ABSTRACT
The context of this discussion on interviewing is primarily a research project
on "School Management in Contexts of Stringency," directed by Clive
Harber and myself. The project arose from teaching educational manage-
ment to teachers and managers from developing countries and from the re-
alization that much Western management literature was of dubious relevance
in situations of extreme shortage. We knew from our experience of various
schools in Africa and Southeast Asia that when there are minimal resources,
when teachers have not been paid, when children are taking turns with desks,
chairs and classrooms, and when complex patterns of family obligation and
political deference constrain administrative behavior, then "rational" mod-
els of Total Quality Management appear inapplicable. Daily financial and
cultural survival may demand very different management models.
