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2.3.3The attitude theory
This could be another theory to explain the dependent variable (the performance of the school committees). The attitude theory as discussed by Azjen and Fishbein (1980), Kerlinger (1973) and Green (1954) concerns the feelings of individuals towards an issue or object.
An attitude can be explained as “a predisposition to behave in a certain way” (Chapman et.al, 2002), often operationalised it as the likelihood that people’s expression of positive or negative regard toward an object, issue or event predicts the direction and intensity of their consequent behaviour towards it. The prominence of the attitude of a particular person towards an issue is largely a function of the extent that the individual has thought about the issue. Therefore, in attitude measurement, when people are asked about their attitude toward an issue with which they have little familiarity, their responses tend to lack dimensionality and vice versa. In this theoretical perspective, local community members’ /school committee members’ attitudes towards their schools are said to be a factor in determining the extent and nature of their participation in the education decisions that rest at the local/ school level and in explaining their performance in the implementation of the school development projects.
2.3.4The Public choice theory (Buchanan and Gordon, 1962)
Economists like James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock can also offer a different theoretical perspective for explaining the performance of school governance structures at the local level. To them, citizens are utility maximisers (rational decision makers). Individual citizens are assumed to be motivated by the wants or goals that put across their preferences. This forces them to act within specific constraints and on the basis of the information they have about the conditions under which they are acting. Rational choice theorists insist that individuals must anticipate the outcomes of alternative courses of action and calculate that which will be best for them. Rational individuals go for the alternative that is likely to give them the greatest satisfaction (Heath 1976: 3; Carling 1992: 27). In this theoretical perspective, the intensity of citizens’ participation in activities such as voting and others depends on the calculated benefits they expect out of those endeavours. If they feel that the benefits are not worth the cost of participation, they often tend ignore. In such a situation, performance of the projects will be poor. Analogously, the performance of school committees can be explained in terms of the calculated costs and benefits by the committee members.
2.4 Empowerment theory: A review of literature
Is empowerment a new concept? Probably this might be one of the fundamental questions one might ask. However, the question might not have a straight answer. There is a tendency of considering empowerment as a new concept, partly because of the importance currently attached to it on the agenda for development than it was ever before. In addition, the inclination of some scholars with regard to how they write about empowerment makes it appear as a new concept. As Wilkinson puts it, “...many accounts write as if empowerment is entirely a product of the times and do not see it in a historical context” (Wilkinson, 1998:44). In spite of the emphasis that is currently accorded to the importance of promoting empowerment in the planning and implementation of development interventions, it should not be regarded as a new concept. It is a concept that has been there for quite many years. |
