This study is about the bases of power used by public secondary school administrators as related to their performance and teachers’ job satisfaction in the public secondary schools of Tarlac Province for the school year 2003-2004 with an end view of drawing educational implications for administration and supervision.
The correlational research design was utilized to describe the relationships of the bases of power used by public secondary school administrators and their performance and teachers’ job satisfaction. This study also made use of the analytical survey as it raised inference about the population.
The research locale of the study was the 31 public secondary schools in the Schools Division of Tarlac Province including the Tarlac City Schools.
The data on schools and teacher population were taken from school year 2003-2004. There were 55 public secondary schools in the Schools Division of Tarlac Province including the Tarlac City Schools. Approximately 56.36 % of the public secondary schools in the Schools Division of Tarlac Province were randomly selected per cluster. From there, 6 teacher-respondents per school were used as samples.
The study resulted to the following:
- Most commonly used bases of power, such as physical power, legitimate power, gender power, referent power and expert power, by the school administrators gave credence to their being on the power play position while the remainder bases of power where very lowly never been resorted to by them in the conduct of their duties.
- Administrators’ very satisfactory performance had shown their in-depth and proper orientation to their chosen field of endeavor, which was administration and supervision. Professional and personal characteristics, occupational competence, punctuality and attendance as well as their plus factors demonstrated their inclination to implement and achieve the Department of Education’s vision and mission for academic excellence, quality, efficiency and effectiveness in the academe.
- Most of the teachers obtained high satisfaction ratings in their job based on the following components: work itself; achievement; recognition; advancement; school policies and administration; supervision; working condition; interpersonal relations; salary; and, fringe benefits. These meant sufficient and necessary orientation teachers were subjected into prior to their entry in the teaching profession.
- There existed positive, significant correlations between these bases of power and administrators’ performance, namely: expert power; legitimate power; referent power; gender power; physical power; and, reward power. Contrariwise, economic power, political power and coercive power were negatively, significantly related to administrators’ performance. Administrators’ use of the bases of power vis-à-vis with their performance is ends in themselves in the attainment of educational goals and objectives.
- Administrators’ use of some of the bases of power were positively, significantly related to teachers’ job satisfaction. These included physical power, gender power, referent power, expert power, and legitimate power, which are highly contributory to better administrative, supervisory and professional and interpersonal development, and as reference frames for better organizational setup.
The study recommends the following:
For Public Secondary School Administrators
- Most commonly used bases of power are advantageous to public secondary school administrators when properly applied both in time and place. The bases of power that were never exercise often by administrators must be dealt with caution since these can be bases for the withdrawal or forfeiture of power when viewed from extreme perspective.
- Professional and personal characteristics must be outstandingly displayed since administrators’ possession of these personality traits are becoming of leaders: administrators’ very satisfactory rating in occupational competence was commendable and the world of work is spacious as it can be – administrators then must better aspire in the attainment of academic excellence. On attendance and punctuality excellent time management must be sought after. While administrators’ chairmanship in various trainings, seminar-workshops, symposia and the like in school, cluster, division, regional, national and international level must be well-considered and done always with distinction as part of the overall performance criteria.
- The significant correlations among the bases of power, namely, expert power; legitimate power; referent power; gender power; physical power; and, reward power must be counterbalanced by excellent performance. However, in matters of insignificance of economic power, political power and coercive power in relation to administrators’ performance better ways and means, that is, on dispensatory maneuvering techniques for these three bases of power should be sought after.
- Some bases of power, namely: physical power, gender power, referent power, expert power, and legitimate power showed positive significant relationship with teachers’ job satisfaction. Hence, administrators must reconsider the judicious application of the bases of power as instrumental in the overall job satisfaction level of teachers when apt to.
- For Teachers: 5.1 Contributory to teachers’ satisfaction was their high regard for their teaching profession. Teachers should then consider themselves as leaders in the ever-rejuvenation of the new frontiers of teaching-learning experiences. 5.2 Some of the bases of power established significant relationships with teachers’ job satisfaction. In spite of this, teachers must still be wary enough not to fester with the powerholders’ capacity to dispense every base of power to their disadvantage.