The Changing Context for the Educational Administrator in Tanzania

Abstract

The fact that the working context of the school administrator is changing fast and the work of heading schools and other educational institutions is more challenging today than at any other time cannot be disputed. In many respects, education has become the rallying point for political legitimacy, and it holds out the hope of economic development and social cohesion. Most times, people’s expectations of what education can accomplish in society are greater than what could ever be realistically achieved by it. For example, education can prepare people for the world of work, but it cannot create jobs; education can socialise people for peaceful co-existence but it cannot prevent war; education can teach people about the need for a stable family life, but it cannot prevent divorce. In other words, as educational administrators and stakeholders, we need to be constantly mindful of education’s limitations and of what it can and cannot do, as education is often heralded as the universal panacea for all social ills and shortcomings.

In this presentation I seek to elaborate on what the changing context may mean for heads of schools or other education institutions in Tanzania, and the basic challenges they are likely to face, as well as putting forward propositions for possible ways out.