Black parental involvement in South African rural schools: Will parents ever help in enhancing effective school management? (original) (raw)
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African Parents as Partners in School Governance in South Africa?
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2014
Partnership in education is a global phenomenon, which is relatively new in the South African context. This is especially so in African communities, which pre-1994 did not have legitimate representation in education issues. This paper problematizes the phenomenon of school-parent partnership. The paper acknowledges that parental representation in the selected schools is in line with the prescriptions of South African Schools Act (SASA) 84 of 1996. This inclusion only refers to their numerical representation. When it comes to participation, however the parents seem to have positioned themselves as outsiders, as have educators. As a result, parents mostly rely on and rubber stamp whatever the educators have already decided. This study used the qualitative research approach through structured and semi structured interviews and documentary analysis to investigate how the partnership between parent SGB members and educators unfolds in school governance. From the findings it emerged that parent SGB members were mere pseudo partners in matters of policy development and implementation in the selected schools. As the government has enacted some progressive pieces of legislation such as SASA, this paper is calling for communities, especially Black African one to regroup and reclaim their place in education as they did, when they reclaimed their political freedom from the minority white regime pre-1994.
South African Journal of Education, 2008
School governance is a feature of school leadership in schools in South Africa. Currently, there is a dearth of research examining the dynamics in, and how parents navigate their way through, the process of school governance. Using a qualitative approach, we investigated these dynamics. The sample was parents in rural communities in secondary schools in the Eastern Cape. The parents responded to questions in semi-structured phenomenological interviews. Multiple factors linked to gender politics and African traditions shaped how parents participated in school governance. School governance practices were imbued with a tension between values inherent in African traditions/ customs and values of modern school policies/legislations. While outlining the implications for school leadership, we argue that conflict and tension in school governance is likely to continue unless leadership practices and policy provisions reflect more of people's customs/traditions.
This article reports on the findings of a research project which sought to explore the challenges of parental involvement in rural public schools of Ngaka Modiri Moleme in North West province. It shows the state of affairs in rural public school of desperate parents who cannot make any meaningful contribution to their learners' education owing to their disadvantaged educational background, and how their non involvement hampers quality public education in South Africa. This article argues that parental involvement is a constitutional imperative which must be embraced properly by all those with vested interest in sustaining quality public education. The paper further argues that parents in rural public schools around Ngaka Modiri Moleme need intervention in the form of capacity building.
International Journal of Research In Business and Social Science, 2023
The literature links significant parental involvement in school activities to good school outcomes. The twofold study examined factors affecting parental participation in rural primary school governance and its advantages. The qualitative case study method was used to collect data from nine purposively recruited individuals from three rural elementary schools. Individual semi-structured interviews collected thematically analyzed data. The study found that negative school attitudes caused parental animosity toward school. Lack of role awareness, inadequate professional connections caused by academic gaps, and language difficulties also discouraged parental involvement in school governance. Parental involvement promotes collective accountability and school-home integration. Home and school characteristics affected parental participation in school activities, the study found. Based on the findings, recommendations included improving parent-teacher interactions to help students succeed and training SGBs to improve their performance.
2012
After 15 years in the democratic dispensation of South Africa, having access, equity and redress in educational provision have not yet been achieved. Instead, the reality speaks of underperformance (schools with a less than 60% national matric pass rate) as well as dysfunctional schools (with a less than 20% pass rate) continue in the Western Cape amidst a 7% increase in the Matric pass rate nationally. The intention of the Western Cape Education Department (hereafter referred to as the WCED) to reduce the number of dysfunctional schools from 85 to 55 resulted in a decrease to 78 schools. The overall increase of the 2010 matric pass rate in the Western Cape from 75.7% to 76.8% does not reflect an increase of quality educational provision to children from less advantaged urban areas. The aim of this study is to determine how and why some formerly identified dysfunctional and underperforming schools in less advantaged urban areas improved their performance while others did not. Also looking at, the role played by the School Governing Body in improving performance as a stakeholder, especially the role of the parental entity. It is clear that there are particular challenges facing parents from disadvantaged communities that directly influence their involvement and contribution to the improvement of performance in dysfunctional and underperforming schools. This research project focuses entirely on education but it is done within the field of development studies, trying to address certain developmental issues that impact educational provision and performance The theory of Structuration is used in the theoretical framework to understand the relationship between the agent (learners, parents, educators) and the structure (education system, society). It is useful to understand and address the challenges that prevent/delay improvement in the performance and function of schools in certain less advantaged urban communities. The Humanistic paradigm is used as a theory to emphasise the importance of a grassroots/ bottom up approach to development and to bring better understanding of parental involvement in educational provision. The mixed method approach (using both qualitative and quantitative research methods) that is widely acceptable in the field of educational research and in the development milieu is applied to address the question at hand. The use of a literature study, semi-structured interviews with focus groups and questionnaires to participating schools provide useful data for the research. The findings from this research will benefit the participating schools, the WCED and the education system. November 2012 iv DECLARATION I declare that An investigation into how School Governing Bodies can assist with the performance of underperforming and dysfunctional schools in less advantaged urban communities in the Western Cape is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references
Perspectives in Education, 2017
Decolonisation of education is understood in this paper as a means of formalising indigenous culture and knowledge within the formal school system. The focus of this paper is to see how the School Governance Body (SGB) can bring about decolonised education for sustainable development. The African societal culture and traditions seem to be misunderstood and side-lined today because of the privilege enjoyed by western values in formal education used to develop African children. The involvement of people at the grass roots who are still endowed with vast knowledge on this cultural heritage should be considered as an option. The South African school system gave room for community participation in the administration and management of schools under the system of School Governing Bodies (SGBs). These bodies have the potential of being a good source of indigenous knowledge and culture to the school system that will make the education more relevant and functional; hence, leading to sustainable development, if it is properly planned and tapped into. For this to happen, there is the need to examine the relevance of the body through close analysis of its composition and strength to assist in the decolonisation of education. This study adopted an ethnography approach of qualitative research. Three rural-based Eastern Cape communities were used where 18 parents participated in the study. Data were gathered through key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGD). One of the results is that traditional leaders are part of the SGB, which makes it a good source of indigenous knowledge and traditions. It was recommended that the composition of the members of SGBs should statutorily include a recognised knowledgeable individual (RKI) in the community to make the body a good source of indigenous knowledge.
Perspectives in Education
Although parent involvement is fundamental for school functioning, the nature and extent of such involvement is debatable and contested amongst stakeholders. A qualitative based study under pinned by the interpretive paradigm was undertaken to explore the voices of educators regarding parent noninvolvement and its implications for learner experiences and performance in a disadvantaged community in South Africa. Data was gathered through individual and focus group interviews, involving 3 principals and 12 teachers respectively. The paper is buttressed by Epstein's model of schoolfamilycommunity partnerships that advocates for genuine collaboration between stakeholders. The findings show that educators' perceptions concerning parent noninvolvement do not take into consideration the contextual realities that restrict involvement, and this serves to alienate parents further. The paper also reveals the gap that exist between policy and practice in terms of schoolparent relationships. Existing relations, especially in disadvantaged communities emphasizes the need for schools to initiate and implement strategies that are context friendly, taking into consideration challenges experienced by parents. In this regard, empowering teachers on schoolparent relationships is a vital ingredient to ensure the initiation and implementation strategies towards a sustainable parent involvement.
Although there is evidence of parental participation in school governance in South Africa, the question of how these parents manage their participation in these affairs is largely unanswered. This question represents one of the major exclusions in the existing reflections on the school governance debate in the country. Using a qualitative approach, this study investigated the underlying dynamics of social identity as a factor in parents’ engagement in school governance in 10 schools in the Eastern Cape. It provides evidence of the fragmented and dynamic nature of social identity and how it shaped behaviours among the parents. While challenging many contemporary social theories, the paper suggests several implications for policy re-formulation.
2016
ABSTRACT: This comparative study on the educational governance sys-tems of South Africa and the Commonwealth of Kentucky examines legal evidence from judicial decisions and administrative law to under-stand similarities in how school-based governance structures have been developed. We found that although school-level governance structures may provide greater opportunities for community and parental participa-tion, each engenders a number of legal problems that compromise the decentralization of democracy to the school level. Recommendations for policymakers and practitioners are offered that may achieve this goal. Education is an important social function that con-sciously weaves together responsibilities of the state, the community, and the family. Most nations engaged in systemic education reform are challenged by the need to bal-ance countervailing forces for centralization that advances the broad interests of the state and for decentralization that gives greater voice to communi...