Browsing by Author "Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric."
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Item A case study of instructional leadership practices of four school principals in the Pinetown District.(2015) Prakash, Paresh.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the instructional leadership practices of school principals in the four researched schools. The study explored what school principals actually do to support and enhance effective teaching and learning in schools. It also elicited the school principals’ views on the barriers they faced as they support instructional leadership practices in schools. The study further investigated how school principals navigated the barriers they experienced as they support instructional leadership practices in schools. This study used the qualitative research approach which was located in the interpretive paradigm. Furthermore, a case study design was used and it allowed for an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon being studied. Four school principals in the Pinetown District were purposively sampled on the basis of learners’ academic performance, demographics and socio-economic contexts. In addition, data was generated through semi-structured interviews and documents review. National and international scholastic literature was interrogated in order to shed light on the research topic. The study was underpinned by two theoretical frameworks, namely Weber’s (1987) instructional leadership model and Spillane’s (2006) distributed leadership theory. The analysis of the generated and presented data led to the findings that the school principals conceptualised their roles to be very significant in managing / supporting teaching and learning. However, this did not necessarily translate into improved learner achievement outcomes or school improvement. The findings were utilised as the basis for making conclusions. A significant conclusion that was gleaned from this study was that organisational management practices were as important as instructional leadership practices in order to enhance school improvement and maximise learning outcomes. Furthermore, it emerged that principals displayed high levels of distributed instructional leadership practices in their schools. It was also concluded in the study that school principals faced significant barriers from various stakeholders in their attempts to support effective teaching and learning in schools. Recommendations, informed by the conclusions, were also presented to suggest how each theoretical conclusion can be translated into workable practice in order to support effective teaching and learning in schools. Finally, the implications of the study were proffered.Item The challenges experienced by school governing bodies in the implementation of the code of conduct for learners : a case study of two secondary schools in the Mafukuzela-Gandhi circuit.(2012) Pillay, Thegen.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study investigated the challenges experienced by school governing bodies in the implementation of the code of conduct for learners. A case study was conducted in two secondary schools from the Mafukuzela-Gandhi circuit in the Pinetown Region of KwaZulu-Natal. The aims of this study was to find out how SGBs implement the code of conduct for learners at their schools; what challenges SGBs experienced in the implementation of the code of conduct for learners and why SGBs are regarded as the most important structure to implement the code of conduct for learners. This qualitative study was set in the interpretivist paradigm. The research tools compromises of semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and observations. The two theories which underpin this study are democratic school governance theory and discipline theory. A review of international and local literature around issues of discipline revealed that some of the challenges of learner discipline encountered by South African Schools were being experienced world-wide. The findings of this research were a revelation to me. I had the privilege of experiencing first-hand what secondary schools educators, managers and parents encountered and dealt with on a daily basis. It is evident that learner misdemeanor is on the increase; educator’s teaching time is being consumed in dealing with disciplinary issues; educators are becoming frustrated and demoralised; the tribunal hearing are not regarded as an effective structure by learners; parental involvement is lacking and parents seem to have abdicated the responsibility of their children’s behaviour and education to the school and SGB parents play a limited role in the activities of the school due to their incapacity and lack of empowerment. Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that schools must involve all stakeholders in the formulation of the policy. The contents and procedures outlined in the policy must be communicated to all stakeholders and there must be consistency in its application. SGBs must formulate innovative strategies to engage parents to actively participate in the activities of the school. The Department of Education must fulfill its obligation to capacitate parent and other stakeholders on the SGB. An empowered SGB will make a greater contribution to the governance of schools.Item The challenges of managing learner discipline : the case study of two schools in Pinetown district.(2013) Nene, Florence Zandile.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study investigated the challenges of managing learner discipline. A case study was conducted in two schools, the secondary and the primary schools in Pinetown District in KwaZulu Natal. The aim of this study was to investigate what challenges educators face in the management of learner discipline. This qualitative study was set in the interpretivist paradigm. The research tools compromise of semi-structured interviews and documents review. The theoretical frameworks that inform this study are behavioural modification model by Skinner, (1992), The Choice theory by Glasser, (1998) and assertive discipline model by Canter, (2007). International and local literature that foregrounds and supports the study were reviewed. Analysis of different contexts was made to inform the challenges of managing learner discipline problems in schools. The findings of this study revealed that teachers from very different schools, primary and secondary, felt that learners were becoming more unruly and less respectful than they used to be in the past. They further stated that the lack of discipline among learners makes it impossible to teach effectively. Educators identified some of the challenges they face such as bullying and intimidation, sexual harassment, drugs and alcohol abuse and carrying of dangerous weapons to schools. Furthermore, the findings revealed that lack of parent involvement in school, home and family background, abuse of various types, balance between learner rights and responsibilities, peer pressure, the role of media and politics were the biggest cause of disciplinary problems. Educators suggested that alternatives measures to corporal punishment were not very effective in curbing learner indiscipline in schools. They found it difficult to choose and implement the correct alternatives to corporal punishment. Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that, at the beginning of the school year, the principal and educators should orientate learners about the code of conduct and school rules. Rules and the consequences of breaking them should be clearly indicated to learners during assembly. Active parental involvement in the lives of their children is crucial for the management of discipline at school. Teachers should acquaint themselves and learn to know learner home backgrounds in order to understand learners they are dealing with. In-service workshops for all teachers across the country to be trained in alternatives to corporal punishment should be organised by the Department of Education. Professional support i.e. psychologists or educational counsellors should be increased to support schools.Item The challenges of managing no-fee schools: a case study of two no-fee schools.(2013) Zondi, Simphiwe Derick.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study investigated the challenges experienced by the principals and the finance committees in managing no-fee schools. A case study was conducted in two secondary schools from Scottburgh circuit in Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal. The aims of this study are to explore the challenges experienced by the principals, SOB chairpersons and treasurers in managing no-fee schools and to establish suggested solutions offered by the participants to the challenges they experienced in managing no-fee schools. This qualitative study was set in the interpretivist paradigm. The data generation tools used are the semi-structured interviews and documents review. The two theories which underpin this study are formal theory and structural theory. A review of international, national and local literature on the challenges of managing no-fee schools has shown that same challenges are being experienced in different countries. The findings of this study are that the general understanding of the participants of the no-fee schools policy is that it is meant to provide fee education especially for the poor. They also raised some challenges in managing no- fee schools such as the gap created by not collecting school fees. No-fee schools are directed on how to use their school allocation which they feel it restricts them. Furthermore. Late deposits of funds by the DoE. the policy takes away the culture of paying from the parents. Finally they offered the solutions to the challenges such as the provision of infrastructure to no-fee schools. Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that the contents of the no-fee schools policy should be revised in consultation with the SGBs and school management teams. The amount of money given to no-fee schools should be based on the school needs not the number of learners in the school. Thereafter the no-fee school will be able to provide quality education.Item The challenges of managing no-fee schools: a case study of two no-fee schools.(2013) Zondi, Simphiwe Derick.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study investigated the challenges experienced by the principals and the finance committees in managing no-fee schools. A case study was conducted in two secondary schools from Scottburgh circuit in Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal. The aims of this study are to explore the challenges experienced by the principals, SOB chairpersons and treasurers in managing no-fee schools and to establish suggested solutions offered by the participants to the challenges they experienced in managing no-fee schools. This qualitative study was set in the intcrpretivist paradigm. The data generation tools used are the semi-structured interviews and documents review. The two theories which underpin this study are formal theory and structural theory. A review of international. national and local literature on the challenges of managing no-fee schools has shown that same challenges are being experienced in different countries. The findings of this study are that the general understanding of the participants of the no-fee schools policy is that it is meant to provide free education especially for the poor. They also raised some challenges in managing no- fee schools such as the gap created by not collecting school fees. no-fee schools are directed on how to use their school allocation which they feel it restricts them. Furthermore. late deposits off unds by the DoE. the policy takes away the culture of paying from the parents. Finally they offered the solutions to the challenges such as the provision of infrastructure to no-fee schools Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that the contents of the no-fee schools policy should be revised in consultation with the SGBs and school management teams. The amount of money given to no-fee schools should be based on the school needs not the number of learners in the school. Thereafter the no-fee school will be able to provide quality education.Item Dynamics of school violence and the role of school leadership in reducing it in two Umlazi Township schools.(2013) Duma, Siphiwe Ishmael.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study examined the dynamics of school violence and the role of school leadership in reducing it in two Umlazi township schools. A case study was conducted in two secondary schools in Umlazi township. The aim of the study was to explore how school leaders (School Governing bodies, School Management Teams, educators, learners and parents) help schools to reduce violence. This qualitative study was set in the interpretivist paradigm. The research tools compromised of semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and observations. The two theories which underpinned this study were violent and non-violent theories. A review of international and national literature around school violence revealed that some of the challenges of learner-indiscipline encountered by South African schools were being experienced world-wide. The findings of this research were a revelation to me that violence in schools and in the community has escalated to such an extent that it has become an access problem for some learners in many schools in South Africa (SAIRR, 2008). I had a privilege of experiencing first-hand what secondary school educators, managers and parents encountered and dealt with on a daily basis. It is evident that learner indiscipline is on the increase; educator’s teaching time is being consumed in dealing with discipline issues; educators are becoming frustrated and demoralised; the tribunal hearings are not regarded as an effective structure by educators, learners and parental involvement is lacking as parents seems to have abdicated the responsibility for their children’s behaviour and education to the school management and educators. Further, the SGB play a limited role in the activities of the school due to their incapacity and lack of empowerment. Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that schools must involve all stakeholders in the formation of the Code of Conduct policy. The contents and procedures outlined in the policy must be communicated to all stakeholders and there must be consistency in its application. Stakeholders must formulate innovative strategies to engage parents to actively participate in the activities of the school. The Department of Education must fulfil its obligation to capacitate parents and other stakeholders. An empowered SMT and SGB will make a greater contribution to the elimination of school violence.Item Dynamics of school-based violence : exploring school governing bodies in addressing violence in post-conflict South African school.(2013) Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Mncube, Vusumuzi Sithembiso.There is a growing and widespread problem of violence in South African schools which ultimately results in problems of governance and management. School violence manifests itself in many forms including discipline problems such as fighting among learners, bullying, utterances of crude and sexist remarks against fellow learners and teachers, racism, stabbings, shootings at schools and even murder. According to a report by the South African Institute of Race Relations (2008), South African schools are among the most dangerous in the world. This SAIRR report followed media reports of school violence and lawlessness of all kinds engulfing South African schools. Surveys conducted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation (2005) on school violence found that only 23% of South African learners felt safe at school. Working within the emancipatory paradigm and employing a qualitative methodological approach, this case study explored the role of school governing bodies in addressing violence in South African schools. Conceptualised within the social control and social reproduction theories, this study aimed to: elicit perceptions and experiences of school governors and other school members about school violence in the four case schools; to explore the initiatives employed by school governing bodies to combat school violence; and to investigate if school governing bodies are the most appropriate tools to reduce violence in post-conflict South African schools. All ethical issues were observed before data was generated. To ensure trustworthiness of findings, multiple data generation instruments such as semi-structured and focus group interviews, observations and documents review were utilised. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data. Social control and social reproduction theories were utilised as overarching analytical framework to analyse the data. The conclusions arrived at indicate that SGBs face a cocktail of challenges in curbing school violence and maintaining discipline and safety among learners; some learners view their schools as not doing enough to address violence against them and thus resort to taking the law into their hands to ensure that justice is done; some schools do not follow ‘due process’ when charging the learners for misconduct; the majority of participants expressed doubts about the SGBs as the most appropriate tools to deal with school violence. Based on the findings and conclusions, this study recommends a ‘whole-school and integrated approach’ to addressing school violence.Item The effectiveness of training of school governing bodies provided by the KZN Department of Education : perceptions of parent-members at three Phoenix West schools at the Kwa-Mashu circuit in the eThekwini region.(2006) Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Chikoko, Vitallis.This small-scale study sought to investigate "The effectiveness of the training of School Governing Bodies provided by the KZN Department of Education: perceptions of parentmembers at three Phoenix West Ward schools of the Kwa-Mashu Circuit in the Ethekwini Region". This qualit ative study gathered data through the case study approach guided by the following key questions: 1. What are the parents ' perceptions regarding the training methods used at SGB workshops? 2. What are their perceptions regarding the adequacy and appropriateness of the training content? 3. What are their views in terms of how the training of SGBs can be made more fruitful ? The study entailed interviewing parent members of the SGBs at three Phoenix West schools, analysing training documents as well as observation of training workshops. The findings of the study revealed that the KZN Education Department basically uses the workshops approach and cascading method to train SGBs. It was also found that the cascade model used alone has problems. A lot of vital information gets distorted or lost as the information is cascaded to the lower levels. The cascade model also may lead to increased monopoly in attending workshops and consequently, marginalisation of other SGB members. In the light of the above challenges, I recommend that radio broadcasts be used to compliment the cascading model and other methods to transmit information to as many SGB members as possible. In addition to the written manuals that are provided to schools, it is recommended that other visual and audio resources such as training videos cassettes and CD materials be provided as part of the SGB training resource packs. This is possible now because most schools, even in rural areas, have electricity and television sets. The use of two different actors in the training field did not seem to add value to the objectives of training. These programmes were run by the School Governance Training Unit (SGTU) based at the Pinetown District Office and School Effectiveness Programme based at Ulundi (and later Pietermaritzburg) Head Office. They had separate programmes, budgets and officials. Instead of bringing development to the SGBs, these programmes seemed to have brought clashes of workshop dates and confusion to the SGBs. It is suggested that these programmes be amalgamated as they serve the same purpose for the SGBs.Item Ethical leadership in schools : voices of school principals and teachers from three secondary schools in Durban.(2015) Naidoo, Dean Edmund Michael.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.The media has recently exposed a large number of cases of unethical conduct specifically within the South African Education Department. Learners, teachers, principals, union members and departmental officials have all been cited in different reports and research studies regarding unethical conduct in the Department of Education. This apparent rise in unethical behaviour has caused the concept of ethical leadership and its potential to reduce unethical conduct to become the focus of research especially in educational leadership. In a similar manner this study explored the understandings, experiences and practices of ethical leadership in South African schools and its implications for school leadership from the perspectives of school teachers and principals. Conceptualised within the theoretical frameworks of ethical leadership and ethical development, this research aimed to: elicit perceptions/understandings and experiences of school principals and teachers about the ethics in education; to solicit the opinions/views and perceptions of school principals and teachers about the causes of unethical conduct in schools and to explore the perspectives of school principals and teachers about what they think should be done to reduce unethical behaviour in schools. This study operated within the interpretive paradigm and utilised a qualitative methodological approach to research. The three participating secondary schools were selected for the study using convenience sampling. The two teachers and the principals from each school were subsequently selected using purposive sampling. All ethical issues were observed before the data was generated through semi-structured interviews and documents reviews. Thematic analysis was chosen to analyse the generated data. The conclusions of the study indicate that: all the participants possessed very good and clear understandings of the terms ethics and ethical leadership; the unethical conduct of learners, teachers and principals occurred regularly in some schools and some of these unethical behaviours appeared to be increasing; some of the causes of the unethical behaviours of learners, teachers and principals seemed to originate from both inside the school environment and outside in society; there are various solutions to reduce the unethical conduct of learners, teachers and principals in schools and that there was a consensus that ethical leadership could potentially be an effective approach to reducing unethical conduct in schools. This study therefore recommends the use of ethical leadership to reduce unethical conduct within schools.Item Experiences of redeployed educators to a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal.(2011) Hlongwane, Fidelis Sibongiseni.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This small-scale study sought to investigate “The experiences of redeployed educators to a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal”. This qualitative study gathered data through the case study approach guided by the following key questions: 1. What are the understanding and experiences of these redeployed teachers regarding the redeployment process? 2. What are their perceptions and experiences regarding the new community and the environment in the new school? 3. What was the role of the education stakeholders (School Management Team, School Governing Body, Teacher Unions, Community leaders etc.) regarding the facilitation of the redeployment and adaptation of the teachers in their new environment? The study entailed interviewing and observation of educators, and analysing Posts Provision Norms certificate (PPN). The findings of the study revealed that the educators had different experiences of redeployment and had varied understandings of the Rationalisation and Redeployment Policy. It was also found that the policy-makers and the policy-implementers had not sufficiently explained to the educators involved how the policy would be of mutual benefit them. This was only a topdown process which did not involve all the people concerned (those who were to be affected by the policy). There was lack of a two-way communication. This study also showed that educators did not understand how this policy helped schools in the rural areas. It further revealed that the role of the school stakeholders was lacking in terms of assisting new educators to adapt to the new environment. In the light of the above challenges, I recommend that the policy of rationalisation and redeployment be revisited once more to ensure that everybody would see the need of its implementation. I also recommend that communication and explanation of how the policy works should be improved by involving all the stakeholders. The policy involves the human resources; therefore training of all the people involved on how the policy should be handled is very important.Item An exploration of instructional leadership practices of school principals : a case study of four schools in Durban.(2013) Reddy, Louis Christopher.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This study entailed an exploration of instructional leadership practices of school principals. A case study was conducted at four schools in Durban. The research participants included four school principals, two from primary and two from secondary schools. My purpose was to explore the role of school principals in supporting teaching and learning at their schools. The study was conducted from an interpretive perspective. Three theories informed this investigation, namely instructional leadership theory, transformational leadership theory and distributed leadership theory. The data analysis procedure entailed a transcription of all four interviews that were thematically analysed to produce significant findings which informed the conclusions.All four principals had similar things to share about their role as instructional leaders, such as creating a favourable teaching and learning atmosphere. Secondly, some of the things that principals actually do to support teaching and learning is to motivate educators and learners and organise fund raising. Thirdly, there a numerous challenges that school principals are faced with irrespective of whether it is a primary or secondary school. Fourthly, principals take responsibility for overcoming challenges by reviewing the school’s code of conduct and making amendments to curb discipline related problems and implementing professional development of their staff. All four principals displayed a good understanding of their role as instructional leaders. We can conclude that the school principals who were interviewed make a concerted effort to ensure the maximum development of their staff. They view team collaboration and delegation of tasks as important to the smooth functioning of the organisation and try their best to ensure that this takes place at their schools. Principals also voiced concerns over SGB members that often overstepped their mark in certain instances. Recommendations informed by the conclusions demonstrated that school principals, unions, and the Department of Education need to do more to enhance the delivery of quality education in schools.Item An exploration of staff development team's promotion of quality education within the context of integrated quality management system.(2012) Mtshali, Enock Bhekokwakhe.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.The purpose of this study was to explore the Staff Development Team’s (SDT) promotion of quality education within the context of Integrated Quality Management System. The study explored aspects that the SDT does to promote quality education, processes by which the SDT engages itself in to promote quality education and the reasons why the SDT promotes quality education. Provision of quality education in South Africa passed different stages that eventually culminated in Integrated Quality Management System being gazetted in 2003. With this instrument in place, the Department of Education (DoE) hoped schools, in particular and the Education Department in general, would perform well. Mixed responses from the respondents reflected that there are numerous factors that hamper the implementation of IQMS. These factors range from inadequate training of teachers for IQMS, scanty meetings in which discussions about IQMS are held, lack of involvement of all teachers in the school on issues related to IQMS, implementation of many quality education improvement strategies by the DoE within a short period of time and fear by teachers of being evaluated. The main findings showed that there is a dire need for teachers to be retrained on IQMS and frequent holding of IQMS related meetings. The main findings also revealed that the monetary component of IQMS, namely, pay progression, is a cause for concern in that it compels teachers to be dishonest in evaluating one another. This suggests that if IQMS is to be successful, the pay progression component should be divorced from it (IQMS). The study recommends that there should be regular meeting for IQMS at school so as to bring every teacher on board about IQMS. The study further recommends that although it is good to learn from other countries, but the context should be taken into consideration if a new strategy has been copied from other countries because what is good for one country may not be good for another country. Finally, the study recommends that while counter opinions always exist when a new initiative is being implemented, steadfastness should be upheld and adherence to the policy will ensure the realisation of its (policy) intended aim.Item Exploring ethical leadership in schools: a case of four rural schools in the Zululand district, KwaZulu-Natal.(2017) Mthembu, Nozibusiso Nomvula.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.Given the prominent ethical crises and scandals that have rocked basic education in South Africa recently (such as the selling of teaching and management posts, intimate relationships among staff members and learners, embezzlements of school funds, etc.,) the importance of empirical research on ethics in educational institutions seems obvious. The image of the education system continues to suffer as a result of poor quality learner results—both in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) and the Annual National Assessments (ANA)—alleged group copying in NSC Examinations, abuse of the leave system by some teachers and many other corrupt and unethical practices by teachers, school principals, school governing bodies and other officials in the Department of Basic Education. The afore-mentioned people are entrusted with the leadership and management of schools and are expected to act in the best interests of the schools and learners and ensure that professional ethical standards are set and adhered to. This qualitative case study aimed to explore the conceptualisations, practices and experiences of school principals, school management teams (SMTs) and teachers about ethical leadership in four rural schools in the Zululand District, KwaZulu-Natal. It employed social constructivism as a research paradigm. A school principal, one SMT member and two PL1 educators were conveniently selected from each of the four schools to generate data. Theoretically, the study is framed by a combination of two theories, namely: Shapiro and Stefkovich’s (2005) Model of Ethical Leadership and Khoza’s (2011) Attuned Leadership Model (African Humanism – Ubuntu). The findings reveal that poverty and lack of knowledge in rural communities was a contributory factor to unethical behaviour of school principals and educators. The findings also indicate that most school principals were selfish and did not care about their schools. They were running their schools as private property and spent most of the time absent from work; hired their own companies to work in their school; received bribes; they sometimes exchanged teaching posts for sexual favours and money, and engaged in general nepotism. The findings also reveal that some of the unethical practices seemed to originate from the District/Circuit offices, especially from circuit managers. Based on the findings and conclusions, this study recommends that the Department of Education, over and above the interview process, when recruiting the school principals, must also design an assessment tool to assess the character and the integrity of the potential school principal. Further, Ethics education should be made compulsory in Higher Education teacher training institutions. In addition, SACE should be de-politicised, decentralised, made more visible and play its developmental role more than it is currently doing.Item Exploring ethical leadership practices in challenging township school contexts: a multiple case study.(2020) Dladla, Thulani.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.This qualitative and interpretivist study sought to explore the conceptualisation and enactment of ethical leadership by school principals and teachers in challenging township school contexts. A multiple case study was conducted with six school principals and twelve post level 1 educators in the Pinetown District, KwaZulu-Natal. The study was underpinned by these frameworks: Shapiro and Stefkovich’s (2005) Multiple Ethical Paradigm and Khoza’s (2011) Attuned Leadership: African Humanism. Purposive sampling was used to identify the research participants, while semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data which was analysed thematically. The findings show that school principals and post level 1 educators had a profound understanding of ethics (propriety, compassion, care, empathy, honest and trustworthiness, role modelling; collaboration and teamwork); however, these were not properly practised in the schools. The participants understood the need to nurture and foster an ethical environment, yet this seemed elusive or difficult to implement. A code of ethics and better communication were suggested as necessary for the creation of trust and elimination of conflicts in the workplace. The findings further show that some unethical practices were caused partly by the pressure to achieve set departmental academic results and standards, greed in schools, and poor monitoring at all levels in the system. Further, the lack of secure and reliable platforms to report unethical practices was raised as a serious hindrance to ethical leadership in schools. While the study findings acknowledge the overwhelming impact of contextual factors on ethical leadership practices in the researched schools, successful, visionary and ethical school leaders should nonetheless have the courage to stand for what is right, be able to adapt, reflect, transform and influence the context to promote school success, they should not be constrained by it. Hence, despite the challenging nature of the township school contexts and the tumultuous, corrupt environment the research participants face they should maintain unimpeachable honesty and integrity if their schools are not only to survive the challenging times but to remain vibrant and flourishing centres of academic excellence.Item Exploring orientation speeches of school principals : inspirational invitations to student teachers.(2011) Naidoo, Somadhanum.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Amin, Nyna.The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the messages conveyed by principals in one context, that of well resourced schools. The contents of the messages and how these messages are influenced by the context of the schools were interrogated. Also of relevance are principals presenting a desirably, inviting message about the teaching profession. This study is part of the TP120 project that is being conducted by the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to evaluate the placing of context at the centre of a learning to teach approach. The school environment has become diverse and dynamic since the implementation of changes after 1994. Teacher training institutions are faced with trying to adequately prepare teachers to adapt and adjust. The thinking therefore, is to include diverse contexts as one of the major components in the teacher education curriculum. One initiative to achieve this is to enlist the help of principals, who are the experienced counterparts in schools, to assist university personnel with the training of student teachers. This is done when first year student teachers are taken to schools of varying contexts and where principals are given an opportunity to address these students. The belief is that, what principals say prepares students teachers for the world of work in a particular context. A case study using the interpretivist paradigm was conducted with the participants being principals in well resourced schools. The participating schools and the participants were selected by pre-determined criteria in keeping with the requirements of the TP120 project. The principals’ speeches were recorded and transcribed. Thereafter a discourse analysis was embarked on. The theories that underpin this study are the invitational theory of Purkey and Novak (1996) and the learning to teach approach of Amin and Ramrathan (2009). The findings show that a well resourced context is established and maintained through hard work, dedication, commitment and support of all stakeholders. The messages conveyed by the principals prepare the student teachers for the teaching profession in general and for the well resourced context in particular. The main conclusion of this study is that principals can be an invaluable source of knowledge to student teachers and can assist in teacher training. They articulated a sense of purpose and direction and inspire the student teachers by motivating, encouraging, guiding and inviting them to the teaching profession. Recommendations of the study were that the universities should continue to provide student teachers with the opportunity of experiencing different contexts, principals can be provided with guidelines on what to talk about in their orientation speeches, student teachers should prepare questions to get clarity on issues in particular contexts and principals can be provided with professional development around communicating motivational and inspirational orientation speeches. Recommendations for further research are that a variety of contexts be researched or the student teachers can be interviewed to gauge the exact message that they go away with.Item Exploring principals' orientation speeches: sensitising student teachers to school context.(2011) Poovan, Devakumari.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Amin, Nyna.Abstract available in the PDF.Item Exploring the understanding, experiences and practices of lectures in leading and teaching the NCV level 2 curriculum at a technical and vocational education and training college in KwaZulu-Natal.(2016) Ngubane, Ntombikayise Beverly.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.One of the core goals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges in South Africa is to increase the number of young people and adults accessing education and training in a manner that supports skills development as well as the goal of lifelong learning and development for all. However, available research on TVET colleges tends to focus on issues like transformation, qualifications and programmes; learner performance, and the ability of TVET Colleges to meet labour market needs, as a result, very little is known about the challenges that lecturers face in dealing with the new curriculum. There is a dearth of current data on college lecturers’ ability to cope with the demands of delivering the curriculum. Having said the above, the purpose of this research was to explore the understandings, experiences and practices of lecturers in teaching the curriculum at NCV Level 2 in a TVET College in KwaZulu Natal. A qualitative approach along with case study design, purposive sampling and in-depth interviews was employed to obtain data from managers and lecturers. Overall, the findings of the study revealed that lecturers had both positive and negative experiences in teaching the NCV Curriculum. On the positive side, the findings showed that in exercising their leadership and management roles in the curriculum, many lecturers applied the leadership principles suggested by Weber (1987), i.e. leading by example, involving staff in goal setting, and developing and motivating junior staff through appraisal, coaching and mentoring on the job. On the negative side, the findings showed that lecturers still faced severe challenges, including a mismatch between skills and jobs, insufficient funding for students, poor student attendance, resistance to change by lecturers; using outdated textbooks and a lack of facilities for practical work. In the light of these findings, it was concluded that an integrated approach was required to help improve teaching and learning processes and working conditions for lecturers in the chosen TVET College in KwaZulu-Natal.Item Exploring women principals' understandings and experiences of leadership and management.(2014) Shezi, Khayelihle Jeffrey.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Muzvidziwa, Irene.This research project explored women principals’ understanding and experience of leadership and management. It was conducted as small-scale qualitative inquiry in three schools, two primaries and one secondary, of one education district in KwaZulu–Natal. The study explored what women principals understand about leadership and management, what they experience as they lead and how they navigate these challenges. This small-scale qualitative study was located within an interpretive research paradigm. Transformational leadership theory and Ubuntu, an African philosophy were adopted for this study. International and national scholastic literature was interrogated to seek more insight on the research topic. One-on-one in-depth semi structured interviews and questionnaires constructed data generation instruments. Data generated was analysed employing thematic analysis that identified codes, categories and themes. The findings revealed that the concept of leadership and management were understood by women principals as two inter-related aspects that should be applied in the South African education system. According to the findings, leadership was understood as an influence to attain goals; creation of vision; and flexible activity. Management was understood by women principals as tools and methods to attain goals and an activity to work with other people. Also, the findings revealed that women principals experienced these two concepts as rejection, nurturing people and exposure to management of funds and School Governing Body matters. The findings also revealed that women principals experience different challenges such as rejection, disrespect and discrimination. In arrogating these challenges, the findings revealed that they are guided by certain ethics and values that reflect Ubuntu which is also a prerequisite of transformation.Item Instructional leadership practices of secondary school principals in the context of multiple deprivations in Umlazi District: a multiple case study.(2017) Mkhize, Bongani Nhlanhla Cyril Kenneth.; Bhengu, Thamsanqa Thulani.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.The study reported in this document was conceptualised and conducted as a research project towards a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. The study focused on exploring instructional leadership practices of six secondary school principals (three from rural and three from township secondary schools) in the context of multiple deprivations in Umlazi District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Furthermore, it aimed at exploring how the enactments of the generally successful instructional leadership practices were adapted by school principals to multiple deprived contexts. Adaptive leadership and instructional leadership theories underpinned this research study. Methodologically, the study was underpinned by interpretivist paradigm and adopted a qualitative multiple case design. Semi-structured interviews, documents reviews and observations were used to generate data which was thematically analysed. The findings of the study suggest that multiple deprivation contexts impacted on the ways principals understood and enacted instructional leadership in their schools. The schools were overwhelmed by different technical and adaptive challenges emanating from different forms of deprivations. Values, beliefs, knowledge and experiences that leaders possessed, in varying degrees, shaped their understandings of instructional leadership and their practices. These findings affirm the notion that instructional leadership, more specifically in multiple deprived contexts, is a complex and dynamic construct containing plurality of factors and perspectives that shape its nature. The findings also affirm the appropriateness of viewing personal characteristics of principals and contextual factors as significant to understanding how principals exercise educational leadership. The study has shown that the principals were practicing Ubuntu inclined instructional leadership.Item Instructional leadership roles in schools: the perspectives of subject advisors and teachers in the Umlazi District.(2015) Vilakazi, Teressa Mbali.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.Teaching and learning is important in schooling and for schools to improve learner achievement they need to have rigorous instructional leadership. South African literature in particular is vocal on the issue of school principals as instructional leaders. Grobler (2013) posits that high learner achievement can be attained if school principals focus on instructional leadership. However, there is inadequate knowledge in South African literature on the issue of subject advisors as instructional leaders. The focus of the study was founded on the hypothesis that subject advisors were instructional leaders as it was the anticipation of the Department of Education policy. The study pursued to comprehend if the perspectives of subject advisors and teachers are in line with what is stipulated in the Department of Education Policy. The study is framed by the Instructional leadership theory of Weber’s (1996) model. The research design employed was a qualitative case study and the research instrument was semi-structured interviews with four subject advisors and four teachers per participating school in the Umlazi District. Two primary schools were selected in the Umlazi district. The findings of the study revealed that subject advisors develop teachers by do the following (a) Providing instructional leadership (b) Providing material and human resources (c) Developing teachers (d) Supporting teachers (e) Supervise/ Monitor teachers (f) Give feedback to the teachers (g) Communicate with the teachers. The study further painted the challenges subject advisors encounter when developing teachers and how they need to navigate those challenges. The study makes recommendations to the Department of education, subject advisors and teachers. Employment of staff both subject advisors and teachers is done by the Department of Education therefore the study recommends that the Department of Education employ sufficient staff (human resources) so that teachers and subject advisors will not be overloaded with work. It also recommends that the Department of Education need to provide sufficient material resources. The study also recommends that subject advisors need to provide support to the teachers at school level. It also recommends that teachers need to have open communication with the subject advisors and also to know their roles and accept the changes they bring. The study recommends that school management need to sit down with teachers so as to discuss teaching and learning and the challenges teachers encounter in their teaching.
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