An investigation of female leaders' perceptions of organisational culture and leadership in a Catholic High School
- Authors: Jean-Louis, Lily-Claire Virginie
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Catholic schools -- South Africa -- Administration School management and organization -- South Africa Educational leadership -- South Africa Corporate culture -- South Africa Women school administrators -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1625 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003507
- Description: For the past thirty years, leadership theories have focused on the importance of the individual within the school organisation. The shared assumptions and beliefs of the individuals working in the same organisation shape the school’s organisational culture, and organisational culture is a salient factor which should be considered when understanding educational leadership. The focus of my study is to explore the relationship between organisational culture and leadership. In the same context, new approaches to the study of leadership have explored the issue of gender in leadership. Female leadership studies - the second focus of this study - seek not only to restore the place of the individual but also argue a place for women in educational leadership. Based in the interpretive paradigm, this is a case study of a Catholic all-girl secondary school called the Loreto Convent School of Pretoria. Historically, the Loreto schools have aimed at promoting and empowering girls’ education and female leadership. It was therefore an appropriate site in which to explore organisational culture and its relationship with leadership, particularly female leadership. I purposefully chose three of the school’s female leaders - the school’s principal, the High school Head of Department and the High school head girl - focusing on their perceptions and experiences of their leadership and the school’s culture. My research findings show that an understanding of the relationship between organisational culture and leadership cannot be complete without acknowledging the importance of the leader as an individual, with his/her personal background and values, taking into account gender as well as the multiple roles that the individual has in society. Furthermore, the ‘humane’ characteristic of educational leadership leads to an understanding that the leader is often confronted with conflicting situations where he/she is caught between personal/organisational values and the need to achieve the task. Finally, my findings show that contemporary leaders are now called upon to work and participate in the promotion of social justice in order to fight against society’s socio-economic inequality and improve the quality of education and life.
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Inspectors of education's perceptions of female principalship in the Rundu region of Namibia
- Authors: Kawana, Irene
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Women school principals -- Namibia -- Rundu , Educational leadership -- Namibia -- Rundu , Sex discrimination in employment -- Namibia , School supervisors -- Namibia -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2006 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015746
- Description: While women constitute more than 51% of the population and far outnumber men in teaching positions in Namibia, very few occupy positions of leadership. Male candidates are still favoured for top positions, thereby denying women the chance to gain entrance to these positions. One of the reasons for this imbalance seems to be that, in spite of conscious political effort and legislation, women may still be perceived as less effective leaders than men. This research focused on leadership in education, in particular school principals, and explored the perceptions of female principalship held by school inspectors. Three school inspectors from the Rundu Education Region were purposefully selected and interviewed. Inspectors were selected on the grounds of their considerable influence in the selection and appointment of school principals. The study found that these inspectors favour school principals who show commitment to their work, have good interpersonal working relationships, are caring, good listeners, visionary and produce good results. The inspectors attribute female principals’ success to their traditionally perceived characteristics, such as caring leadership and ability to develop good human relations. Instead of perceiving these qualities as professionally negative (as is sometimes argued in the literature) the inspectors see them as indisputable assets to leadership. The respondents acknowledge the cultural stereotyping that may have influenced male attitudes to women in the past, but argue that good leadership is not specific to gender, but part of the qualities a person possesses, regardless of sex. This study concludes that, contrary to what has been reported in many studies, these inspectors perceive women principals as effective – equal to their male counterparts or sometimes even more effective - because they are caring, well organized and good at communicating and establishing relations with others. Though these qualities are different from the traditional masculine qualities which include independence and emotional strength, the respondents recognize and legitimize them as preferred qualities in current effective leadership practice.
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Re-inventing educational leadership for school and community transformation: learning from the Educational Leadership Management and Development programme of the University of Fort Hare
- Authors: Moyo, George
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: University of Fort Hare. Educational Leadership Management and Development Educational leadership -- South Africa Educational change -- South Africa School management and organization -- South Africa School improvement programs -- South Africa School principals -- South Africa Community and school -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1719 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003602
- Description: This study explores educational leadership development and social change strategies pioneered by one programme, the Educational Leadership Management and Development (ELMD) programme of the University of Fort Hare. The programme seeks to model a way of doing social and educational transformation through educational leadership development. Conceptually, the model was meant to draw together a number of education stakeholders operating at various levels of the schooling system to undergo the same programme of leadership development. The programme participants, who included district education officials, schools principals, members of school management teams, educators and members of School Governing Bodies, were to enrol as teams. They would work on learning tasks that were both academic and practical in nature, with an emphasis on experiential learning that leads to the creation of district and community networks of partners, development teams or forums and communities of practice, as well as the production and implementation of district and school development plans. Informed by this conceptual position, the study was structured by two underlying questions. First, whether the ELMD was re-inventing educational leadership beyond the traditional focus on principalship towards one that is inclusive of other education stakeholders. Second, how leadership development as a vehicle for social and educational change can be carried out. The research process was guided by a multi-paradigm perspective which drew heavily on the interpretive and critical science orientations. This led to the crafting of research methods that looked for data that would assist in an understanding of what was happening in the programme, as well as what power dynamics were at play and with what consequences for innovation. The evidence emanating from the study suggests a number of possibilities for consideration by future leadership development programme designers. First, the ELMD programme delivery design shows what can be done to draw participants from various levels of the schooling system, district, school and community and teach them educational leadership together in a mode that mobilizes them for change. Second, how social distance separating different levels of the education hierarchy and status consciousness may disappear gradually as people are brought together to work on tasks of mutual concern. Third, after a year of engagement with ELMD ideas and approach, the participants in the programme appeared to have started a journey of selftransformation towards becoming qualitatively different people who saw themselves as teams capable of tackling education and social problems in their schools and communities. These participants had begun to forge working networks, but the extent to which these could be characterized as knowledge ecosystems and communities of practice remains a question to explore. Fourth, that the current higher education accreditation policies and practices do not accommodate innovative learning approaches of the kind that the ELMD is developing. In this regard, the ELMD experienced difficulties in coming up with an assessment policy and practices which meet the academic as well as the practical developmental concerns of the programme. Fifth, programme instrumentalities and mandates that are put in place do not, in themselves, bring about change. The actual change comes about through the actions of human leadership capable of navigating between structural enablers and constraints.
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School management team members' perceptions of their roles in managing Grahamstown secondary schools
- Authors: Tyala, Zakunzima
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: School management teams -- South Africa -- Grahamstown School management and organization -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Educational leadership -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Education, Secondary -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1759 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003644
- Description: During the apartheid era, that is, before 1994, the education management system in South Africa was fragmented, authoritarian and top-down. Principals were expected to manage schools on their own without consulting the rest of the staff. The birth of political democracy in 1994 resulted in many changes in the education system. These changes include the creation of one national department. In line with this democratisation came the concept of school management teams (SMTs). Because of the democratic nature of this kind of a structure (SMT), it is required that educators work co-operatively and as a team. This has been problematic in some schools where the principal has traditionally felt comfortable taking decisions on his or her own without any input from relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, through the legacy of apartheid, teachers themselves have dogmatically been oriented to being the recipients of instructions and to view management as the prerogative of the principals only. The formalisation of SMTs thus brings new challenges to both principals and staff members, essentially the notion of democratic or team-management. The object of this study is to find out how the concept of democratic management is being received. This study includes all the government-aided high schools in Grahamstown (ten of them). Studying all 10 high schools - 6 from the local township, 3 ex-model C schools, and 1 from the coloured township – has produced a broad and varied picture of how SMTs are being received in Grahamstown secondary schools. The study was framed within the interpretive approach, and sought to unpack the perceptions of SMT members with regard to SMTs. An interpretive paradigm made it possible for me to gain an in-depth understanding of SMT members’ perceptions of team-management within their contexts. I used questionnaires, interviews and observation as research tools to gather data. This study has found that, although the concept of team management is well-received, there are significant obstacles to the acceptance of teamwork as an alternative form of management. Many of these may be the result of decades of disempowering governance strategies, resulting in impoverished notions of school ownership and joint responsibility. Some relate to the political nature of schools as organisations. Despite these problems, the study has confirmed that team-management is the preferred approach for a variety of reasons. Team-management usually results in enriched decision-making, the sharing of responsibilities and higher levels of support. A major systemic shortcoming highlighted by the study is the absence of meaningful training in democratic educational management.
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Secondary school principals' perceptions and experience of management development programmes
- Authors: Madasi, Vuyelwa
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa School management and organization -- South Africa Educational leadership -- South Africa Educational planning -- South Africa School improvement programs -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1763 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003648
- Description: Management development in educational contexts is a relatively recent development in South Africa. The Task Team Report on Education Management Development of 1996 drew pertinent attention to the need for education management development in South Africa, and set an agenda for such development. Since then many management development programmes have been launched by both National and Provincial government. However, very little research seems to have been conducted on these programmes, especially on how they have been received. This study seeks to address that need. The study is a qualitative phenomenological investigation of how four secondary school principals experienced and perceived the management development programmes they have attended. In line with a phenomenological approach, the study sets aside preconceived ideas and attempts to describe the phenomenon through the eyes of the participants. Findings suggest that management development programmes are perceived as having a big role to play in the development of school managers, but that the programmes on offer suffer from various shortcomings. These include poor planning, lack of organisational and facilitating skills in presenters, lack of commitment, monitoring and support from the bodies offering the courses, and especially the failure of training programmes to bring about increased confidence and self-awareness among participants. Increased selfawareness can help in personal and organisational renewal and growth, and help to minimise the dependency syndrome among principals. Particular needs highlighted by the findings include training in the new curriculum (Outcomes Based Education), holistic development by experts in all facets of school management, training of School Governing Bodies and development of all educators in management as future managers. These findings may prove helpful to education departments and other bodies in the planning and delivery of programmes for new and incumbent school managers.
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Supervision : a Foucaultian exploration of institutional and interpersonal power relations between postgraduate supervisors, their students and the university domain
- Authors: Rau, Asta
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 -- Methodology Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 -- Criticism and interpretation Graduate students -- Supervision of Dissertations, Academic
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1786 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003671
- Description: Supervision is widely acknowledged as influencing the quality of postgraduate theses, and by association, of postgraduates. Despite this, publications on conducting research offer far less guidance on managing the supervision relationship than on the practicalities of producing a thesis. In-depth, qualitative supervision studies are few and fewer still examine power in the supervision relationship. Michel Foucault’s insights are used to explore the question: How do postgraduate supervisors and their Master’s students experience the supervision relationship and how are the dynamics of interpersonal and institutional power implicated in these relationships? Foucault argues that power relations always involve resistances; these function primarily through institutionalized discourses to produce different forms of knowledge, one form of which is identity or subjectivity. Accordingly, power relations are explored in terms of thesis-as-product, person-as-product and the impact of both on the mediation of knowledge in the educational domain. Four institutionalized discourses in the university domain are examined: · Commercial educational management discourse: targets academics through issues of quality assurance, throughput, publication, research productivity and funding. · Anarchic educational leadership discourse: integrates quantum principles with commercial demands, change management strategies and meaningful participation. · Humanistic discourse: favours a pastoral ethic and is person-centered. · Holistic discourse: cultivates ecological sensibility and values the interconnectedness of all aspects of being-in-the-world. Data collected in sixteen semi-structured interviews with three matched supervisor-student pairs selected from the humanities and education faculties of one South African university, are presented as case studies. Data analysis combines grounded theory techniques with selected aspects of Foucault’s methods. A conceptual model is devised to analyse how participants use resistance strategies to interface their autonomy and dependency with their expectations, abilities, and professional and pastoral care. The research yields rich data in which several thematic correlations in interpersonal and institutional power dynamics are grounded. These include: the significance of supervisor-student matching; links between expectations, abilities, the way participants negotiate power and the quality of professional and pastoral care they experience; the benefit of personal affinity to thesis-as-product and person-as-product; and the impact of commercial demands on participants’ power relations. Participants tend to reproduce the discourses in which they are embedded and adopt or adapt aspects of contesting discourses to this end. Potential avenues are identified for improving supervision practice and for further research.
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The perceived impact of policy change on leadership and management : a case study of a Namibian school
- Authors: Moelanjane, Porgarius Porgacy Rukee
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia -- Case studies. Educational leadership -- Namibia -- Case studies Educational change -- Namibia -- Case studies Education and state -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1935 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007670
- Description: The transformation of education has been central to the programme of the first democratically elected government in Namibia, both because of the democratic demands for equality, equity and access, and as a means towards the wider transformation of Namibian community. The study provides a brief history of the pre- and post-independence education policy environment in Namibia with regard to how management and leadership of schools gave rise to opportunities for the development of democratic participation. Adopting an interpretive approach, the study examines several key stakeholders' perceptions of the impact of transformation initiatives on their leadership and management thinking and practice. The sample comprised four teachers, a principal, a director, a school board member, two learners and a hostel matron. The findings reveal that, in order to create a democratic school community, the stakeholders' role is largely a matter of opposing and transcending the contradictions, inadequacies and limitations inherent in the educational ideas, policies and practices caused by the previous Apartheid education system. There is a reasonable amount of success in the implementation process of democratic leadership and management of schools. The findings further highlight contradictory tendencies, in that the Ministry of Basic Education Sports and Culture established a uniform system of education but also entertained the principle of decentralised governance through the introduction of school based management practice incorporating the main stakeholders at local level. The data confirms a communication gap between stakeholders, lack of adequate education and training in participatory management and leadership for learners, parents, teachers and school boards, and insufficient support from the national and the regional authorities. The study concludes with some specific recommendations that might strengthen stakeholders' sense of their participation in democratic practices for longer-term cost effective implementation to occur. This is supported by the belief that education policy change only becomes a reality once understood, owned and appreciated at local level.
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