Towards sustaining performance in a Gauteng secondary school : original research (original) (raw)
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Towards sustaining performance in a Gauteng secondary school
SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 2010
Poor school performance is a major problem in South Africa. To date the success of intervention strategies that were aimed at turning the situation around in dysfunctional schools have been short lived and were not sustainable.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
Since the advent of the new educational dispensation in 1994, the South African National Department of education has embarked on a process of enhancing the improvement of pass-rates in secondary schools. However, despite these efforts the process has not been very smooth as some schools have not improved or least show signs of the improvement of their performances. This paper therefore explores factors contributing to school improvement in secondary schools. During this generative qualitative study data was collected from principals, SMT members, Teachers, and SGB member's focus groups. Face to face interviews were held with principals, focus group interviews were held with school management teams, teachers and school governing body parents. Documentary analysis from three highly improved schools (those that have seen dramatic improvement in learner attainment and basic functionality over three years) and three less improved schools (those that have not improved their learner attainment and basic functionality over three years) was also done. Data was then analysed using constant comparative analysis within an inductive analytical framework. Among the findings of the study is that management and leadership, effective curriculum management, effective school governance and an effective support structures are at the heart of any school improvement success.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
When parents choose a school for their children to attend, especially a secondary school, they usually look for an 'effective school' so that their children can receive what they regard as a good, quality education. In this process, it is most common that parents evaluate or assess the effectiveness of secondary schools on the basis of the school's academic results or outputs. But what other factors, apart from academic results, constitute school effectiveness? From the research literature it is evident that a number of approaches had been applied in the school context to evaluate the effectiveness of schools in general. But the question remains: what particular practices determine school effectiveness? Since 1994 a number of legislative frameworks had been put into place in South Africa to deal with school effectiveness. The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 laid the foundation for how a school should be effectively managed and governed in its quest for school effectiveness. This paper, based on an exploratory qualitative study conducted in selected South African secondary schools, explores some of the practices determining the effectiveness of secondary schools. It indicates that there are various factors, apart from academic results, such as effective management structures, a strong school governing body, a healthy school environment or climate, good infrastructure, motivated learners and good educators that determine school effectiveness. The study concludes with an Index for School Effectiveness. Derived from the study, the index can be a useful tool in assessing school effectiveness
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
The Role of School Governing Bodies in Underperforming Schools of Western Cape: A Field Based Study
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2014
The schools in South Africa have been facing immense challenges for a long period of time especially after independence in 1994. The School Governing Bodies (SGBs) play a major role in the administration and finance functions of the school and its development however, school governing bodies are sometimes used by individuals and organised groups to discriminate against learners in South Africa. It is found that some SGBs are not working properly because they do not have the necessary skills and they are not sure about their roles and responsibilities. This indeed happens in poorer communities, where people have few resources and many cannot read and write. The situation is made worse by the fact that some of the schools do not get enough money, support and training from the government. A strong sentiment amongst teachers was that the core of the problem of ineffectual SGBs was located in bad leadership and management. In light of the above challenges an attempt is made in this article to discuss the definition of the role of the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in terms of the South African Schools Act. The article also focuses on the findings that were generated through responses to a number of questions around the theme of school governing bodies that were included in the questionnaires administered to principals and teachers.
school effectiveness and improvement
When parents choose a school for their children to attend, especially a secondary school, they usually look for an 'effective school' so that their children can receive what they regard as a good, quality education. In this process, it is most common that parents evaluate or assess the effectiveness of secondary schools on the basis of the school's academic results or outputs. But what other factors, apart from academic results, constitute school effectiveness? From the research literature it is evident that a number of approaches had been applied in the school context to evaluate the effectiveness of schools in general. But the question remains: what particular practices determine school effectiveness? Since 1994 a number of legislative frameworks had been put into place in South Africa to deal with school effectiveness. The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 laid the foundation for how a school should be effectively managed and governed in its quest for school effectiveness. This paper, based on an exploratory qualitative study conducted in selected South African secondary schools, explores some of the practices determining the effectiveness of secondary schools. It indicates that there are various factors, apart from academic results, such as effective management structures, a strong school governing body, a healthy school environment or climate, good infrastructure, motivated learners and good educators that determine school effectiveness. The study concludes with an Index for School Effectiveness. Derived from the study, the index can be a useful tool in assessing school effectiveness © Kamla-Raj 2012 Int J Edu Sci, 4(2): 79-90 (2012)
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2022
The South African education system has instituted policies and programmes to expect schools to function better, but this does not seem to be the case when measured by school performance. School performance in South Africa is a multi-faceted phenomenon that needs to be studied and understood in-depth, hence this study on the dynamics of school performance. This is a qualitative research study positioned in the interpretivist paradigm to understand multiple realities about the dynamics of school performance as expounded by Rehman and Alharthi's (2016) that interpretivists believe in multiple socially constructed realities. The study adopted a multiple case study approach involving three primary schools in one district of the KwaZulu-Natal province. The following questions were posed: what factors influence school performance? How do teachers and school management team members see these factors influencing school performance? How can school performance be enhanced? Research participants included the school principals, departmental heads, and teachers in each school. The data generation instruments included interviews, observations, and document reviews. Central to school performance, the major conclusions reached show that school culture was the overarching dynamic of school performance. Within school culture, the key sub-dynamics were the nature of leadership and management, the quality of teaching and learning, and school community relationships. Schools need not only rely on the policies and programmes from the Department of Education (DoE) to improve their performance. Heavy reliance on the directives by the DoE seems not to make schools accountable for their academic performance. In addition to the policies and programmes for improving school performance, schools need to develop internal school performance strategies.
2021
The study aims to explore the perceptions of various scholars and civil society that the role of distributive school leadership is important to the transformation of Gauteng township and rural schools in South Africa. The literature reviewed was focussed on the importance of leadership in the transformation of schools in South Africa, Africa and globally, and assisted the researcher to investigate the importance of distributive leadership in schools. The perceptions and beliefs of scholars are that distributed school leadership has the potential of transforming township and rural schools into effective schools if extended leadershipbeyond that of a school principalis involved in the development of schools. In this study, a qualitative approach is used to explore the role of distributive leadership in the transformation of a township school and a rural school in Gauteng Province and was of a benefit to the nature of this study. This study is focussed on the concept of transformation which in this case is characterised by the school system, becoming effective and appropriate to the context in which it operates. Purposeful sampling was used to identify the schools' leadership for the qualitative study. The study was conducted on a sample of one township primary school and one rural primary school in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. Data were collected using observation of schools and interviews with schools' leaders. Interviews with the principal, one of the school management team members and two parent leaders were undertaken in both schools. Observation of the activities of school leaders, the environment in both schools, and the schools' leaders were interviewed. The findings of the study indicate that the full involvement and commitment of the entire school leadership team can overcome the challengesincluding those of lack of resources and poor support from the Gauteng Department of Educationfacing township and rural schools. The main recommendation of the study is that a school leadership team should establish trust in working together and consider knowledge, skills and expertise when setting up roles for each member of the team.
2014
Since the advent of the new educational dispensation in 1994, the South African National Department of education has embarked on a process of enhancing the improvement of pass-rates in secondary schools. However, despite these efforts the process has not been very smooth as some schools have not improved or least show signs of the improvement of their performances. This paper therefore explores factors contributing to school improvement in secondary schools. During this generative qualitative study data was collected from principals, SMT members, Teachers, and SGB member’s focus groups. Face to face interviews were held with principals, focus group interviews were held with school management teams, teachers and school governing body parents. Documentary analysis from three highly improved schools (those that have seen dramatic improvement in learner attainment and basic functionality over three years) and three less improved schools (those that have not improved their learner attain...
Pertinent Leadership and Governance Challenges Facing Schools in South Africa
Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, 2018
This paper focuses on the challenges facing school principals in improving their leadership skills and those of school governing bodies. Mixed method was employed and the research was conducted with some school principals, School Governing Bodies (SGBs) members, and teachers in secondary schools in Gauteng Province of South Africa. The problem is that there are vague rules in those schools where the SGBs and the school principals compete against one another. Dysfunctionality of schools is the result of poor governance and poor management by both the school principals and the SGBs. Some school principals are a contributory factor to glitches in schools because of their incompetence.