Namibia, having been a former colony of South Africa, was equally subjected to apartheid laws and practices. Independence, achieved in March 1990, signaled the dawn of a new era of access, equity, quality and democracy in the Namibian education sector. A unified system of educational administration, management, and control was established. The whole educational corps, especially the principals of all our schools, is expected to implement this new system as agents of change. In terms of the vision for a new Namibia, therefore, school principals are seen as occupying positions of central importance. This notion resonates strongly with recent and contemporary leadership thinking. However, a number of concerns prevalent in schools - particularly, increasing student underperformance, worsening disciplinary problems, increasing teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS pandemic, teacher qualification, decreasing teacher motivation, lack of training including induction for principals, inadequate support from the top (lack of a support system) and insufficient parental involvement in school matters – make the task of running schools extremely challenging and increasingly complex. How do principals experience these challenges and deal with the complex situations? How do they perceive their role, particularly in light of national aspirations and leadership theory? These are questions I think need to be explored. My research goal was to gain an understanding of Windhoek senior secondary school principals’ perceptions and experiences of their leadership role. My focus was on three purposively selected Windhoek senior secondary school principals representative of both the Namibian ethno-cultural diversity and gender. Data was collected through interviews. I found that the situations in which the principals found themselves during the pre- and post independent periods mainly determined their leadership style and behaviour, however, that did not deter their vision for the transformation of the society, as the ultimate objective and essence of their leadership. The appropriate practicing of their leadership role was being hampered by lack of induction and training, lack of a support system and insufficient parental involvement.

The emergence of distributed leadership theory encourages multiple involvement of individuals in leadership of the school, regardless of their leadership positions (Spillane, 2006). The manifestation of teacher leadership through distributed leadership theory grants opportunities to teachers to enact leadership roles. This study explored how the notion of teacher leadership is understood, the leadership roles existing for the beginner teachers, and the constraining and enabling factors to the practice of teacher leadership in a rural combined school in Ohangwena region, in Namibia. The study is a formative intervention adopting a case study approach located in a critical paradigm since it aimed to bring changes in the activity system of the beginner teachers. The data were collected from ten participants: four beginner teachers, four experienced teachers, the principal and the Head of Department. The data were generated using the following techniques: document analysis, interview, questionnaires, observation and Change Laboratory workshops. The data were analysed thematically using second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model. The findings revealed that there were different understandings of the concept of teacher leadership. It was viewed as participation, influence, motivation and mentoring. It was also revealed that beginner teachers practiced leadership roles across the four zones of Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model, but to various extents. A high participation was noted in zone one within the classroom and zone two in curricular and extra-curricular activities and minimal participation was reported in zone three within the whole school development and zone four beyond the school into the community. Teacher leadership in the case study school was constrained by several factors, including teachers’ reluctance to lead, cultural beliefs, top-down leadership structure and lack of experience. Due to the minimal participation of beginner teachers in zone three and four, the findings suggested that the school should foster a collaborative culture, establish induction and mentoring committees in the school and encourage beginner teachers to take up leadership roles by providing opportunities for them to lead through delegation. In a series of Change Laboratory workshops (CLW) the principal and the Head of Department took up the responsibility of providing leadership training to the teachers to enable them to assume leadership roles in the school. In addition, participants agreed to establish induction and mentoring committees in the school to provide guidance and assistance to teacher leaders.

This study explores practical school leadership and management, as enacted by women. The study, conducted in an interpretive paradigm, attempts to gain an understanding of women’s subjective experiences of school leadership and management. Two women principals from Ondangwa West Educational Region were interviewed. The two were selected through consultations with one of the senior inspectors in the region. Both had been principals for more than ten years and were seen by those who are concerned with their school to be successful. The study found that these women prefer a participative style of leadership and management, characterised by consultations with others, teamwork, collaborative decision-making and the use of power to empower others. They also strive for good human relationships because they believe that it fosters mutual respect, trust, openness and a good working atmosphere. All these human centred approaches are directed towards creating a school atmosphere that is conducive to teaching and learning and therefore result in effective schooling and quality educational outcomes. They do not experience gender discrimination in their work places. They have the full support of their supervisors. Though both are married with children, these dual roles do not prevent them from being successful in their professional work. In fact they have reached a stage where they feel confident as leaders and feel that they are acting as role models for fellow women principals and those aspiring to this position. The study concludes that the styles of leadership and management displayed by women are similar to those that are universally accepted as characteristics needed for effective school management and leadership. Though these leadership styles are traditionally associated with women, these characteristics are not gender specific. Therefore it will be in the best interest of schools, if school principals, both men and women, could borrow from these qualities in order to change schools from authoritarian to more democratic institutions.

The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The Namibian education system was affected by a number of changes and challenges. These changes and challenges emanated from new political, financial and socio-economic trends in Namibia and the global village. Due to their strategic positions as educational leaders-cum-managers, principals were expected to lead and manage schools to overcome the challenges and meet increasing expectations of varied stakeholders. However, many secondary school principals especially those in rural areas could not cope with the changes and challenges. Rural secondary school principals did not have what it takes to manage and lead their schools effectively and efficiently. This study investigated the professional development of Namibian secondary school principles with special focus on rural secondary school principals in the Omusati Region, a region in north central of Namibia. / South Africa

<p>The Namibian education system was affected by a number of changes and challenges. These changes and challenges emanated from new political, financial and socio-economic trends in Namibia and the global village. Due to their strategic positions as educational leaders-cum-managers, principals were expected to lead and manage schools to overcome the challenges and meet increasing expectations of varied stakeholders. However, many secondary school principals especially those in rural areas could not cope with the changes and challenges. Rural secondary school principals did not have what it takes to manage and lead their schools effectively and efficiently. This study investigated the professional development of Namibian secondary school principles with special focus on rural secondary school principals in the Omusati Region, a region in north central of Namibia.</p>

Since independence in Namibia in 1990, schools have been required to transform themselves from hierarchical organisations with autocratic leadership to more democratic forms of leadership which allow greater participation in leadership by teachers. This shift assumes that effective leadership and management of schools can secure and sustain school improvement. Against this backdrop, the purpose of my study was to explore the enactment of teacher leadership in three public schools in the Eenhana circuit of the Ohangwena region in Namibia and to examine the factors that enhance or inhibit this enactment. My study, located in the Namibian schooling system, was a replication of a multi-case study project conducted in South Africa during 2008-2009 by 11 Master of Education students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. My study was conducted within a qualitative interpretive paradigm and I adopted a case study of three Namibian schools with three teacher leaders per school as the unit of analysis. As in the original study, the instruments that I used to collect the data included a survey questionnaire, focus group interviews, individual interviews, selfreflective journals, observations and document analysis. All the educators, including the three teacher leaders at each of the three schools completed questionnaires following which the three teacher leaders at each school were interviewed using a semi-structured focus group interview method. The teacher leaders also provided information through journal writing. In addition, these teacher leaders were observed and I examined the school documents, such as minutes of meetings, to find out how they engaged in leadership roles in their institutions. Semi-structured individual interviews were also conducted with the principal and the secretary of each of the three selected schools to acquire contextual information about the schools. The Statistical Package of Social Sciences was used to analyse the quantitative data while qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis and, in particular, a model of teacher leadership (Grant, 2008). The findings of my study indicated that, although teacher leadership was a new concept to the majority of educators who took part in my study, teacher leadership was enacted at all the three schools. Teacher leadership was enacted differently at each of the three schools depending on the culture and structure of each school. At School A, teacher leadership was enacted successfully across the first three zones of the model within a dispersed distributed framing. At School B, teacher leadership was restricted to the first two zones, in the classroom and with other teachers and learners with little leadership distribution. At Schools C, teacher leadership was evident across all four zones of the model and classified as emergent with a dispersed distributed leadership framing. Barriers that prevented the development of teacher leadership in these schools were experienced as time, hierarchical structure, an autocratic principal and the exclusion of teachers in chairing of meetings. Factors that enhanced teacher leadership included collaborative and collegial cultures, teamwork, good communication, shared vision, collaborative decision-making, teachers-led initiatives and the involvement of learners in leadership roles. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for further research and practice in relation to the concepts of teacher leadership and distributed leadership in Namibia. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

<p>The Namibian education system was affected by a number of changes and challenges. These changes and challenges emanated from new political, financial and socio-economic trends in Namibia and the global village. Due to their strategic positions as educational leaders-cum-managers, principals were expected to lead and manage schools to overcome the challenges and meet increasing expectations of varied stakeholders. However, many secondary school principals especially those in rural areas could not cope with the changes and challenges. Rural secondary school principals did not have what it takes to manage and lead their schools effectively and efficiently. This study investigated the professional development of Namibian secondary school principles with special focus on rural secondary school principals in the Omusati Region, a region in north central of Namibia.</p>

Rural schools are faced with numerous challenges and are often perceived to be academically unsuccessful. However, in spite of this perception there are some which manage to beat the odds by being academically successful year after year. This peculiar phenomenon of ‘unequal performance’ among rural schools struck my interest; hence my decision to investigate what it is that successful rural schools do to keep afloat in a turbulent environment where others around them collapsed. As the literature suggests that leadership play a key role in the success of an organisation, I focused my study on how the leadership role of the principal makes a rural school thrive. The study is situated in the interpretive paradigm and attempts to reveal participants’ perceptions and experiences of the principal’s leadership. My participants were the principal, circuit inspector, the School Board Chairperson, a Head of Department and the LRC president. These people were purposefully selected; the principal was selected because he is the one executing the roles hence he would be better informed about them while the others due to the positions they occupy, work closely with the principal. The research is a case study as it focused on a single case, and for data generation I employed semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The study revealed various characteristics that describe the leadership role of the principal. An overarching characteristic that emerged is that the principal is a balanced leader - he focuses on both task completion and consideration for people. Different characteristics that emerged from this balance leadership portrayed the principal of Ruacana Senior Secondary School to be a transformational and an instructional leader who believes that teaching and learning are the central activities of a school. Moreover he has been painted to be a team player and a servant leader who holds and practices the principle of ubuntu. The principal has also been described as a strategic and exemplary leader. It emerged that his exemplary leadership has moulded the practices of teachers and learners into a shared culture that supports academic excellence. The findings also depicted a paradoxical picture of the principal in that while he exhibits democratic procedures he is also perceived to be autocratic.

Empowerment of women in leadership and in particular, school leadership has been the focus of the Namibian government and the country since independence in 1990. Different policies and laws, post‐independence, make provision for women empowerment and leadership in a range of organisations and institutions throughout the country. However, reports on gender equity in leadership positions suggest that Namibia is not really moving towards these policy goals at a sufficiently quick pace. A lot still needs to be achieved in terms of transforming the gender stereotyping in Namibia, which still suffers from the legacy of gender discrimination of the apartheid era. Modern‐day academic authors and journalists portray an increasing interest in an awareness of the advantages of women leadership. Women are increasingly perceived to have leadership styles more suitable for contemporary conditions than men. It is against this backdrop that this study sought to investigate women leadership in the Otjiwarongo circuit in the Otjozondjupa educational region in Namibia. The study used a qualitative, interpretive research paradigm. It adopted a case study approach. The primary participants consisted of four women principals in the Otjiwarongo circuit and the secondary participants included four women education officers from the same circuit. Semi‐structured interviews, a focus group interview and observation were applied as methods for collecting data and the data collection period was just over six weeks. Data analysis was done through coding and identification of categories. The findings revealed that women principals possessed the qualities of commitment, good communication and are passionate about their work, which are qualities normally associated with effective leadership. In terms of their role in their schools, they emerged as democratic leaders who involved all stakeholders in the decision making process through consensus. In addition, they demonstrated distributive and servant leadership in their interactions with stakeholders. The main challenge to the leadership position of these women principals seemed to be the stereotypical view held, that as women, they had to work twice as hard as men at leading schools. The study recommended that people oriented leadership styles, such as the ones enacted by the women principals in this study, are highly recommended for effective leadership in the 21st century.