Teachers’ and Supervisors’ Views of Principal Power in Secondary Schools of Ethiopia

Abstract

In order to better understand how teachers and supervisors view the uses and sources of power that principals favor, this study took a qualitative approach. Through interviews, qualitative data on three teachers’ and three supervisors’ views on the uses and sources of power is acquired. Principals employ legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, and referent power, according to the teachers’ and supervisors’ analyses of the uses and sources of power. The principal frequently exercised legitimate power, although the others hardly ever did. This study demonstrates that teachers’ performance suffers when they only rely on legitimate sources of power, despite the fact that principals use a variety of power sources inequitably. Therefore, it is essential for effective leadership to inform school principals about how to employ various power sources depending on the situation.