Bennie Grobler

Creating a School Environment for the Effective Management of Cultural Diversity

This article examines the factors which impact upon the creation of a school environment for the effective management of cultural diversity as legislated for in the directive principles of the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Schools Education Act of 1995. The two Acts determine that every person shall have the right to basic education and to equal access to schools and centres of learning. It is within this framework that this research was undertaken employing a quantitative research method. The research demonstrated that a school environment for the effective management of cultural diversity can be achieved through creative approaches to professional management and school governance, characterized by a collaborative management style. Managing cultural diversity can often be complicated by communication problems and stereotyping due to differences based on moral, ethical, socio-political and economic issues. The previous divisions of schools under the pre-1994 regime according to departments of education and mother tongue were found to be both statistically and substantially significant as independent variables for the management of cultural diversity.

Delegation of authority by school principals — an Education Law perspective

In todays litigious society, every management action of the school principal is potentially loaded with legal implications. It is therefore important for the school principal to have a clear understanding of legal principles that equally apply to education management. Invariably, one would not expect a principal to consult a lawyer every time a professional decision needs to be taken. This research has examined the legal implications of delegation as one of the school principals managerial tasks. It proceeds from the premise that the school principal possesses statutory delegated authority and common law discretionary powers of delegation. It is therefore crucial that in exercising such powers, due consideration should be given to certain legal principles, such as: the delegatus delegare non potest rule prescribing that “a delegate cannot delegate his authority” and the ultra-vires doctrine , restricting the exceeding of powers given. An empirical investigation was undertaken with reference to the legal...

The school principal as Instructional Leader: A structural equation model

AbstractPrincipals in South African schools are mandated to implement the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy. Successful implementation of the curriculum is inferred from learner academic achievements in the Annual National Assessments. At present learner academic performance is below the achievement targets set for 2014, creating pressure on school principals as they are accountable for the academic performance of learners. To meet these challenges, principals need to become directly involved in the teaching and learning processes, which can be achieved if they become instructional leaders. To investigate the structure of instructional leadership in the South African context, quantitative research was utilised. A questionnaire captured the perceptions of 2 386 teachers about the principals’ utilisation of the postulated sub-dimensions of instructional leadership. Data was statistically analysed using appropriate statistical techniques. AMOS 18 graphics indicated that instructional leadership consi...

Teachers' Perceptions of the Utilisation of Emotional Intelligence by Their School Principals to Manage Mandated Curriculum Change Processes.

This quantitative study investigates teachers’ perceptions of how Emotional Intelligence (EI) was utilised by their school principals to manage mandated curriculum change processes in schools in the Johannesburg North district of Gauteng in South Africa. Research shows that EI consists of a range of fundamental skills that could enable school principals to facilitate the curriculum changes that are mandated by the Department of Basic Education and implemented by teachers in their classrooms. Researchers argue that principals could simply instruct teachers that the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements, for example, are mandated by top management and that they have to implement them, or they could use EI skills to obtain teachers’ collaboration and commitment to implement the mandated changes. Using a quantitative research method, a structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 600 Foundation Phase and Grade 10 teachers to probe their perceptions about the extent to which leadership utilised EI to manage mandated curriculum change. The results of this investigation show that there is a strong correlation between the utilisation of EI by school principals and the implementation of the mandated changes.

Internal whole-school evaluation in South Africa The influence of holistic staff capacity

The Holistic Equilibrium Theory of Organizational Development was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the influence of holistic staff capacity on conducting effective internal whole-school evaluation (IWSE) within the Gauteng Department of Education’s public secondary schools. In the context of South African education, the staff of each public school are legally mandated to conduct an IWSE annually to self-determine their school development paths within a school improvement framework. This IWSE programme, however, takes a myopic unidimensional approach to whole school improvement, demanding public school staff, from diverse milieus with varying degrees of capacity, to take greater ownership of their own development needs through self-evaluative mechanisms. Using a concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach comprising a structured questionnaire, supported by focus group interviews, individual interviews with school principals and open-ended responses, this study elicited data on five distinct but integrated theoretical capacity dimensions: school evaluation, school improvement, collaborative cultures, professional learning communities and transformational leadership. The findings from both data collection strands corroborated the overarching conclusion that development of holistic capacities, transcending a technicist, bureaucratic approach, is more likely to result in the meaningful use of IWSE scaffolding school improvement.

Teachers’ perceptions of the utilization of emotional competence by their school leaders in Gauteng South Africa

Attempts to improve poor academic performance in South African public schools resulted in the Schooling 2025 mandate, which stipulated the academic standards that learners needed to achieve by 2014. As school leaders must do this through their teachers the emotional tensions associated with such changes are likely to increase. This paper investigates the use of emotional competence by school leaders via the perceptions of their teachers. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses of the data obtained from a random sample of 2386 teachers indicated that the postulated five sub-dimensions associated with emotional competence could be reduced to two, namely intrapersonal and interpersonal. The Structural Equation Model suggested a strong positive causal relationship between the two competences and hence a good understanding and regulation of one’s own emotions, influences, understanding and relationships with others. A school leader with a good understanding of their personal emotional competence will have a greater influence on social orientation towards others and possibly lead to improved interpersonal competence. In the South African context it was found that both competences are associated with gender, school type, socio-economic contexts of the learners and home language of the educators.

The relationship between emotional competence and instructional leadership and their association with learner achievement

AbstractThe mandated approach to school leadership in South Africa has not produced any significant improvement in learner achievement during the last decade. A new approach to leadership with greater emphasis on the ideographic or individual dimension of school leadership is necessary. This research investigated teachers’ perceptions of the extent that their principals’ utilised emotional competence and instructional leadership to influence learner achievement. The structures of emotional competence and instructional leadership were investigated using factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. Emotional competence was composed of intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, while instructional leadership had four components, namely, ensuring coherence between teaching and learning, modeling effective teaching, facilitating learner achievement and protecting instructional time. These constructs were linked to learner achievement data. The various measures of fit indicated that the postulated model fitt...

Developing an Integrated Model for Policy Management in Private Higher Educational Institutions in South Africa

Abstract Educational policy in South Africa is formulated at macro-level under the National Minister of Education by his/her department and has to be implemented by educational institutions at the micro-level within the parameters of the legislative mandates. This research investigated tensions regarding policy management at the micro-level about issues of funding, collaboration, quality, access and autonomy using a structured questionnaire to probe the perceptions of respondents from registered Private Higher Education Institutions. Inferential analysis of the data showed that these tensions had two underlying components namely aspects with potentially positive and potentially negative influences. The unique contribution of this research was the development of an integrated model allowing all stakeholders involved with providing higher education to become involved in a deliberative dialogue where the interactions between micro- and macro-levels of policy development can be considered.

The Influence of Management Practices on Authentic Collaboration with Educators

Abstract The advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994 paved the way for educational transformation. The main feature of this transformation involves a shift from managing via a bureaucratic model to a collaborative model. This has resulted in a proliferation of education legislation and policies underpinned by bureaucratic management practices such as accountability, rules and regulations, policies and procedures, hierarchical authority structures, division of labour and job specification. The South African Schools Act encourages principals and governing bodies to form collaborative partnerships with various educational institutions, academics, teachers and learners. However, in order to achieve authentic collaboration among teachers, management practices will need to place a greater emphasis in managing the school in less bureaucratic ways as this usually results in teachers collaborating in a contrived way. Contrived collaboration arises through administrative control, imposed on teachers regardless of their desires in order to secure the implementation of national or provincial legislation/policies or even school policies. Using a structured questionnaire, this research examines the perceptions of teachers on the association between management practices and authentic collaboration to predict which aspects of management practices foster such collaboration. A multiple regression analysis on management practices that enhance authentic collaboration shows that effective collaboration is promoted by management practices that promote harmonious interpersonal relationships among staff in a reciprocal relationship with authentic collaborative management practices. Authentic collaboration is impeded by espousing expected collaborative teaching practices, by management practices that emphasize task effectiveness as well as by the principals’ perceived management style.

Reflections on a Study Skills Training Program at a University in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to explore students’ views on study skills and other factors that might have influenced their learning at a university in Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study made use of a qualitative approach in which a case study design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to select two samples from a group of 45 students who completed the Foundation Program in the university. Each sample consisted of 6 participants and data were collected through individual and focus group interviews. Data were analyzed through content analysis. The study found that there were numerous factors that impacted negatively on students’ learning efforts. The study concluded that the type of study skills offered in the Foundation Program were not appropriate for learning in higher education. The study makes recommendations to enhance student learning in the university.