Tasks and their delegation in Maltese state secondary schools

Abstract

1.1 Statement of the problem: The purpose of this study was to determine the spectrum of tasks and their delegation in Maltese state schools, and to what extent members of staff are involved at the administrative and organizational level of these institutions. 1.2 Local context: In Malta the state educational system is highly centralized, with policies being established by the Ministry of Education. The responsibility for the implementation and control of these policies is that of the Department of Education. The selection and appointment of the various personnel to the department is controlled by a Public Service Commission, while the posting of the various staff to the schools is at the discretion of the Education Department. In Malta, although the Head of School is responsible for the internal organization, management of the school, the central bureaucratic system constraints which limit the activities of a Head of and discipline imposes several School; quite often it is a question of having the responsibility without the power. The number of Assistant Heads and Heads of Departments assigned to the different schools depends largely on the child population of that particular school. These posts do not carry a very detailed job description (Appendix C, pp. 37-38), and hence the duties and tasks they carry out in schools depend solely on what the particular Head of School wishes the individual to do. 1.3 Delegation of tasks in schools: Considerable attention has been given to the importance of effective delegation of tasks in schools. The tendency for larger schools has been instrumental in making the management of secondary schools ''more complex in areas as communication, interpersonal relationships, leadership expectations and central procedures” (Pitner, 1982, p.75). This made delegation in schools “essential not only for practical terms, but also as an expression of teamwork” within the institution. “Effective delegation demands three qualities: 1. coherence; 2. creativity; 3. Credibility” (Denys, 1983, p. 65). Delegation should be coherent in that it defines an area of responsibility rather than the specific tasks that flow from it. Every delegated role besides the necessary maintenance tasks, should also offer the delegate the opportunity to make direct or indirect imaginative contribution to the fulfilment of the school’s aims. And finally, an effective delegation, at any level, must also be credible, that is it must be perceived by other members of the institution or department to be necessary and helpful to their work.

Heads of Schools, mostly due to of limitations of their own time recognized the need to delegate tasks and involve Assistant Heads in the management of their schools. The most frequently delegated tasks were administrative and involved no initiative on the part of the Assistant Head and therefore ''the head retained direct personal control” (Denys, 1983, p.61) over the school. Modern trends in educational management indicate that it is ''no longer possible for any head himself efficiently to control all the facets of the organization in his charge” (Poster, 1985, p. 101 and necessitate the Head of School to meet and share problems with others in order to encourage participative management. In a school “the Head of Department can be seen as a delegate charged with expediting a department's needs'' and also “as an advisor to the school, whose central policies will be affected by the corporate view of the Heads of Departments" (Marland, 1978, p.89). Heads of Departments should amongst other things be involved in "monitoring the work of teachers" (Stokes, 1981, pp. 65-73) and "assessing the work of the pupils'' . Within the department itself it is important to delegate responsibilities in order to let as many people as possible share their educational ideas and teaching material, "and thus build a complementary team" (Marland, 1978, p.241). In this way the whole staff can be involved in the organization and administration of the school. The size of secondary schools, the complexity of their organization and subject specialization make delegation imperative and indeed "any head must delegate or disintegrate" (Watts, 1980, p.293). The delegation of tasks must provide the delegates with the opportunities to work without undue restriction and with the maximum of scope for initiative, not only for "the benefit of the school but also to promote job satisfaction and opportunities for professional development" (Field, 1985, p.316). A school that encourages participative delegations would be in a better position to introduce “modern” teaching methods with an “emphasis on process rather content, co-operative teaching rather than solo instruction, co-operative learning rather than individual competitiveness and isolation”. (Jones, 1987, p. 13). 1.4 Hypothesis: The present study is an attempt to determine what tasks are most frequently delegated in schools and also to determine whether this is effective delegation or just a means of getting administrative help from the school's personnel. It is expected to find that effective delegation even in the larger schools is very limited mostly owing to the fact that there exists no real established policy by the centralized education department about detailed job descriptions for the senior and middle management personnel in the schools. It is also undeniable that the number of Heads of Department in schools is inadequate, and it is therefore impossible to organize departmental structures which can be instrumental in the delegation of tasks within the schools.