Namibia, having been a former colony of South Africa, was equally subjected to apartheid laws and practices. Independence, achieved in March 1990, signaled the dawn of a new era of access, equity, quality and democracy in the Namibian education sector. A unified system of educational administration, management, and control was established. The whole educational corps, especially the principals of all our schools, is expected to implement this new system as agents of change. In terms of the vision for a new Namibia, therefore, school principals are seen as occupying positions of central importance. This notion resonates strongly with recent and contemporary leadership thinking. However, a number of concerns prevalent in schools - particularly, increasing student underperformance, worsening disciplinary problems, increasing teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS pandemic, teacher qualification, decreasing teacher motivation, lack of training including induction for principals, inadequate support from the top (lack of a support system) and insufficient parental involvement in school matters – make the task of running schools extremely challenging and increasingly complex. How do principals experience these challenges and deal with the complex situations? How do they perceive their role, particularly in light of national aspirations and leadership theory? These are questions I think need to be explored. My research goal was to gain an understanding of Windhoek senior secondary school principals’ perceptions and experiences of their leadership role. My focus was on three purposively selected Windhoek senior secondary school principals representative of both the Namibian ethno-cultural diversity and gender. Data was collected through interviews. I found that the situations in which the principals found themselves during the pre- and post independent periods mainly determined their leadership style and behaviour, however, that did not deter their vision for the transformation of the society, as the ultimate objective and essence of their leadership. The appropriate practicing of their leadership role was being hampered by lack of induction and training, lack of a support system and insufficient parental involvement.

This study explores practical school leadership and management, as enacted by women. The study, conducted in an interpretive paradigm, attempts to gain an understanding of women’s subjective experiences of school leadership and management. Two women principals from Ondangwa West Educational Region were interviewed. The two were selected through consultations with one of the senior inspectors in the region. Both had been principals for more than ten years and were seen by those who are concerned with their school to be successful. The study found that these women prefer a participative style of leadership and management, characterised by consultations with others, teamwork, collaborative decision-making and the use of power to empower others. They also strive for good human relationships because they believe that it fosters mutual respect, trust, openness and a good working atmosphere. All these human centred approaches are directed towards creating a school atmosphere that is conducive to teaching and learning and therefore result in effective schooling and quality educational outcomes. They do not experience gender discrimination in their work places. They have the full support of their supervisors. Though both are married with children, these dual roles do not prevent them from being successful in their professional work. In fact they have reached a stage where they feel confident as leaders and feel that they are acting as role models for fellow women principals and those aspiring to this position. The study concludes that the styles of leadership and management displayed by women are similar to those that are universally accepted as characteristics needed for effective school management and leadership. Though these leadership styles are traditionally associated with women, these characteristics are not gender specific. Therefore it will be in the best interest of schools, if school principals, both men and women, could borrow from these qualities in order to change schools from authoritarian to more democratic institutions.

The SALAMANCA Statement (UNESCO, 1994), and the Namibian constitution (1990) commit the government to offering education to children with disabilities. The primary focus of this study was to examine the attitudes of the population of primary school principals' with regard to the inclusive education practice of placing and educating students with disabilities in the regular classrooms. In addition, the researcher sought to ascertain principals' perceived barriers and needs with regard to facilitating and implementing inclusive education practices. The survey instruments used to collect data consisted of: a) demographic section, b) Attitude Toward Inclusive Education Scale, c) Opinions Relative to the Integration of Students with Disabilities scale, and d) openended questions. The results suggest that Namibian primary school principals hold positive attitudes toward students with disabilities in general, though they have preferences of the type of disabilities to be accommodated in the regular classrooms. Students with social difficulties were more favored for inclusion than students with sensory and physical disabilities. Principals favored inclusion of students with behavioral challenges slightly more than students with academic difficulties. Principals' perceptions were that inclusive education has potential benefits for students with and without disabilities and that it presents opportunity for academic growth for students with disabilities. Yet, special school or classroom placement was perceived as the most stable environment for educating students with disabilities, especially when considering their social and emotional development. Furthermore, principals were of the opinion that due to pre-service training, which did not include courses on special education and disabilities, educators lack the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities to educate thesestudents, hence the need for comprehensive in-service. In addition to lack of training in special education as a major barrier, other reported barriers were lack of proper educational facilities and equipment, lack of parent involvement and students' characteristics. The multivariate analysis revealed that younger school principals held more favorable attitudes toward placement of students with disabilities in the regular classrooms. Principals with graduate degrees and BA/BS perceived themselves as not having the ability to educate these students in comparison to those with lesser qualifications. The demographic variables of years of experience as a principal and teaching location had no significant effect on the attitudes of principals with regard to placement or educating students with disabilities in the regular classrooms. / Department of Special Education

Rural schools are faced with numerous challenges and are often perceived to be academically unsuccessful. However, in spite of this perception there are some which manage to beat the odds by being academically successful year after year. This peculiar phenomenon of ‘unequal performance’ among rural schools struck my interest; hence my decision to investigate what it is that successful rural schools do to keep afloat in a turbulent environment where others around them collapsed. As the literature suggests that leadership play a key role in the success of an organisation, I focused my study on how the leadership role of the principal makes a rural school thrive. The study is situated in the interpretive paradigm and attempts to reveal participants’ perceptions and experiences of the principal’s leadership. My participants were the principal, circuit inspector, the School Board Chairperson, a Head of Department and the LRC president. These people were purposefully selected; the principal was selected because he is the one executing the roles hence he would be better informed about them while the others due to the positions they occupy, work closely with the principal. The research is a case study as it focused on a single case, and for data generation I employed semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The study revealed various characteristics that describe the leadership role of the principal. An overarching characteristic that emerged is that the principal is a balanced leader - he focuses on both task completion and consideration for people. Different characteristics that emerged from this balance leadership portrayed the principal of Ruacana Senior Secondary School to be a transformational and an instructional leader who believes that teaching and learning are the central activities of a school. Moreover he has been painted to be a team player and a servant leader who holds and practices the principle of ubuntu. The principal has also been described as a strategic and exemplary leader. It emerged that his exemplary leadership has moulded the practices of teachers and learners into a shared culture that supports academic excellence. The findings also depicted a paradoxical picture of the principal in that while he exhibits democratic procedures he is also perceived to be autocratic.

The School Clustering System (SCS) was introduced five years after Namibia’s independence in 1990. The rationale for its implementation was to improve the quality of education in Namibian schools by enabling the sharing of resources, experience and expertise among clusters and facilitating school administration by pooling resources from several schools to be shared equally. It was piloted in Rundu and then gradually expanded to the whole country. The cluster system groups 5-7 schools that are eographically close and accessible to each other in one cluster under the leadership of one of the principals known as a Cluster Centre Principal (CCP). The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of CCPs of the implementation of the SCS in two clusters of a particular circuit in the Omusati region. It is a case study involving two CCPs, one serving Inspector of Education (IE), a former Inspector of Education, several teachers, principals and parents. Data were collected through interviews, document analysis, and focus group discussions. The study found that the practice of cluster leaders is informed by contemporary leadership and management thinking. The participatory approach employed in clusterbased committees enables site-based management and collaboration. This has led to organisational learning. It was also found that a number of challenges are hampering the implementation of the SCS. These include lack of system support and inadequate resources. However, the human potential coupled with a high degree of readiness exhibited by cluster members are seen as potential drivers of further development of the system. The study recommends the adoption of a national policy that formalises the SCS as well as the strengthening of system support to build cluster capacity. It also makes suggestions for further research in organisational culture and behaviour with the aim of developing leadership and management practices in the SCS.

Staff development (SD) is regarded as an important process, both for the professional growth of teachers and the organizational development of schools. The literature on SD uses the concepts of ‘SD’, ‘professional development’ and ‘in-service training of teachers’ interchangeably. The purpose of this study is to investigate the teachers’ experiences and perceptions of SD practices in a Namibian secondary school. This qualitative case study was carried out at the school where I am teaching. Two methods were used to collect the data, namely a blend of semi-structured and unstructured interviews with three teachers and one focus group interview with five teachers. The analysis of the data collected was carried using the method suggested by Taylor and Bogdan (1998) which includes discovery, coding and discounting. These concepts are discussed in Chapter Three. The main finding of this research regards SD at the school as mainly in line with the traditional view. The study also made three other unusual findings that differ from the traditional view of SD held at the school. First, the principal’s role as a human resource manager of SD; second the pastoral role of a principal in SD and third the role of teachers’ unions in SD. All these findings are important for SD practices in schools and for further research because little is known in the current literature on SD. Finally, this study proposes further research to develop an organizational development (OD) cycle of problem solving to help create an internal policy on SD, which is currently nonexistent at the school.

Rural schools generally find it hard to function effectively for a variety of reasons, and managing and leading these schools brings additional challenges. This study explored the role of the principal in an academically successful rural school in Namibia. It drew on leadership theory and findings from related studies to make sense of this particular case of leadership against the odds. Using the interpretive orientation, the research explored selected organisation members’ perceptions of the principal’s leadership through semi-structured interviews. The study found that the actions and attitudes of the leader had a significant influence on the school’s performance. The manner in which the principal conducted himself, the shared vision he encouraged and his insistence on associating with all stakeholders involved in education, were instrumental in the organization’s positive achievements. The principal was shown as committed and a leader with good interpersonal working relationships. The study also revealed that this principal was both a person- and taskoriented leader, and closely resembled the ideals of transformational leadership. This study further found that, through the principal’s instructional leadership, teaching and learning are seen as the core of the school’s activities. Finally, the principal’s leadership role opens the school to the community and results in strong and mutually beneficial relationships between the school and its community.

The Namibian Ministry of Education introduced the School Clustering System (SCS) in 1996. The system entails the grouping of schools into clusters to facilitate the sharing of resources and expertise. One school in a group is selected to serve as the Cluster Centre and the principal of the centre is identified as the Cluster Centre Principal (CCP). This has created a new level of educational leadership which is still relatively under-researched and the primary purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of this new role since it is perceived to be pivotal to the effective functioning of the cluster. This study is an interpretive case study of Cluster Centres in the Komesho Circuit in the Ohangwena Educational Region. Three data collection instruments were used, namely document analysis, observation and interviews. The collected data provided insight into participants' views on the role of Cluster Centre Principals (CCPs), which shed light on the challenges faCing the roles of CCPs. The findings revealed that respondents welcomed the decentralisation of an education system that involves cluster members and parents in decision making. Furthermore, the perceived role of CCPs is perceived as delegation through participative leadership and management approaches. This involves groups in teamwork to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. The study has, however, also exposed tensions surrounding the role and function of CCPs. This is partly because the role has not been formalised and is perceived as existing in a legal vacuum. This study will benefit the Cluster Centre Principals, Inspectors of Education, Advisory Teachers, non-governmental Organisations, the community and the Ministry of Education by placing the role of Cluster Centre Principals in perspective.

While women constitute more than 51% of the population and far outnumber men in teaching positions in Namibia, very few occupy positions of leadership. Male candidates are still favoured for top positions, thereby denying women the chance to gain entrance to these positions. One of the reasons for this imbalance seems to be that, in spite of conscious political effort and legislation, women may still be perceived as less effective leaders than men. This research focused on leadership in education, in particular school principals, and explored the perceptions of female principalship held by school inspectors. Three school inspectors from the Rundu Education Region were purposefully selected and interviewed. Inspectors were selected on the grounds of their considerable influence in the selection and appointment of school principals. The study found that these inspectors favour school principals who show commitment to their work, have good interpersonal working relationships, are caring, good listeners, visionary and produce good results. The inspectors attribute female principals’ success to their traditionally perceived characteristics, such as caring leadership and ability to develop good human relations. Instead of perceiving these qualities as professionally negative (as is sometimes argued in the literature) the inspectors see them as indisputable assets to leadership. The respondents acknowledge the cultural stereotyping that may have influenced male attitudes to women in the past, but argue that good leadership is not specific to gender, but part of the qualities a person possesses, regardless of sex. This study concludes that, contrary to what has been reported in many studies, these inspectors perceive women principals as effective – equal to their male counterparts or sometimes even more effective - because they are caring, well organized and good at communicating and establishing relations with others. Though these qualities are different from the traditional masculine qualities which include independence and emotional strength, the respondents recognize and legitimize them as preferred qualities in current effective leadership practice.

The Cambridge education system introduced after independence is mainly blamed for the high failure rate experienced in the Junior Secondary (Grade 10) and Senior Secondary (Grade 12) phases in Namibia. Although it is acknowledged that failure rate can be contributed to by many factors, the research wanted to establish whether the principal’s leadership can have any contribution to the academic achievement in a school. The researcher consulted different literature in an attempt to achieve the research objectives. The principal carries out a number of leadership job functions, hence, an instrument with the relevant job functions of a principal was selected to collect data. Three poorly performing schools were identified in the Omaheke Region. The research used questionnaires among teachers, inspectors and principals to collect data. The analysis shows that two principals were rated low in most leadership job functions. That implies that these principals are not engaged in instructional leadership, resulting in poor academic results. At the end recommendations and proposals for future research are highlighted. / Human Resource Management / M.Tech. (Human Resource Development )