This study investigated the role played by School Management Team (SMT) members in the induction of novice teachers in rural schools. The study arose out of the challenges experienced by the researcher as a member of the SMT with regard to the lack of clarity and direction in the induction of novice teachers attached to his school and a high attrition rate amongst novice teachers.The researcher posed this primary research question: How do members of the SMT in rural schools induct novice teachers? A sample of six rural schools in the Limpopo Provincial Education Department that had recently employed novice teachers was purposefully selected. Particpants uncluded the principal or the Deputy Principal, the HOD or the senior teacher and a novice teacher. Research has documented an array of challenges that novice teachers encounter in schools and hence the high attrition rates. This study used a qualitative research approach and a case study design to investigate the problem. The study was framed by Feldman’s (1981) theory of organisational socialisation, which stated that newly employed incumbents need to be inducted into their new organisation by management in order to become effect employees. The findings reveal that SMT members in rural schools do indeed induct their novice teachers, but that their dutis and efforts in this regard are negatively affected by a lack of induction policy, lack of support from the Education Department personnel and a lack of training. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

DEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / See the attached abstract below

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between efficacy and teacher turnover intent in small, poor, rural schools. The researcher focuses on small, poor, rural schools in a Midwest state in the United States due to the state’s annual teacher turnover rate (16.4%) which mirrors the national rate. A sample of 730 teachers was solicited to participate in the study through their building principal with a final response of N = 220 participating. This non-experimental study explores the relationship between efficacy (independent variable) and turnover intent (dependent variable) by collecting data utilizing the online platform of Survey Monkey. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) measured the level of self-efficacy for participants in the study. Additionally, the Collective Teacher Efficacy Scale (CTES) (Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004) measured the level of participants’ sense of collective efficacy. The Turnover Intent Scale (TIS) (Tiplic, Brandmo, & Elstad, 2015) measured the level of turnover intent for each participant. The research questions and hypotheses were used to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and turnover intent as well as collective efficacy and turnover intent. In addition, three research questions focused the investigation on the relationship between the variables by exploring the subscales of self-efficacy: student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The mean scores for each scale show that generally participants displayed a moderately high level of efficacy and were not searching for a new job. Additionally, the results show a statistically significant relationship between participants’ sense of collective efficacy and turnover intent. The significant relationship suggests that school leaders should focus on increasing teachers’ sense of collective efficacy to help with teacher turnover.

Limited studies have examined mobile bullying in South African schools in general and in rural schools in particular. The focus on rural schools is important to our understanding of the nature and forms of bullying. Studies conducted in other parts of the world suggest that bullying differs among urban, suburban, and rural schools. Evidence from studies on physical violence suggests that violence also takes place in many rural schools. Since rural areas are reported to have the highest level of mobile phone usage in South Africa, it is possible that mobile bullying may be more predominant in the rural communities and its implications severe. Using a survey of 984 students, the present study investigated the nature of mobile bullying in 7 rural high schools of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It sought to identify the factors that mainly predict this aggression and the data was analysed using quantitative methods. The findings show that males are more involved in mobile bullying than females. Gender, mobile victimization, frequent usage of the mobile phone and retaliation were the main predictors of mobile bullying. This study also revealed that the influence of anonymity of the bully on mobile bullying is not necessarily direct. This influence is moderated by other factors such as the safety risk and the economic environment of school.

Principal leadership is crucial to improving school effectiveness and positively affecting organizational culture in the midst of expectations from education reform mandates. Principals who provide direction and exercise influence can inspire commitment from organizational members to attain shared goals. Rural school principals face unique obstacles and situations as documented in the research and literature. This qualitative research study aimed to provide insight as to the perceived impact of transformational leadership behaviors and characteristics on organizational culture. This study also provided insight as to the transformational leadership behaviors and characteristics perceived to positively affect organizational culture. The protocols, which included interviews, were administered by the researcher to principals and certificated teachers at four rural elementary schools (two elementary schools not in Program Improvement [PI] and two elementary schools in PI) in Fresno County that met specific student demographic criteria. The data from the interviews provided insight regarding increased individual and collective stress in rural elementary schools due to the unprecedented expectations of NCLB. The organizational response to this increased stress was found to be contingent on the behaviors and characteristics by the rural elementary principal. The findings indicated a difference in perceptions between certificated teachers at the rural elementary schools not in PI and in PI. The rural principals in non-PI schools utilized communication to define clear expectation, and a collaborative decision making process to develop a shared vision which cultivated trust among certificated teachers to improve organizational culture and student academic achievement. The rural principals in PI schools were found to have utilized bureaucratic leadership approaches. The bureaucratic leadership approaches led to increased stress and frustration among certificated teachers. Frustration was found to have negatively affected organizational culture and no improvement in student academic achievement. This study validated the need for rural school principals to be aware of effective leadership approaches to positively affect organizational culture.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teachers' perspectives of the key factors contributing to the retention of rural teachers who entered teaching through an alternate route certification program in Mississippi. It was specifically the goal of this study to understand how alternatively certified teachers perceive their own characteristics (e.g., teacher preparation, personal experiences), school conditions (e.g., students, administration), and compensation (e.g., salary, benefits) to be related to their decision to remain in the profession. In this study, 9 rural alternate route teachers were interviewed from 8 schools in Mississippi. The research questions were: (1) How do rural alternate route teachers who stay describe their decision to continue teaching in terms of teacher characteristics?; (2) How do rural alternate route teachers who stay describe their decision to continue teaching in terms of school conditions?; and (3) How do rural alternate route teachers who stay describe their decision to continue teaching in terms of compensation? Sher's (1983) rural retention 3 C's framework provides a model for understanding retention. Sher proposed that attracting and retaining teachers in rural schools is a function of 3 C's: teacher characteristics, school conditions, and compensation. The data revealed that for teacher characteristics teacher preparation that included practice teaching combined with coursework was important, and participants valued experience working/teaching children. Data also revealed school conditions factors as student were a source of satisfaction for teachers, most teachers had little induction and mentoring support, teachers lacked administration and collegial support, and teachers found networks of support outside the school setting. The data revealed that the relationship between compensation and retention is complex, and that compensation was less important than intangible benefits. Although the study failed to find a simple and direct cause of retention, these findings do provide further insight into teacher retention. The findings of the study suggest implications for teacher preparation, school districts, and policy.