School leadership and management in South Africa (original) (raw)

The criteria for inclusion were that the papers focused centrally on leadership or management in the South African schools' context. The abstracts were assessed against this general criterion and also to establish whether and how they fitted the structure of the ACE programme. More specific criteria for inclusion were: Material based on leadership practice. Using empirical sources wherever possible and avoiding normative material. Avoiding purely descriptive material and drawing on papers which offered reflection, conceptual development and examples to inform policy and practice. Material that relates practice in South Africa to conceptual frameworks developed in other (predominantly Western) contexts. The overarching question informing the review was 'what new research and insights on school leadership and management have been published since the previous review in 2007'. The prime purpose was practical, rather than theoretical, but conceptual issues are explored where they inform the research and literature reviewed. The findings are structured in line with the framework developed for the South African ACE programme, in order to facilitate the design and content of the planned ADE programme, as follows: The South African policy context The role of the school principal School culture Leadership and management models School governance Accountability School development Leading and managing people, including staff development, mentoring, performance management, leadership teams, teacher unions and leadership development Managing financial and physical resources Managing teaching and learning, including curriculum management, evaluating learner outcomes, monitoring classroom practice, classroom observation, mentoring and modeling.