M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Taking up the first principalship is a demanding career transition involving emergency professional development, not only for the new principal to move from the role of teacher and administrator, but for him to successfully diagnose a new culture. The degree of success that a new principal -has in discovering, understanding, developing further and managing a new school culture within the first year of his appointment, will determine his overall effectiveness in managing the new school. Against this background, the focus of this research paper will be to identify and define school culture. Included here will be a discussion of what constitutes culture, the process of acculturation, the influence of sub-cultures and the impediment of culture on both management and change. The role of the new principal in managing and where necessary changing existing culture in a school is described in this paper. The problem areas likely to be encountered and the solutions to these problems are also discussed. A strategy is proposed to assist future new principals with the problem of managing existing culture in the school. Divided into three parts, the strategy assist the new principal to read the existing culture of the school. Secondly, it proposes that the new principal follows a collaborative process for the review of and transformation of existing school culture. The final part of the strategy is to revise and establish innovative communication networks to ensure the strategy's overall success.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2009 / The mini-dissertation takes off by studying the phenomenon of the management of performance of human resources in the Department of Education in Limpopo Province by specifically looking at practice of educators and managers in Waterberg District and how they implement the management of performance of educators in that District. Chapter one introduced the reader to the central concerns and issues raised in the mini-dissertation. For many years the Department of Education had attempted to implement a performance management system without success and without knowing what were the factors that made such an implementation not succeed and if it succeeded in some ways why it did not succeed to the desired extend. This chapter revealed that the aim of the study was to investigate factors that inhibited the implementation of management of performance of educators and that the research aimed at making recommendations for the successful implementation of the management of performance. Chapter two was aggressive in bringing a league of distinguished scholars who brought as many angles to the phenomenon as they understood and studied it. It brought together relevant and useful literature to the topic under study. Chapter three outlined to the reader the design of the research as well as the methodology that was used to bring about the realities of the implementation of the management of performance of educators. In order to increase the reliability of the findings a number of methodologies were triangulated. Chapter four was instrumental in analyzing the data and arriving at a scientific truth about what are the factors that affected the implementation of the management of performance of educators in the Department of Education in Limpopo Province. It is remarkable to note from the analysis of this data the high percentage of educators who are in the Department and are disillusioned by the prospects of a successful implementation of the management of performance of educators. Chapter five made far reaching conclusions and recommendations about what needs to be done in order to have the management of performance of educators successfully implemented. / University of Limpopo

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Technikon Natal, 2002. / This study explores the role of senior management in improving educators' morale in public, secondary schools in the Durban Central Area. The reasons for a decline in educators' morale and effectiveness are senior management's lack of incentives and rewards, violence in schools, poorly disciplined learners, conflict, nepotism and public condemnation of educators. Other factors include: 'right-sizing', rationalisation and redeployment, lack of transparency during the promotion process and the negative attitude to the appraisal policy. Motivating educators will lead to improved school performance and promote enthusiasm and confidence amongst educators. The researcher will provide support on the topic from observations and a study ofliterature. The qualitative method of research was undertaken. The representative sample included principals, deputy principals, heads of department and educators from public secondary schools in the Durban Central Area. Evidence from questionnaires suggested that educators in the Durban Central Area are demoralised and therefore there is an urgent need to address their morale. The researcher examined the causes and symptoms of educators' demoralisation and senior management's role in improving their morale. This investigation focuses on problems which lead to the demoralisation of educators; the causes and symptoms of demoralisation and how educators can contribute to a healthy and professional culture in schools. It is suggested that senior management should motivate individual educators. Some measures proposed to improve and / M

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Technikon Natal, 2002. / The writer's observation of staff at selected secondary schools in the Phoenix Central Region has indicated that serious problems exist at these schools. The problems identified relate to teachers' lack of commitment, motivation, trust and the presence of interpersonal conflict among them. These observations have been found to be similar to the findings of other researchers and numerous articles that have appeared in the media also confirm the existence of similar problems in other schools in South Africa. The problems mentioned above have had a negative impact on the effectiveness of these schools in achieving their goals. The writer believes that these problems can be connected to a lack of effective leadership on the part of principals in these schools. In this study the writer reviewed the relevant literature in order to identify strategies that principals could use to overcome the problems outlined above. To isolate and address the root causes of the problems, the writer found it necessary to clarify and distinguish between the key concepts of 'leadership' and 'management'. Thereafter, the writer discussed some important skills and qualities he believes are necessary for effective leadership. / M

Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education, Technikon Natal, 2002. / South Africa has been undergoing political change and this has impacted on education. There have been major shifts in education policy, structures and curriculum. Stakeholders in education and teachers, in particular, have had to cope with this new reality. As a result of the changes in education, teachers have been confronted with a variety of problems such as fewer resources, an increase in working hours and having to perform numerous administrative and fund-raising tasks. New school management structures have been established, class sizes have been altered and Outcomes-based Education has been introduced. Poor working conditions, increased workload, role conflict and ambiguity, the threat of redundancy and re-deployment, time pressures and pupil problems are additional stressors that teachers find themselves exposed to at school. These are but some of the stressors that have contributed towards teachers experiencing stress at school and which have impacted negatively on their work performance. However, at both the Education Department level as well as at school level, very little appears to be done to address the problem of teacher stress despite the negative impact that teacher stress has on the work performance of teachers. In order for schools to function efficiently and effectively, school management authorities will have to devise appropriate strategies to manage teacher stress. This study is confined to those aspects of teacher stress that impact negatively on teacher performance and that are within the scope of the principal's responsibilities at school. It Page vii investigates whether teacher stress is a management issue by examining its impact on the work performance of teachers at school, identifies school-based and school-related stressors and presents a set of recommendations that can be used by school principals to manage teacher stress in secondary schools. The findings of this study are also compared with the / M

Middlewood, D. et al. (1998) state that "Development cannot be forced because it is the teacher who develops (active) and not the teacher who is developed (passive)". Active teacher participation in professional development programmes will result in greater school improvement and teacher empowerment. The study is based on the parameter that if the teachers have no real input in the planning stage of the development programmes, such development programmes are likely to be ineffective. This study seeks to investigate whether these school-based professional development activities help teachers to teach effectively or make the school efficient. The study aims to investigate the perceptions of teachers and the role of the school managers regarding the value and usefulness of school-based teacher professional development programmes in school X. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with members of the school management and questionnaires with educators. The investigation was limited to the data obtained from all the questionnaires and interviews that were responded to by the entire academic staff of school X. The findings are based on data collected only from the interviews and questionnaires. The findings of the study showed diverse views towards the current form of school-based professional development programmes. There were however all encompassing parameters that can be summed up basically as follows: Both educators and school management regard school-based professional development as important aspects of teaching to improve educator performance. Development programmes should become an integral part of schooling and an official policy should be established in this regard. Development programmes have to be a continuous process and should be related to the subject taught be relevant and practical. Subject knowledge and teaching methods should be improved for effective teaching and learning to take place. Professional development programmes should be evaluated to determine whether meaningful outcomes have been achieved or not, and continuous feedback should be given to educators. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

D.Ed. / The general aim of this research project is to: Investigate the competencies necessary for the development and training of effective principals. In order to attain the general aim of this project, the following specific aims of this research is to: determine the competencies required to manage educators effectively as an aspect of the development and training of principals; ascertain the perception of principals and educators as to the importance of the effective management of educators in the development and training of effective principals; and devise a strategy to train principals in respect of the effective management of educators as an aspect of the development of effective principals. In view of the preceding problem and the aim statement, the method envisaged to research the problem of principal competence in the effective training and development of principals in the management of educators can now be discussed. RESEARCH STRATEGY AND RESEARCH METHODS This investigation is directed at describing principal competence with specific reference to the development and training of effective principals

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / This research has shown that developing educators who can compete locally and globally within the education sector is to a large extent the responsibility of school principals. The research further shows that educators can be developed effectively through the use of clinical supervision. Clinical supervision in this research is viewed as a strategy to improve the knowledge base, teaching skills and competencies of educators. Furthermore, the research reveals that in today's competitive environment, continuous educator development is key to enhancing the quality of education and classroom practice. One of the major challenges facing school principals today is to continually create and maintain contexts for effective teaching and learning. New demands for survival include the ability to provide better education, accessibility to learnership regardless of the diminishing essential resources. The background, aims, and research methods are provided in chapter one. The qualitative research approach was employed in the investigation of clinical supervision as a strategy to develop educators in the school. The literature search revealed that the principal as the supervisor can use different methods to develop educators. However, clinical supervision was identified as the most effective way of assisting educators to grapple with their day-today actions in the classroom. The data was collected and analysed using the constant comparative method. Focus group interviews were conducted with two groups of educators and individual interviews with two principals of senior secondary schools, in Mantserre Circuit in the Rustenburg District of Education, North West Province. The research revealed that some principals are not aware of clinical supervision as a strategy to assist educators with lesson preparation and effective teaching. In all schools that the researcher conducted interviews, the concept was strange. On the other hand, the research revealed that educators expected their principals to guide them with the execution of their work...