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The role of the circuit inspector in the professional development of principals

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The present crisis in Black education in South Africa centres largely around the problem of educating and re-educating principals. Major deficiencies in the teaching of Mathematics and Physical Science exacerbate the acute shortage of adequately qualified teachers. During the past two decades there have been even greater uncertainties, fears and instabilities in the field of professional development. The problem of upgrading Black principals also seems to have received limited and sporadic attention. Central to this problem is the quality of the professional development of educational leaders. Hartshorne (1990:4) argues that" ...although it is crucial to highlight the fact that while there has been a marked improvement in the professional qualifications of Black teachers, there has been a disturbing and remarkable increase in the number of professionally under-qualified teachers in Black schools". Comments such as these highlight the severity of the education crisis, the need for skilled principals and the demand for effective professional development to improve their management skills. They also outline the context and rationale of this investigation. The three major resources in meeting the challenge of the provision of education are teachers, classroom facilities and effective managers or educational leaders. This investigation will suggest that innovative methods and strategies will have to be found in both pre-service and in-service education and professional development to increase the quality of principals available to the present system of schooling, without resorting to "quickfix" and 'cheap solutions. The first step could be the removal of the past educational inequalities: size of classes, teacher qualifications, funding disparities, educational facilities and equipment (Hartshorne, 1990:85). The recipe knowledge approach to professional development in the initial training programmes is becoming increasingly difficult to justify or sustain...

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:4280
Date11 March 2014
CreatorsRamusi, Frans Moyahabo
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RightsUniversity of Johannesburg

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