Vitallis Chikoko

School-University Partnership in a South African Rural Context: Possibilities for an Asset-based Approach

Abstract In this paper the researchers utilised qualitative research methods to investigate possibilities for the asset-based approach to achieving school-community partnership. One partnership between a South African University and a secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal province was studied with the aim of investigating what assets the partners regarded as central in the partnership, the extent to which they utilised these assets and what could be the possibilities for the asset-based approach in that partnership. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews, the paper reveals that teachers, the school principal’s leadership, the experience of the school in partnerships and local community representatives were regarded as great assets in the studied partnership. The results suggest that while the available assets were utilized to some degree in the partnership, there existed several threats against the asset-based approach. The researchers conclude that the asset-based approach has great potential as a way of achieving school-community partnership. They further conclude that focus on strong leadership, greater clarity on the aims and thrust of any partnership, as well as well-coordinated asset-mapping strategies constitute some of the key areas requiring nurturing if this approach is to be useful.

Teaching Controversial Issues and Teacher Education in England and South Africa.

This paper argues the importance in and for a democratic state and society of discussing controversial issues in education. In particular it analyses two national educational contexts, that of England and South Africa. It considers both whether they provide a suitable framework for teaching controversial issues in school classrooms and if they prepare teachers to be able to organise discussions of controversial issues in schools. The paper then examines interview data on teaching controversial issues with university tutors and student teachers in four universities, two in England and two in South Africa. The data suggest that there are still serious obstacles in both countries to teaching controversial issues in schools and in preparing teacher education students to teach about controversial issues.

Instructional leadership practices in challenging school contexts

AbstractThere is growing scholarship that links high quality leadership of the school principal with positive learner outcomes. In South Africa there is a growing cohort of disadvantaged schools, which, despite the socio-economic challenges they face, display a great degree of resilience and perform at levels comparable to the advantaged schools. The purpose of our study was to explore school principals’ instructional leadership practices in high performing schools in challenging contexts. In order to do this we drew on theories of instructional leadership. Methodologically, we employed a qualitative approach. We purposively sampled the Umlazi District in the province of KwaZulu-Natal where we interviewed the principals at five schools. In order to triangulate the data generated from the school principals, we also interviewed the circuit managers of the selected school principals. The findings seem to indicate that a distributed form of instructional leadership is prevalent in these schools. There is stro...

School leadership practices that work in areas of multiple deprivation in South Africa

This paper reports on evidence from five school principals regarding leadership practices that work in multiple deprived contexts. The South African educational landscape is complex, often described as a cocktail of first and third world institutions. Looking at the schooling system on a continuum, on the one end there are first class schools which can compare favourably with the best in developed countries. On the other extreme there are dysfunctional schools. However, along the scale there are few schools in multiple deprived areas which display high degrees of resilience and perform at levels comparable to first class schools in terms of Matriculation examination results. This paper draws from a study based on the proposition that leadership was the greatest factor to explain such performance. The study was then informed by a quest for knowledge regarding the nature of such leadership. Such knowledge is needed as the country fights to turn around the many dysfunctional schools there are. While there is a corpus of scholarship that ‘speaks’ to this matter internationally, there remains need for home-grown insights in that regard. Two theoretical lenses (servant leadership and the asset-based approach) were applied. The study employed a qualitative approach involving individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews with five purposively selected school principals each representing their school. Findings suggest that the schools in question adopted inside-out development approaches involving the philosophy that they were masters of their own destiny. Time, commitment, and accountability were some of their greatest assets, things that did not have to come from outside the schools. Internal success paved the way for stronger and more fruitful synergies with the ‘outside world’. We conclude that schools in areas of multiple-deprivation need leadership that moves them away from notions of victimhood and deficit thinking towards asset-based approaches.

Leadership development: School principals' portfolios as an instrument for change

Abstract This paper uses principals’ portfolios to examine how they learnt, sought to learn and can learn leadership. Leadership development has become a topical matter in education. However, there is still much debate about what constitutes effective leadership development. In South Africa, the Department of Education in conjunction with higher education institutions introduced the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) (School Leadership) programme to capacitate school principals and other education managers in developing skills, knowledge and values needed to effectively lead and manage schools. As part of their course requirements, school principals were expected to develop a portfolio to demonstrate change on their part regarding school leadership and management competences. This paper explores the portfolio as an instrument for change in school principals’ leadership learning. Working within an interpretive research paradigm and employing a qualitative methodological approach, a sample of 18 portfo...

School Management Teams' Conceptualisation of School Assets in Addressing the Needs of Children Orphaned and Made Vulnerable by HIV and AIDS: Evidence from South Africa

Abstract This paper explores School Management Teams’ understanding of school assets as a means to respond to the needs of orphans and other children made vulnerable by AIDS in the context of rural schools in South Africa. The study employed a qualitative approach of data collection, using an art-based method, that is, collage to identify the School Management Teams’ responses to the needs of children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS in a rural school context, which included their identification of assets (resources) within and outside the school context, and concerns about the mobilization and mapping out of assets using a collage. The School Management Teams’ understanding of assets included material things such as food and clothes. The findings also show that School Management Teams relied more on outside assets than assets within the school. However, with the use of the collage, as a means to chart their way forward, School Management Teams engaged in a discussion and looked at the extent to which learners, teachers, School Management Teams, School Governing Bodies and outside community assets such as faith-based organisations, businesses and parents could be mobilized and mapped in order to effectively respond to the needs of orphans and other children made vulnerable by AIDS in a rural context.

Does Mentorship Add Value to In-service Leadership Development for School Principals? Evidence from South Africa

Abstract Leadership development has become topical as a means towards growing future leaders. However, what pedagogies and learning methods produce effective leaders remains contested. In South Africa, the National Department of Education has rolled out an Advanced Certificate in Education in School Leadership targeted initially at practising school principals. It combines a content and process rich programme involving work-based learning and employs mentoring as a development tool. In this paper the researchers report on a study of mentors’ experiences of their role as leadership developers and through this evidence explore the potential that mentoring has as a leadership development strategy. The researchers adopted a qualitative methodological approach involving semi-structured interviews with six purposively selected mentors. The data was analysed using Krueger’s ‘framework analysis’. Findings suggest that mentoring practising school principals is a valuable but very sensitive matter requiring careful selection of the mentor and mentoring approaches.

The State of Inclusion in One South African Primary School: Evidence from the School Principal

Abstract While South Africa has adopted the policy of inclusive education, the researchers’ interaction with teachers and school managers suggested that schools face many barriers in this regard. This paper seeks to examine the state of inclusivity in one South African primary school from the point of view of the school principal’s experiences of inclusion therein. The researchers purposively selected the school on two bases namely the presence of learners with special learning needs therein and its accessibility to them. The principal expressed willingness to share his experiences with the researchers. Through a case study research design, the researchers conducted a two-part semi-structured interview with the principal. In the first part they investigated the school’s biographical information to do with inclusivity. The second part involved the principal’s perspectives on how the school fared regarding addressing barriers to achieving inclusivity. The main findings include that the principal felt the school was not coping with implementing the inclusive education policy. He blamed education authorities for lack of support, and major barriers included lack of qualified staff, unsuitable infrastructure and a dearth of relevant equipment. The researchers conclude that all changes in a school will succeed or fail depending on the quality of leadership therein, hence the focus on the principal. The researchers foreground the asset based approach as an ideal lens through which to consider how a school can address its own challenges.

Influence Matters: Leader Influence Behaviours of Primary School Heads in Zimbabwe

Abstract Poor leadership and management among some school heads in Zimbabwe has been foregrounded as a cause for concern. Questions are being raised about school heads’ ability to influence teachers in their day-to-day practice. Hence, this qualitative ethnographic study with a focus on leader influence behaviours employed by school heads to motivate teachers to attain school goals. Two schools were purposively sampled and at each school the school head and five teachers were selected as participants. Data was generated using interviews and participant observation. The study found that school heads utilised a variety of influence behaviours in the different core areas of their work. A blend, instead of the use of just one influence behaviour at a time increased the chances of a positive outcome. The researchers concluded that to be a good leader a school head ought to deploy a cocktail of leader influence behaviours that is context dependent.

Learning From Lecturers’ Experiences of Teaching Large Undergraduate Classes in a South African University

Abstract This paper discusses experiences of lecturers in a South African university, of teaching large undergraduate classes and lessons therefrom regarding the teaching thereof. Through individual face-to-face interviews, the researcher generated data from a convenience sample of 28 lecturers across nine departments who volunteered to participate. Data were analysed through thematic analysis. The study found that most lecturers struggled with and disliked large classes. They lacked material support, had big tutorial groups and were unable to connect with individual students. Some relied on very traditional and basic teaching approaches while others exploited richer and more modern technologies. Two perspectives about large classes emerged: they were here to stay and needed to be managed better; and class sizes needed to be reduced. The researcher concludes that depending on the approaches lecturers used, most classes seemed to be experiencing only surface learning. Deep learning is difficult but not impossible in large classes.