This study sought to analyse the influence of principal leadership on the performance of selected schools in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The problems addressed in the research were what leadership and leadership styles in the school context entail, concept of school performance, attributes of leadership as perceived by principals and how these attributes impact on school performance and establish whether school performance is dependent upon principal leadership and his/her leadership style. It was a qualitative study. Stakeholders of the schools were interviewed and observations were made. The relationship between leadership and leadership style, in general, and school performance were investigated. The research established that unless principals were well equipped with knowledge and skills in management and leadership, they would not be able to improve school performance. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Workplace bullying studies have gathered an increasing impetus among researchers throughout the world in the last decade. Previous research has concentrated on bullying in the context of students. Recent research has shifted focus towards workplace bullying of staff by managers. Little is known of upwards bullying where staff members bully managers or students bully their teachers. In this study, workplace bullying focuses on the bullying of teaching staff by the School Management Team. The researcher used the qualitative method for this study. Questionnaires were administered to 80 teachers. Interviews were held with eight members of the School Management Team (SMT) and ten teachers who perceived that they had been subjected to bullying. Data was coded and arranged thematically using Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method of analysis. Results indicate that bullying of the teaching staff thrives in all schools but with varying degrees to certain teachers who are vulnerable due to social and environmental circumstances. The researcher recommends that schools identify cases of bullying and develop an anti- bullying policy that is incorporated in the whole school development strategy. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The researcher investigated whether leadership is not held by one leader only, but by a leadership model where decision making is distributed among to the rest of the senior leadership team and leaders within the school. The researcher’s aims emanate from the research problem, what is the role of distributive leadership as strategy to ensure effective schools in South Africa. The researcher also attempts through the study to define effective school leadership, leadership strategies and distributive leadership and explore how distributive leadership supports change and improves schools effectively. The focus of the study was to obtained data that could facilitate an understanding of the participants’ experiences on the role of distributive leadership as strategy to ensure more effective schools in South Africa. It is the understanding that this data will form the basis for the conceptualising for school management and other leaders that will facilitate the successful management of the implementation of this approach. In order to achieve the aims of this study, a qualitative research design was adopted and the main form of data collection method was interviews. A total of 28 interviews were conducted. Eight themes were identified from the literature and the in-depth interviews and discussed in detail. The study found out that leadership should be managed through the distributed leadership strategy and that the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the OSCAR coaching model as distributed leadership strategy would ensure more effective schools in South Africa. The theoretical clustering of the leadership styles items and the distributed leadership model resulted in the identification of the shared leadership with elements of democratic leadership as significant contributors to the distribution of leadership and the OSCAR coaching model to facilitate meetings. This information is of importance for educational managers as they will be able to provide schools with suggestions for developmental programmes for leaders and managers in order to increase positive perceptions regarding the role of distributed leadership to ensure effective schools in South Africa. The study arrived at the conclusion that the core coaching skills are most likely to promote a successful coaching outcome. The challenge that lies ahead is for leaders to acquire these coaching skills so that they can make the transition to become a coaching leader and develop schools in such ways. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Life Orientation, a core subject of the South African secondary school curriculum since 1996, is still not taught successfully in the majority of secondary schools. This study was conducted in former Model C secondary schools in the Nelson Mandela Metropole in order to identify challenges and problems with regard to the management of the teaching of the subject. If the subject were managed properly by principals the Departmental outcomes would have been achieved and problems would not have existed. In this study the managerial challenges of the teaching of Life Orientation have been identified by means of mixed method research, in terms of the four main management tasks, namely leading, planning, organising and controlling. The views of principals were obtained through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data was synthesised, multi-dimensional management problems were identified and recommendations were made with regard to managing the important subject of Life Orientation. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this study was to find out the perceptions on the principals’ implementation of instructional leadership in the Amajuba District of KwaZulu-Natal with a view to provide guidelines that may be employed to enhance the execution of this role. Scholars believe that instructional leadership can assist in the transformation of schools into effective schools with consistent high learner achievement. In the Amajuba District schools show fluctuation in their grade twelve results, hence the need to investigate the principals’ implementation of instructional leadership. The grade 12 results were used because it is assumed that the variance is indicative of the differences in the principal’ leadership roles in these schools. This qualitative study examines the principals’ instructional leadership role. Data was gathered by means of literature study and focus group interviews. Four interviews were held: three with Deputy Principals and Heads of Departments, and the fourth one comprised of principals of the six selected secondary schools. / Educational Leadership and Management / 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)

. This investigation focuses on the leadership role of the principal in managing and supporting curriculum change in South African schools. The results reveal that principals are required to initiate change and to lead the curriculum change process in schools. Principals are expected to monitor, manage and evaluate the implementation of OBE in their schools. They also need to provide ongoing support to colleagues and are further required to acquire and employ skills, qualities, characteristics and a management style that is suitable for the OBE leader. This investigation recommends that for principals to manage and support curriculum change effectively in South African schools: • Principals are in need of more training and ongoing support • Commitment and support to the outcomes based curriculum is called for • Skills and qualities, for effective leadership, needs to be acquired and employed • A strategy to manage, monitor, support and evaluate curriculum implementation in the school is needed. / Educational Leadership and Management / M.Ed. (Educational Management)

Dissertation / This study explores the role of the principal in the management of parent involvement in secondary schools in Northern Province. A literature study investigated existing theories and models of parent involvement; parent involvement in the South African context and the provision of education in South Africa in historical perspective. It also investigated the managerial role of the principal in parent involvement. A qualitative investigation in three secondary schools in Northern Province was done. Data were gathered by means of participant observation in-depth interviews with principals and focus-group interviews with teachers and three parents on the school governing bodies. Analysed data revealed the following findings: principals lack knowledge on parent involvement and schools lack policies and organisational structures dealing with parent involvement as well as home-school relations. As a result of these findings, there is a need to equip principals with ways in which they can involve parents in their schools. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)

National legislation such as South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 introduced important reforms impacting on school and parent communication. It mandated the establishment of school governing bodies in all schools to ensure that parents participate in their schools and to open an effective way of communication between educators and parents. However, the literature study established that in some schools, mostly the historically disadvantaged black schools, communication between educators and parents is still very poor and mostly ineffective. This study examined the role of the school principals in managing effective communication between educators and parents at schools to ensure that effective partnerships between educators and parents are achieved. A qualitative investigation in two public secondary schools in the Umbumbulu Circuit, KwaZulu-Natal was done. Data were gathered by means of in-depth interviews with the principals of each school, and focus group interviews with the educators and parents of each school and document analysis. The findings revealed the following: relationship between educators and parents is still very poor in some schools, the communication between educators and parents is still ineffective, there is still a lack of parental involvement in some schools, and most schools do not have policies on effective management of communication and comprehensive programmes on parental involvement. The study recommends that principals need to be empowered to effectively manage communication in their schools to ensure effective partnerships between educators and parents, and schools should design their own training programmes conducted by principals or specialists for parents on the importance of parental involvement in the education of their children. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The researcher became interested in the topic regarding job satisfaction amongst male teachers when he attended his university reunion, more than 40% of the male teachers who graduated with a degree in education left the education system within 5 years. After making contact with some of the graduates, the researcher found that all of them left the education system because they were not satisfied within their work environment; hence, the researcher became interested in the topic. The most rewarding aspect of being a teacher is the joy of being in the classroom with learners and seeing them progress. However, what if there is no progression, but only statistics indicating failure to educate learners, an education system in crisis and educators without proper qualifications? A shortage of teachers, increasing learner enrolment and work overload are enough to create a highly stressful profession. The learning environment of a school depends on teachers, because they are in the frontline and directly involved with the transfer of knowledge. Teachers have a direct impact on a school’s success. Therefore, it is important that principals identify ways to support their staff in order to promote job satisfaction and motivation. The aim of this study is to investigate, from an educational management perspective, the factors that influence job satisfaction amongst male teachers in schools in the Ehlanzeni school district, Mpumalanga. The sequential explanatory mixed-method approach is used during this study; the quantitative phase investigated factors affecting job satisfaction amongst male teachers by means of distributing 200 Likert-scale questionnaires amongst male teachers in the Ehlanzeni school district. Structured interviews is being scheduled with twelve school principals (three rural primary school principals, three former Model-C primary school principals, three rural secondary school principals and three former Model-c secondary school principals) in the Ehlanzeni school district in order to determine the cause and effect of factors affecting the job satisfaction amongst male teachers. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)