Teacher training is a significant and integral component of a sound education system. The
need for quality programmes and relevantly qualified personnel cannot be overemphasised.
Effective learning organisations result from good governance and strategic management.
The purpose of this study was to determine how teacher training colleges (TTCs) in
Swaziland could be transformed into effective Learning Organisations (LOs)? The following
research questions guided the study. These were formulated as follows: What were the
characteristics of effective learning organisations?; which factors had the potential for
developing TTCs as learning organisations?; which factors restricted the TTCs in Swaziland
from functioning as effective learning organizations? And how were TTCs in Swaziland
governed and strategically managed?
The study emanated from concerns raised for a number of years on the quality and
relevancy of TTCs in Swaziland. Such concerns were noted by both the print and electronic
media as well as members of the general public. The training programmes in TTCs have
been widely criticized, particularly with regard to standards, quality and relevance of the
training process in relation to meeting the nation and the global requirements. The study was
qualitative and was underpinned by the interpretism research paradigm employing an
ethnographic approach. The study was conducted in three selected teacher training colleges
in Swaziland namely; the Nazarene College of Education and the William Pitcher Teacher
Training College both based in the Manzini Region, and Ngwane Teachers’ College based in
the Shiselweni Region. This study employed the purposive sampling procedure. Thematic
Content Analysis (TCA) was used for the data analysis process.
The findings of the study revealed that participants felt that characteristics of effective LOs
included the availability of both well qualified academic and specialized non academic staff,
adequate and relevant infrastructure, dynamic, innovative and responsive curriculum, quality
assurance checks and balances mechanisms, good libraries and IT facilities , sufficient
funding and innovative leadership. Regarding the factors that have the potential for
developing TTCs to LOs, participants felt that institutional support from TTC leaders, adherence to professional and institutional values, using of mistakes as learning curve rather
than criticism, and serious engagement in learning by all members was of paramount
significance.
On the factors that restricted TTCs in Swaziland from functioning as effective LOs, the study
revealed that these included cumbersome bureaucracy, lack of rewards and incentives for
staff members, poor mobility structures, poor promotion formula as well as lack of
recognition for professional development or academic achievements. Regarding the manner
in which TTCs are governed and strategically managed, the study revealed that this was
characterized by a centralized, top down, weak unresponsive governance system seriously
lacking autonomy, long and confusing bureaucracy, unresponsive and cumbersome
procurement procedures.
The conclusion was that the Government needs to restructure the governance and
management systems of TTCs. The country should consider granting autonomy especially in
the procurement processes. The promotion of staff in TTCs must be based on academic
achievements and the Government needs to recognize the significance of giving rewards
and incentive to here employees. For transformation to occur in TTCs there is need for
college lecturers to adapt to change and for leaders to disseminate vital information to staff members all the time. The study concluded by developing a strategic management model to guide the development governance, management and operations of TTCs in Swaziland and their subsequent transformation to effective LOs. / 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:10500/23119 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Mahlalela, Amos Makhandane |
| Contributors | Botha, R. J. (Nico) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (321 leaves) : illustrations (chiefly color), color map |
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