The Institutionalisation of Teacher Ethics in Tanzania’s Secondary Schools: A School Heads’ Perspective

Abstract

This paper explores practices that school heads employ to institutionalise teacher ethics in Tanzania’s secondary schools. It draws on qualitative data, generated through in-depth face-to-face interviews and document analyses. Secondary school heads, teachers and students from Iringa Municipality were involved in the study. The findings demonstrate that school heads employed several strategies to institutionalise teacher ethics, which include staff induction, allotment of weekly virtue practices, supervising and counselling individual teachers, assembling staff meetings and posting ethics related placards on staff room noticeboards. The study has shown that most of the practices lacked a profound impact on shaping teachers’ professional conduct. The study adds
knowledge to school leadership literature from Tanzania, particularly on the aspect of teacher ethics. Accordingly, the study recommends that school heads should institute mentoring programmes where by earlycareer teachers are attached to veteran teachers to regularly enhance their professional knowledge and behaviour. School heads should exemplify ethical conduct within and outside school premises by serving as role models for the teachers to facilitate the promotion of teacher ethics. Furthermore, education officers at the regional and district level should provide professional development programmes for school heads to
further raise the awareness and confidence of school heads’ professional obligations.