This study was undertaken in five (5) farm schools in the Maquassi Hills Area Project Office (APO) with the intention to assess whether the School Management Teams (SMT's) are given necessary guidance to deal with health and well-being of schools. The Constitution of South Africa stipulates that human values (dignity, freedom and equality) form the most important challenges that condone and maintain that a safe and discipline environment should be created for effective teaching and learning. Focus group interviews were conducted to gather information which was relevant to the study. The findings show that SMT's of farm schools have problems with the managerial tasks as well as the functional tasks of schools' daily activities. The researcher infers that both the landowners and the DoE must ensure that electricity and water is provided where contractual agreements exist, as power affects the usage of visual aids and administering school businesses. The Department of Education (DoE) has no legal structure within which farm schools should operate to guarantee equal educational opportunities, and create a positive disciplined schools where learners and educators not only know what is expected, but feel secure. The officials who are responsible for the dispatch of learning support materials (LSM) hold the SMT's back in assigning duties to the educators because of lack of LSM. The study shows that the official seem to be ignorant of basic education to farm school learners, and how the DoE manages farm schools, reflects how it still clanged to the red-tape of funding farm schools. Other essentials like water and phones are not given attention to communicate problems that need immediate attention like illness, danger or accident. Learners still have to travel long distances which is a safety thread. The researcher eludes that it is in the interest of the landowners and the DoE that the conditions that prevail on farm schools should not impede with the work of the SMT's. The landowners and the DoE should come to a consensus in making the school environment for SMT's inviting. The DoE through school-based support teams from Area Project Office (APO) should support SMT's and guide them in managerial tasks. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This study was undertaken in five (5) farm schools in the Maquassi Hills Area Project Office (APO) with the intention to assess whether the School Management Teams (SMT's) are given necessary guidance to deal with health and well-being of schools. The Constitution of South Africa stipulates that human values (dignity, freedom and equality) form the most important challenges that condone and maintain that a safe and discipline environment should be created for effective teaching and learning. Focus group interviews were conducted to gather information which was relevant to the study. The findings show that SMT's of farm schools have problems with the managerial tasks as well as the functional tasks of schools' daily activities. The researcher infers that both the landowners and the DoE must ensure that electricity and water is provided where contractual agreements exist, as power affects the usage of visual aids and administering school businesses. The Department of Education (DoE) has no legal structure within which farm schools should operate to guarantee equal educational opportunities, and create a positive disciplined schools where learners and educators not only know what is expected, but feel secure. The officials who are responsible for the dispatch of learning support materials (LSM) hold the SMT's back in assigning duties to the educators because of lack of LSM. The study shows that the official seem to be ignorant of basic education to farm school learners, and how the DoE manages farm schools, reflects how it still clanged to the red-tape of funding farm schools. Other essentials like water and phones are not given attention to communicate problems that need immediate attention like illness, danger or accident. Learners still have to travel long distances which is a safety thread. The researcher eludes that it is in the interest of the landowners and the DoE that the conditions that prevail on farm schools should not impede with the work of the SMT's. The landowners and the DoE should come to a consensus in making the school environment for SMT's inviting. The DoE through school-based support teams from Area Project Office (APO) should support SMT's and guide them in managerial tasks. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Education in South Africa faces many challenges; among them is the betterment of teaching and learning in order to improve the performance in schools, particularly in township schools where the results of learners are still not up to the required standard. For schools to function effectively, the School Management Teams (Principal, Deputy Principal, HODs), need to understand the importance of the effective management of human resources. The proper and effective management of people cannot be neglected if the schools as organisations want to attain their goals. School Management Teams as managers of schools are accountable for the effective running of the schools and the task of proper management of human resources rest on their shoulders. In this study an investigation into human recource management in selected township schools in the Gert Sibande Region (Mpumalanga Province) was done. Central to the study is the School Management Team's (SMTs) understanding of the concepts management and leadership, human resource management and related aspects. An investigation was also done regarding the knowledge, skills and strategies needed to improve education in township schools. With regard to the proper training of SMTs, various recommendations are made to expose them to more rigorous training, especially in Human Resource Management as this is the cornerstones of effective school management. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Education in South Africa faces many challenges; among them is the betterment of teaching and learning in order to improve the performance in schools, particularly in township schools where the results of learners are still not up to the required standard. For schools to function effectively, the School Management Teams (Principal, Deputy Principal, HODs), need to understand the importance of the effective management of human resources. The proper and effective management of people cannot be neglected if the schools as organisations want to attain their goals. School Management Teams as managers of schools are accountable for the effective running of the schools and the task of proper management of human resources rest on their shoulders. In this study an investigation into human recource management in selected township schools in the Gert Sibande Region (Mpumalanga Province) was done. Central to the study is the School Management Team's (SMTs) understanding of the concepts management and leadership, human resource management and related aspects. An investigation was also done regarding the knowledge, skills and strategies needed to improve education in township schools. With regard to the proper training of SMTs, various recommendations are made to expose them to more rigorous training, especially in Human Resource Management as this is the cornerstones of effective school management. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1995. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 5, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paula J. Smith (chair), Mack L. Bowen, Norma C. DeMario, Ronald S. Halinski, Mark E. Swerdlik. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-77) and abstract. Also available in print.

Most school management teams (SMTs) do not do their tasks either due to lack of time or inability to fulfil this obligation. Should this be true for South African schools, it would reflect negatively on the SMT job performance. This led to undertaking research in order to ascertain the fit between organisational policies of induction, mentoring, curriculum assessment training and curriculum supervision and the SMT job performance by way of establishing the effect of organisation policy on SMTs’ job performance. The research adopted a descriptive survey research design of the correlational type. Two sets of questionnaires, one for independent variables and the other for the dependent variable, were used to elicit information from the respondents. Some of the findings show that aspiring SMT members need some training so as to know what will be expected of them to do once they get selected as SMT members. It was further proven that common tests that are normally set at the provincial and district and/or school based levels are invariably not of the standard that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) prescribes nationally. The foregoing led to the conclusion that the SMT job practice is invariably not informed by the relevant organisational policies. Hence a cascade model of SMT training is recommended, as is the notion that training toward organisational policies under review should be done cohesively.

The study investigated the underlying factors which induce the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and School Management Teams (SMTs) to boundary cross into each other’s finance functional domain despite the fact that their responsibilities are demarcated in the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996. The study also intended to examine financial conscientiousness as a critical strategy, which was aimed at achieving the following: restricting the boundary spanning management among School Governing Bodies and School Management Teams, giving direction and strengthening the relationship between the two structures in section 21 high schools. Pragmatism was used as a paradigm for this study as it has been hailed as one of the best paradigms for justifying the use of mixed methods research. The researcher located the study within mixed methods research and employed the convergent parallel design characterised by collecting concurrently both qualitative and quantitative data. The study used a nonprobability sampling strategy – a purposive sampling technique. The study focused on 147 participants. The sample consisted of the following participant sub-groups: (a) 138 questionnaires participants (46 school principals, 46 SGB chairpersons and 46 school finance officers) sampled from 46 high schools, and (b) 9 face-to-face interviews participants (3 school principals, 3 SGB chairpersons) and purposively sampled from 3 different section 21 high schools located in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of the Butterworth District, and 3 Departmental Officials (The District Director, An Education Development Officer, and District National Norms and Standards for School funding coordinator) sampled from the Butterworth Education District. The study was guided by the following research question: What ideas of consciousness raising strategies could help alleviate the crossing over of boundaries between SGBs and SMTs on financial matters of the section 21 high schools? The financial conscientiousness conceptual framework for this study hinged on the conscious raising concept of Paulo Freire supported by philosophical ideas of theorists of school-based management concept, school-based participative partnership concept, school-based participative management concept and teamwork concept. These theories are expected to encourage the inclusive participation when finances are handled in section 21 high schools. The study used a survey questionnaire to collect quantitative dataset and interviews for the qualitative dataset to find answers to the research question and also to enhance the reliability and validity of the research findings. The quantitative data were presented in tables with frequencies and percentages as well as pie charts. Themes and Natural Meaning Units (NMUs) were used to analyse the qualitative data. The overall findings backed by the extant literature and research data indicated that there was lack of trust among SGBs and SMTs. Owing to this mistrust the day to day activities of the school were compromised. There were power struggles between SGBs and SMTs in schools for the control of school finances. There were corrupt practices by both SGBs and SMTs in the management of school finances. The findings also revealed lack of capacity building by the department of education. Furthermore, the SGBs parent component was characterised by high illiteracy level – a systemic weakness worsened by the manipulation perpetrated by both school governing bodies and school management teams during school finance management processes. Resulting from the data analysis, the study recommended the utilisation and application of Sifuba’s School Finance Management Awareness Model (SSFMA) as a new model that could be adopted and adapted by the Department of Education for the school finance management. This will create educational sound atmosphere and realities at school level – a model that is capable of inducing the participative and inclusive behaviour of the SGBs and SMTs when they perform their financial responsibilities

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The Department of Basic Education initiated continuing professional development (CPD) for quality professional development aimed at supporting and revitalising teaching. Also, to encourage teachers to engage continually in life-long career development leading to improvement of learner achievement. Current research studies indicate that there is lack of knowledge and skills among teachers to internalise goals for professional growth and expand capacity to create the desired performance. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the following question: What are teachers’ experiences of continuing professional development in a secondary school in Tembisa, in order to improve their teaching practices and school effectiveness? The study employed organisational behaviour in education and experiential learning as a theoretical framework. A qualitative research approach was applied and an instrumental case study employed as a strategy to focus on a group of six teachers and four School Management Team (SMT) members. Data was collected through three focus group interview sessions with secondary school teachers and an interview with the SMT as a group. A thematic data analysis was applied. Four main themes emerged as a result of the thematic analysis and interpretation, and revealed teachers’ understanding of CPD, the experiences with CPD as teachers engaged in CPD programmes such as content-subject-based training workshops and the CAPS training programme, improvement of teaching practice, and the SMT creating opportunities for teacher learning and development. A thematic analysis of the interview data with the SMT as a group revealed two themes which were: understanding CPD, and SMT views on creating opportunities for teacher learning and development. Continuing professional development (CPD) in education is reflected as an ongoing experiential learning process by which teachers participate in learning through continual attendance of content-subject-based training programmes, curriculum training workshops, and through registering for those certificates and degree programmes offered by universities. Teacher learning takes place in a cyclical process that consists of experiencing, reflecting, thinking and acting on experiences through the application of acquired knowledge, improved skills and changed attitudes. The findings of the study revealed that teachers experienced CPD as an ongoing process in which learning took place through attendance of content-subject-based training and CAPS training workshops in which collaborative learning played an important role. Even though teachers indicated that their teaching practice was improved, they highlighted the challenges experienced regarding CPD programmes. These challenges included the limited time allocated for CAPS training and content/subject training meetings held after working hours. It was clear that the allocated times for teacher training workshops were not realistic for adequately empowering teachers with knowledge and teaching skills for effective teaching practice in real classroom settings. Teachers took ownership and leadership in their CPD by going an extra mile to seek assistance from professionals with specialised knowledge in Mathematics and commercial subjects, and they collaborated with colleagues from other schools to learn different approaches to teaching. CPD enhances teachers’ ability to set their goals for teaching and it broadens their knowledge and teaching skills, giving them the opportunity to reflect continually on their professional growth and experiment in teaching practice.

Teachers in South African schools are one of the most valuable role players in the execution and implementation of curricular and co-curricular activities. They perform almost every formal and informal task in their daily work to ensure the effectiveness of our schools. Teacher leadership, a relatively new leadership in South African education, which is embedded in a distributed leadership theory, places the emphasis of leadership not only on the principal and the school management team (SMT) but can be located to a wide range of people who work effectively to improve the organisation. The purpose of this study was to determine Post Level (PL) 1 teachers' perceptions of whether the SMT contributes towards teacher leadership in the school. In this case study, through purposive sampling, the researcher made use of one school in a case where a total of 19 teachers participated in the study. The researcher used one instrument to collect data on the PL 1 teachers' perceptions. A set of questionnaires was distributed to elicit responses from PL 1 teachers and the result was analysed by means of themes. Evidence revealed that teachers are not aware of the existence of the new model of teacher leadership. However, findings also revealed that some teachers are ready to perform as leaders. These findings can influence leadership practices, collaboration, improvements in the school, motivation, and job satisfaction, as well as learner performance.

Inclusion is about the organizational change within schools to improve the educational system for all learners. It means changes in the curriculum, changes in how teachers teach and how learners learn, as well as changes in how learners with and without special needs interact with and relate to one another. The quality of leadership makes a significant difference to educator participation in accommodating all learners. However, for this we as educators must ensure that we are fully capable of delivering this service irrespective how old we are or what our qualification levels are. It is my objective to understand the role the school management team plays in facilitating the process of changes, as change cannot be forced and the fear of change must be acknowledged and faced. The qualitative research paradigm and more specifically the participatory action research approach, which is, applied research that treats knowledge as a form of power and designates with the line between research and social action particularly assisted me in answering my research question. xiv used to describe school management team members’ understanding and experiences pertaining to inclusive education and why they are procrastinating. After data analysis of the first step was concluded, the research established that the participant educators were not in favour of inclusive education and for that reason perceived it negatively. Educators are not enthusiastic about inclusivity. Step 2 was the action plan of my research study on which the school management team members decided collective as a method to restructure their thinking towards an implementation programme for inclusive education for their school. The researcher also reflected on the limitations inherent to this study and presented guidelines and recommendations for implementing and maintaining inclusive education.