Of late, there has been increased research interest in impression management tactics in employment interviews. This study took a detour and investigated impression management tactics used by primary school heads to influence management and leadership decisions in their schools. Underpinned by a mixed methods paradigm, a descriptive survey research design was used wherein fifty selected school heads from two districts in Zimbabwe participated in the study. The school heads responded to a questionnaire and interviews. Data revealed that school heads used self promotion, Association, ingratiation, exemplification, supplication, and intimidation tactics in rank order respectively, to build impressions around their leadership capabilities. A major conclusion was that, these impression management tactics are used differently in different organisation types. It was recommended that the study of impression management in educational leadership and management, which is currently receiving peripheral attention, should be foregrounded to enhance the practice of leadership and management in education.

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After pragmatically tinkering with quantity-oriented models of teacher education since early 1980s, Zimbabwe now seems to be faced with quality challenges, necessitating change of policy direction. In recent years, disquiet has been voiced about the declining quality of school education, a trend widely attributed to the low quality of teachers. This has put teacher education provision in Zimbabwe in the spotlight of critical and in some instances derisive scrutiny. Under such circumstances, one would reasonably expect teacher education policy-makers to be diligently seized with change efforts. However, teacher education policy-makers seem to be dithering indecisively in relation to suggesting new directions for teacher education in Zimbabwe. This paper attempts to break the deafening silence in the teacher education policy community by suggesting some objects lessons for the teacher education system in Zimbabwe on the basis of insights derived from analyzing teacher education systems in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa.