Weighing Fear against Respect in School

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the depictions of the relationship between students and school administration in the selected novellas of Barbara Kimenye’smoses series. The Moses series comprises eleven novellas, all of which narrating school life. Two novellas are sampled, namely Moses and Mildred and Moses in Trouble. The data was obtained by close reading of the two selected novellas and results indicate that the relationship is characterised by a mixture of fear and respect. The students respect the deputy headmaster who is qualified and professional but fear the headmaster who is not qualified but takes the title because of being the owner of the school. The relationship between the students and the rest of the staff is more of informal and personal than formal and professional. It is concluded that students respect staff that handles them professionally. The recommendation is that all owners private schools should employ professional experts to head the schools in order to offer technical advice.