Before independence, Namibia inherited a system of Bantu education which was hierarchical, authoritarian and non-democratic. Upon independence, the educational sector went through numerous reforms which were meant to transform education and to make it more democratic, whereby all stakeholders can broadly participate. In spite of these reforms, leadership of schools has remained a hierarchical system, where a principal who, as an individual, runs the school without recognition of the potential leadership of others. Recent studies on leadership have called for shared leadership, whereby leadership is a practice, permeable to learner leaders and not associated with individuals. This research study aims to explore learner leadership development in the Learner Representative Council (LRC) structure at a secondary school in Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold - firstly, my personal interest in learner leadership was aroused by my teaching experience. The second reason was due to my realisation that the area was under-researched in Namibia, hence I wanted to fill the existing gap on learner leadership. The study critically engaged learners and teachers to help me get an understanding of learner leadership and the factors enabling learner leadership development. I also found that challenges which resulted in contradictions, hampered leadership development. The study took an interventionist approach and second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used to surface tensions and contradictions affecting learner leadership development. Change Laboratory workshops enabled the expansive learning process with the 12 LRC members. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and journaling. The study found that learner leadership was understood more in terms of traditional views of leadership, whereby a learner needed to possess certain qualities in order to lead. The findings further pointed out that the LRC members were mainly involved in managerial roles and not really leadership roles, as such, and they were not involved in decision-making at the school. Although provision for the LRC body is made in an Educational Act, historical and cultural forces account for teachers’ reluctance to support the LRC members, as well as for silence of learner voice. I hope that findings from this research study strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and contribute to the creation of knowledge on learner leadership in Namibia.

Learners in Namibian primary schools are seemingly not brave enough to stand and raise their voice on issues that concern them. This is what Shekupakela-Nelulu (2008) wrote after a study she conducted on the Learners’ Representative Council (LRC) of a school in Namibia. She refers to a time when “the involvement of students in school affairs was seen by the regime as a political act and attempts by student leaders to involve themselves in educational issues were often quashed” (ibid., p. i). This situation will be all too familiar to South African readers, where a public holiday, Youth Day, was declared to mark the apartheid regime’s brutal treatment of learner protestors on June 16, 1976. While Namibia has not experienced events of such magnitude, the notion of learner voice is equally problematic and worthy of investigation. The absence of leadership development opportunities for learners has led to this research study which seeks to answer the central research question: How can learner leadership be developed in a LRC? I used an interpretive paradigm, adopting a qualitative approach in the study. Concurrently, the study was framed and guided by the second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as an analytical tool to achieve my research goal. The following questions guided the study in two phases. Phase one: What were the perceived causes for the nonsustainability of the learner leadership (LL) club at the school? Phase two: How is the notion of learner leadership understood in the school? How is leadership developed on the LRC? What enables and constrains leadership development of learners on the LRC? The research participants were thirty LRC members from grades 6 and 7 and15 teachers who teach the LRC members. The principal and three HOD’s were also research participants being part of the Senior Management team. One of the HOD’s also fulfils the role of the guardian teacher to the LRC. A school board chairperson also participated in the Change Laboratory Workshop. Data was generated through multiple data sources such as questionnaires, individual interviews, a focus group interview and observation. The findings from phase one of the study revealed that the learner leadership club’s intervention was a success during the 2014 academic year, but the absence of the learner leadership club as an extra-mural activity affected the sustainability of the club into the next academic year 2015. Findings from phase two revealed that leadership opportunities did exist at the school for learner leadership development. However, a few challenges emerged relating to traditional views of leadership and constraining factors that could affect learner leadership development at the school. Thus, Change Laboratory workshops were held to find solutions to the challenges, in order to promote and enhance learner leadership development, hopefully for the future of the Namibian child.

The evolution of traditional educational leadership theory to contemporary leadership theory came as a response to an increased demand for better services in schools by creating platforms for learner leadership such as distributed leadership where learner leadership is located. This study of learner leadership is conducted in a secondary school in Omusati region of Namibia. Drawing on distributed leadership theory, the study sought to promote the distribution of leadership opportunities amongst all educational stakeholders, including learners, as provided for by policy and projected by educational leadership theory. The motivation of this study was the need to understand the problems associated with learner leadership as identified by past research. In addition, this study hoped to address the gap in the literature by exploring learner leadership development opportunities developing agency in learners through a Change Laboratory (CL) intervention. This study was as a transformative case study, how the grade 9s in the case study school were involved in leadership, the constraining factors that hindered the involvement of grade 9 learners in leadership, the enhancement of learner leadership at school, the positive contributions of CL workshops to participants and the leadership growth brought about by an intervention. This study generated data through observation, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and Change Laboratory Workshops. The findings revealed that the grade 9 learners were marginally involved in leadership at the school. The most substantial challenge relates to traditional and outdated views of leadership on the part of teachers and educational managers. Additionally, the findings from the Change Laboratory workshops revealed that despite grade 9 learners being the youngest at school, they have the potential to be learner leaders. Hence in addition to several practical recommendations, the study recommends a change of mindset towards learner leadership so that opportunities are provided to contribute to the growth and development of learners. Finally, these research study findings will help my professional colleagues and policy makers in education to better understand the significance role of learner leadership involvements in schools.

The purpose of this research was to investigate three principals’ perceptions and experience of participative management and to gain insight into and understanding of the dimensions involved in participative management from the perspective of the three principals. The research was conducted within the interpretive paradigm, since I was interested in understanding the subjective experience and individual perceptions of three principals with regard to participative management and the meaning they attach to it in their natural settings: how they describe, interpret and make sense of participative management. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and observation. The findings indicate overwhelming support for the notion that participative management (collegiality) does have a positive influence with regard to creating a sense of common goals, shared vision, a sense of ownership, commitment and improved human relations. The respondents emphasized the critical role of the leader in facilitating the implementation of collegiality as well as an increasing awareness of the potential of participative management to improve human development through delegation. The responses revealed interesting paradoxes with regard to the tensions between leadership and leaderless organizations, as well as between autonomy and interdependence. Responses also reflect the sentiment that participative management should be selective, involving only those with the necessary skills and expertise in the decision-making process. While there is an appreciation of the benefits to be derived from collegiality, critical statements about participative management include the time-consuming nature of participative management, and the notion that participative management impinges on the authority of the principals.

After Independence in 1991, Namibia embarked on implementing a new and different educational system. This system was seen as a radical departure from the old apartheid system. The Namibian government approached Ibis, a Danish NGO, to support the change process by establishing and developing a new subject, life science, in Junior Secondary schools in Namibia through the Life Science Project (LSP). In a project of this nature, where a foreign (Danish) educational intervention in a relatively young and new democracy is the issue, cross-cultural aspects are likely to emerge, and these are the focus of this study. This half-thesis is an attempt to illuminate, not to evaluate, managerial as well as cross-cultural features of the project based on perceptions of selected Danish managers and Namibian advisory teachers from the former LSP expressed in the goal of the research: - To explore selected leaders’ and participants’ perception of the management of the Life Science Project. In line with this goal, I elected to conduct the research in the interpretive paradigm, using unstructured interviews as my chief source of data. The findings illuminate what would appear to be an inconsistency in the management of the project. The project seemed to be able to accommodate regional and even personal differences and to be flexible to internal changes. At the same time it appears that in its relationship to the external or task environment it did not show the same openness and flexibility to accommodate diversity. It is suggested that this could be a result of the apparent failure on the part of the project to clarify its own underlying values. The study also reveals interesting and unexpected perceptions of leadership, which may also be interpreted in terms of cultural values and beliefs. These two features of managerial issues could lead one to reflect upon the importance of recognising values in organisations which work across cultures.

The Namibian Ministry of Education introduced the School Clustering System (SCS) in 1996. The system entails the grouping of schools into clusters to facilitate the sharing of resources and expertise. One school in a group is selected to serve as the Cluster Centre and the principal of the centre is identified as the Cluster Centre Principal (CCP). This has created a new level of educational leadership which is still relatively under-researched and the primary purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of this new role since it is perceived to be pivotal to the effective functioning of the cluster. This study is an interpretive case study of Cluster Centres in the Komesho Circuit in the Ohangwena Educational Region. Three data collection instruments were used, namely document analysis, observation and interviews. The collected data provided insight into participants' views on the role of Cluster Centre Principals (CCPs), which shed light on the challenges faCing the roles of CCPs. The findings revealed that respondents welcomed the decentralisation of an education system that involves cluster members and parents in decision making. Furthermore, the perceived role of CCPs is perceived as delegation through participative leadership and management approaches. This involves groups in teamwork to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. The study has, however, also exposed tensions surrounding the role and function of CCPs. This is partly because the role has not been formalised and is perceived as existing in a legal vacuum. This study will benefit the Cluster Centre Principals, Inspectors of Education, Advisory Teachers, non-governmental Organisations, the community and the Ministry of Education by placing the role of Cluster Centre Principals in perspective.

This study examines the perceptions and experiences of school stakeholders about the practices of participative management in a Namibian Secondary School. Data was collected by using interviews, observation and document analysis. The study revealed that participative management has some benefits for the school such as it promotes democracy in school management, school as an open system, sharing of ideas and skills, teamwork and that ownership and commitment enhance the chances for organization change. Participatory decision making and shared leadership are the practices of PM that emerged from this study. However the school does experience challenges such as lack of knowledge on the practice and potential of PM in school management and leadership, illiteracy among parents that prevent them from participation in management and autocratic management practices from some members in formal leadership. The study suggests that trust, relationships and openness are good interpersonal skills that can help enhance the practices of PM in the school. Other strategies were to sensitize stakeholders on the practices of PM.

In Namibian schools, learner voice and leadership are being promoted through the policy document entitled the Education Act 16 of2001 which provides an opportunity to establish Learner Representative Councils (LRCs) in secondary schools. However, recent studies have found that this body of learner leaders do not function all that effectively and sometimes exist for the sake of adhering to the policy. This prompted me to conduct an activity theoretical interventionist case- study within the critical paradigm, to develop LRC voice and leadership in a newly established Namibian school. Framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, the study was divided into two phases to answer the over-arching question: How can LRC voice and leadership be developed in a school? Phase one was largely interpretive, the contextual profiling phase, where document analysis, individual interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to generate data to answer the following research sub-questions: How is learner leadership understood in the school? What leadership development opportunities for the LRC currently exist in the school? What underlying factors constrain the development of LRC voice and leadership in the newly established school? Phase two of the study was the expansive learning phase, which consisted of three intervention workshops. The Change Laboratory method and a focus group interview were used to generate data in response to the last research sub-question: In what ways can LRC participation in a Change Laboratory process contribute to their leadership development? Data generated were inductively and deductively analysed, using the activity theoretical principles of contradictions and double stimulation. Data revealed that learner leadership was largely understood as managerial roles carried out by the LRC in the school. Unlike many schools in Namibia, this case-study school offered numerous leadership development opportunities for the LRC. The community networking events such as: School Exchange Programmes, Town Council breakfast and Junior Regional Council, were opportunities offered to the LRC to solicit information, exchange ideas and discuss matters of common interest with the LRCs of the fully established schools. However, there were a number of challenges that constrained LRC voice and leadership development, the major one being the fact that this was a newly established school. Of significance was that LRC participation in the Change Laboratory process contributed positively to the development of voice and leadership in learners. During this Change Laboratory process, the LRC developed a new artefact - the vision and mission statement of the school - this signified that the learners expansively transformed the object of their activity. Recommendations emerging out of the study included that the School Management Team see the ‘newly established’ status of the school as an opportunity for development, rather than a limitation, and therefore invite the LRC to participate in the different leadership practices as the school becomes established. A significant recommendation for school leadership research is to use the third generation of CHAT to expand the unit of analysis, in order to understand the leadership relations and power dynamics between multiple activity systems in schools as complex organisations.

Learner participation in leadership in Namibian schools was legislated in 2001 through the Namibian Education Act, No. 16 of2001. This has then become a requirement for all secondary schools to establish a Learner Representative Council (LRC). However, this legislation only gives mandates to schools with grade 8-12. Despite the impetus of having a LRC in secondary schools, learner leadership and voice remains limited, given that we are 26 years into our democracy. This awakened my interest to conduct a study aimed at developing leadership and voice within the LRC in a Namibian secondary school. Additionally, this study was conducted to contribute to filling the gap in literature of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) studies in the field of Education Leadership and Management. In this critical case orientation, the LRC were the subjects and the object of the activity was voice and leadership development within the LRC. I investigated participants’ perspectives on LRC leadership opportunities that existed in the case study school as well as factors that enabled and constrained leadership and voice development within the LRC of Omukumo (pseudonym) Secondary School in the northern part of Namibia. My study adopted a formative intervention design, using qualitative methodologies such as document analysis, observation, interviews, questionnaires and Change Laboratory Workshops. This study was framed by the second generation of CHAT. CHAT in this study was used as a methodological and analytical tool to surface the contradictions. Additionally, data were analysed by means of constructing categories and themes. Five sets of findings emerged: (1) a lack of conceptual awareness of the construct ‘learner leadership’: learner leadership was understood in terms of the LRC, (2) LRC members were not really acknowledged as equal participants in the school decision-making due to unequal power relations between the teachers and the LRC members, (3) misinterpretation of LRC policy that speak about the establishment of learners club and inadequate LRC training hindered the development of voice and leadership within the LRC, (4) the overall leadership role assigned to the LRC was to oversee the adherence of the school rules, and last (5) learner leadership and voice was still developing in the case study school. My key recommendation based on the research findings is the need for on-going LRC training at regional level; a need for large scale comparative studies between two African countries (Namibia, & South Africa) on the topic of learner leadership development and last, a need for workshops to train teachers on the implementation of national policies in schools, in particular those that speak to issues of learner voice and leadership.

While women constitute more than 51% of the population and far outnumber men in teaching positions in Namibia, very few occupy positions of leadership. Male candidates are still favoured for top positions, thereby denying women the chance to gain entrance to these positions. One of the reasons for this imbalance seems to be that, in spite of conscious political effort and legislation, women may still be perceived as less effective leaders than men. This research focused on leadership in education, in particular school principals, and explored the perceptions of female principalship held by school inspectors. Three school inspectors from the Rundu Education Region were purposefully selected and interviewed. Inspectors were selected on the grounds of their considerable influence in the selection and appointment of school principals. The study found that these inspectors favour school principals who show commitment to their work, have good interpersonal working relationships, are caring, good listeners, visionary and produce good results. The inspectors attribute female principals’ success to their traditionally perceived characteristics, such as caring leadership and ability to develop good human relations. Instead of perceiving these qualities as professionally negative (as is sometimes argued in the literature) the inspectors see them as indisputable assets to leadership. The respondents acknowledge the cultural stereotyping that may have influenced male attitudes to women in the past, but argue that good leadership is not specific to gender, but part of the qualities a person possesses, regardless of sex. This study concludes that, contrary to what has been reported in many studies, these inspectors perceive women principals as effective – equal to their male counterparts or sometimes even more effective - because they are caring, well organized and good at communicating and establishing relations with others. Though these qualities are different from the traditional masculine qualities which include independence and emotional strength, the respondents recognize and legitimize them as preferred qualities in current effective leadership practice.