This study aimed at establishing the role played by school management teams in managing teacher-occupational-stress in Sedibeng West District primary schools in the Gauteng province. The investigation was conducted using a quantitative research approach. The changes in South African schools’ curriculum which did not have a life span of ten years post-apartheid; the rate of absenteeism pointed out by the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshega. She believed that these may be caused by serious illness; therefore it impressed the idea of investigating the role played by school management teams in managing teacher-occupational stress. The study looks at the following two research questions:  What are the causes of teacher-occupational-stress?  What role can the school management teams play in managing teacher-occupational-stress? A questionnaire was used as an instrument of data collection from primary schools in Sedibeng West district 8 in the Gauteng province. The researcher’s sample size was 32 (n=32). Findings were that the school management teams are playing their roles and supporting teachers. However, teachers find their teaching job to be stressful. The study found significant factors causing teacher-occupational-stress. One of the factors is failure by the school management team to acknowledge teachers hard work. Recommendations are outlined at the end of this study indicating how the Department of Basic Education can intervene and what the school management teams can do to manage teacher occupational stress. / Educational Leadership and Management

The changes within the South African education system have turned-around the view that regards principals as “sole” people responsible for leadership and management of schools. The task of the school principal has undergone a radical change. Over the years the notion has been replaced by the view that sees management and leadership as prerogative of many, including stakeholders within and outside education. The move has become world-wide phenomenon compelled by the dual imperatives changing societal values and the rate of change. This study is aimed at investigating the perceptions and experiences of School Management Teams (SMTs) on teamwork as an alternative to school management. The investigation was framed within the mixed-method approach, and sought to unpack the experience of SMT members with regard to teamwork. An interpretive paradigm made it possible for me to gain an in-depth understanding of SMT members’ experience of teamwork within their school contexts. I used interviews and questionnaires as research tools to gather data. This study has found that, although the concept of teamwork is well-received, there are still significant obstacles to the implementation of teamwork as an alternative form of school management / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This research study took as its point of departure the general state of underperformance of the majority of schools in South Africa. A review of the literature uncovered evidence that suggested that the state of school management in the majority of schools was in disarray. The problem was compounded by the poor quality and haphazard nature of support that District and Circuit Officials of the Education Department rendered to schools. I therefore saw the need to conduct a scientific investigation into how Circuit Teams could be assisted to support School Management Teams towards whole-school development. Against this background, I formulated the following primary research question to guide the study: “How can Circuit Teams effectively support School Management Teams of underperforming schools towards whole-school development?” The following secondary research questions arose out of this to provide further direction to the study: How can Circuit Teams assist School Management Teams to develop and implement their respective School Improvement Plans? How can Circuit Teams be assisted to develop, implement and monitor their Circuit Improvement Plans? What recommendations can be made to improve service delivery to the schools?. The primary aim of the research was therefore to design an action learning model that would enable Circuit Teams to support School Management Teams of underperforming high schools towards whole-school development. A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study, as it best suited the purpose of the research, and the philosophical assumptions of the researcher. In addition, I drew on a constructivist-interpretative and a critical theory paradigm to guide the design. I chose action research as the specific methodology for the study as, in line with critical theory it aims to empower people to facilitate social change and improvement at a local level. Purposive sampling was used to select four underperforming high schools in the same township within the Cape Town Metro, belonging to the same education Circuit and District Office to participate in the research. In addition, the members of the Circuit Team that serviced these schools were also brought on board as participants. In total, 40 people participated in the research: 4 members from the Circuit Team, 4 Principals, 8 Deputy Principals and 24 Heads of Department. Data were generated in the period January to June 2012 using structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. Data were analysed by following the eight steps for analysing qualitative data identified by Tesch. An Action Research cycle consisting of the following five steps was followed with participants during the fieldwork, viz.: Identification of the problem; Designing the action plan; Implementing the action plan; Evaluating the action, and Reflection and lessons learnt. Two Action Research cycles emerged from the fieldwork. The first cycle dealt with assisting the schools and Circuit Team to construct their improvement plans. The main findings from this cycle were (1) that the Circuit Team did not function as a team, due to the autocratic management style of the Circuit Team Manager, and the plan of action to address the underperforming schools was not developed in a participative manner. In addition, the Circuit Team had no Circuit Improvement Plan in place with which to support the schools. (2) The schools did not receive the required support to prepare their School Improvement Plans, and although they were able to articulate their areas of support needed, none of them undertook the process of School Self-Evaluation and therefore did not have School Improvement Plans in place. The second action r esearch cycle dealt with the support that schools needed from the other pillars of the District Office to implement their intervention plans. Three themes emerged from this action research cycle: (1) The School Management Teams required capacitybuilding to manage their schools effectively, (2) teachers needed support to implement the curriculum, and (3) learners required assistance to achieve better results. As the outcome of the research, a spiral model consisting of three distinctive phases, each having several loops that describe the particular action that Circuit Teams and School Management Teams have to undertake was developed as the ultimate outcome of the research. The structure of the model was explained, and explicit guidelines for operationalizing it in practice were provided. Based on the findings and the construction of the model, a number of recommendations were put forward to guide future research and practice in the area of Circuit Team support to nderperforming schools. In conclusion, this research study contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring, investigating and describing the working relationship between Circuit Teams and School Management Teams, which until now has not been adequately covered in the existing literature and research. The study culminated in a theoretical model which can be used to improve this relationship permitting Circuit Teams to better support School Management Teams towards whole-school development. The action research design also allowed a more participative and democratic relationship to develop between the Circuit Team and the School Management Teams of the four schools, which is also an innovative idea considering the traditional hierarchic and autocratic approach which has been the norm in the past. Hopefully the findings of this study will encourage the emergence of democratic partnerships between Departmental officials and school management, leading to the empowerment and transformation of school management.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The aim of this study was to investigate knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary school children towards healthy diet in Dikgale Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa. This study was an intervention study at eight primary schools in Dikgale Village. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research where mixed methods research design. A total of 324 participants consisting of Grades 6 and 7 males and females was purposively selected. These participants were divided into experiment and control group after pre-test but before the intervention. This study used a 27-item questionnaire which covered, knowledge on healthy diet, attitudes, practices, subjective norm and self-efficacy questions as well as focus group interviews. The main findings of the study comprise the following: (i) Learners in the experiment condition did not reflect more health-related practices (F(1.315)=0.20; p>887), i.e., when considering co-variables and changes in health attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy; and (ii) After intervention, there was a significant increase (F(1.315)=115.72; p<0.001) in health-related knowledge on the experiment group, i.e., when considering co-variables and changes in health attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy. In addition to this significant increase, 58.3% of the differences between both groups seemed related to the intervention with regard to changes in knowledge acquisition. However, there was no significant increase on both health knowledge and health practices on the control group. The results suggested that, even if there can be changes in knowledge due to intervention, healthy practices may be difficult to change mainly because knowledge alone cannot decrease the prevalence of health-related conditions. As a result, this study suggest that the curriculum should cover Food knowledge practice so as to persuade learners to practice healthy diet. Also, School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) should play their role in emphasizing the importance of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in schools. Future interventions are therefore encouraged to include a moderate intensity intervention by trained professionals and feasibility of involving educators, SGBs and SMTs, particularly in policy adherence. Therefore, this study proposed a healthy food intervention strategy incorporating the Theory of Planned Behaviour in order to justify the knowledge, attitude and practices of children in healthy diet. Intervention should adopt the Training Partnership Model wherein children, parents, educators are trained by health professional on adherence to healthy diet. / Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad (VLIR)

Self-management is a relatively new concept in South Africa. The transformation of education after 1994 resulted in the promulgation of the South African Schools Act (SASA) 84 of 1996, which started the process of decentralisation of education. The SASA mandates the school governing bodies (SGBs) to play an active role in decision making in schools. The justification for the self-management of schools is that it promotes effectiveness and efficiency in schools. The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges that are faced and the benefits/opportunities that exist for self-managing schools. The secondary aim of the study was to investigate how self-managing schools could be supported so that they become more efficient and effective. This study focuses on 2 ex-DET self-managing schools in Gauteng. The findings reveal that teamwork amongst educators, parents and communities is essential for self-managing schools to be effective and efficient. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

Public concern about the quality of teaching and learning is at an all time high in respect of certain schools in South Africa. This study focuses on the participation of the SMT members in managing the instructional programme with a view on improving the academic performance of learners. The lack of the involvement of all the members of the SMT thus prompted this investigation. Apart from the literature review, an empirical investigation, based on a qualitative paradigm involving interviews, was undertaken to collect data at selected primary schools in Circuit 1 in the Metropole North Education District of the Western Cape Education Department. Other methods used included observations as well as the analyses of documents relevant to the investigation. As a case study this research examined the involvement of all the members of the SMT by utilizing the principles of participative management. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the improvement of the academic performance of schools by virtue of what has been highlighted as a reason for the poor performance of schools namely the lack of involvement of all the members of the SMT in the management of the instructional programme. The literature findings revealed that School Management Teams (SMTs) have to be properly structured. The SMT should be involved in decision-making in matters that concern them. This, together with a more effective and efficiently managed instructional programme, should improve the academic performance of learners. Empirical findings indicated that the members of the SMT consider themselves professionally trained individuals with the expertise needed to deliver what is expected from them. The study further revealed that the success of a school depends on effective instruction as a result of the effective management and leading of the instructional programme by all members of the SMT. / Education management / M.Ed. (Education Management)

Democracy in South Africa, among others, has brought a significant number of changes in the education system, including the concept of school management team in schools (SMT). In line with this, the objective of this study was to find out how SMTs experience teamwork in schools; and was conducted in the purposefully sampled six secondary schools in the Tshwane North District. This study was framed within the interpretive approach, and sought to unpack the experience of SMT members with regard to teamwork. An interpretive paradigm made it possible for me to gain an in-depth understanding of SMT member‟s experience of teamwork within their school contexts. I used interviews and questionnaires as research tools to gather data. This study has found that, although the concept of teamwork is well-received, there are significant obstacles to the implementation of teamwork as an alternative form of management. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This study is based on a need for teacher union involvement in the management of schools to enhance effective teaching and efficient learning. The rationale behind it was to disclose the current perceptions of school managers concerning teacher union involvement in the management of schools in the Vryheid region, with a view to determining the extent to which their perceptions of teacher unions could be positively influenced to allow for proper consultative school management as well as active participation of teacher union members in the decision-making process. The study revealed that the school managers' perceptions and attitudes are central to teacher union involvement in the management of schools. If negative, no effective participatory school management can materialise. The role of the perceptions and attitudes of school managers in the realisation of the goal of participative school management is indispensable. The empirical survey and literature revealed that school managers are in a good position to address the serious shortcomings regarding the manner in which teacher unions are perceived in schools. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

In this study, the researcher explored the prevalence of distributed leadership practices in schools in Johannesburg South in order to illustrate how the principals in effective schools collaborated with different members of staff to ensure the school’s success. To this end, a literature study was undertaken on relevant theories and on the results of previous research on the issue. The study explored literature from local and international perspectives on distributed leadership to understand how this form of leadership impacted the functioning of primary schools in Johannesburg South. This was followed by an empirical investigation using judgemental and purposive sampling methods to select participants. A mixed methods research design was employed to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data from a single, structured questionnaire. Participants included 86 respondents from 9 primary schools. Throughout the research study, ethical considerations like keeping confidentiality of information provided and anonymity of research participants were upheld. Data analysis involved a mix of quantitative data analysis and content analysis. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to the GDE and school principals on support needed by teachers if distributed leadership is to ensure school effectiveness. The study found that distributed leadership not only motivated teachers, but compelled them to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses, and contribute to school leadership by taking on roles that interest them. Schools in Johannesburg South have created a culture in which distributed leadership tends to flourish. Distributed leadership ensures that a myriad of well-developed teachers exist at all ranks of the school, who have the capacity to fill vacant positions when a need arises to ensure the smooth functioning of schools. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and practices of School Management Teams (SMTs) in the control and management of school bullying in the Tshwane West District of the Gauteng Province. This study came out of a global concern about the security and safety of learners in schools. While there is substantial international and national literature on violence in schools, South Africa continues to experience high levels of violence in schools more than ever before and this in the Tshwane West District is no exception. In this study, a mixed method approach was undertaken to explore the experiences and practices of SMTs in the controlling and managing of bullying in the Tshwane West District. The questionnaires and focus group interviews were used as research tools for data gathering to unpack the experiences of the SMTs. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management)