There are substantive external demands for improved learner achievement, particularly in secondary schools, and increasingly, principals have to bear the pressures that accompany these demands. Instructional leadership concept is being advocated one of the approaches that school leaders may consider in order to promote a culture of teaching and learning within their schools. Therefore a qualitative case study was undertaken to explore instructional leadership practices of three secondary school principals in Umbumbulu Circuit. The focus of the study was based on the assumption that principals were instructional leaders as it was the expectation of government policy. The study therefore, did not seek to find out if principals in the study were indeed instructional leaders, but it sought to understand the manner in which they practicalised this expectation. In short, the study sought to gain an insight into how secondary school principals in this area enacted instructional leadership and why they enacted it the way they did. Three schools were selected among those schools that had experienced drastic improvement in their matric results in the past five years or so. The research design employed was qualitative and semi-structured interviews with three principals and three educators. These interviews were audio taped and transcribed for analysis. The results indicated that principals enacted instructional leadership practices by (a) sharing vision among members of the school (b) monitoring instructions (c) encouraging professional development of their teaching staff (d) ensuring that instructional time was not interrupted (e) furnishing professional materials and resources to the teachers (f) monitoring and discussion assessment issues with the teachers (g) recognising and rewarding good performance and (h) preparing and sustaining learning environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. The main aim was to enhance teaching and learning in the schools as these principals strongly believed that it was their responsibility to do so. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The study sought to explore six women from Ilembe District who are managing in different levels within their organisations. The study focused on Principals, Deputy Principals and HOD‟s from different schools. The aim of the study was to find out whether Professional self-advancement has embraced women in Education Leadership with skills that would help them withstand the challenges mostly faced by women leaders that are imposed by the patriarchal gendered background. This qualitative study was set in the interpretive paradigm. It used semi structured interviews and documents analysis, as its method of data collection. The findings revealed that women were reluctant at some point to improve themselves professionally because there is lesser advancement of women into leadership positions, as compared to their male counterparts. It transpired that some women believed that the employment of feminine characteristics of managing embraced women with a sense of worth and responsibility in their organisations. On the other hand some women were pre-conditioned that in order to be recognised as a good leader one had to employ masculine character traits to be acceptable. To most participants professional self-advancement has empowered them to be confident, knowledgeable and be resilient to withstand all negative misconceptions towards them as women leaders. In large majority, women believed that their exposure to management courses has helped them deal with conflicts and improve inter-relations within their organisations. They see themselves as approachable, nurturing, supportive and relational to all their subordinates and this bring meaning to them as women that they have a major role to play to help shape our education. Grogan (2010) hinted that studies pursued by Shakeshaft and Grogan on US women leaders have noted five different characteristics portrayed by women managers which are; leadership for learning, leadership for social justice, relational leadership, spiritual leadership and balance leadership. The study recommends that both the victims and perpetrators of gendered situations should work collaboratively to re-socialise both women and men so as to help women find their self worth within the education system. This could be done by assisting women improve themselves through engaging with institutions of higher learning, attending seminars, motivational talks, enhance networking, have mentors and attend departmental programmes that focus on enhancement of leadership skills. Lastly, for outstanding performance, women should be accepted as they are, to regain their self confidence and exhaust all their capabilities, but not to disregard their mothering flair. Lumby and Azaola (2013) in their study on women principals in South Africa said that, their „mothering identity‟ develops skills even in areas where they report there is considerable doubt about their competence, for example in disciplining boys. In their study they picked that as mothers, they are better able than men to discipline boys. Through exposure to management studies, some participants have found that they use both feminine and masculine style of leadership. Coleman (1996) as cited in Pace and Pace (2005) found that female head teachers exhibit both feminine and masculine qualities, and hence could be identified as androgynous leaders. It is therefore, important that women are exposed to skills development workshops; nurture their studies, engage in networking, and advance their knowledge in every way possible to become better leaders in education. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

This study explores the narrated experiences of nine women heads of department (HoDs) in their roles as middle managers of secondary schools in South Africa. There is scant literature about women who hold such positions in schools. Too little is known about how they develop as middle managers and what capabilities they need to perform a management function. This study aims to push that peripheral attention given in education management literature to women in middle management roles in schools into sharp focus by concentrating on the women who operate in this much neglected tier of management. The study seeks to do this by understanding how women HoDs develop capabilities in a changing social context so that they become able to function as transformational middle managers and leaders at secondary schools. The key critical questions posed in the study are: * What are the narratives from women HoDs about how they developed their capabilities in a transforming and contested social context? * What are the capabilities that enable women middle managers to function as managers? * In what way do the capabilities of women middle managers enable them to function as transformational leaders? Located within the feminist paradigm, the study employs a participatory narrative methodology in two phases to generate data through qualitative participatory methods such as life-history interviews, letter-writing, journaling and participant observations. The first phase in the field focuses on eliciting accounts from nine women HODs about their lived experiences from early childhood to adulthood in order to understand how they developed their capabilities and how they came to take up management roles. Central to the development of capabilities are family relationships and educational experiences that influenced and equipped them for management. The second phase of data generation concerns observations and experiences of the women HoDs in their middle management roles. In this part of the study, role models, mentors and practices as middle managers come to the fore. To understand how women middle managers develop as managers in a transforming school context, and what capabilities enable the women middle managers to function in their role as transformational leaders, the study uses two theoretical lenses. The first lens is Nussbaum's and some educational scholars‟ expansion of Sen's capability approach; and the second lens is Bass and Avolio's and Leithwood et al's work on the behaviours and attributes of transformational leaders, which are used to separate out the capabilities that enable women to function as transformational middle managers. Five key findings emerge in this study: * The foundational management capabilities that enable women to function as transformational leaders in school management develop over an extended period of time from childhood into early career years. * Women identify mentors and/or role models who are afar from or in close proximity to them and who are located within their personal and/or professional domains as significant formative influences on them as middle managers in schools. While some women assert that their mentors and role models put up some barriers to their development as middle managers, these women employed their agency and resilience to offset any weak capability development. * Women middle managers' capability to function as transformational HODs is constituted in four attributes that emerge through the practice of behaviours and attributes that characterise transformational leadership. The management capabilities and the transformational leadership functionings are aligned on the basis of leadership attributes, namely, developing knowledge and skills; setting departmental directions; developing people in the department; and redesigning the department. * While women middle managers in schools have the internal capability to function as transformational leaders based on the foundational management capabilities they developed over many years, the external conditions within the school context may constrain them from functioning as transformational leaders. When external conditions support the development of women‟s management capabilities, then women appear to have a strong capability set; however when there are barriers to their capability development, then their capability set may be weak. * Neither the capability approach nor transformational leadership theory on their own is sufficient to understand how women develop capabilities to function as transformational leaders within the middle management tier of schools in the South African context. Based on these five findings, especially the fifth finding, the thesis of this study is that the affinity and complementariness between the development of foundational management capabilities and the behaviours and attributes of a transformational leader proposes a hybrid of the two theoretical lenses. This new approach, referred to as the Transformational Leadership Capabilities Approach, provides an explanation of how women middle managers develop capabilities appropriate for a management role and how they can function in that management role as transformational leaders. The Transformational Leadership Capabilities Approach unifies the capability approach and transformational leadership theory on the basis that management capabilities and transformational leadership behavioural components and dimensions are complementary. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Post 1994, the vision of the South African education policy terrain is to transform schools into more effective places of teaching and learning. To achieve this vision, policy suggests a shift in management practices from traditional autocratic headship to more participatory leadership practices, including the leadership of teachers. Theorizing from a distributed leadership perspective, the aim of this study was to explore the concept of teacher leadership and the challenges that are faced by post level one teachers as they operate as leaders in their schools in the South African context. The study sought to investigate how the concept of teacher leadership was understood, how post level one teachers lead in their schools and what challenges to teacher leadership are in schools. The study was conducted in one rural and one semi-urban primary school and it was qualitative in nature. A case study methodology was suitable for this study since it was aimed at gaining teachers understanding and perceptions of teacher leadership. Different methods of collecting data were used and these included interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis. Data were analyzed thematically using Grant’s (2008) model of teacher leadership. The findings indicated that teacher leadership as a concept was still new to certain teachers, even though research on the topic in the South African context is increasing. Some teachers did not think of the roles they played in a school as teacher leadership. The findings further indicated that teacher leadership was experienced differently across the two schools with teacher leadership in the rural school being more restricted than the teacher leadership in the semi-urban school, where it was more emergent. In the rural school, leadership could, at best, be described as authorized distributed leadership while in the semi-urban school, leadership could be described as dispersed distributed leadership. In addition, the findings showed that the major barrier to teacher leadership in the rural school was resistance from the School Management Team while in the semi-urban school the major barrier to teacher leadership was a lack of time. A further barrier to teacher leadership in both schools was teachers themselves who were lazy and did not want to take on additional leadership tasks. The study also found that the major enhancing factor to teacher leadership, particularly in the semi-urban school, was a collaborative school culture where teachers trusted each other and worked together in professional learning communities. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The main aim of educational institutions is to ensure that effective teaching and learning is achieved. My personal ontological disposition is that in order to reach this ideal, teacher leadership and professionalism needs to be a reality in all schools. It is for this reason that I embarked on this study to gain a meaningful understanding of how teachers felt they could lead schools better to ensure that they are professional places of teaching and learning. In developing this study I focused on two key areas, which were to examine teachers understanding of professionalism and I attempted to identify what factors enhanced or inhibited teacher leadership and professionalism in schools. The research methodology that I employed was a case study which was conducted in a secondary school. I employed five data collection tools to obtain the information I required. The first was a survey which was conducted among the entire staff of the school. The second tool was individual interviews that focused on five teacher leaders of the school who were the unit of analysis. The next data collection method involved all five teacher leaders in a focus group interview. The fourth tool was observations that were carried out throughout the research process. The final data collection tool was document analysis, which included a range of documents varying from staff meeting minutes to department policies. In addition, I kept a reflexive field note journal as a tool to enhance the validity of my study. This study revealed several key findings which I feel are vital for educational success to become a reality. At first this study revealed that teacher leadership was a reality in the case study school and was occurring in four zones: in the classroom, collaboration, whole school and with surrounding schools. Next this study revealed that teaching is a profession that is underpinned by key characteristics, namely: you have to study, uplift the name of the profession and behave and dress in a professional manner. Furthermore, this study revealed that there were several factors that promoted teacher leadership and professionalism, like incentives, school culture and relationships. Finally, this study revealed that there were various barriers to teacher leadership and professionalism, like, unions, formal leadership and teachers’ dispositions. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of novice teachers with regard to teacher leadership. It sought to ascertain the importance of teacher leadership for novice teachers, to determine how teacher leadership is enacted by novice teachers and to examine the factors that enhance or hinder teacher leadership of novice teachers. Teacher leadership is an emerging field of study in many countries. Literature surrounding education practices suggest that a democratic and collaborative environment should be fostered. This study draws on the Distributed Leadership theory and Grant’s (2008) model of Teacher Leadership. Paradigmatically, this study is interpretive and is qualitative. A case study research design was used. Data was generated using focus group and semi-structured interviews. One secondary school in the KwaDukuza Region, KwaZulu-Natal was purposively selected as the case study school with the Principal, senior teachers and novice teachers serving as participants. The findings of the research revealed that novice teachers execute most of their leadership skills within the classroom. Little or no opportunities are given to them within the school environment to lead. As a result, the ideal characteristics of teacher leadership seem to have no place within the chosen school. Although novice teachers are aware of their importance as being part of the school leadership, very few leadership roles are filled by novice teachers within the school, among their colleagues and in their community at large. Findings also revealed that the school management team pays little attention to developing novice teachers as teacher leaders. This is one of the main obstacles that hinder the enactment of teacher leadership by novice teachers. In addition to this, lack of resources, time constraints and teacher overload affect novice teachers negatively in terms of taking on leadership roles. The research findings also reveal that the school operates under a stringent beauracratic management system. Decisions are left entirely to the school management team and the Principal. It was noted that both novice teachers and senior teachers express the similar outlook on the manner in which the school operates, that is an authorised leadership practice as opposed to democratic distributed leadership. Some of the recommendations that emerged from the findings were that of the school management team harnessing the enthusiasm of novice teachers to take on leadership roles and be part of the schooling community. The implementation of induction and mentoring programmes was a suggestion put forth by participants. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Abstract not available. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

This study entailed an exploration of instructional leadership practices of school principals. A case study was conducted at four schools in Durban. The research participants included four school principals, two from primary and two from secondary schools. My purpose was to explore the role of school principals in supporting teaching and learning at their schools. The study was conducted from an interpretive perspective. Three theories informed this investigation, namely instructional leadership theory, transformational leadership theory and distributed leadership theory. The data analysis procedure entailed a transcription of all four interviews that were thematically analysed to produce significant findings which informed the conclusions.All four principals had similar things to share about their role as instructional leaders, such as creating a favourable teaching and learning atmosphere. Secondly, some of the things that principals actually do to support teaching and learning is to motivate educators and learners and organise fund raising. Thirdly, there a numerous challenges that school principals are faced with irrespective of whether it is a primary or secondary school. Fourthly, principals take responsibility for overcoming challenges by reviewing the school’s code of conduct and making amendments to curb discipline related problems and implementing professional development of their staff. All four principals displayed a good understanding of their role as instructional leaders. We can conclude that the school principals who were interviewed make a concerted effort to ensure the maximum development of their staff. They view team collaboration and delegation of tasks as important to the smooth functioning of the organisation and try their best to ensure that this takes place at their schools. Principals also voiced concerns over SGB members that often overstepped their mark in certain instances. Recommendations informed by the conclusions demonstrated that school principals, unions, and the Department of Education need to do more to enhance the delivery of quality education in schools. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

The aim of this research is to understand the views of teachers regarding professionalism and leadership. As a researcher, I also wanted to investigate whether teachers were given opportunities to lead within a professional capacity in their schools and to examine the factors that promote the development of these teacher leaders as professionals as well as those factors that hinder such development. In view of the recent public servants strike in 2007 and 2010, teachers have been brought under the spotlight in a very negative manner. The teaching profession has been viewed with scrutiny ever since and most if not all teachers were being painted with the same brush of, lack of integrity and respect. The purpose of the study was to examine how teacher leaders performed leadership roles and also to establish whether such roles were within professional parameters or not. There was a need to understand how teacher leaders understood the term professionalism as well as to ascertain what factors promoted and hindered the development of teacher leaders as professionals. The study was conducted within a qualitative, interpretive paradigm and took the form of a case study of five educators, who were two Heads of Department and three post level one teachers’ in an urban primary school in KwaZulu-Natal. Data collection techniques included semi – structured individual interviews, a focus group interview, questionnaires and observation. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that although teachers were actively engaging in leadership roles, very little was done to develop these teachers as professionals. This study acknowledges that management members of schools play a crucial role in the development of teacher leaders as professionals by creating opportunities for this professional development. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.