Teachers' perceptions of participative decision-making in a public high school in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2011
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Abstract
The present research explores teachers’ perceptions of participative decision-making (PDM) in a
public high school in Durban, South Africa. PDM is also termed as participative management.
This study attempts to investigate level one educators’ experiences of participation in decision-making.
Hence, it is a qualitative exploration of the nature of their participation in decision
issues and how they perceive the school’s actions with regard to participative decision-making.
For the purpose of this study, semi-structured interviews were administered on ten level one
educators within the school setting. Five themes were identified through the use of thematic
analysis. These themes are as follow: collective activity, shared influence, expression of
individual perspectives, the acknowledgement of educators’ input, and the implementation of
cooperative governance. The integration of educators’ experiences in the literature on PDM,
generated an in-depth understanding of participants’ perceptions. In essence, the findings of this
research suggest that level one educators are not meaningfully engaging in decision-making in
the school environment. In conjunction with this assertion, the school lacks a comprehensive
framework to engender effective participative decision-making, as well as, significant
involvement of level one educators. Essentially, the present research provides insight into the
experiences of educators in a public high school and therefore, contributes to the body of
knowledge on participative management.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.
Keywords
Teacher participation in administration--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban., High school teachers--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban--Attitudes., Decision making--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban., High schools--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban., Public schools--KwaZulu-Natal--Durban., Theses--Industrial psychology.