Application of Andragogical Principles by Administrators to help Erring Teachers in Selected Secondary Schools in Lusaka District

Application of Andragogical Principles by Administrators to help Erring Teachers in Selected Secondary Schools in Lusaka District

*Mutinta Mabbolobbolo, Daniel Ndhlovu, Naoh Sichula
University of Zambia
*Correponding Author

Abstract

The study sought to explore the application of andragogical principles by administrators to help erring teachers in selected public secondary schools in Lusaka District. The sample size was 112 which comprised of 62 administrators and 50 teachers. The study was guided by Skinner’s Theory of behavioral modification which focuses on how human beings learn and also how behavior could be controlled.  Concurrent transformative design was employed. As a result of using the concurrent transformative design, quantitative methods were entrenched within the qualitative design. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently during one data collection period.  However, priority was given to qualitative methods and data.  Subsequently, quantitative data was embedded in to support qualitative data.  The interview guide and questionnaire were used to collect data.  Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data while Microsoft word excel was used to analyze quantitative data.  The study established that there were economic and social factors that caused teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  There were also other frustrations. The major economic factor was the high cost of living which embedded meagre salaries, non-payment or delayed payment of deserving allowances, lack of accommodation, debt burden and financial indiscipline. 46% of the teacher respondents were of the view that meagre salaries paid by government led to teacher indiscipline, 36% felt it was debt burden while 9% attributed teacher indiscipline to financial indiscipline.  Other frustrations included favoritism, delayed appointments and promotions, unfair promotions, poor communication and management skills.  Based on the transformative view point, it was recommended that Government build more houses and pay teachers deserving allowances on time.  Additionally, Teaching Service Commission and Ministry of Education should promote teachers on time and promotions should be done on merit.  Administrators should be transformational in their leadership practices to help erring teachers in secondary schools through the application of andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, the role of experience, self-directedness, readiness to learning, orientation to learning and the need to know.  Motivation is associated to Skinner’s positive and negative reinforcement.

Keywords: Andragogical principles, leadership practice, indiscipline.

Background of the study

This paper discusses the application of andragogical principles by administrators to help erring teachers in selected secondary schools of Lusaka District.  It was established that teacher indiscipline still existed in public secondary schools.  In Zambia, Banja, (2013) lamented that The Teaching Service Commission had on several occasions dismissed teacher for several offences which included examination malpractice, absenteeism, reporting for work while drunk and flirting out with learners.  It was observed that despite the professionalization of teaching by enactment of Statutory Instrument No. 1 of 2018, which is the Code of Ethics for teachers, some teachers were still found erring.  This therefore, necessitated the need to explore how administrators applied andragogical principles in their leadership practices to help erring teachers in public secondary schools.  Andragogical principles include the role of motivation, role of experience, self-directedness, readiness to learning, orientation to learning and the need to know.

Andragogical principles refer to the rules that explains the learning and teaching of adults.  These emanate from andragogy which is the science of helping adults to learn (Knowles et al., 2015). Boufettal et al. (2005) argued that known for their versatility andragogical principles can be used in part or in full in adult activities.  This is because they help in the creation of conducive learning and working environments thereby curbing teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.  Andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, the role of experience, self-directedness, readiness to learning, orientation   and the need to know are largely applied in the learning and teaching of adults plus community development activities.  However, they are also applied in leadership practices by school administrators. Andragogical principles resonate well with transformational leadership Barlett and Bartling (2009).  Thus, when applied appropriately school administrators, they help in reducing teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.

This paper considers indiscipline in schools as failure to adhere to the expected standards of behavior by teachers.  In line with this, Kaponda (2021) defined teacher indiscipline as acts of misbehavior by teachers that have effects of compromising teaching and learning in schools.  This was contrary to the expectations of The Teaching Service Commission in Zambia.  According to Teaching Service Commission (2018) teacher discipline translated to good conduct and behavior by teachers with positive attitudes devoid of absenteeism, examinations malpractice, flirting with school learners, reporting for work while drunk, drinking on duty and indecent dressing.  Despite the existence of the Code of Ethics for teachers, cases of teacher indiscipline were still being experienced in public secondary schools.  School administrators in secondary schools apply andragogical principles in part or in full in order to reduce incidences of teacher indiscipline in secondary schools and help erring teachers.  However, some school administrators were quick to recommend transfers and dismissals for erring teachers without engaging teachers befittingly as adult offenders.  Longwe (2009) recommended that “there are certain things that the headmaster can do to assist teachers to keep this temptation before they are weeded out by the system.  This was attributed to poor communication and management skills (Banja, 2013).  Considering that administrators handled adults in different situations, application of andragogical principles was necessary in their leadership practices.

Application of andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, the role of experience, self-directedness, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and the need to know by administrators in public secondary schools was considered necessary due to the unique challenges and opportunities experienced in the 21^st century.  Andragogical principles facilitate the creation of a conducive learning and working environments thereby fostering trust between School administrators and the teachers (Nafukho et al., 2005).  When this occurs, cases of teacher indiscipline are reduced and teachers get confidence from administrators. School administrators are role models to teachers under their charge hence the need for good conduct in their leadership practices to help erring teachers and promote teacher discipline.  Teachers are also projected to exhibit good behavior at all times for the attainment of harmony between themselves and administrators.  Accordingly, this paper was guided by the research question, what are the causes of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.

Selected Literature Review

This section presents the causes of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.

Causes of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools

Teacher indiscipline is failure to adhere to the expected standard of behavior by teachers.  In line with this, Kaponda (2021) defined teacher discipline as acts of behavior by teachers that have effects of compromising teaching and learning in schools.  This was contrary to the Teaching Service Commission in Zambia.  According to the Teaching Service Commission (2018) teacher discipline translates to good conduct and behavior with positive attitudes devoid of absenteeism, examination malpractice, flirting with learners, reporting for work while drunk, drinking on duty while drunk and indecent dressing. However, teacher indiscipline existed in some public secondary schools as a result of poor attitudes from some administrators towards their work.  In Zambia, Banja (2013) bemoaned that the Teaching Service Commission had on several times dismissed teachers for various offences including absenteeism, reporting for work while drunk and examinations malpractice.  Banja (2013) further defined teacher indiscipline as the teachers’ acts of behavior that negatively affected effective teaching, learning and administration.  Subsequently, teachers were projected to be professional with responsibility to conserve the future and the destiny of the nation.

There are many factors that caused teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.  Oghuvbu (2005) conducted a study in Nigeria on teacher indiscipline.  The study revealed that the causes of teacher indiscipline in Nigeria were poor conditions of service, irregular promotions and payment salaries, poor professional training, poor teacher relationship with school heads, inadequate facilities and instructional quality, improper placement of teachers, moral value, poor quality students for higher education leading to decrease rate of national development as impacts of teacher indiscipline on school administration.  Consequently, administrators were projected to uphold relevance, fairness and consistency when handling teachers and dealing with discipline cases.

Phinias (2021) steered a study to explore the causes of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools of Gairo District in Morogoro Region of Tanzania.  The study was conducted using a qualitative research approach and targeted the District Teacher Service Department, District Chief Inspector, Heads of schools, teachers and students.  It was established that teachers’ indiscipline was the major problem towards realization of quality education in public secondary schools.  Accordingly, teachers’ unethical practices had negative impacts towards teachers’ work performance.  This was because teachers who engaged in misconduct failed to commit themselves to their duties and responsibilities.  The study revealed that the causes of teacher indiscipline in schools public schools in Tanzania were mainly poor professional knowledge, poor living and working environments, influence of science and technology and infrequent visits by Educational Officials.  Poor professional knowledge was an indication that teacher indiscipline existed in public schools as a result of transactional leadership practices by some administrators.  Ofori (2005) attested that inability of school management to communicate issues, rules and new developments in schools to teachers led to misunderstandings which were a potential source of teacher indiscipline.  Some of these causes of teacher indiscipline in public schools could be avoided by application of some of the andragogical principles such the role of experience and the need to know.

Kaponda (2021) conducted a study on management of Teacher disciple in urban secondary schools of Kasama district in Zambia.  A phenomenology was used as a research design and qualitative data was obtained.  It was revealed that the prevalence of teacher indiscipline was moderate whereas the challenges faced in managing teacher discipline included too much bureaucracy and inefficiencies in generating disciplinary cases.  Additionally, some managers were said to sit on cases while others were unskilled in handling disciplinary cases.  Other discoveries were that there was lack of effective leadership in public schools with no skills to contain indiscipline among teachers.  Oghubvu (2005) postulated that failure to apply rules and regulations effectively and equally by school administrators leads to teacher indiscipline among hard working teachers.  It was apparent that there was need to equip school administrators with surfeit of skills and knowledge that would enable them to critically analyze the challenges faced and opportunities available to schools in the prevailing conditions in order to implement management of discipline effectively.  Therefore, application of some of the andragogical principles such as the role of experience, readiness to learn and the need to know became necessary for administrators.

Application of andragogical principles such the role of motivation allowed administrators to reduce teacher indiscipline by engaging them and tapping from their vast experience in decision making.  This was premised on the fact that adults came to learn and work with an accumulation of knowledge and experience (Nafukho et al., 2005).  This fostered trust between administrators and teachers and to some extent reduced incidences of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.  Thus, andragogy and its principles were necessary in school administration considering that administrators were constantly engaging with adults with experience, self-directed and desired to be motivated for the attainment of self-actualization.

Methodology

The study used a pragmatism paradigm with a view of obtaining a combination of positivism and constructivism methods.  These methods complement each other when well used.  Accordingly, a concurrent transformative design was employed.  The concurrent transformative design was considered as it allows the use of a theory to direct the study and collection of both qualitative and quantitative data.  Subsequently, a mixed method using a concurrent transformative design was conducted to explore how administrators applied andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, the role of experience, self-directedness, readiness to learning, orientation to learning and the need to know in schools to help erring teachers and curb teacher indiscipline.

By using the concurrent transformative design, quantitative data were entrenched within a qualitative design (Creswell et al., 2007).  Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered concurrently during one data collection stage and precedence was placed on qualitative methods and data. Quantitative data was embedded to support qualitative data.  As regards to mixing, qualitative and quantitative data were mixed in the presentation of results and discussion of results.  In line with theorizing, it is a characteristic in concurrent transformative design that considers whether a theory guided the research design and whether the study advocates for change in undertaking things. Thus, this study was guided by Skinner’s theory of behavioral modification.  The study hopes to transform administrators’ leadership practices to help erring teachers by application of andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and the need to know.

The study population included all head teachers, deputy head teachers, heads of department and teachers in Lusaka district of Zambia.  Administrators were included in the study because they were projected to inculcate discipline among teachers to help erring teachers.  Teachers were involved because it was assumed that they were under the charge of administrators and expected to exhibit good conduct at all times in public secondary schools.

In terms of selection of schools, the seven (7) schools were identified because they are big schools in Lusaka district with high numbers of teaches.  Consequently, teachers could provide the needed data to the study.

The sample size was 112 comprising of 62 administrators and 50 teachers.  Administrators comprised six (6) head teachers, seven (7) deputy head teachers and seven (7) heads of department from the seven (7) identified schools.  Considering that, the study was a mixed research design, the number 62 was adequate from the qualitative point of view where emphasis was placed.   This was consistent with Boddy (2021) who argued that the determination of sample sizes in qualitative research was contextual and partially depended on the research paradigm under which the investigation was taking place. Mason (2004) equally advised that sample sizes in qualitative research ranged from one to ninety-five.  Additionally, the number was adequate because data saturation begins at six (6).  The total population of teachers was 500 hence 10% of 500 is 50 which was adequate from the quantitative point of view.  This was in tandem with Bullen (2021) who stated that quantitative research required a reasonable sample size which is normally 10% of the total population.  Alreck and Settle (2004) also opined that a good maximum sample size is usually 10% of the population as long as it does not exceed 1000.

Expert purposive and random sampling procedures were used to select administrators and teachers.  Expert purposive sampling was used to select administrators because of their expert knowledge and experiences in the application of andragogical principles which encompassed the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and the need to know.    This was consistent with Frey (2018) who reported that expert purposive sampling involved identifying who could inform an inquiry through knowledge and experiences.

Simple random sampling was used to select teachers.  A questionnaire was distributed to teachers for the purposes of obtaining quantitative data.  A questionnaire saves time and asks all respondents the same questions.  The questionnaire was considered appropriate in order to obtain quantitative data for descriptive statistics which were later presented into frequency distribution tables.  An interview guide was used to generate qualitative data from administrators.  Interview conducted allowed for follow-up questions.

Trustworthiness was based on credibility, dependability and confirmability of data.  Subsequently, data from the interviews was compared with data from the questionnaire to check for truth of data collected.  Additionally, trustworthy was upheld through participants’ data verification during the data collection period.

Qualitative data was analyzed thematically while quantitative data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel.  Microsoft Excel facilitated the generation of descriptive statistics which were later presented in forms of frequency distribution tables.

Ethical clearance was obtained by the researcher from the Humanities and Social Science Research Committee of the University of Zambia prior to proceeding in the field for data collection.  The researcher obtained written consent from participants with their names withheld.  Participants were informed about their right to withdraw from the study when they felt uncomfortable with the procedures of the study.  Additionally, participants were told about their rights not to respond to questions that made them feel uncomfortable.  Participants and respondents were assured that data collected through their participation was going to be securely stored and inaccessible by anyone other than the researcher and the supervisors.  Furthermore, the purpose of the study was explained to participants and respondents while in the field.  Permission to collect data was obtained from the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) of Lusaka district.

Findings

For the purpose of addressing the research question, findings on the causes of teacher indiscipline were categorized in three aspects which were economic, social factors and other frustrations.  Adherence to the Code of Ethics for teachers was also highlighted.

Economic factors

According to administrators, the major cause of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools was the high cost of living which crystalized into three themes.  These were meagre salaries, non-payment of deserving allowances and financial indiscipline among teachers.  As regards meagre salaries, administrators were of the view that teachers’ salaries were not sufficient to meet their daily needs.  They lamented that the cost of living in Zambia was very high and teachers were affected.   Teachers were not accommodated by their work stations which made life for them difficult.  Consequently, teachers rented houses at high costs and for some of them the houses were far from the work places.  Additionally, most teachers spent a lot of money on transport costs.  HT 4 stated that:

The cost of living in the country is high, teachers spend a lot on accommodation and transport costs therefore, they are highly indebted.

Teachers engaged in other economic activities to earn extra income which led to teacher absenteeism.  DHT 7 reported that:

Teachers venture into other economic ventures to raise extra income.  This leads to teacher absenteeism e.g selling of pamphlets, foot ware and clothing during working hours which reduced contact time with learn.

Table 1: Economic factors

Frequency table 1 shows that 23 (46%) teachers indicated that teacher indiscipline was caused by meagre salaries paid by government, 18 (36%) stated that teacher indiscipline was caused by debt burdens among teachers while 9 (18%) attributed teacher indiscipline to financial indiscipline among teachers.  Therefore, majority 23 (46%) teachers attributed teacher indiscipline to meagre salaries paid to them by government. Teachers bemoaned the meagre salaries paid to them by government as compared to the high cost of living experienced in the country.

Social Factors

Under social factors, five themes emerged which included alcohol abuse, marital challenges, family challenges, peer pressure and abuse of social media.  For alcohol abuse, administrators pointed out that some teachers abused alcohol which led to absenteeism in schools visited.  Teachers that abused alcohol stayed away from work or reported for work late while smelling beer.  DHT 5 bemoaned that:

Some male teachers drink beer in excess and fail to come for work or report late or report late while smelling beer which is very bad for learners.

HOD 40   equally reported that:

Some male teachers run away from work to the nearest bars to drink beer when they are free and come back to teach.

Table 2: Social factors

Frequency table 2 above shows that 19 (38%) of the 50 teachers attributed alcohol abuse as a cause of teacher indiscipline, 14 (28%) peer pressure, 9 (18) family challenges while 8 (16%) of the 50 teachers mentioned marital challenges.  Consequently, majority 19 (38%) of the 50 teachers were of the view that alcohol abuse caused teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  Generally, adults performed well in environments free of challenges.  However, most families in Zambia were faced with social challenges and teachers were not spared.  One respondent, (T4) reported that:

Some of our fellow teachers have problems with their families which make them to be indiscipline by absenting themselves.

Another teacher, T 14 added that:

He divorced with his wife and has turned to alcohol and misses lessons.

Other Frustrations

The study revealed that there were other frustrations that caused teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.  Administrators attested that other frustrations encompassed non- promotions and unfair promotions, favoritism, political engagements, abuse of social media, poor management and communication skills.

In terms of non-promotions and unfair promotions, it was established some teachers had been in the teaching service for very long time without promotions which to a greater extent frustrated them.  This was demotivating and led to insubordination in some cases. To this effect, HOD 31 stated that:

Lack of promotions has frustrated teachers.  Many heads of department have acted in this positions for a long time without appointments and confirmations.  When given assignments, they don’t perform diligently due to uncertainties. They sometimes shun assignments which is insubordination.

In some cases, young teachers and non-performers but connected to the power that be were promoted to supervise long serving teachers which frustrated them further.  As a result of this, long serving teachers shunned work and did not perform to the expected standards.  HOD 11 stated that:

It’s so sad that some of us are supervised by young teachers promoted to Head teachers or deputy head teacher positions.  Infact, we are not ready to get instructions from them.

The study is established that some administrators believed that promotions were not done on merit by the Teaching Service Commission and Ministry of Education.  HOD 20 mentioned that:

Teaching Service Commission and Ministry of Education are frustrating officers.  A good number of non- performers are getting promoted at the expense of good performers because of connections.  These non-performers revenge on good performers when appointed to management positions.  Thus, good performers get frustrated and stay away work and other responsibilities as they feel not appreciated.

Another frustration was that a good number of teachers had upgraded in terms of qualifications and expected to be promoted to higher salary scales which did not happen.  This frustrated many teachers who later resorted to bad vices.  HT 6 lamented that:

Lack of upgrade by relevant authorities has frustrated teachers which eventually led to teacher indiscipline.

Table 3: Other frustrations

Fig.3 above shows that 15 (30%) of the 50 teachers reported that lack of promotions and upgrades for teachers caused teacher indiscipline, 10 (20%) of the 50 teachers favoritism by administrators, 13 (26%) poor administrative and communication skills while 12 (24%) of the 50 teacher indicated that lack of motivation by school administrators and government caused teacher indiscipline.  Thus, majority of the teachers 15 (30%) stated that teacher indiscipline was attributed lack of promotions and upgrades of teachers.  To this effect, T 25 had this to say:

It’s very disheartening where teachers have served for a long time, they have qualifications but are not considered for promotions.

Another teacher, T1 lamented that:

Some us borrowed money to improve our qualifications but upon completion, there are no promotions, even salary upgrades.  This is very unfair and frustrating thereby leading to poor performance.

Table 4: Adherence to the Code of Ethics – Administrators

Figure 4 above shows that 42 (69%) agreed that teachers adhered to the code of ethics for teachers, 10 (16%) disagreed while 9 (15%) were not sure.  Therefore, majority 42 (69) administrators indicated that there was adherence to the code of ethics for teachers.

Table 5: Adherence to the Code of Ethics – Teachers

Figure 5 shows that 30 (30%) approved that there was adherence by teachers to the code of ethics, 14 (28%) denied adherence of the code of ethics by teachers whereas 6 (12%) were not sure.  Thus majority 30 (30%) of the teachers agreed that there was adherence to the code of ethics by teachers.

Discussion of findings

 Causes of indiscipline in secondary schools

There are many factors that cause teacher indiscipline in secondary schools. The study established that there are economic and social factors causing teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  However, other than economic and social factors, there are also other frustrations that led to teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  Economic factors included the high cost of living in Zambia which frustrated many as a result of meagre salaries.  Others included non-payment of deserving allowances and financial indiscipline.  Social causes of teacher indiscipline included alcohol abuse, marital and family challenges, peer pressure and social media.  Other frustrations included non-promotions and unfair promotions, poor management and communication skills and political engagements.  The study findings were in line with Banja (2013) who reported that factors influencing teacher discipline in secondary schools included socialization of teachers, poor conditions of service, teacher stress, poor professional training and lack of effective management.

 Economic factors causing teacher indiscipline

The study established that the main economic factors causing teacher indiscipline in secondary schools was the high cost of living in Zambia.  Nevertheless, the cost of living did not only affect teachers but also other officers in the Public Service. The harmonization of salaries in the civil service between 2009 and 2012 leveled the playing field in that teachers were no longer viewed as the only ones with poor conditions of service. This was according to ZNBC (2011) who reported that government had launched a Job Evaluation Exercise for the public service through the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) on 28^th January, 2011.  The aim of this exercise was to address the employees’ perception on fairness of job grading system and salary structures.  However, administrators and teachers bemoaned the high cost of living in the country and attributed this to poor conditions of service.  Most schools did not provide accommodation hence teachers rented houses which were more expensive than what they received from government as housing allowances.  Additionally, they had to meet transport costs which were equally high for them to get to their various work stations.  This finding was in agreement with Oghuvbu (2005) who postulated that teacher indiscipline in Nigeria was caused by poor conditions of service.  As a result of the high cost of living in Zambia, teachers in secondary schools ventured in other economic activities for them to earn extra income.  Other than spending on accommodation and transport, teachers were expected to provide for their families’ basic needs and other requirements which were equally on the high side due to inflation.   This finding was in agreement with Phinias (2021) who reported that the causes of teacher indiscipline in Tanzania were among other things poor living and work environments.

Thus, the high cost of living in Zambia exacerbated absenteeism in secondary schools.  Absenteeism is on the increase as a result of teachers venturing into other economic activities such as selling clothing and footwear, private tuitions, lecturing in private Colleges and Universities to earn extra income. Venturing into such activities during working hours constituted teacher indiscipline. This reduced contact time with learners and compromised the quality of education in Zambia.  This was in line with Oghuvbvu’s findings (2005) that indiscipline teachers were not committed to their work hence affected the quality of education in Nigeria. Other teachers engaged in unpalatable vices such as examination mal practices and illegal enrollment of learners for them to earn extra income.  This was an indication that teachers were under pressure and constantly stressed to make ends meet.  Adults don’t like to learn and work under stressful conditions.  They withdraw from learning and working activities when their needs are not met as expected (Nafukho et. al 2005).  Adults learn and work well in conducive environments free of stress.

The study also discovered that non-payment of deserving allowances frustrated teachers and forced them to resort to unpleasant vices.  Government took long to pay settling allowances, leave travel benefits and responsibility allowances.    The abolishment of Academic Production Unit (APU) classes and introduction of afternoon classes worsened the frustrations of teachers. Allowances drawn from APU classes were completely lost which reduced their expected income.  This was indeed negative reinforcement and led to poor performance by some teachers due to absenteeism and late reporting for work. When teachers absented themselves from work, they ventured in other economic activities. This constituted indiscipline as they demonstrated lack of commit to work.  This finding was in line with Phinias (2021) who reported that teacher’s unethical practices in Tanzania had negative impact towards teachers’ work performance as teachers who engaged in misconduct failed to commit themselves to their duties and responsibilities. The need to know principle is supportive in helping erring teachers in that if administrators applied it by explaining to teachers the consequences of unethical conduct, cases of indiscipline would reduce in secondary schools.   This would coerce teachers to do the right thing at the right time. Some teachers were found wanting in some areas as a result of ignorance and the manner in which information was presented to them. When administrators become aware that adults need to know what, how, why and where certain activities must be undertaken or not undertaken, erring teachers would be helped to some extent.

Under economic factors causing teacher indiscipline in secondary school, the also study established that there existed financial indiscipline among teachers.  Some teachers over borrowed from financial lending institution and shylocks in order to keep up appearance and to match their peers.  Others borrowed to meet their daily basic needs, school fees and to pay for accommodation. The study attributed this to lack of financial literacy programmes among teachers.  Subsequently, Financial literacy was |necessary in secondary schools in that it enabled teachers spend, save and borrow money responsibly. Knowles’ (2010) principle “need to know” principle required that adults were made to know the benefits of something for them to perform better.  Therefore, financial literacy programmes were inevitable for teachers in secondary schools and had the potential to reduce financial indiscipline. Nafukho et al (2005) attested that the need to know included the benefits derived from knowledge acquired or skills learnt and any negatives of not learning new skills or not enrolling in a specific programme such as financial literacy which were not provided by secondary schools in Zambia.  Financial literacy in secondary schools was necessary in that it had the potential to promote best financial practices teachers among teachers thereby reducing the indiscipline.

social factors

The study established that social factors contributed to teacher indiscipline in secondary schools in Zambia.  These included alcohol abuse, marital and family challenges, peer pressure and abuse of social media.  Social factors that existed in secondary schools and led to teacher indiscipline.  For instance, some teachers were found wanting due to marital and family challenges hence absented themselves from work.  However, they were not handled appropriately in some cases by some administrators. Some administrators screamed at such teachers in the presence of other teachers.  This was indeed aversive stimuli which administrators need to avoid when dealing with adults.  Johnstone (2014) argued that aversive stimuli included things like humiliation, frustration and hurtful words.  Subsequently, this finding was at variance with Knowles (2010) principles of adult learning which holds the view that adults learn and work well in conducive working environments.   Adults learn and work well when their facilitators or supervisors respect and empathize with them when they are passing through difficult situations as opposed to rebuking them publicly (Merriam et al., 2007) Unfortunately, some administrators were not applying andragogical principles such as motivation acceptably to help erring teachers.  Additionally, communication to teachers was not done befittingly. Some administrators screamed at erring teachers which further frustrated them and to a greater extent withdrew from certain school activities. This discovery was in line with Ofori (2005) who bemoaned that inability of school management to communicate issues, rules, and new development to teachers led to misunderstandings which were a potential source of indiscipline.  Application of the need to know principle of andragogy helped erring teachers and reduced teacher indiscipline.  Boufettal etal. (2009) argued that known and appreciated for their versatility andragogy principles and methods could be used in full or partially in the creation of a conducive learning and working environments.

Administrators are anticipated to engage erring teacher through dialogue to understand the root causes of their bad vices as opposed to being confrontational by shouting at teachers who reported late for work in corridors.  This widened the gap between teachers and administrators hence increased cases of teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.   Adult learning and working is based on mutual respect between the supervisor and the workers (Boufettal et al., 2009).  Mutual respect required administrators to understand past experiences of erring teachers including bad experiences and vice versa.  Merriam etal. (2007) argued that adults tend to learn or work by drawing from their previous experiences.  Previous experience includes, positive and negative experiences hence the need for administrators to appreciate teachers’ past experiences.

To help erring teachers, administrators are projected to be empathetic as they handled them in secondary schools to reduce incidences of teacher indiscipline and help erring teachers.  This was not the case in some schools due to leadership practices in use.  This was in agreement with Kaponda (2021) who reported that there was lack of effective leadership in public schools with no skills to contain indiscipline among teachers.  It is important for administrators in schools to be transformational in their practices for them to help erring teachers appropriately. This was possible through application of andragogical principles which are the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness, readiness to earn, orientation to learning and the need to know.  These could be used in part or in full.   Administrators were also expected to counsel teachers appropriately for them in order to help erring teachers befittingly.  Counselling teachers in the presence of Heads of departments intimidated them further and withheld information which could had been availed if one on one counselling was done.  However, this required administrators to possess good communication skills and appreciating andragogical principles which encompass the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and need to know.

Other frustrations that cause teacher indiscipline

The study determined that, other than economic and social factors leading to teacher indiscipline, there were other challenges that caused teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  These included non-promotions and unfair promotions, favoritism, poor management and communication skills and political engagements.  Failure by government and administrators in secondary schools to address the mentioned vices led to frustrations by teachers and later on indiscipline.

Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and Ministry of Education (MOE) were projected to promote Subject teachers and other officers on time and appropriately.  This was not the case which demotivated teachers whereby some of them resorted to unpalatable vices such as absenteeism.  This finding was in tandem with Oghuvbu (2005) who postulated that the causes of teacher indiscipline in schools in Nigeria were poor conditions of service, inadequate facilities, irregular promotion and payment of salaries.  Adults anticipated improved quality of life through promotions and that was what motivated some officers to work hard and upgrading their professional qualification.  Knowles etal. (2005:68) contends that:

even though adults can be motivated by external factors such as higher salaries, better jobs in future, they are more motivated to learn or work by internal pressures such as the desire for increased job satisfaction, self- esteem and quality of life issues.

 Therefore, teachers and administrators who acted in positions without promotions and confirmations in acting positions never experienced job satisfaction and self-esteem as workers.  Their quality of life never changed as a result of being in class for a long period of time and remaining in acting positions for a long time without confirmations in appointments.  This finding was at variance with the role of motivation which was one of the principles applied in adult learning and working activities (Knowles, 2010.)

Favoritism, poor management and communication skills were also discovered to be the causes of teacher indiscipline in schools. Such practices by school administrators frustrated teachers to the extent that they withdrew from important school activities which constituted teacher indiscipline. When found wanting, some teachers were not disciplined as a result of being favorites to administrators. To support this, William and Lebrun (2009) stated that lack of effective management of teacher discipline and inability of educational managers to use a particular disciplinary strategy at an appropriate time and condition led to teacher indiscipline.  Andragogical principles such as the role of motivation and experience when applied appropriately led to transformational leadership were administrators and teachers were viewed as partners in the process of administration without having some teachers as favorites.  This helped in reducing incidences of teacher indiscipline in schools.   Knowledge of andragogical principles such as the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness and need to know gave an insight to administrators on how to handle adults fittingly and avoiding incidences of favoritism, poor management and communication skills.  Known for their versatility andragogical principles have the potential of creation of a good working environment thereby, helping erring teachers in secondary school (Boufettal et al., 2009).

 Adherence to the code of ethics for teachers

The study established that teachers were adhering to the code of ethics for teachers because they executed their duties as expected.  However, triangulation of findings reviewed that teachers had not read and appreciated the code of ethics even when it was a statutory instrument (SI).  This was mainly the reason why some teachers were still found erring and charged for offences such as beer drinking, absenteeism, immoral conduct with learners, examinations malpractice, and insubordination, abuse of social media, political engagements and borrowing money from learners as well as parents.  The study attributed this to the poor manner in which it was disseminated to teachers by the Teaching Council of Zambia and other stakeholders.

The Code of Ethics for teachers was an important Statutory Instrument that professionalized teaching in Zambia hence the need for proper communication to teachers and other officers for avoidance of misinterpretations leading to teacher indiscipline.   This was in tandem with   Ofori (2018) who argued that inability of government and school management to communicate issues, rules and new developments to schools and teachers appropriately led to misunderstandings which became a potential source of teacher indiscipline.  Knowles ‘need to know’ principles required that documents like the Code of Ethics for teachers were clearly explained in a relaxed and friendly environment for teachers (adults) to understand its benefits to the teaching professional (Knowles, 2010).  That way teachers would have read, understood and appreciated the Code of Ethics for teachers thereby professionalizing teaching and reducing incidences of teacher indiscipline in public secondary schools.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The study concluded that there economic, social factors and other frustrations that caused teacher indiscipline in secondary schools.  Economic factors included the high cost of living against meagre salaries paid to teachers and poor conditions of service in Zambia, debt burdens, non-payment of deserving allowances and financial indiscipline.  Social factors encompassed alcohol abuse, peer pressure, marital and family challenges and abuse of social media. Other frustrations were non- promotions and unfair promotions, favoritism, poor management and communication skills.  It was discovered that these causes of teacher indiscipline were similar in other African countries like Nigeria and Tanzania.  The study also revealed that the Code of Ethics for teacher was not read by a good number of teachers.

The study recommended that government must build more houses for teachers and improve the conditions of service for teachers.  Additionally, teachers should be promoted on time and promotions done on merit by the Teaching Service Commission and Ministry of Education.  Administrators were encouraged to be transformational in their leadership practices through the application of andragogical principles which include the role of motivation, experience, self-directedness, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and the need to know.  The Teaching Council of Zambia should continue sensitizing teachers in schools on the Code of Ethics for teachers which is a Statutory Instrument.

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