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The managerial role of the principal in promoting teacher professionalism in selected Eastern Cape schools
Abstract
In the last two to three decades teachers? work has been plagued by problems internationally. These problems include a growing dissatisfaction of teachers about their working conditions (characterized by heavy workloads and low salaries), the growing attempts by governments to control teachers? work and the increasing negative public image of the teaching profession. This negative public image of teaching is manifested in the failure of the profession to attract enough students and the fact that those who are already in the profession want to leave. These factors had, inter alia, lead to a collapse of professionalism amongst teachers in general.
There are, however, also other factors that have an influence on the professionalism of school teachers. It is argued in this article that the management role of the school principal is a crucial factor that influences teacher professionalism. This influence can be either positive or negative, depending to a large extent on how effectively the principal is managing the school. This article, derived from an empirical case study undertaken among a number of secondary schools in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, is an attempt to conceptualise the important and pivotal managerial role of the principal in promoting professionalism amongst teachers in this province.
... Zion Holten also supports the notion that the principal's managerial competence is essential. His study proved that the principal's managerial skills have a significant relationship to teacher teaching performance (Holten, 2015: [13][14] [3]. The principal must actively influence the school through vision, mission, organizational structure, educators and education and clear working methods. ...
... R.J Botha, 2011, argued that the principal managerial competence is very important in determining teacher professionalism. District/City/Provincial Education Authorities should hold education and training in managerial competence, especially in the utilization of ICT and monitoring and evaluation, to support teachers professionalism (Botha, 2011) [14]. ...
... R.J Botha, 2011, argued that the principal managerial competence is very important in determining teacher professionalism. District/City/Provincial Education Authorities should hold education and training in managerial competence, especially in the utilization of ICT and monitoring and evaluation, to support teachers professionalism (Botha, 2011) [14]. ...
... South Africa's public underperforming schools in rural areas, in particular, face daily new economic, emotional, and social challenges, in addition to the lack of basics such as electricity, running water, toilets, textbooks, learning material, and support staff [37,38], and consequently experience "constant crisis" [39]. ese multifaceted challenges, alongside the issues relating to new curricula, throughput rates, quality control, HIV/AIDS awareness, learners' safety, and poverty alleviation, put immense pressure on the school leadership of underperforming schools [40,41]. Private schools do not experience all these challenges and are perceived to offer a high standard of education to privileged learners whose parents are unhappy with the standard and quality of schooling that public schools offer [18]. ...
... is agrees with Nuri and Dagli [88] who postulated that school leaderships that prioritise training and development have a great likelihood of establishing a positive organisational school climate. Botha [40] considered leadership development as fundamental to bringing about change. Owens et al. [82] suggested that leadership characteristics can be learnt and developed by means of training, mentoring, and coaching. ...
The leadership of companies influences the organisational climate of companies by creating a cycle of continuous improvement or failing to do so. The same applies to educational leadership in their search for favourable teaching and learning conditions for all learners, especially those of underperforming schools whose academic results are not up to standard. Critical dialogue and new thinking regarding school leadership are mandatory to improve the status quo. It is proposed that the servant leadership paradigm, when practiced by school leadership, may have a significant influence on the school environment. A qualitative approach was utilised to measure the impact of servant school leadership on the organisational climate of private schools in South Africa, with the aim of learning valuable lessons to implement in the public school domain and especially the underperforming school sector. A purposive convenience sampling approach was applied to select participants for three focus group interviews. A theoretical thematic, semantic, and essentialist analytical approach served as the foundation for this study. The focus group interviews confirmed that the participants perceived their school leaderships to implement specific characteristics of servant leadership and organisational climate to enhance a positive school environment for teachers and learners to succeed. The participants also perceived definite links between servant leadership and organisational climate. It is recommended that the servant leadership paradigm and its impact on the organisational climate of underperforming schools be researched and considered for implementation nationally and internationally.
... However, contemporary education and the teaching profession are faced with a diversity of challenges and dilemmas in regard to the extent to which they can manage their various responsibilities or make a contribution to external policy issues that have a direct impact on their professional practice. In most Sub-Saharan Africa's economies, teachers are faced with constant changes in education management policies that has not only created additional work for teachers (UNESCO 2014;Nengwekhulu 2010;Botha 2011), but also altered their relationships with the school administrators. Authoritarian and bureaucratic administrative systems are not only limited to Sub-Saharan Africa's economies, but extend to other countries elsewhere (Fullan 2010; Sahlberg 2011). ...
... Professional institutional engagement as a new strategy was framed with the intention of promoting the teacher's own learning in a collaborative culture; whereby both teachers and school administrators become peers and mentors as they socialise and accumulate lived experiences within the school's setting. Similar to what Botha (2011) points out, our understanding is that educators only understand the social transformation and the value of a democratic style of leadership when they start viewing mistakes as opportunities to learn. Other scholars refer to this as 'democratic pragmatism', in the sense that there is a more collaborative style of governance (Whitty, 2006). ...
Teacher involvement in decision making at school leads to increased motivation, engagement and empowerment. Using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework to increase opportunities for teacher participation in school affairs, we found that traditional hierarchical power relations and bureaucracy are barriers to teachers’ autonomy, participation and engagement in the day-to-day decision making process. The conceptual model of Professional Institutional Engagement (PIE) was used to enable teachers to frame the challenges to autonomy and decision making within their professional practice, craft interventional strategies to mitigate them, which included open communication, reflection and dialogue within the school environment. The results highlighted that PIE provided a practical mechanism through which traditional hierarchical relations and bureaucracies were circumvented, resulting in increased collaboration, improved institutional communication; which motivated and engaged teachers.RésuméL’engagement des enseignants dans le processus de prise de décision à l’école conduit à une augmentation de motivation, engagement et affranchissement. Faisant usage du cadre de Recherche d’Action Participative (RAP) dans le but d’augmenter les opportunités pour la participation des enseignants dans la gestion de l’école, nous avons trouvé que les hiérarchies traditionnelles de relations de pouvoir ainsi que la bureaucratie sont des barrières à l’autonomie, participation et engagement des enseignants dans le processus quotidien de prise de décision. Le modèle conceptuel d’Engagement Institutionnel Professionnel (EIP) fut utilisé pour permettre aux enseignants de formuler les défis à l’autonomie et processus de prise de décision dans leur pratique professionnel, d’élaborer des stratégies interventionnelles pour les mitiger, incluant la communication ouverte, réflexion et dialogue dans le milieu scolaire. Les résultats ont montré que EIP a fourni un mécanisme pratique à travers duquel les relations hiérarchiques traditionnelles ainsi que bureaucraties étaient dépassées, résultant ainsi en une grande collaboration et une communication institutionnelle améliorée, chose qui avait motivé et engagé les enseignants.
... Leadership development is fundamental to change but R. Botha (2011) is critical of the leadership style of authoritarian principals, as a limiting factor in leadership development, and notes the overwhelming need for enhanced professionalism for principals. E. Botha (2012, p. 406) suggests than one approach might be to create professional learning communities which consider change through talking, asking relevant questions, and making decisions together. ...
For too long the weight of educational scholarship produced in South Africa has been limited to that simple and standard form called the literature review. Now, for the first time, education researchers are provided with an African-based text on the concepts and methods of conducting systematic reviews. In this exceptional work of editorship, Felix Maringe brings together some of the leading researchers on South African education to model and demonstrate how to review a significant body of research on a chosen topic which is adjudicated strictly on the basis of the quality and efficacy of the evidence in hand. I have no doubt that this remarkable book will become a standard reference for educational researchers in and beyond the African continent. It will also lift the quality of educational inquiry by equipping a new generation of scholars with the capacity for doing evidence-based research that compels the attention of policymakers, planners and practitioners alike.
... Bu nedenle alan yazında öğretmen profesyonelliğini açıklamaya çalışan farklı tanımlamalar ile karşılaşılmaktadır. Öğretmenlerin mesleki profesyonelliği, iyi davranışlara sahip olma, başkaları tarafından örnek alınma ve mesleki çalışmalarına yönelik olumlu bir tutum geliştirme gibi çeşitli yeterliliklerle ilişkili görülmüştür (Botha, 2011). Schreuder (1993 profesyonelliğin, eğitimsel görevlerin başarılı şekilde gerçekleştirilmesi için gerekli olan yeterlilik, bağlılık ve olumlu tutumu işaret ettiğini vurgulamıştır. ...
Bu araştırmada öğretmen görüşlerine göre okul müdürlerinin
göstermiş olduğu stratejik liderlik davranışları ile öğretmenlerin mesleki
profesyonelliği arasındaki ilişkiler incelenmiştir. Araştırma 2018-2019 eğitim
öğretim yılında Ankara ili Altındağ ilçesinde gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu kamu okullarında görev yapmakta olan 344 öğretmen
oluşturmuştur. İlişkisel tarama modelinin uygulandığı araştırmada veriler nicel
teknikler ile çözümlenmiştir. Veri toplama sürecinde “Stratejik Liderlik
Ölçeği” ve “Öğretmenlerin Mesleki Profesyonelliği Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır.
Araştırma sonucunda öğretmen görüşlerine göre okul müdürlerinin stratejik
liderlik davranışları göstermeleri ve öğretmenlerin mesleki profesyonellik
algılarının göreceli olarak iyi düzeyde olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca
değişkenler arasında pozitif yönlü, orta düzeyde ve anlamlı ilişkiler
saptanmıştır. Korelasyon analizine göre dönüşümsel liderlik ile mesleki
profesyonelliğin boyutları olan kişisel gelişim ve duygusal emek arasında en
yüksek düzeyde ilişkinin kurulduğu görülmüştür. Araştırmanın bir diğer sonucu
ise dönüşümsel ve etik liderliğin, kişisel gelişim ve duygusal emeğin ve ayrıca
dönüşümsel ve politik liderliğin mesleki duyarlılığın anlamlı yordayıcıları
olmalarıdır. Ayrıca stratejik liderlik boyutlarının kuruma katkı boyutu
üzerinde herhangi bir yordayıcılığının olmadığı da tespit edilmiştir.
... The accelerated pace of change in all areas of activity, the requirements of the market economy, require an increase in the speed of reaction from all the actors who carry out their work in a learning unit. Initiative and dynamism have an increasing influence on the effectiveness of educational decisions and actions, being decisive in the achievement of a training that meets the quality standards at this time of EU integration in Romania, a period that is based on the construction of a competitive type in which rapid technical progress, the multitude of international contacts and profit making will be the main targets of the economic and social development of our country [1]. ...
The complexity of phenomena in modern society requires rich knowledge and practical abilities. Also, the speed at which information circulates in immense volume inhibits the ability of the interpreter to interpret it in a timely manner. Contemporary society is characterized by dynamism, by continuous renewal. It can only be known by personal, variable, and largely subjective, symbolic interpretations. The transition from knowledge as an ensemble of knowledge, information, data, to knowledge as a set of competencies determines a shift of emphasis in education, from ex-cathedra exposure to learning through experience/practice, transmission and memorization information (information), skills training, and skills. There is a need for the formation of individuals capable of analyzing concrete, new situations, and responding appropriately using logical thinking, problem solving, critical thinking, and divergent thinking skills.
... However, the reality in the field often reveals that the principals are simply clever yet without technical, conceptual, and social skills, as well as managerial skills. In fact, good managerial skills of principals often lead to the increase of teachers' performance (Botha, 2011). The managerial capabilities of the principal are still low, the skill of principals' problem solving has not been satisfactory. ...
This study aims to describe the quality of principals’ managerial capabilities, supervisors’ coaching quality, PAI (Pendidikan Agama Islam/Islamic education) teachers’ performance in Madrasa Aliyah (equal to senior high school level), and the relationship among those three aspects. The research method used in this study is an explanatory survey that tries to connect each variable. The respondent of the research was 57 teachers of PAI in a madrasa aliyah in Pekanbaru. The data were obtained through questionnaire. To analyze the data, the study used Bivariate correlation, regression, and coefficient of determination test. Having performed the necessary statistical computations, this study found out that principals’ managerial abilities, supervisors’ coaching quality, and PAI teachers’ performance were all categorized into sufficient. Regarding correlation, it has been proven that there was positive correlation between the teachers’ performance and principals’ managerial abilities, between principals’ managerial abilities and supervisors’ coaching quality, and between teachers’ performance and supervisors’ coaching quality. These results imply that there is a need of those three aspects enhancement in madrasa aliyah so that that madrasa can compete with public schools both in academic and non-academic aspects.
... Leadership development is fundamental to change but R. Botha (2011) is critical of the leadership style of authoritarian principals, as a limiting factor in leadership development, and notes the overwhelming need for enhanced professionalism for principals. E. Botha (2012, p. 406) suggests than one approach might be to create professional learning communities which consider change through talking, asking relevant questions, and making decisions together. ...
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the literature on school leadership and management in South Africa, linked to the 20th anniversary of democratic government and integrated education.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a systematic review of all published work since 2007 with a more selective review of sources before 2007.
Findings: The findings show emerging evidence about the development of school leadership and management in South Africa but they also highlight on-going challenges, including poor learner outcomes, conflict with teacher unions, uneasy relationships between principals and school governing bodies, and leadership which remains focused on administration rather than teaching and learning.
Research limitations/implications: The findings show that research on school leadership and management is developing but remains limited in terms of its scope and a reliance on small-scale unfunded projects.
Practical/implications: The findings confirm the need for specialist leadership training for current and aspiring principals and for other senior and middle leaders.
Social/implications: The findings show that South Africa remains a divided society with great differences in the quality of education available to learners, based on social class rather than race.
Originality/value: The paper’s value lies in the comprehensive and systematic review of research on school leadership.
... Rizvi (2008), for example, emphasized that principals should share power with teachers to improve teacher professionalism. Another study reported that the level of collaboration between principals and teachers should be increased; additionally, the administrative competencies of principals should be improved to promote teacher professionalism (Botha, 2011). From these studies, therefore, it could be argued that the ways school principals use power is associated with teacher professionalism and development. ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between primary school principals' power styles and teacher professionalism. A total of 264 teachers employed in 10 primary schools in Kastamonu, Turkey, participated in this study. Kosar's (2008) "Power Styles Scale,"and the "Teacher Professionalism Scale" - originally developed by Tschannen-Moran, Parish, and DiPaola (2006), and adapted into Turkish by Cerit (2013) - were used to gather data. The mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses were calculated to evaluate the data. The results revealed that teacher professionalism was positively and significantly related to personality and reward power, while being negatively and significantly correlated with legitimate and coercive power. The findings also showed that the power styles of school principals significantly predicted teacher professionalism. The outcomes of the study are discussed with respect to improving teacher self-efficacy.
... Rizvi (2008), for example, emphasized that principals should share power with teachers to improve teacher professionalism. Another study reported that the level of collaboration between principals and teachers should be increased; additionally, the administrative competencies of principals should be improved to promote teacher professionalism (Botha, 2011). From these studies, therefore, it could be argued that the ways school principals use power is associated with teacher professionalism and development. ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between primary school principals’ power styles and teacher professionalism. A total of 264 teachers employed in 10 primary schools in Kastamonu, Turkey, participated in this study. Kosar’s (2008) “Power Styles Scale,”and the “Teacher Professionalism Scale”—originally developed by Tschannen-Moran, Parish, and DiPaola (2006), and adapted into Turkish by Cerit (2013)—were used to gather data. The mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses were calculated to evaluate the data. The results revealed that teacher professionalism was positively and significantly related to personality and reward power, while being negatively and significantly correlated with legitimate and coercive power. The findings also showed that the power styles of school principals significantly predicted teacher professionalism. The outcomes of the study are discussed with respect to improving teacher self-efficacy.
This descriptive study reports on the learning readiness of teachers in the Indonesia Principal Preparation Programme (PPP). The Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture has decreed that school principal candidates are to have school principal certificates before they can be appointed as school principals. The school principal certificate can only be attained by completing the PPP, one of the important stages of which is education and training. As a form of learning, education and training in the PPP demands school principal candidates to exhibit learning readiness. It has long and widely been acknowledged that learning readiness is one of the most important determining factors of success in learning. The PPP itself, in short, is a programme designed to equip teachers with previously determined competencies to enable them to take on the role of school leader and school manager. The PPP consists of several stages, which are: proposal of principal candidates, selection, and education and training. Each stage of the PPP comes with certain requirements. This study focuses on the stage of education and training. The preconditions of this stage determine the success of the process of learning and the achievement of the learning goals. Based on this notion, this paper aims to describe the training readiness of teachers nominated as school principals, with particular regard to their physical, psychological, and material readiness. Further attention is given to proposing possible alternatives to improve PPP training readiness. The method used in this study is the descriptive qualitative method. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test, questionnaires, and document study. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data. The analysis results show that, while teachers’ material readiness for training is relatively high, they lack psychological and physical readiness. Better time management, competent trainers, a contextual curriculum, and a matriculation programme are proposed as alternatives to improve psychological and physical readiness.
The objective of the research on which this article reports was to evaluate the training conditions of primary school teachers in rural Cameroon, so as to identify alternative paths towards their qualification through informal learning in the workplace and outside. Following Denzin’s (2009) between-methods triangulation approach, quantitative techniques, including statistical analyses and standardised questionnaires, were applied in addition to qualitative techniques, such as face-to-face interviews and observations of practising teachers and experts. The article presents the most common learning strategies of teachers in rural areas of Cameroon and recommends seminal solutions for teacher education. It can be concluded that informal learning in the workplace corresponds to traditional ways of learning in collectivist-oriented, oral societies in rural areas. Therefore, the combination of informal methods with formal structures of teacher education could improve the current educational system of many African countries, and provide a solution to meet the high demand for qualified staff within restricted budgets.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the literature on school leadership and management in South Africa, linked to the 20th anniversary of democratic government and integrated education.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors conducted a systematic review of all published work since 2007 with a more selective review of sources before 2007.
Findings
– The findings show emerging evidence about the development of school leadership and management in South Africa but they also highlight on-going challenges, including poor learner outcomes, conflict with teacher unions, uneasy relationships between principals and school governing bodies, and leadership which remains focused on administration rather than teaching and learning.
Research limitations/implications
– The findings show that research on school leadership and management is developing but remains limited in terms of its scope and a reliance on small-scale unfunded projects.
Practical/implications
– The findings confirm the need for specialist leadership training for current and aspiring principals and for other senior and middle leaders.
Social/implications
– The findings show that South Africa remains a divided society with great differences in the quality of education available to learners, based on social class rather than race.
Originality/value
– The paper’s value lies in the comprehensive and systematic review of research on school leadership.
Practical teaching forms an integral part of teacher training. Teacher education programmes at the University of South Africa (Unisa) are no exception. However, there are two sides to this coin. On the one side, research studies led to the conclusion that teaching practice is a valued and a very necessary part of teacher education for students to become competent teachers. On the other side, it was also concluded that teaching practice was less than satisfactory because of deficiencies in the quality of supervisor teachers and in the application of theory in practice. Given the critical importance of practical teacher education, there has been a concern among lecturers at Unisa about how student teachers experience their teaching practice periods. A survey based on two unstructured questions and open-ended semistructured questions as a data collection instrument was undertaken with a sample population of third-year teacher training students to determine the negative and positive experiences of student teachers during their teaching practice. It was evident from the findings that the most outstanding positive experience of the student teachers concerned was the support system offered to them by the supervisor teacher. Negative experiences included exposure to bad discipline in the classrooms and the enlistment of students as cover teachers, thus precluding the presentation of lessons as planned. These findings compelled the researchers to prepare students during their training more thoroughly for what they might experience while doing their teaching practice.
Retrieved from the Internet on 12 August at:http://www.teacher.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=522:thestate-of-teacher-professionalism-in-south-africa&catid=39
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The professionalism of school teachers in the Eastern Cape
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