This study is motivated by growing concern among teachers and principals
about who controls the learning process and was conducted in the
Chatsworth/Phoenix area of KwaZulu-Natal among selected primary and
secondary schools from the former House of Delegates. The findings are thus
applicable to these schools only. Since both groups lay claim to this control,
a clash between them becomes inevitable. Principals have been blamed for
"objectifying" teachers. Level-1 educators accuse these autocratic principals
of treating them as pawns in a public service chess game. Teachers desire
stability and security in the classroom and want to be appreciated. Like other
professionals, they tend to regard suggestions about how they should do their
work as reprimands. Teachers want to control their destinies and influence
their working conditions.
Instead of growing in their jobs, teachers complain of being "locked-in". Topdown
bureaucratic principals prevent these educators from developing their
decision-making skills. With these conditions prevailing in the teaching
profession in the early nineties, the researcher set out to examine the effect
of management styles on teachers in the classroom. Furthermore, he wanted
to gauge the extent to which teachers were allowed to participate in decisionmaking,
especially in those areas which affected their efficiency and job
satisfaction.
With the gradual empowering of level-1 educators as a result of the teacher's
trade union (SADTU) and the resultant decline of the prescriptive role of
superintendents, principals have had to rapidly adjust their management style
to become more democratic and recognise teachers as the key personnel in the
education process.
At present principals have a high regard for their staff and view them as
dedicated and motivated. Their managerial style show a strong bias towards
participative decision-making, and they encourage teachers to initiate and
implement new ideas. These principals have come to realise that if education
in general is to benefit, they will have to adopt the "bottom-up" approach.
Teachers dislike prescription and supervision of their work and cited these
factors as a major cause of increased stress levels.
However, it is important for level-1 educators to understand that if they
expect to enjoy the confidence of educational managers and to be part of the
decision-making mechanism, they need to show a high degree of professionalism
and a deep sense of responsibility - both of which they undoubtedly have in
abundance. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/15860 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Ramjan, Abdul Gaffar |
| Contributors | De Witt, J. T. (Joseph Truter), 1932- |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xv, 339 leaves) |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds