Less fortunate teachers working under uncaring and arrogant head teachers normally lie low and fly under the radar to avoid brushing shoulders with authority.
More often than not, abrasive administrators believe they are perfectionists and sprawl in. They normally never see an iota of anything good from their teachers unless they themselves are involved in doing anything.
This type of behaviour draws imaginary battle lines and dangles defences, leading to an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere in the school. A buffer zone exists between the head teacher and the teachers, which leads to dishonest communication systems.
On the contrary, they hit back skillfully by giving the head teacher a dose of their own medicine.
Some teachers, especially when they feel wrong, use dishonest statements like, “I came late because my child was sick, “I was absent because my wife/husband had been admitted”, among other forms of white lies.
Other latecomers resort to entering the school compound through the fence, while others, especially ladies, give their bags to some learners to avoid being detected as latecomers despite having a genuine reason for the same.
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Teachers deviate from the truth to avoid the head teacher’s flaring temper. Teachers who have perfected the skill package are the difficult head teachers accordingly.
Some teachers sanitize themselves before the head teacher through idle talk or chit-chat, distracting the head teacher from the wrongs he wants to condemn. Such teachers leave the head teacher’s office smiling, signifying a perfected, dignified lying skill.
Some lady teachers would pretentiously behave as if they were very close companions to the head teacher just to avoid being victimized as wrongdoers.
Other teachers are remarkably sinful and unnatural, especially after committing a professional felony; they instinctively pretend that they have just come from a funeral.
The facial looks of the difficult head teacher would determine whom the teacher would “kill”, this time, and after a few months, the same lie is repeated.
Teachers normally induct their colleagues with workable and appealing responses that the abrasive head would wish to hear.
A difficult administrator makes his life and that of teachers difficult, and he should, therefore, stoop low by changing his style of administration so that sincere answers can come from the teachers.
The principal must prioritize open communication and address teachers’ concerns professionally to read from the same script as the teachers.
By Hillary Muhalya
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