The purpose of this study was to investigate School Board members' perceptions and expenences of their roles in a secondary school in the Rundu Education Region of Namibia. A case study was conducted within the interpretive paradigm. Six School Board members from the selected school were interviewed. The data were analysed using qualitative data analysis practices. The findings of the study indicate that there are numerous constraints that interfere with the Board members' ability to effectively carry out their role as a school governing body. These constraints include a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Education Act, a lack of skill in conducting basic management and organization processes and a lack of support from the circuit inspector and Regional Education officers. This study provides some understanding of the circumstances of the School Board in trying to execute its role in implementing the Education Act, especially the section dealing with School Boards. As such, this research provides an agenda for the support and improvement of the work of School Boards in Namibian secondary schools.

Text in Afrikaans / The being, nature and importance of organisational climate as well as the role of the educational manager in this regard is described. A study regarding cultural differences in the South African milieu was conducted. A pilot study preceded the qualitative, empirical survey for which a questionnaire was designed. Interviews with principals and staff members of different cultural groups were conducted at a primary, secondary and tertiary educational institution. The data is described, analysed and interpreted. Results indicated that a closed organisational climate prevailed at the majority of educational institutions in South Africa with multi-cultural staff. Guidelines for the appointment, training and development of educational managers are given. It is recommended that applicants for educational manager posts are to be selected according to psychometric tests. Current educational managers should be trained with reference to the creation of organisational climate. Management principles, management style, leadership and cultural sensitivity should be addressed. / Na aanleiding van 'n literatuurstudie is die wese, aard en belangrikheid van organisasieklimaat asook die rol van die onderwysbestuurder in die verband beskryf. 'n Literatuurstudie in verband met kultuurverskille in die Suid-Afrikaanse milieu is onderneem. 'n Loodsstudie is gedoen. 'n Vraelys is antwerp vir 'n kwalitatiewe, empiriese ondersoek. Onderhoude is by 'n primere, sekondere en tersiere onderwysinstansie met drie hoofde en elf personeellede van verskillende kultuurgroepe gevoer. Die data is beskryf, geanaliseer en gei"nterpreteer. Daar is gevind dat 'n geslote organisasieklimaat by die meerderheid onderwysinstansies in Suid-Afrika met multikulturele personele heers. Riglyne is verskaf vir die aanstelling, opleiding en ontwikkeling van onderwysbestuurders. Daar word aanbeveel dat aansoekers vir onderwysbestuursposte na aanleiding van psigometriese toetsing gekeur word. Huidige onderwysbestuurders meet indiensopleiding en ontwikkelingsgeleenthede ontvang ten opsigtevanorganisasieklimaatskepping metverwysingnabestuursbeginsels, bestuurstyl, leierskap en kultuursensitiwiteit om hulle toe te rus vir hulle moeilike taak. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Onderwysbestuur)

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / Many township schools are not effective in providing quality education. Managing educator misconduct in township schools is a research project which investigates the nature of educator misconduct in township schools and its impact on school management. It also investigates how educator misconduct is managed in these schools and provides guidelines to alleviate the problem of educator misconduct in township schools. Therefore, the research question was: "What are the nature and consequences of educator misconduct in township schools and how should educator misconduct be managed?" The aims were to identify, describe and discuss the nature and consequences of educator misconduct~ to understand the role of stakeholders in the management of educator misconduct~ and to discuss guidelines for managing educator misconduct. A qualitative research strategy was used in this research project. A literature study was conducted before and during this research project in order to provide a theoretical background to this research project. Data were collected through individual in-depth and focus group interviews with the principals and educators of three township secondary schools. Interview data were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim and analysed using the constant comparative method. Four themes emerged from data analysis. The first theme is common types of educator misconduct. This includes absenteeism and tardiness, where educators absent themselves from school without giving valid reasons and also go late to classes~ insubordination or a lack of respect for the principal's authority and using corporal punishment regardless of the fact that it has been legally banned. The second theme is the awareness of regulations regulating educator misconduct. In this theme it was revealed that educators and principals are aware of the Education Department policies on educator misconduct and the SACE code of ethics for educators, but disregard them nonetheless. The third theme viz. the effect of educator misconduct on schools, revealed that learners are adversely affected by educator misconduct since educators do not spend most of the time teaching them in classes. This theme also revealed that other educators are negatively affected by the prevalence of educator misconduct in their schools and that the whole school image is also tainted. The fourth theme discussed how educator misconduct is managed in township schools. This includes the procedures used by principals in dealing with cases of educator misconduct; the role played by the Department of Education in helping the principals deal with educator misconduct; the role of the school governing bodies and the role of the parents. Based on the literature and interview data, the research concludes by making a number of recommendations as to how principals can reduce the problem of educator misconduct in schools.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / The individual behaviour of the involved experienced teacher gives form and direction to the practice of teaching and education. The improvement of the school's effectiveness can be the consequence of the dedication and enthusiasm of involved experienced teachers. By developing highly motivated involved experienced teachers, the educational leader creates the potential for effective teaching and the improvement of school efficiency. Education leaders should regard their motivational task as a high priority. From the research material it is clear that there is a large variety of problems facing the uninvolved experienced teacher. These problems differ in degree and scope. For every separate problem area specific solutions will have to be found. In order to find sensible solutions for these problems." it is desirable to group them together in separate areas or categories. From a wide variety of problems, it is possible to isolate the following areas or categories, viz: + discontent with aspects of management + adaptation to the school environment, and + limited promotional opportunities Although not all uninvolved experienced teachers experience the same problems, there are, however, problems that are common to them all. Communication is one such problem that could bring about major change. Communication is a way of Iiving and forms an integral part of one's existence. It forms the basis of the establishment, maintenance and improvement of human relations. Due to the educational leader's managerial function, manifold opportunities arise for effective communication, which are enhanced by his qualities, such as leadership, guidance, the ability to organise, to be decisive and to exercise discipline. The school climate, human relations and the management style within a school constitute the basic requirements for a particular mode of communication. The educational leader should always endeavour to communicate effectively in order to prevent and rectify communication barriers. xii In order to allow the educational leader to formulate a sensible motivation strategy it is necessary for him to be aware of and get an overall picture of the multiplicity of existing theories of motivation. Each theory, in its own way, gives expression to the nature of human needs and motives as forces governing motivation. At the same time it is an indication of the human personality and these theories allow educational leaders to: + improve the uninvolved experience teacher's attendance, quality of work, and personal involvement + bring about the acceptance of responsibility without the use of threats, and + turn traditional practises into innovative teaching methods. It would be unrealistic to think that a perfect approach to motivation could ever be achieved. The educational leader must, of necessity, apply motivation in a specific situation, adapting the motivational strategy to suit each individual, depending on his needs in changing circumstances. A positive school climate is of particular importance if the pupils are to achieve maturity and teachers are to enjoy job satisfaction. The success of motivation as a managerial skill applied by the educational leader depends on the efficiency of the execution of his other managerial activities. This efficiency can be achieved by training during which the educational leader becomes more skilled in dealing with the key elements of the task of motivation, viz: + the importance of school climate in the development of highly motivated uninvolved experienced teachers, and + the effect of different leadership styles on the motivation of the uninvolved experienced teacher. The creation of the so-called ideal or positive school climate should form part of the educational leader's managerial strategy. In this regard the leadership style of the educational leader is of paramount importance in the creation of a positive school climate in order to encourage motivated behaviour of the uninvolved experienced teacher.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The period immediately after entering the teaching profession is of the utmost importance to the newly qualified teacher. These first impressions experienced have implications for the quality of his teaching, his professional image and his future job satisfaction. At the moment the newcomer finds himself in the unenviable position of being expected to accept full responsibility in the teaching situation, without having undergone a formally structured orientation programme. The sudden change from training to practice can lead to practice shock, occupational stress and possibly an early resignation. Educational managers should do everything in their power to guide newcomers towards fulfilment and self-development by implementing an efficient orientation programme. Only through continual and differentiated monitoring of the integration of the newcomer can he be helped towards feeling secure. This should result in optimal efficiency in educating every pupil, which in turn would help towards the beginner's own development. Furthermore orientation of the newcomer should form an integral component of his continual professional development. Such a strategy implies effective education and top-rate teaching. It appears that little local research has been done on orientating newcomers to the teaching profession. This contrasts sharply with research done overseas. During the initial training period, the dynamic character of the teaching profession should be secured by identifying problem areas which occur in classroom management, general organization and administration or didactic matters. Prospective teachers should also during their teaching practice have the opportunity of exploring all the facets of the school programme.

M.Ed. / The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which effective human resource management serves as a powerful strategy for improving schools’ productivity. Since the riots of June 1976 in Soweto the culture of teaching and learning has deteriorated. Learners and educators were demotivated. The abrupt introduction of Outcomes-Based-Education in 1997 caused most qualified and experienced educators to resign from the teaching profession. It has also become difficult for the educators to discipline learners since the abolition of corporal punishment. The learners now have more rights and the South African Schools Act protects them. In this study, qualitative descriptive research design approaches were utilized. The researcher bracketed her own views of life and ideologies to avoid being subjective. She had to be objective in order to be able to know more about the philosophy which the school principals follow to improve the culture of teaching and learning. The researcher selected the sample randomly. Raw data was collected by observation, document check as well as interviewing the principals as managers, leaders and overseers of the Soweto Secondary Schools. Interviews which involved face-to-face interaction were conducted at natural setting that is at schools where the principals serve as managers and leaders. In this study an inductive process for data analysis was applied. The researcher used a highly heuristic qualitative approach which is characterized by the following five phrases: o The researcher read the transcript and filled them. o The responses of each topic were reviewed and the reaction of various respondents was compared with each other. o The transcripts were coded and reread (to eliminate preconceived ideas). This was done to gain a holistic perspective of the collected data. Important words and phrases were marked and underlined in order to identify information that is relevant for the study. o Categories were formulated through compilation of analytic memos. These categories were then clustered together to identify themes. o Finally creative synthesis, which enabled the researcher to bring together the interviewees’ stories as a whole was done. The main purpose was to describe, explore and analyze the experiences of the individual participant’s life. This was done through the condensation of extensive and varied data into a brief summary and through the establishment of a clearly defined relationship between the research problem, aims and other findings derived from raw data and literature survey. Findings from this study and from literature review suggest that if human resource is effectively managed, then, teaching and learning outcomes will also be discernibly maximized. The researcher found that at schools the principals are the initiators of a positive culture and climate. Their effectiveness improved the culture of teaching and learning through their collegiality, educative and transformative leadership. There is complete educative teaching and learning. The principals are collaborative leaders whoinvolve educators and other stakeholders to participate in decision-making. They attended School Management Team Skills workshops. They are empowered to manage and make constructive decisions for their schools. Teams are built and encouraged to support one another, share knowledge and skills and also to avoid individuals from isolating themselves. Educators attend workshops and have also established school subject teaching clusters with the surrounding schools where they can share their problems and come up with solutions. The negative attitudes, which prevailed, have absolutely disappeared. The researcher recommended that principals’ leadership style should be transformed to that of a democratic, participatory and collegial approach. Leaders should also facilitate change in the schools. She also highlighted that communities around the schools and parental involvement play significant roles in the smooth running of schools. / Prof. J.R. Debeila