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.

This study investigated teacher experiences of, and response to the manner they were assessed or appraised in implementation of Performance Management System (PMS) in Zimbabwe amid concerns over difficulties in the determination of the link between an individual's job performance and organizational performance, subjectivity in the conduct of performance appraisals and the interplay of personal biases in performance assessment and ratings. Using mixed methods approach, research designs included the survey, case study and phenomenology. From two randomly selected districts of the Midlands Province, 5.2% of primary school teachers and 3.5% of secondary school teachers were randomly sampled from randomly picked schools in the two districts. School heads of sampled schools and district education officers were purposively selected. Data generation tools included questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and non-participant observation. Analysis employed descriptive statistics (numbers and corresponding percentages) for quantitative data, and thematic analysis for qualitative data respectively. The major finding was that training on PMS was inadequate for supervisors and teachers. Consequently, teachers and supervisors did not understand what they were expected to do in PMS. Furthermore, school heads' concern lay with summative supervision and enforcement of PMS through coercive, dictatorial approaches akin to policing for compliance. Without adhering to procedure, crisis management combined reviews and appraisal ratings in a single meeting in some cases. Teachers perceived supervisors' role negatively, resulting in teachers cheating or resisting, thus defeating professional development benefits of PMS. Findings point to the need for training and resourcing, or modification of the system to suit context.

Introduction Teaching practice (TP) is an indispensable component of any teacher education or preparation programme. As Furlong et al. (1988) observe, TP provides beginning teachers or student teachers with the opportunity to be socialised into the profession. This socialisation process enables student teachers or teacher trainees to acquire and develop purposeful scientific experiences that include knowledge and skills needed to perform their future roles as qualified teachers (Mostafa, 2005, in Wambugu et al., 2013). Thus, TP situates itself in a key position in teacher education programmes. As a culminating experience in any teacher preparation programme, TP provides the teacher educator with some prediction of the future success of a teacher. As Farauta and Omuche (2013) argue, TP then becomes a yardstick or factor determining the quality of a teacher education programme. In other words, a teacher education programme would be incomplete without the TP component because TP brings to life the theoretical underpinnings of the practice of education at a given level. Arguably, the TP component takes the student from the college world of theory into the practical field of classroom practice. It is also the time when the student teacher gets to work with experienced, qualified teachers, variably known as school-based mentors, which is a crucial step in one's learning to be an effective teacher(Wilson et al., 2001).

This article made an analysis of the involvement of senior management in the implementation of the Results Based Management System in schools. This was amid concerns from educators that they were finding it difficult to effectively and meaningfully implement the RBM System in schools. The interpretivist/constructivist research paradigm underpinned our study, hence a qualitative research approach was employed. This was a case study of two schools. The population for the study was sixtyeight (68) schools both primary and secondary with a teacher population of nine hundred and forty-nine (949) teachers. Two schools (one primary and the other secondary) were purposefully selected to participate in the study. Thus, twenty-nine (29) teachers and the two (2) school heads became the sample for the study. Included in the sample were the District Schools Inspector and the Education Inspector in the district. Data were generated through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and document analysis. As such these instruments enhanced the triangulation of the data generated. Data analysis was done concurrently with data generation. Major findings were that senior management in education, starting with the school head through to Head Office personnel, were not visible in schools and the district to assess whether the RBM System was meeting its intended objectives. Of further concern to educators was senior management's failure to address issues of educators' training, availability of resources, incentives and feedback which indeed were the province of senior managers. The study recommends that senior managers engage themselves in word and in action in the implementation of RBM. strategic planning at all levels and systematic performance measurement, information management, and timely and accurate reporting systems (Ministry of Public Service, 2009). It was in the interest of this study to explore senior management support in the implementation of the Results Based Management System in two selected schools. THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS AND LITERATURE REVIEWThe Results Based Management (RBM) System is guided largely by the Goal Setting Theory which assumes that behavior is a result of conscious goals and intentions. Milmore (2007) advances that there are three key elements underpinning this theory; first, that clear and challenging goals lead to higher performance than less challenging ones. Second, that goals direct the performance of individuals leaving them with higher chances of succeeding. The third is that goals set must be accepted by the implementers of such goals. Implied in these elements is the notion that there should be dialogue between the manager and the supervisee in the setting up of goals in an organisation to ensure that the individual goals are in tandem with the organisational goals. This leaves the senior person (the manager) with the responsibility of overseeing the relevance of the set objectives to the development of the organisation. Basing on this theory, Beardwell and Clayton (2010) a...

This article investigated manifestation of school-level factors mediating the implementation of the Zimbabwe localised Advanced level Geography syllabus introduced in 2002. Employing a concurrent triangulated strategy, the population entailed 19 high schools offering Advanced level Geography in the Gweru district comprising rural, high density, low density and mission high schools, 287 Advanced level Geography students, 103 former students, and 21 Geography teachers. Stratified random sampling of 12 (63%) schools ensured inclusion of school categories typical of Gweru high schools. 287 (88%) current students and 52 (50%) former students were selected as sample participants using stratified random sampling technique. 12 teachers were selected purposively. Questionnaires, lesson observations and structured interview techniques concurrently employed generated data for the study. Data were analysed using frequencies (numbers), and in some instances, with corresponding percentages. Major findings were that teachers did not cover all syllabus topics. Most teachers did not have detailed lesson plans and largely used the schemecum plan. Objectives were clearly stated and linked to syllabus goals. Lesson deliveries were teacher-centred and employed traditional as opposed to interactive, childcentred methods. Textbooks available were inadequate, outdated and of little relevance to the new syllabus. Mission and low density urban schools were better resources compared to rural and high density urban schools. The study recommends that, over and above staff-developing teachers on all syllabus topics, schools should provide relevant material resources and technology that enhance interactive methods where students can actively participate and gain ownership of their learning.