M.Ed. (Education Management) / The aim of this research was to assess the management role of the senior housemaster/mistress in the school hostels of the Transvaal Education Department. In this regard, it was initially determined that to be able to manage, a person must also be able to lead, because management is the process of working through other people to attain departmental or organizational goals. As ''head'' of the school hostel, the senior housemaster will see that the policy, as laid down by the principal, is implemented. This too, calls for clear formulation as a basis of effective management. The principal must take cognisance of the particular circumstances pertaining to his school and hostel when formulating his policy, to ensure that its implemention is feasible. The domestic policy will be an indication to the senior housemaster as to how the principal wishes the hostel to be managed. This then becomes a handy managerial instrument in the hands of the senior housemaster. The following elements of management should be emphasized in the policy: planning, organising, training and control. When the domestic policy is clearly formulated, the senior housemaster will be able to frame the organisation of the hostel and determine the appropriate executive responsibilities and relationships. Interpreting policy into terms of operating instructions is the first stage of management. The senior housemaster must manage his hostel in such a way, that the educational, economic and administrative matters can be fully realised. To enable him to manage successfully, the senior housemaster will apply certain basic principles of management, such as planning, organising, training and control. When planning, the senior housemaster will seek ways and means to reach his operational goals and prepare appropriate methods for effective actions. This will include the planning of the educational programme, economic and financial procedures and administrative planning. The structure of organisation will form the framework for the senior housemaster to carry out the responsibilities of management, for the delegation of such responsibilities and for the co-ordination of. activities and operations, in the hostel. It is also essential that everybody concerned with the operation of the hostel, that is: the educational, administrative and domestic staff, including the servants, should be acquainted with his or her specific duties and responsibilities. It is therefore the task of the senior housemaster to see that duties and responsibilities are comprehensively and briefly set out. It is furthermore essential that every person should be suitably trained for his or her duty in the hostel. Unfortunately no teacher receives specific training to equip him/her for the important function of substitute parent, nor for that matter for the administrative, management, accounting and other duties with which the senior housemaster and other members of staff are required to be fully conversant. Therefore an in-service-training programme is essential and unavoidable. The implementation of such a programme will be one of the major tasks of the senior housemaster, if he wants to achieve healthy educational aims, without neglecting sound economic management. Sound planning requires the determination and setting down, of appropriate standards of performance in respect of the various activities. These standards must continuously be controlled by comparing the achievements against the predetermined standards. If there are any deviations, it must be immediately rectified. The senior housemaster will control events in his hostel by being on the spot or by way of consultation and reports. As a result of the research, a number of conclusions were reached and certain recommendations were made concerning the efficient management of hostels, within the scope of the school practice. It is finally recommended that the senior housemaster must officially be recognised as an educational manager, by putting him on par with the heads of department, in the general school hierachy.

M.Ed. (Leadership and Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The problem which initiated, this research project can probably be found in the professional experience of resedential hostel staff. The problem is that ineffective selection of senior housemasters who are not equipped to handle administrative matters probably impedes effective hostel management, furthermore, this implies that such a senior housemaster lacks the necessary insight and skills to plan, maintain and promote hostel effectiveness. It is against this background that the purpose of this research project should be viewed. In order to realise the objectives set, screening and selection have been chosen as prerequisites for the appointment- of a senior housemaster. The purpose of screening and selection is to appoint the most efficient person for the post. The research project seems to indicate that personal interviews with candidates for managerial posts can be very valuable as far as screening and selection are concerned. Although an interview must be structured, research has also shown that at times the wrong person has been selected in a managerial post. Furthermore the lack of in-service training of senior housemasters has been explicated. This project has attempted to clearly define the hostel policy as a frame of reference for in-service training. Special attention has been paid to the managerial functions of planning, organizing, guidance and control as guidelines for in-service training. These managerial functions ought to be a calculated action in the hostel policy. It has furthermore been proven that a need for training arises if an inefficient person is appointed as senior housemaster. The success of in-service training is always linked to effective programme development and effective evaluation that in turn is based on valid norms and standards. The managerial duty of the senior housemaster is carried out within a fixed organizing structure.

M.Ed. / The education of pedagogically neglected children in a residential situation, as found at child care schools, implies a particular educational task. It must be carried out in a conscientious professional manner it any virtuous accomplishment can be expected. All children in child care schools are cared for residentially. These children are removed from their homes or other torms of care without any choice and are then placed in the total care ot the child care school. The hostel in the child care school forms the core ot the school and is therefore the "home" ot these neglected children. As manager ot the child care school hostel the hostel educator has a comprehensive and complex task. This is realized when he has to lead and accompany pupils pedagogically towards adulthood in the child care school hostel environment. As professional leader the senior hostel educator must accomodate managerial tasks such as planning, organizing,guidance and control. In this research the importance ot organizing as the major management task ot the hostel educator in a child care school is stressed. Aspects that are connected with organizing are also stressed as they create structure on the micro level in the child care school hostel. In addition to this there is a normal relationship within the structure that adds to the achieving ot preset goals in the hostel. This research furthermore, stresses the managerial tasks which are expected of the hostel educator, namely to implement an inviting climate in the hostel, to develop a system of leadership and to create inviting discipline through effective organizing. This research is underpinned by the fact that the author was in the unique position of approaching the subject trilaterally : being in a hostel as a schoolboy for a number of years; as a hostel educator (presently as member of the managerial team of a child care school he is responsible for a hostel) and as a professional educator. (The personal experience and scientific facts melt together into a unit that gives one an intimate look into the daily life of the hostel educator and his particular challenges) . The importance of organizing as managerial task of the hostel educator as leader in the child care school hostel must be seen in the light of the need for well-equipped, able and diligent hostel educators.