Vol. 1 No. 02 (2022): 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.