Thesis (DTech (Human Resources Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / This thesis describes a model for developing and implementing leadership strategies in any public school and Education Department in South Africa. To shape this model, first of all, a general literature review was undertaken. Transformational, transactional, developmental, competency-based and instructional leadership, as well as leadership styles, leadership principles, the human dynamics of leadership, qualities of leadership and the role of leadership in change were researched and studied. Although the National Education Department and the Western Cape Education Department place great emphasis on effective leadership, newly appointed educational leaders and managers often feel they would have liked more induction and training regarding leadership than they received. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has programmes whereby they do capacity-building work sessions with educational leaders. The mentioned programmes are mostly held once a year for newly appointed leaders in education over a period of two days. An educational leader can only attend a work session once. The educational leader has a great responsibility towards all stakeholders and must therefore be well equipped as a leader. However, many problems regarding the lack of leadership skills, effectiveness, managing of the curriculum, staff and resources in schools have necessitated the Western Cape Education Department to bring out a circular on effective leadership, emphasising the role and responsibilities of the educational leader regarding effective leadership and management. The Education Department wants to maintain the efficacy of academic, leadership and managerial standards at schools. A well structured developmental, corrective training mechanism is an attempt to deal with the poor work performance and abilities of principals and senior staff members. The national minister of education, Mrs. Grace Naledi Pandor now recently made a announcement that she intend to empower educational leaders through workshops in 2006 regarding their responsibilities, leadership capacity, and effectiveness. Against this background, the researcher undertook a survey to determine the extent to which leadership strategies are being employed at schools in the Western Cape. A questionnaire Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to gather information and data. Structured interviews and a focus group discussion were also held.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Traditionally it has been accepted that if schools need to be improved, it has to be done within the metaphor of schools being organizations. The general belief was that within this framework schools can realize the full potential of the youth. History and reality has revealed to educational leaders and reseachers that schools have not really served the real purpose they were created for. This revelation entails that schools don't only fail to ensure optimal learning opportunities and facilities to all participants; they also fail to ensure a safe and natural environment. The support for this argument can be derived from the fact that during the last two to three decades education, and therefore educational management, has gone through numerous phases of change, restructuring and renewal. The fact of the matter is that mankind is not satisfied with the contribution that education and educational management has made to ensure the prosperous survival of humanity in an always changing world. This has become a tremendous headache for educational leaders. As if this is not enough, the number of interested parties in the provision and management of education is always increasing. The vociferous demands of these people with regard to educational matters is obviously something that educational managers must always bear in mind. The problems of educational leaders and managers are definitely not made easier by the fact that sUbordinates, especially teachers, are increasingly showing dissatisfaction with the manner in which teaching is being managed and supervised. Teachers are mostly heavily aggrieved by the fact that their true status as professionals and their sense of responsibilty as professional educators are undermined by current and prevailing bureaucratical supervisional practices and processes.

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Continuous changes and renewal take place in the field of technology as well as in the field of education. Consequently increasing demands are made on the educational leader as manager and his managerial task becomes very comprehensive. No educational leader, however, can cope with all these demands unless he delegates authority and responsibility effectively. This study focuses on delegation of authority and responsibility as part of the managerial task of the educational leader and as a subordinate task of organising without which the efficient functioning of the school as an organisation cannot be realized. For the realization of effective delegation, it is absolutely essential that the educational leader possess knowledge of the factors which may influence the task of delegation. These factors relate to the delegator as well as to the delegate and may lead to non-effective delegation practices. Several guidelines, for example educational leader as well as for proper training for the subordinate to the whom authority and responsibility is delegated, effective communication and motivation, making use of correct feedback and time-management techniques and the utilization of the right person for the right task, can be followed in order to realize effective delegation.

D.Ed. (Educational Management) / The basis for parental involvement in the educative teaching of children is the responsibility parents have for the education of their children. The education and teaching of the child in the context of the home and family unit provides the foundation for the child's future use of his intellect. social relationships as well as the development of his emotions. Parental education endeavours to encourage the child to acquire knowledge on his own. The desire to learn. as it manifests itself in the family unit and in specific contents. forms the basis for the child's teaching and learning at school. To meet ethic and educational demands of society parents are compelled to make use of specialised assistance to supplement and extend their educative endeavours as regards the teaching of their children. Schools were established to meet this demand for specialised teaching by professionally trained teachers. without taking over the educative duties of parents. Schools cannot replace parental responsibility and influence. Their accepted function supplements that of parents. Responsible parents will consequently be interested in the manner the responsible school carries out its accepted duties. This forms the key to the principle of parental involvement in all aspects of teaching practice. There has been a perceptible increase in parental involvement in White schools in the Republic of South Africa since 1982. A number of reasons can be listed for this phenomenon. The problem. however, is that the participation on behalf of the parents has not brought about the desired results. This study was undertaken to determine the reasons for this failure. The research programme was conducted along dual lines. Firstly an extensive study was made of the publications concerned with White parental involvement in the education of White children. Secondly an empirical investigation was done on the various aspects of parental involvement in the schools' educational programmes. Chairmen of management councils of Transvaal provincial schools were used as respondents.

This qualitative case study explores with 15 millennial educators, the factors that influenced their decision to stay and progress as leaders within the context of a high-attrition environment. The following assumptions held to be true: (1) the generation-specific retention needs of Millennials are applicable to educators across generations.; (2) high-quality professional development is a key factor in retaining teachers; (3) to provide high-quality support for teachers, schools must carefully craft an effective holding environment that is differentiated developmentally. The site for the study was a high-poverty urban charter network in the Northeastern United States that struggled to retain teachers. The primary sources of data were interviews with 15 millennial teacher leaders, a focus group of five principals, and a document analysis. The findings were analyzed through the four lenses presented in the conceptual framework: motivation for staying, how they learn, what they learn, and reactions to the pandemic. Each of these lenses directly aligned to the study’s four research questions. The analysis served to code the disaggregated data per these four lenses and the synthesis served to reveal teacher perceptions falling into three categories that were then used to further interpret the analysis. The major findings were: (1) A strong majority of participants indicated they were motivated to stay in a high attrition environment because they liked their colleagues; while an equal number cited the positive school culture as a contributing factor to their retention. (2) A slight majority of participants indicated that the Covid-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to be innovative. (3) A majority of participants indicated a desire to develop their capacity for learning and leading. (4) A strong majority of participants described they learned largely in informal ways by dialoguing with others and through observation. The principal recommendation from this study is that in order to retain teachers in a high attrition environment, there must be a positive school culture. Schools that want to retain employees need to 1) provide learning opportunities and support the development of leadership skills and 2) support and provide the resources for informal adult learning to maintain this culture.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The process of restructuring a junior high school into a middle school is the central focus of the study. The study investigated the relationship between junior high school and middle school. It emphasizes that the change process can occur successfully when approached methodically. It was hypothesized that a middle school with a grade configuration of grades 6-8 would be more effective than a junior high school with grades 7-8. The review of the literature incorporated a history of middle level education studies, a review of major reports on middle education and a review of middle level change processes. Affective and cognitive domains of education at the middle level were examined. Selected variables were analyzed to determine their effect. Subjects included students and staff members randomly selected from Safford Junior High School and Safford Middle School in Safford, Arizona. A survey was also sent to every registered voter of Graham County. Seventy-five percent of the teaching staff in the school was selected to complete the additional survey instruments describing the educational environment at the school before and after the change. Because the population was limited to the citizens and students of Graham County in Arizona, results are generalizable only to the extent that another population is similar. Further research into the relationship of these constructs, including observational studies and studies providing for external verification of both the junior high school and the middle school would be beneficial.

This dissertation analyzed the "no pass/no play" (np/np) policy and examined its impact on minorities and at-risk students. Philosophies, goals, objectives, and activities associated with the planning and implementation of the np/np rule were also reviewed. Using the parallel pairs model to evaluate data germane to the np/np rule allowed this researcher to study, sort, compare, and evaluate the data associated with the planning and implementation of the no pass/no play policy. Examination of this policy revealed differences between the anticipated results and the actual impact that the policy had on minority and at-risk students. The results of the study indicated that the np/np rule was implemented long before there was a clear understanding of its potential problems. While there continues to be a lack of consensus among educators and administrators as to the effectiveness of the np/np rule, most educators are aware of the negative impact on minorities and at-risk students.

This thesis is a study of teacher professional learning and development. Concepts from research into professionalism and professional learning, and organizational, socio-­‐cultural and complexity theory are used to create a theoretical framework. This is then applied to the analysis of how teachers learn and develop professionally and how professional learning and development activities might best be planned and organized. The findings of empirical research involving 12 teachers and 9 Head Teachers and 40 semi-­‐structured interviews are presented and discussed. The research involved the participant teachers endeavouring to undertake a small scale, action research project into a self-­‐selected aspect of their practice. Significant support was expressed in the research for a form of action research being an aspect of teacher continuous professional development. Factors that enable and which prevent teachers engaging in Action Research are identified. Theories, concepts and empirical evidence are used to argue that teacher professional learning involves social and mediated interaction in complex, multiple environments and that this has significant implications for how we define, organise and undertake teacher professional learning. An approach is presented which is enquiry/evidence based, work-­‐based and expansive, and which takes account of teachers’ social situations, teacher, learner and school learning aims and needs, and socially mediated learning processes.

M.Ed. / Realization of the aims of the school requires, inter alia, meaningful and purposeful co-operation between the members of the top management of the school. Purposeful cooperation between these members implies the establishment of relationships that will realize and facilitate mutual consultation, sharing of responsibilities and effective management ...