M. Tech. Education / The purpose of this study was to determine how delegation, as a management tool, is being used in primary schools in the Tshwane West District. There are indications in Tshwane West District primary schools which suggest that delegation is improperly employed or not used at all. In some cases, workloads become so unbearable that many people even at management level resign their posts. Many of the primary schools in Tshwane West District have been identified as underperforming primary schools by the GDE through the Gauteng Province Literacy Strategy. The study therefore endeavoured to determine the use of this most important tool in the daily duties of school managers.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Education) -- Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Examines the perceptions and experiences of different school governing body members and principals in managing schools in the Chartsworth district. It also looks at the role the school governing body plays in the hiring of teachers.

Relying on the standard conventions and techniques of life-history methodology in the Social Sciences, this study explores the professional or career histories of selected women principals in the EThekwini region. The study examines the relationship between gender and self-portrayal on the one hand, and gender and school leadership, on the other hand. Thus the central focus of the study is on the different ways in which women principals define themselves and are defined by others, especially their colleagues and the communities served by their schools. The study also looks at the ways in which key management structures such as School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) deal with the issues relating to gender equality in school leadership, management and governance. The dissertation also tackles the· complex relationship between private (personal) and professional identities and how these are constructed and continually re-constructed within the context of school management and leadership. The study is recognizably qualitative in orientation and therefore does not set out to formulate general principles about gender and school management. Instead the intention is to gain some insight into the relatively unique lives of individual women managers in education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

There are substantive external demands for improved learner achievement, particularly in secondary schools, and increasingly, principals have to bear the pressures that accompany these demands. Instructional leadership concept is being advocated one of the approaches that school leaders may consider in order to promote a culture of teaching and learning within their schools. Therefore a qualitative case study was undertaken to explore instructional leadership practices of three secondary school principals in Umbumbulu Circuit. The focus of the study was based on the assumption that principals were instructional leaders as it was the expectation of government policy. The study therefore, did not seek to find out if principals in the study were indeed instructional leaders, but it sought to understand the manner in which they practicalised this expectation. In short, the study sought to gain an insight into how secondary school principals in this area enacted instructional leadership and why they enacted it the way they did. Three schools were selected among those schools that had experienced drastic improvement in their matric results in the past five years or so. The research design employed was qualitative and semi-structured interviews with three principals and three educators. These interviews were audio taped and transcribed for analysis. The results indicated that principals enacted instructional leadership practices by (a) sharing vision among members of the school (b) monitoring instructions (c) encouraging professional development of their teaching staff (d) ensuring that instructional time was not interrupted (e) furnishing professional materials and resources to the teachers (f) monitoring and discussion assessment issues with the teachers (g) recognising and rewarding good performance and (h) preparing and sustaining learning environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. The main aim was to enhance teaching and learning in the schools as these principals strongly believed that it was their responsibility to do so. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Since the beginning of the new democratic regime, South African schools have experienced numerous change innovations in leadership and management. These changes have further brought high levels of complexities in relation to the roles of school principals as school managers and leaders. School principals seem to be overwhelmed by such changes and their complex roles. In order for principals to handle these complex situations they are faced with in the contexts where they are working, literature suggests that they require specialized skills and knowledge which will enable them to deal with their various contexts effectively. Some Professional Development programmes have been put in place to assist principals to better their skills and learn new strategies which will in turn influence and enhance effective teaching and learning in schools. This is a small-scale qualitative study which sought to establish principals’ views on their own professional development needs and support in promoting teacher leadership in schools. Literature is used extensively in this study to understand the need for professional development of principals as well as the need for principals to encourage and empower teachers to become leaders. In order to achieve this, the study uses a small scale qualitative research with in-depth face to face interviews to get the views and perceptions and views of school principals, as participants of the study, regarding the matter. Furthermore, the study employs document analysis as a secondary method to enhance the quality of the research findings in relation to the relevant literature. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The role of a school principal is complex and multidimensional, and is pivotal to the success of an educational institution. It is widely recognised by researchers that the effectiveness of a principal depends on his or her ability to be a strategic thinker, create and share knowledge, build relationships, be flexible, embrace a sense of efficacy and nurture the development of organisational capacity. Through a self-reflexive, autoethnographic methodology I examine my ‘self’ as the person in the principal’s office within the unique socio-cultural context of a rural school for the Deaf. Through a process of narrative inquiry and reflective analysis, I explore the first steps in my leadership journey, my engagement with instructional leadership in all its complexity, and my quest for quality outcomes for Deaf learners. This autoethnography raised multiple levels of consciousness about my identity, my lived experiences as a school leader and the school as an institution. Through the interrogation of my leadership enactments key themes have emerged that have implications for the professional development of school leaders. I came to understand that my identity as a leader evolves continuously and that my leadership practices are negotiated and renegotiated in context. Thus, my identity as a leader is situated and produced simultaneously in many different contexts, events, and by different agents for diverse purposes My study highlights that leadership is not merely the act of an individual but is embedded in a complex, unpredictable, non-linear interplay of various interacting influences. Leaders are social actors who need to be able to examine critically their own subjectivities, subject positions and the discourses that shape their actions. Leadership is the site for continuous, ongoing processes of learning, and organisations have the potential to be dynamic, interactive and adaptive systems, reinforcing the notion of the enabling leader. Therefore, leadership development programmes should enable leaders to understand that their actions and practice are socially and culturally situated, and that schools are complex dynamic, adaptive systems. / Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

The present study commences with an exposition of the problem statement with reference to the influence that school principals' perceptions have on outcomes based education and the implementation there off. A study of the relevant literature in connection to outcomes based education as well as "tutor leadership" is conducted. This literature study will show the change that outcomes based education has on the role and tasks of educators and principals. The qualitative research method as well as a detailed background of the study will be described. An analysis of data accumulated during focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews lead to the compilation of definitive categories and sub-categories in the research. Finally a specific conclusion is reached regarding the influence that school principals' perceptions have on outcomes based education and certain recommendations are made for further research. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The motive for conducting this study was to determine the extent in which aspects of transformational leadership identified during literature study are practiced in the sampled primary schools in Limpopo. The study was divided into seven interlinked chapters. Chapter one introduced the investigation. Chapter two presented the definition and description of the notion transformational leadership and its five constituting elements, namely shared vision, commitment, motivation, job satisfaction and participative decision-making. A transformational leadership model was also presented in chapter two. Chapter three focused on the primary education systems of Republic of South Africa and the three selected Southern African Development Community member states, namely Malawi, Lesotho and Namibia. The discussion focused on the structure, organization, objectives and the challenges facing each SADC member state. Chapter three further identified the challenges facing primary schools in Limpopo and compared these to the challenges of the three selected SADC member states. The details of the research design and methodology were presented in chapter four. The empirical study took a two-pronged approach. Phase one of the empirical study was conducted through the administration of questionnaires to sampled principals and educators. In the second phase, sampled principals, educators and circuit managers were interviewed. The empirical study was intended to give answers to the following research questions:  To what extent are primary school principals as leaders involved in: • initiating visions that are shared and owned by other role players? • making sure that educators remain committed to their profession? • ensuring that educators are kept motivated? • ensuring that educators remain satisfied in their profession?  To what extent do principals involve other role players in the decision-making processes? iv In addition to that, the following research hypothesis was tested: • There is a significant relationship (in terms of descriptive statistics) between identified leadership emphasis in Limpopo primary schools and the key features of transformational leadership. And conversely the null hypothesis tested was: • There is no significant relationship (in terms of descriptive statistics) between identified leadership emphasis in Limpopo primary schools and the key features of transformational leadership. In phase one, data was quantitatively collected through questionnaires (principals and educators). Data was further gathered through semi-structured interviews and observation in phase two. To give a clear and a logical presentation of the data analysis and interpretation, both quantitative and qualitative data were presented separately in chapters five and six. This study produced the following findings: The majority of primary school principals do: • involve other role players in the development of their school visions. • ensure that educators are committed to their responsibilities. • ensure that educators remain motivated. • ensure that educators are job satisfied. • create opportunities wherein role players are involved in decision-making processes. The views of respondents from the survey data (both principals and educators) indicated that there is a significant relationship (in terms of descriptive statistics) between identified leadership emphasis in Limpopo primary schools and the key features of transformational leadership. Based on the findings above, the conclusion deduced was that the majority of primary school principals exhibit transformational leadership attributes. / Education Studies / D. Ed. (Education Managment)

Thesis (MTech (Education)-- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / The school principal as educational leader is the key person in the implementation of curriculum change in schools and plays a vital role in motivating staff members in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the school principal in regard to motivating educators during the implementation of new curricula. The principal's role as motivator is investigated in Chapter 2 on the basis of a number of motivation theories and techniques. Chapter 3 investigates the management function of the principal in regard to curriculum change. A questionnaire was devised on the grounds of the literature study and an empirical study (Chapter 4) was done with a group of primary school teachers and school principals employed by the Western Cape Education Department. From the literature review and empirical studies the following roles of the principal to motivate staff members, emerged: • Improvement of group morale • Empowerment of staff members • Delegating of tasks • Creating a positive school climate. The following tasks of the school principal are important during the implementation of curriculum change: • Creating a climate for change • Effective communication • The development of human potential. Curriculum change has a negative impact on the motivation and perception of teaching for many teachers. The findings of this study show that educators argue that the school principal should be the motivator of staff in this regard.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Durban Institute of Technology, 2004. / The role of the principal is critical in ensuring that schools run efficiently and effectively. It is for this reason that an incumbent for the post of principal obtains the necessary experience in all aspects of management to fulfill this role. Prior to 1994, applicants were promoted strictly according to hierarchical ranking, that is, a Level One educator was promoted first to head of department, then to deputy principal and thereafter to the position of a principal. This ensured that by the time educators became principals they had acquired, through experience, the necessary management skills to run their schools. / M