The study investigated the role of induction and mentoring programmes in achieving school effectiveness. The study did not address all the issues related to school effectiveness. It aimed at finding out if the two schools under study had induction and mentoring programmes, and if these programmes were effectively used, and also to ascertain if the programmes of induction and mentoring contributed to the sound relationships within the school community. In order to answer the research questions the study employed a qualitative case study approach. Literature on issues of induction and mentoring locally and internationally was examined to provide a wider context with which to view the present study. Interviews were conducted which involved a sample of seven educators, employed between the years 2002 and 2003. Observation of the staff meetings and three of the newly appointed educators teaching was also conducted. Documents supplied by the Department, such as, Towards Effective School Management Manuals, The Final Draft of Systemic Evaluation 2001 KZN, Handbook for the Code of Professional Ethics 2002 and Guides for School Management Teams, related to induction and mentoring were analysed. The findings of the study suggest that in one school, the educators felt abandoned. In the other, the educators felt at home as regards induction and mentoring. The findings also seem to suggest that the schools studied did not practice formal induction and mentoring. As far as mentoring and having mentors were concerned, educators in one school, have their H.O.Ds as mentors although it was not spelt out to them. Educators in the other school did not have mentors in the school. The study recommends that principals, especially the beginning principals, need to be given guidance in the development of programmes of induction and mentoring. Workshops would also help to develop principals in using documents supplied to schools by the Department, to ensure the effective implementation of procedures and processes to be followed in schools. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

Recent years have seen a move to enhanced focus upon the induction of school leaders. Initial induction programmes for school leaders tended to focus mainly on school principals. There is new found realization of the need to broaden the focus on school principals to include Heads of Department. This study explores the induction experiences of newly-promoted HoDs. The study used a qualitative approach using the interpretive paradigm. Three new HoDs reflected on their personal experiences of being inducted into the system through semistructured, face-to-face interviews. They were selected through the use of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The participants narrated on how they were inducted by the Department of Education (DOE) as well as their respective school management teams within the Umlazi District. The findings reveal that both the DOE and schools offered formal induction programmes to new HoDs. All the new HoDs who participated in this study claimed to experience feeling of anxiety and stress. The DoE as well as the schools with which the participants are affiliated, showed that they valued the process of introducing novice HoDs by conducting such induction programmes soon after their appointment. All the new HoDs were inducted through forum of workshops held in the Umlazi District. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.