An investigation into the emergence of teacher leadership: a case study at an urban state senior secondary school in the Oshana Region, Namibia
- Authors: Nakafingo, Saara Lovisa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Action research in education -- Namibia , Active learning -- Namibia , Continuing education -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144645 , vital:38365
- Description: Promoting a collaborative culture and collective leadership in school has the potential to improve school performance. This may be realised through, among others, the development of teacher leadership. Teacher leadership can be referred to as the opportunities that teachers have to exercise leadership in their schools. Teacher leadership has a potential as a mechanism to bring about change in schools (Grant, 2012). Nevertheless, the concept of teacher leadership seems to be a dream, as little or no attention is being given to the phenomenon. The literature on leadership focuses mostly on those in formal leadership positions. This study thus aims to critically investigate the emergence of teacher leadership (a more informal leadership) in a case study school in order to create opportunities for teacher leadership development. As a qualitative case study adopting a formative interventionist approach, the study engaged teachers and SMT members using questionnaires, interviews and observation as data generating tools for a deeper understanding of the concept. Additionally, some documents in the school were analysed for the purpose of crystallisation. The study was guided by five research questions namely: How is the concept teacher leadership understood by teachers and SMT members in the school? What leadership roles do teachers currently fulfil in their school? What are the cultural-historical factors that enable or constrain teacher leadership in a school? How can a series of change laboratory workshops develop teacher leadership in a school? How did the change laboratory workshop sessions benefit the participants? Data was analysed adopting the teacher leadership model as a framework (Grant, 2017b) and the lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory was also utilised in the analysis which enabled the participants to surface the systemic causes of challenges in the development of teacher leadership. The findings revealed that teachers and SMT members had an understanding of the concept teacher leadership, but their perceptions were different. Furthermore, evidence of teacher leadership existed across the various zones when teacher leaders fulfilled different roles; however, it was evident that teachers led more at the classroom level. Additionally, the study also found that certain factors enabled the practice of teacher leadership. However, it also emerged that challenges constrained the development of teacher leadership in the case study school. Some of these challenges included: the notion of top-down school management structure, time constraints and demanding teacher workloads, limited leadership knowledge, and teachers’ lack of courage and motivation to lead. For this reason, four change laboratory workshops were conducted and findings suggested that the establishment of a Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development club as a transformative agency for teacher leadership development was necessary.
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- Authors: Nakafingo, Saara Lovisa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Action research in education -- Namibia , Active learning -- Namibia , Continuing education -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144645 , vital:38365
- Description: Promoting a collaborative culture and collective leadership in school has the potential to improve school performance. This may be realised through, among others, the development of teacher leadership. Teacher leadership can be referred to as the opportunities that teachers have to exercise leadership in their schools. Teacher leadership has a potential as a mechanism to bring about change in schools (Grant, 2012). Nevertheless, the concept of teacher leadership seems to be a dream, as little or no attention is being given to the phenomenon. The literature on leadership focuses mostly on those in formal leadership positions. This study thus aims to critically investigate the emergence of teacher leadership (a more informal leadership) in a case study school in order to create opportunities for teacher leadership development. As a qualitative case study adopting a formative interventionist approach, the study engaged teachers and SMT members using questionnaires, interviews and observation as data generating tools for a deeper understanding of the concept. Additionally, some documents in the school were analysed for the purpose of crystallisation. The study was guided by five research questions namely: How is the concept teacher leadership understood by teachers and SMT members in the school? What leadership roles do teachers currently fulfil in their school? What are the cultural-historical factors that enable or constrain teacher leadership in a school? How can a series of change laboratory workshops develop teacher leadership in a school? How did the change laboratory workshop sessions benefit the participants? Data was analysed adopting the teacher leadership model as a framework (Grant, 2017b) and the lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory was also utilised in the analysis which enabled the participants to surface the systemic causes of challenges in the development of teacher leadership. The findings revealed that teachers and SMT members had an understanding of the concept teacher leadership, but their perceptions were different. Furthermore, evidence of teacher leadership existed across the various zones when teacher leaders fulfilled different roles; however, it was evident that teachers led more at the classroom level. Additionally, the study also found that certain factors enabled the practice of teacher leadership. However, it also emerged that challenges constrained the development of teacher leadership in the case study school. Some of these challenges included: the notion of top-down school management structure, time constraints and demanding teacher workloads, limited leadership knowledge, and teachers’ lack of courage and motivation to lead. For this reason, four change laboratory workshops were conducted and findings suggested that the establishment of a Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development club as a transformative agency for teacher leadership development was necessary.
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Developing voice and leadership amongst a group of class captains
- Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Authors: Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Leadership in adolescents -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School children – Namibia -- Attitudes , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145034 , vital:38402
- Description: The notion that leadership can be reduced to that of a formal position such as principalship has become problematic in school leadership research and practice, globally and also in Namibia. It appears that when leadership is concentrated only at the level of a principal within schools, teachers and learners within the same school experience a lack of opportunities to contribute to leadership practices, thus losing a sense of ownership. Supporting a distributed leadership perspective and embracing transformative leadership, this study investigated how learner voice and learner leadership (see for example Mitra and Gross, 2009) can be developed within a group of class captains in a combined school in rural Namibia. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) underpinned the study which is located within a critical paradigm. Findings of the study were captured into two phases whereby phase one generated contextual profiling findings through the adoption of qualitative methods such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and two other participatory methods of mapping and transect walks. Phase two findings were captured through expansive learning actions in Change Laboratory Workshops. Observation notes, video recording and photographs and informal discussions were used as data sources during this phase. Both inductive and abductive analysis were employed. The findings revealed that a few enabling conditions to class captainship practice existed, but generally there was limited participation of class captains in school leadership. Class captains were seen as merely class representatives and their leadership was confined to a classroom level in the school. They performed more managerial tasks than leadership. It was also revealed that class captainship is not a documented practice in Namibia and it lacks support. Against this backdrop, during phase two of the study, seven contradictions were identified and two contradictions were prioritised for resolution during the Change Laboratory Workshops. Some of the resolutions included the development of a school based guiding document for class captains; an establishment of a class captainship club; and the promotion of a yearly election campaign of class captains. The study recommends more interventionist studies to be conducted on class captainship in order to see the practice documented in terms of policy in Namibia, perhaps in the near future.
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- Authors: Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Leadership in adolescents -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School children – Namibia -- Attitudes , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145034 , vital:38402
- Description: The notion that leadership can be reduced to that of a formal position such as principalship has become problematic in school leadership research and practice, globally and also in Namibia. It appears that when leadership is concentrated only at the level of a principal within schools, teachers and learners within the same school experience a lack of opportunities to contribute to leadership practices, thus losing a sense of ownership. Supporting a distributed leadership perspective and embracing transformative leadership, this study investigated how learner voice and learner leadership (see for example Mitra and Gross, 2009) can be developed within a group of class captains in a combined school in rural Namibia. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) underpinned the study which is located within a critical paradigm. Findings of the study were captured into two phases whereby phase one generated contextual profiling findings through the adoption of qualitative methods such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and two other participatory methods of mapping and transect walks. Phase two findings were captured through expansive learning actions in Change Laboratory Workshops. Observation notes, video recording and photographs and informal discussions were used as data sources during this phase. Both inductive and abductive analysis were employed. The findings revealed that a few enabling conditions to class captainship practice existed, but generally there was limited participation of class captains in school leadership. Class captains were seen as merely class representatives and their leadership was confined to a classroom level in the school. They performed more managerial tasks than leadership. It was also revealed that class captainship is not a documented practice in Namibia and it lacks support. Against this backdrop, during phase two of the study, seven contradictions were identified and two contradictions were prioritised for resolution during the Change Laboratory Workshops. Some of the resolutions included the development of a school based guiding document for class captains; an establishment of a class captainship club; and the promotion of a yearly election campaign of class captains. The study recommends more interventionist studies to be conducted on class captainship in order to see the practice documented in terms of policy in Namibia, perhaps in the near future.
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Exploring parents’ participation in school governance with the purpose of developing parents’ leadership: a formative intervention in a Namibian combined rural school
- Authors: Nghiteeka, Hileni
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Parent participation – Namibia , Democracy and education -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145045 , vital:38403
- Description: In a post-independent Namibia, the Education Act 16 of 2001 accorded democratic rights and equal opportunities to all education stakeholders, including parents, to be involved in educational decision-making in schools. This involvement advocated increasing the voice of the educational stakeholders at a grass roots level in an attempt to redress the past injustices of the apartheid education system. However, the studies carried out internationally, as well as in Africa and Namibia, reveal that the issue of democratic participation in school decisions is a restricted reality. This study was conducted in Happy (pseudonym) combined school, a state rural school in the Oshikoto Region, Northern Namibia, aimed at exploring parents’ participation in school governance. The study adopted an interventionist approach to develop parents’ leadership in school. Framed by a distributed leadership perspective, the main purpose of the study was to seek parents’ voices through participation for them to be catalysts for change in transforming parents’ leadership in school. For its theoretical and analytical framing, the study adopted the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The study findings revealed that parents’ leadership as a concept was understood differently in the case study school and it was practiced within the boundaries of policies. Through the lens of distributed leadership, it was evident that distributed leadership was still in its infancy in the school, as only the characterisations of an authorised distributed leadership were evident in this school. The CHAT analysis revealed that parents’ leadership was constrained due to a number of challenges, including language barriers, transport to and from meetings and a lack of support from other parents and some teachers. Study participants, through participation in a Change Laboratory workshop process, envisioned some models such as raising funds to serve as an incentive for parents’ School Board members and for an information dissemination committee within the community to do educational campaigns in an effort to enhance parents’ leadership in school. To unleash distributed leadership in schools, the study offered some recommendations, including that parents’ leadership should be included as part of the curriculum at higher institutions in order to sensitise educators to this critical aspect of leadership, prior to joining the profession. Another recommendation was for stakeholders to make use of the study’s findings, when designing workshop materials and conducting workshops. Finally, the study recommended further interventionist research to be conducted on the same research topic, preferably on a larger scale, in an effort to add to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership and management, particularly with regards to parental leadership.
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- Authors: Nghiteeka, Hileni
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Parent participation – Namibia , Democracy and education -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145045 , vital:38403
- Description: In a post-independent Namibia, the Education Act 16 of 2001 accorded democratic rights and equal opportunities to all education stakeholders, including parents, to be involved in educational decision-making in schools. This involvement advocated increasing the voice of the educational stakeholders at a grass roots level in an attempt to redress the past injustices of the apartheid education system. However, the studies carried out internationally, as well as in Africa and Namibia, reveal that the issue of democratic participation in school decisions is a restricted reality. This study was conducted in Happy (pseudonym) combined school, a state rural school in the Oshikoto Region, Northern Namibia, aimed at exploring parents’ participation in school governance. The study adopted an interventionist approach to develop parents’ leadership in school. Framed by a distributed leadership perspective, the main purpose of the study was to seek parents’ voices through participation for them to be catalysts for change in transforming parents’ leadership in school. For its theoretical and analytical framing, the study adopted the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The study findings revealed that parents’ leadership as a concept was understood differently in the case study school and it was practiced within the boundaries of policies. Through the lens of distributed leadership, it was evident that distributed leadership was still in its infancy in the school, as only the characterisations of an authorised distributed leadership were evident in this school. The CHAT analysis revealed that parents’ leadership was constrained due to a number of challenges, including language barriers, transport to and from meetings and a lack of support from other parents and some teachers. Study participants, through participation in a Change Laboratory workshop process, envisioned some models such as raising funds to serve as an incentive for parents’ School Board members and for an information dissemination committee within the community to do educational campaigns in an effort to enhance parents’ leadership in school. To unleash distributed leadership in schools, the study offered some recommendations, including that parents’ leadership should be included as part of the curriculum at higher institutions in order to sensitise educators to this critical aspect of leadership, prior to joining the profession. Another recommendation was for stakeholders to make use of the study’s findings, when designing workshop materials and conducting workshops. Finally, the study recommended further interventionist research to be conducted on the same research topic, preferably on a larger scale, in an effort to add to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership and management, particularly with regards to parental leadership.
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The role of expansive learning in the potential development of rural youth as value creators: a case study of youth farming activity in the Amahlathi Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Matiwane, Lwazi Mandilive
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Lenye , Rural development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Unemployed youth -- South Africa -- Lenye , Social learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Educational change -- South Africa -- Lenye , Youth in development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Active learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146034 , vital:38489
- Description: Environmental sustainability and agriculture are key development and transformational concerns in South Africa while rural development and youth unemployment are key national issues pertinent in the Eastern Cape which ranks in the top three provinces for both concerns. As a formative interventionist researcher, working in a singular case study with youth in Lenye village located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, I sought to investigate the following: Can, and if so, how can expansive learning facilitated by a change laboratory intervention contribute to the development of youth as potential value creators for rural development? This was investigated through the following sub questions: 1) What value is created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory process and for who? 2) What value can still be created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory? 3) How is that value created via an expansive learning process? I collected data as I participated as a youth member through: extended contextual profiling via a focus group interview, individual interviews, note taking and document analysis. Furthermore, I attended village meetings, youth meetings and emergent youth development/youth in agriculture/agriculture opportunities. Additionally, change laboratory workshops were conducted and I used audio recordings and notes to capture data. The data collected was then analysed through second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory using the concepts of immediate, potential, applied, realised and reframing value. In conclusion, the expansive learning process may contribute to the development of rural youth as value creators for sustainable development through youth development, agriculture and community development. All forms of value were created along the expansive learning process for the formative interventionist researcher, the Lenye youth and the greater Lenye youth community. All forms of value may still be created for the Lenye youth, the formative interventionist researcher and the greater Lenye youth community.
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- Authors: Matiwane, Lwazi Mandilive
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Lenye , Rural development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Unemployed youth -- South Africa -- Lenye , Social learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Educational change -- South Africa -- Lenye , Youth in development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Active learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146034 , vital:38489
- Description: Environmental sustainability and agriculture are key development and transformational concerns in South Africa while rural development and youth unemployment are key national issues pertinent in the Eastern Cape which ranks in the top three provinces for both concerns. As a formative interventionist researcher, working in a singular case study with youth in Lenye village located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, I sought to investigate the following: Can, and if so, how can expansive learning facilitated by a change laboratory intervention contribute to the development of youth as potential value creators for rural development? This was investigated through the following sub questions: 1) What value is created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory process and for who? 2) What value can still be created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory? 3) How is that value created via an expansive learning process? I collected data as I participated as a youth member through: extended contextual profiling via a focus group interview, individual interviews, note taking and document analysis. Furthermore, I attended village meetings, youth meetings and emergent youth development/youth in agriculture/agriculture opportunities. Additionally, change laboratory workshops were conducted and I used audio recordings and notes to capture data. The data collected was then analysed through second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory using the concepts of immediate, potential, applied, realised and reframing value. In conclusion, the expansive learning process may contribute to the development of rural youth as value creators for sustainable development through youth development, agriculture and community development. All forms of value were created along the expansive learning process for the formative interventionist researcher, the Lenye youth and the greater Lenye youth community. All forms of value may still be created for the Lenye youth, the formative interventionist researcher and the greater Lenye youth community.
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