Total Quality Management : perceptions of secondary school teachers/educators on TQM in the Lobatse, South–East and Kanye areas of Botswana

(M.Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2004The focus of this research study is to determine teacher's perceptions on Total Quality Management(TQM) in secondary schools in the Lobatse area, Kanye area and the South East District of Botswana. Lobatse is an urban area and this research was carried out in all the secondary schools of the town, whilst Ramotswa and Kanye are peri-urban areas. The schools in which this research was carried out consist of both Junior secondary schools and Senior secondary schools. TQM basically means conscious improvement, in this context on matters of education. Only well managed schools can provide quality education and "managed education" means quality education. School facilities, teachers, the principal, the students, learning materials, teaching methods, assessment and technology, forms the base in educational success in all comers of the global village. Therefore for the success of any form of education to be a reality, the above measures should always be available. A survey in the form of a questionnaire was carried out with the intention to get views from teachers form the locations mentioned above as samples. The perceptions are not radical from each other in general on matters pertaining to how education is administered generally in Botswana. However it is worth noting that to come up with a broad outline on important views from teachers, the questionnaire was systematically broken into subtopics each dealing with a specific area of interest in the profession. Those ranged from the biographical and demographical data that include among others ;gender, age category, school Location, school enrolment, academic qualifications among others. The study also dealt with all the measures that inculcate TQM as a tool to improve effectiveness, productivity and performance, the role of school management in the improvement of quality education, Total Quality Management principles and implementation of Total Quality Management in schools. Total Quality Management is also equated to Work Improvement Teams(WITs) and the Performance Management Systems(PMS).In this a strong academic relationship was realized since all theses programmes emphasize efficiency and productivity at workplace. If there is any difference among the three the there is a thin line of that hence the different ways they have been coined. Under Qualitative data, teachers were given a form to jot down their views and perceptions about Total Quality Management. This is a more open portion and views ranged from worries and concerns about the conditions of service that ranged from matters of accommodation, salaries and advancement in education like being sent for further education and being sent for courses to update themselves with the latest technology needs so as to increase accessibility of information in the process of teaching and learning in the classroom. Over and above other factors the research was a great success.Master