. Gather information
each time you visit, even if it is just for a few minutes. Doing this allows the
evaluator to have a larger collection of evidence of what actually goes on in a
classroom, than a principal who has had minimal visits to a classroom. A good
evaluator always lets their teachers know what their expectations are and then
offers suggestions for improvement if those expectations are not being met.
Role in Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating Programs
Developing, implementing, and evaluating the programs within your school is
another large part of a school principal’s role. A principal should always be
looking for ways to improve the student experience at school. Developing effective
programs that cover a variety of areas is one way to ensure this. It is acceptable to
look at other schools in your area and to implement those programs within your
own school that have proved to be effective elsewhere. Programs within your
school should be evaluated every year and tweaked as necessary. If your reading
program has become stale and your students are not showing much growth, then it
may be necessary to review the program and make some changes to improve the
quality of that program.
Role in Reviewing Policies and Procedures
An individual school’s governing document is their student handbook. A principal
should have their stamp on the handbook. A principal should review, remove,
rewrite, or write policies and procedures every year as needed. Having an effective
student handbook can improve the quality of education your students receive. It
can also make a principal’s job a little easier. The principal’s role is to make sure
students, teachers, and parents know what these policies and procedures are and to
hold each individual accountable for following them.

Role in Schedule Setting

Creating schedules every year can be a daunting task. It can take some time to get
everything to fall into its proper place. There are many different schedules in
which a principal may be required to create including a bell schedule, duty
schedule, computer lab schedule, library schedule, etc. Cross-checking each of
those schedules to ensure that you are not putting too much on any one person at
once can be difficult.
With all the scheduling you have to do, it is almost impossible to make everyone
happy with their schedules. For example some teachers like their plan first thing in
the morning and others like them at the end of the day, but it is not impossible to
accommodate all of them. It is probably best to create the schedule without trying
to accommodate anyone.
Role in Hiring New Teachers
A vital part of any school administrator’s job is to hire teachers and staff that are
going to do their job correctly. Hiring the wrong person can cause you huge
headaches down the line while hiring the right person makes your job easier. The
interview process is extremely important when hiring a new teacher. There are
many factors that play into a person being a good candidate for you to hire. Those
include teaching knowledge, personality, sincerity, excitement towards the
profession, etc.
Once you have interviewed all your candidates, then it is equally important to call
their references to get a feel for what the people who know them think they would
do. After this process, you might narrow it down to your best 3-4 candidates and
ask them to come back for a second interview. This time, ask the assistant
principal, another teacher, or the superintendent to join you so that you can have
another person’s feedback in the hiring process. Once you have completed this
process, then rank your candidates accordingly and offer the person you think
would be best for the position. Always be sure to let candidates you did not hire
know that the position has been filled.

Role in Parent and Community Relations

Having good relations with parents and community members can benefit you in a
variety of areas. If you have built trusting relationships with a parent whose child
has a discipline issue, then it makes it easier to deal with the situation if the parent
supports the school and your decision. The same holds true for the community.
Building relationships with individuals and businesses in the community can help
your school out tremendously. Benefits include donations, personal time, and
overall positive support for your school. It is a vital part of any principal’s job to
nurture their relationships with parents and community members.
Role in Delegating
Many leaders by nature have a hard time putting things in others hands without
their direct stamp on it. However, there is so much that has to be done, that it is
vital that a school principal delegates some duties as necessary. Having people
around you that you trust implicitly will make this easier. An effective school
principal simply does not have enough time to do everything that needs to be done
by themselves. They must rely on other people to assist them in getting things done
and trust that they are going to do the job well.

6. a)Justify why school budgeting should be a consultative process (5marks)

i. Budgeting helps to ensure that we have correct estimates of revenue and
expenditure.
ii. Budgeting help us to spend as budgeted, that is, expenditure will be as per
the budget.
iii. Budgeting forms the basis of accounting and therefore institutions become
more efficient.

iv. Budgeting helps to determine the quality and quantity of services in the
institution or in an organization.
v. The budget itself confers authority to administrators or head teachers to
collect and to spend money appropriately and effectively.
The budget ensures economic use of resources and for the appropriate
projects that are needful

b) Discuss five challenges which the head teacher encounter while managing
school finances. (10 Marks)
Insufficient funds
The serious funding problems mean that head teachers in many schools in England
and Wales have to manage budgets that are insufficient to cover the costs faced by
the school. This has caused cutbacks in schools and increased workload for
teachers and in some cases redundancies.
Instead of managing funding shortages, head teachers should be able to play a key
role in a new funding system based on the needs of schools. The NUT continues to
press for the introduction of a needs-led funding system for schools that would
objectively assess the resources needed to deliver high quality education.
Fee defaulting
Fee defaulting happens a result of the high poverty index in a region, an issue
experienced by all the third world countries, Kenya included. principals face
serious problems created by non-payment of school fees.
Delay of funds
The school mainly depend on the government to finance its activities, but in a
situation where the government delays to release funds to the schools the head
teachers find themselves in a hard situation in running the school. This forces them
to sending students at home to bring funds.
The delay in disbursement of Free Secondary Education funds was a challenge in
school management as most transactions settlement time would not be met.
Insufficient funds
The serious funding problems mean that head teachers in many schools in England
and Wales have to manage budgets that are insufficient to cover the costs faced by
the school. This has caused cutbacks in schools and increased workload for
teachers and in some cases redundancies.

Formula funding
Formula funding allocates a budget to each individual school based on that
school’s pupil numbers and characteristics. The formula for each school is
determined on the basis of national funding regulations with scope for local
implementation. The local authority, in consultation with School Forums, makes
decisions on local implementation.

9) Communication is a key component of educational administration an planning;

i. State the main elements of communication. (6marks)

Sender:
The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing
information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator.
Ideas:
This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be an opinion, attitude,
feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.
Encoding:
Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and intangible, its further
passing requires use of certain symbols such as words, actions or pictures etc.
Conversion of subject matter into these symbols is the process of encoding.
Communication Channel:
The person who is interested in communicating has to choose the channel for
sending the required information, ideas etc. This information is transmitted to the
receiver through certain channels which may be either formal or informal.

Receiver:
Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom the message is
meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best
possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.
Decoding
The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator tries to
convert the same in such a way so that he may extract its meaning to his complete
understanding.
Feedback:
Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has received the message and
understood in the same sense as sender meant it.

ii. Discuss the factors that influence interpersonal communication in an

organization

Noise
Noise is one of the external factors that act as barriers to effective communication.
Noise interferes with or disrupts communication by causing a divergence between
the receiver and the communicator. Some examples of physical noise include
running motors, horns, screeching brakes and children crying. In a classroom
setting, if children create noise or murmur among themselves, this becomes a
hindrance to communication, preventing the teacher's message from being received
the way she intended.
Technology
Electronic mail, most commonly referred to as email, is becoming the most
popular medium for interpersonal communication. When exchanging emails, if a
person makes grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, it can create a wrong
impression on the receiver. People share messages or communicate via electronic
media without visual or oral information. Lacking face-to-face contact with its
sensory input, individuals start imagining other people based on their electronic
communication style and pattern. This can become a technological hindrance that
can hamper effective interpersonal communication.
Cultural Influence
Culture refers to the customs, language, arts, common dietary habits and attire of a
particular region. It also includes the learned values, beliefs and behaviors common
to a group of individuals. Culture and communication are inseparable. This means
that culture can be a strong barrier to interpersonal communication between people
of different cultures. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds often carry an
attitude that their own culture is superior to that of others.
Power
Power is the ability to influence others and have strong self-control under complex
circumstances. All interpersonal communication or interactions reflect some form
of power, which may be obvious or hidden. Obvious power refers to people who
occupy a higher position in business or government and have to communicate with
their employees or subjects. People in power positions may exert their power on
individuals who are not equally competent, and this inequality could act as a
barrier to effective communication.

iii. What are the barriers to effective communication (6marks)

Linguistic Barriers
The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication.
Language is the most commonly employed tool of communication. The fact that
each major region has its own language is one of the Barriers to effective
communication. Sometimes even a thick dialect may render the communication
ineffective.
Psychological Barriers
There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective
communication. Some people have stage fear, speech disorders, phobia, depression
etc. All of these conditions are very difficult to manage sometimes and will most
certainly limit the ease of communication.
Emotional Barriers
The emotional IQ of a person determines the ease and comfort with which they can
communicate. A person who is emotionally mature will be able to communicate
effectively. On the other hand, people who let their emotions take over will face
certain difficulties.