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

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.