A dissertation submitted to the Wits School of Governance, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Management in the field of Public and Development Management (MM.P & DM), 2016 / This study explored governance and leadership challenges at the Edenridge High School. The report uses a case study as well as an interactive qualitative analysis research methodology. It explores how the School Governing Body provides strategy to the school management team, with their educators, in order to implement the strategy in collaboration with the GDE policies, will ultimately lead to good governance and effective leadership and management in the school. The GDE policies and practices are used to address complex challenges in order to effect change. The researcher argues that despite the challenges which the SGB and SMT, as well as the educators in the school experience, change becomes evident. The stakeholders learn to work together, respect each other and forge ahead. These challenges brought about by insufficient provision of inservice trainings and relevant workshops to be conducted in schools contribute to shaping future developed and professional bodies of SGBs and SMTs in general, in their good governance strategies and effective leadership and management systems. If the systems in place are sustained, they then leave the stakeholders with the potential of becoming public servants of the future.
The findings reveal that the Constitution of South Africa Act No. 108 of 1996, South African Schools Act (SASA) No. 84 of 1996, Employment of Educators’ Act (EEA) No. 76 of 1998, and the National Education Policy Act (NEPA) No. 27 of 1996 are not used sufficiently and substantively to influence change that must take place in schools. Discretion and common sense tend to have taken the place of education policies and practices in resolving problems and finding each other. While schools discuss embracing the ten fundamental values of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), living up to them continues to remain a challenge in practice.
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This study also investigates the role that SGB and SMT, together with the teaching staff (educators) play in governance, leadership and management of teaching and learning. The process takes place through the alternative approach of distributed - and instructional – leadership, in order to promote quality education. As a qualitative case study of only one township Gauteng secondary school, data was collected by means of questionnaires. Perceptions of the SGB, SMT and educators on distributed and instructional leadership embedded within governance, leadership and management were examined, as well as how the concept was applied in the day-to-day running of the school. It was found that the SGB’s, SMT’s and educators’ responses in the questionnaires, despite their extensive teaching and managing experience, related to the situation where the stakeholders were not fully aware of the implications of governance, leadership and management within the new dispensation. They vaguely referred to their roles as governors, leaders and managers without specifying how and what they were governing, leading and managing in their respective schools.
Recommendations are that distributed leadership strategies in governance by the SGB could be found in the case study school to optimise the instructional leadership and management of teaching and learning by the SMT and educators, and that time should be granted for HODs and their principals within the SMT structure for the implementation of this instructional leadership and management. Challenges such as the ones mentioned above, including the recent fluctuation of matric results, which dropped by approximately 9% in 2015, (Basic Education Minister’s Speech, January 2015) moving the pass rate from 75,8% in 2014 down to 70,7% in 2015, will obviously be curbed / GR2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23692 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Monareng, Madikana Joseph |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (xiii, 171 leaves), application/pdf |
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