This study explores how women in management are perceived especially in a Kwa-Dukuza Lower Tugela primary school (with the pseudonym, Mbonisweni). Mhonisweni is situated 5 kilometers away from my school. I was motivated to conduct this study by the negative perceptions of women in management positions that I detected in my own school (with the pseudonym, Vela). Vela is a new primary school, which was established as a result of overcrowding at Siyathuthuka senior primary school, which was at first a combined primary school. I was interested to see if a similar situation pertained at Mbonisweni and to find out what might he the reasons for any negative perception of women managers. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with eight educators from Mbonisweni Primary, including the principal of the school, 4 management team members and the 4 educators (two females and two males). The study found that evidence of some negativity towards the school principal and in some cases such negativity was based on gender stereotyped attitudes. The situation was not, however, simple. Prior to conducting the research I had anticipated that there might be strong support from female HODs and educators for the female principal (manager) but this was not uniformly the case nor was it the case that all males in the study were opposed to the female manager. The situation was more complex. Three quarters of the males interviewed supported the female management although their support did not mean that male teachers were in necessarily in favour of gender equity more broadly nor did it preclude some men from expressing view that could be seen as sexist. While three quarters of the females interviewed also supported the female management it was clear that no encompassing bond of sisterhood exited by which women automatically supported the females in the school's management team. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

This study sought to explore power dynamics between school male managers and female teachers. This is a qualitative study located in the interpretivist paradigm. This study adopts a case study research design that utilises interviews to generate data. The data was analysed using qualitative thematic approach. The study is underpinned by two theories, namely, political theory and gender and power theory. The study’s findings suggest that the relations between male managers and female teachers are not good in the researched schools. Traditional Zulu culture is used by male managers to sideline female teachers. Male managers seem not interested in the programmes that are meant to improve their managerial skills. The study recommended that both the female teachers and the male managers work together to improve their relations, amongst other things, by attending workshops that are designed to encourage communication, tolerance, trust and respect between them. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The study sought to explore eight women school principals’ management experiences and challenges that these women encounter in their day-to-day management duties. It used semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis as its methods of data collection. The findings revealed that women principals encountered the challenge of being caught in the middle of having to balance domestic chores (being mothers and wives) and work responsibility (as school principals). The simultaneous demands of domestic and work responsibilities ensured that the women principals were inequitably pressured in their roles as school managers compared to their male counterparts. Other challenges related to gender stereotypes (perceptions held by some teachers and parents that women are care-givers, nurturers, and therefore not suited for management positions) and lack of women role models in school management positions. Even though women principals were challenged in their management duties they engaged in empowering management approaches by means of involving all the staff members in the decision making processes. The study highlighted the challenges that women principals encountered in maintaining their identity as women (feminine) in a male orientated field of school management. In managing the schools they used different approaches of management depending on the situation, and these included the adoption of masculine and authoritarian management strategies. By and large, these women principals insisted on using management strategies that are associated with femininities, such as empathy, cooperation, pastoral care and so forth. These strategies seemed more appropriate in promoting democratic participation in schools, as stipulated in South African education policies. The study recommended that holding induction programmes, building women networks, workshops and seminars could be a useful strategy in supporting women school principals. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women principals in high schools when executing their management functions at Obonjeni District. It is hoped that the study would contribute to the understanding of the challenges woman principals encounter on their work and how they dealt with them. The methodology used was qualitative. A case study method was adopted. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with two school principals, two deputy principals and four heads of department in two selected high schools. Documentary analysis was used to triangulate data obtained through the interviews. Two high schools at Obonjeni District were purposively selected for the study. The data gathered was transcribed, coded, organised into themes, categories and sub-categories. Finally, the data was analysed using content analysis technique. The study was located in feminist theory; this is because what is happening in high schools today can be explained in terms of assertions made in feminist theory. This theory provides an explanation as to why women are under-represented in management positions. Findings indicate that staff members that were of the view that women principals were incapable of leading based this view on gender stereotypes, societal norms and cultural factors. Furthermore, some staff members view female principals as capable of managing and providing effective leadership in high schools. The study also revealed that women principals experience challenges, but despite them, they managed to perform their official duties effectively and also provided good leadership quality in these schools. The study recommended that in-service training, sufficient workshops and seminars must be organised to empower women in leadership positions. Again, it was recommended that women principals must avail themselves with numerous educational opportunities to upgrade their knowledge. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

This study explores principals’ experiences of school leadership. Through synthesis of varying definitions of leadership, the conceptualisation of the three foci of leadership namely, “person, practice and context” offers an initial organisational framework for this study. The democratic South Africa provides the context of change which is operationalised around issues of the pass rate, desegregation and democratic school governance. The existing landscape of leadership theory is then grafted with the South African context of change to set up the theoretical framing of this study. This study is positioned differently from dominant leadership studies in that the leader (principal) is fore-grounded rather than the “practice” of leadership. An interpretive paradigm is invoked to facilitate the acknowledgement, activation and inter-woveness of the researcher’s dual positioning as researcher and as school principal. This ambivalent positioning creates a methodological paradox that simultaneously privileges and imprisons the production of knowledge. Coherent with the methodological choice of narrative methodologies, an award winning literary play “Copenhagen” is used as a creative representational device. This play highlights issues of “personal, political, moral and scientific” challenges which become key pivotal points with which to connect all the chapters of this study. Six principals of previously disadvantaged schools, facing similar challenges of leadership participate in this study. Narrative methodologies guides both the data production and data analysis strategies. It also intentionally focuses on “personal, political and moral” challenges. Lengthy interviews produce richly detailed co-constructed mindscapes of leadership. The voices of principals and their stories are represented as individualised “reconstructed career narratives”. These provide complex, themed and descriptive understandings of leadership at the first level. At the second level, the researcher’s voice becomes dominant while meshing together data, theory and first level analysis to provide cross-case analysis providing deeper insights into experiences of school leadership. These insights challenge the dominant theoretical landscape of leadership. The main finding of this study suggests that principals “personal” experiences re-define relationships between key components of the context of change and in this way determine understandings of leadership. Principals consider the pass rate to be most important at a systemic level. However, their “personal/biographic” experiences with regard to “validation” and “professional experience” mediate that consideration and influence particular understandings of leadership. Similarly, principals’ “personal” experiences together with institutional histories play a significant role in understanding leadership in relation to issues of desegregation (geography). Principals’ “personal” experiences also determine how democratic school governance is understood with regard to accountability, consultation and agenda constructions. Finally, leadership is understood to be intricately linked to the concept of reward. The “scientific” construct of a Trefoil knot is used to develop an explanatory model and posit the basis of a “Relational Reward Theory” of understanding leadership. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of pushing back contextual, methodological and theoretical boundaries in understanding school leadership. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The central aim of this study was to describe through qualitative inquiry how school principals have dealt with the post-1994 changes in school governance and the change in their leadership roles as leaders and professional managers of public schools, and how these changes have impacted on the construction of their professional identities and redefinition of their leadership roles. The critical research questions that guided the study were: (1) How do principals interpret or understand their roles and functions as leaders in the democratised system which relies on participatory management approaches? (2) To what extent can the principal’s beliefs, personal and cultural values and interests shape or influence his or her leadership style? (3) To what extent has the principal’s socialization into the teaching profession shaped his or her self-definition and professional identity? (4) How do principals transform their personal knowledge into professional practice? A qualitative, interpretive research design that made use of stories, accounts, and narratives was used to investigate different areas of the leadership process in KwaZulu- Natal schools. Six principals were selected to participate in the research process using the purposive or selective sampling procedure. The procedure was judgemental because it was more informed by the researcher’s experience and knowledge of the area of study to select cases that are representative or typical. The selection was based on racial demographics of the province, socialization of the participants into the teaching profession, ex-departments of education of the apartheid era, experience of managing public schools in the old and the new democratic political dispensations, and experienced female principals. The data analysis in this study borrowed from three prominent approaches to life history analysis, namely: the realist, neo-positivist and narrative approaches. The outcomes of this study identified that the selected principals’ socialization into education was shaped and directed by their parents. This challenges the belief that the principals’ social lives, on entering the teaching profession, are determined and shaped by the structured rules and educational policies. The study also shows that the trends towards democracy and participation in work places have caused the situational approaches of leadership to be replaced by structural functional approaches that attempt to respond to current changes in education. The combination of the principals’ experiences with what was expected from them influenced the construction of their professional identities and the way they interpret their professional roles. The principals’ life stories revealed that after twelve years of democracy, they were still struggling with the implementation of the democratic education policies. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 1987.

The study sought to explore four female school principals’ management experiences and challenges that these females encounter in their management duties. It adopted a qualitative approach inquiry, and used semi-structured interviews and observations as its methods of data collection. The objective was to examine and unveil the challenges that these principals encountered when applying for promotion into school management; some gender-based dynamics related to executing their duties and responsibilities as female school managers; the management strategies that the female principals used to cope with their management responsibilities, as well as the support they required in order to enhance their effective management in the schools. The findings reveal that female principals have, indeed encountered challenges at schools owing to their gender as females. These range from the very long period of time it took for them to be promoted into management positions to the dynamics related to managing staff meetings, which included female principals being regarded as tokens by some teachers and not being taken seriously, thereby undermining the female principals’ authority as school managers. Mainly based on the societal expectations on females to perform domestic chores, female principals in these schools have to struggle with a heavy workload of their school work which runs concurrently with their familial responsibilities (domestic chores) at home. The negative attitudes of staff and the community, which cast doubt on females’ capacity to become managers, are shown to have far-reaching adverse consequences, which affect the female principals’ ability to effectively manage the schools. However, the female principals in this study innovatively employ various management strategies to mitigate the effects of these challenges on their ability to manage the schools. These include adopting collegial (and democratic) management strategies that enable them to raise above the tide, thus challenging the stereotypic conceptions that females do not have the capacity to become effective school managers. Based on the female principals’ views and experiences, the study suggested some strategies that could be employed to support and enhance female principals’ abilities for effective school management. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

A predominantly authoritarian nature of schooling is still evident internationally and nationally (Maitles & Deuchar, 2007; Harber, 2004; Grant, 2006). In accordance with the Constitution of South Africa, schools in this country need to foster a democratic way of life and principals need to be instrumental in creating, leading and governing democratic schools. Dewey (1916) asserts that if individuals are to pursue and establish a democratic way of life, they must be afforded opportunities to learn the meaning of that way of life. Thus democratic schools play a pivotal role in their contribution to democratic societies (Beane & Apple, 1999; Gutmann, 1987) and to democracy at large. This empirical study explores the experiences and practices of school principals in creating, leading and governing democratic schools in an urban area, south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. Situated within an interpretive paradigm, this study is embedded in qualitative research. For a deep understanding of the phenomenon a case study approach was appropriate. Two secondary schools whose principals were willing to participate and which had some characteristics of democratic schools as outlined in the literature review comprised the sample. Data were gathered through observations of the principals. In addition staff meetings, staff briefing sessions and school governing body (SGB) meetings were observed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and various school documents were reviewed. Findings at both schools revealed that the principals associated democratic schools with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and as such they claimed that democratic schools are linked to democratic principles. At both of the case study schools the respondents made reference to a range of democratic principles. These included shared decision-making, with emphasis on inclusion of all stakeholders, and the need for a shared purpose and shared vision. Both of the schools advanced the notion of democratic schools promoting critical thinking and respecting the rights and dignity of all individuals. Other democratic principles referred to were representation of various stakeholders, democratic schools embracing diversity, the notion of interconnectedness between the school and the community, individuals being accorded equal value, trust, transparency and openness. Thus there was a shared language with regard to the notion of a democratic school. The participants concurred that the principal plays a pivotal role in promoting and practising democracy in the school. At both schools the principals seemed to move away from stereotypical authoritarian behaviour. They viewed leadership as a collective endeavour and promoted participative leadership. This study revealed that at the case study schools, leadership was extended to others in the school community and there seemed to be a flattening of traditional leadership hierarchies. There was also evidence of servant leadership and distributed leadership. Although both principals believed in democratic school governance and were moving towards shared school governance, the learners’ voice in SGB meetings was minimal. However, the respondents concurred that more can be done with regard to inclusion of stakeholders in major decisions. The principals also referred to some challenges that retard the practice of democracy in schools. The embedded nature of democratic principles in shared leadership and democratic school governance is emphasized, and a model for creating a democratic school is presented. In this way, this study can contribute to the growing body of literature on democratic schools. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

The study investigated role relationships of School Governing Body (SGB) chairpersons and principals in school governance in selected primary and secondary schools in the KwaMashu area. Through the provision of the South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996; the chairperson and the principal are leaders in the governing body and school management team respectively. Moreover the principal is an ex-officio member of the governing body. Literature and my experience as an educator suggested that, there existed conflict between the parent governors and principals in general; and SGB chairpersons and principals in particular. The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate whether or not SGB chairpersons and principals understand their roles in school governance. This was a multi-site case study of four schools in the same locality. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews; observation and document analysis. The findings suggest that SGB chairpersons and principals appeared to have an understanding of one’s and each other’s roles. However, a deeper examination of the situation suggests that this apparent clarity was superficial. It was so in that from the principals’ perspective, it was fine if chairpersons permanently needed their assistance in performing their governance duties. It also emerged that the inexperienced governing body chairpersons and principals lacked adequate understanding of their governance roles and those of each other. There was apparent harmonious working between principals and chairpersons which was arising because of inequality between chairpersons and principals in terms of educational levels. However, there were areas of conflict between the two parties especially regarding the control of finances, and the selection and appointment of educators. The study recommends that schools should design their own training programmes where they could invite departmental officials or other consultants to train their own people. Schools should also be adequately linked to centres such as Adult Basic Education and Training to develop their own people. This will help in equipping parent governors with sufficient knowledge and skills regarding their governance responsibilities. The study also recommends that further studies be conducted around induction programmes to make them more useful. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.