The under-representation of women in positions of leadership in primary schools is common in many developing countries, raising issues of equity, social justice and sustainable development. Studies on gender and leadership have revealed that a number of barriers existed for women seeking positions of educational leadership. This includes social-cultural factors, the expectations of the society, as well as women’s perceptions of themselves, and of leadership. This study was concerned with the representation of women in leadership positions in Kenya’s rural primary schools. In particular, it explored the educational leadership experiences of women working in schools in the rural areas within Kajiado County. It sought strategies to enhance the participation of women in leadership roles in rural primary schools. The data were primarily gathered by means of qualitative methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen female head teachers drawn from public primary schools. Unstructured observation was done during visits to the schools, and during the interviews, field-notes were taken. The women gave rich descriptions of the various aspects of their work-lives within the context of sharing the challenges and strengths experienced in their careers. Secondary data were gathered by means of research, where the researcher reviewed the existing literature on women and leadership. The data that were collected were analyzed, categorized, synthesized and interpreted. The findings were presented in rich descriptions, which also included anecdotes from the participants. The key findings revealed administrative challenges, which included the grievances of the parents, limited resources, issues with accountability, time-management and the handling of difficult teachers. Personal challenges included wavering self-confidence, problems with trying to balance work and social lives, as well as home-work conflicts. The findings revealed the participants’ inadequate preparation for their leadership roles, and society’s initial skepticism on women’s school leadership. The study also revealed women’s reluctance to take up leadership positions, as was evidenced by their reluctance in applying for the positions.The study found that the participation of women in primary school leadership positions could be enhanced by means of attractive remuneration, effective mentoring, positive role-models, programmes for the preparation for leadership, and the assurance of limited geographical movement on promotion. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Teachers leaving the profession is an ongoing problem; fewer teachers enter the profession each year and the number of teachers leaving the profession has increased. Many teachers listed job satisfaction as a reason for leaving the education profession, whilst citing the lack of mentoring as a cause of job dissatisfaction. Mentoring is known as the planned paring of a more experienced person with a lesser individual to help with the professional development of that individual and reduce teacher turnover. The aim of the study is to explore the impact of an effective mentoring programme at primary schools by developing and implementing such a mentoring programme to support and improve job satisfaction among beginner teachers in the province of Mpumalanga entering the profession for the first time. The following quantitative techniques were used during this study: document analysis and Likert-scale questionnaires, completed by 1 000 male and female teachers (principals, deputy principals, heads of departments, teachers and student teachers) from different races and cultures (20 teachers per school) from 50 randomly selected rural primary schools, private primary schools and Quintile 4 and 5 primary schools in the province of Mpumalanga. The analysis of data enabled me to identify a series of factors that were utilised to develop a mentoring programme that school management can implement in their schools to help beginner teachers to cope in their new work environment in order to improve job satisfaction and improve teacher retention. The factors identified include: aspects of job satisfaction that support leaners in achieving their goals; aspects of school management; the contribution of mentoring programme on the job satisfaction of beginner teachers; the responsibility of a mentor in developing a mentoring programme; the responsibility of a mentee in developing a mentoring programme; the responsibility of schools in developing a mentoring programme and characteristics that should be demonstrated by a mentor. From the data gathered, a mentoring programme was developed, namely the Hugo mentoring model. This model outlined the roles and responsibilities of mentors, mentees and school management throughout the mentoring process. The model also provided steps that should be taken into consideration when organising meetings between mentors and mentees. / Educational Studies / D. Ed.