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Principals' perceptions about performance agreements as motivational action: evidence from South Africa
No full textAuthor cannot archive publisher's version/PDF.Principals, as one of the professional leaders in a school, are accountable for the quality of education
in the school. This is a part of the normal job description and expectations for the person in
such a post. In the South African context with a large number of underperforming schools, there is
an intention to have an additional performance agreement as a part of performance management,
to be signed by principals to hold them accountable for the expected examination results. This
article investigated the understanding of principals of the possible motivational implications if the
performance agreement is implemented. It also focuses on the issue of what may motivate principals
to improve their performance towards sustainable quality education. Motivational theories
are used as the lens to understand the principals’ perceptions of this performance agreement
process. The focus group interviews indicated that most principals are not in favour of the
intended implementation and that it may rather have a negative influence on their motivation
levels.http://ema.sagepub.com/content/42/6.tochttp://dx.doi.org/10.1177/174114321454942
Principals' perspectives on key factors that contribute to sustainable quality education
Full text linkThis article reports on the perspectives of principals about factors, which have an influence on their work to provide quality education for all children. Principals in the Western Cape were asked to rate key factors that contribute to sustainable quality education in their schools. An online survey was implemented as the data collection instrument and the FREQ procedure was followed to analyse the raw data statistically. The results showed that dedicated and well-qualified teachers who teach disciplined learners in a safe environment should receive priority in any action principals and Departments of Education take to improve and sustain the quality of education in the Western Cape and possibly in all South African schools
Leadership identity in ethnically diverse schools in South Africa and England
No full textThis paper adopts an international perspective to examine the perceptions and practice of leaders in a South African and a UK primary school and the leadership implications. Both schools have experienced a relatively swift and large scale diversification of learners away from the previous white majority. In each case the educators have not diversified to the same extent. Interview data is explored to consider how diversity is conceived, and the implications for practice. Similarities and differences are identified, in order to increase understanding of context, its relation to practice and the implications for development in diverse organisations and societies. The article concludes that in both countries there are assertions that skin colour does not matter. Such blindness is a barrier to building greater inclusion<br/
Principals’ perceptions about performance agreements as motivational action
Full text linkPrincipals, as one of the professional leaders in a school, are accountable for the quality of education in the school. This is a part of the normal job description and expectations for the person in such a post. In the South African context with a large number of underperforming schools, there is an intention to have an additional performance agreement as a part of performance management, to be signed by principals to hold them accountable for the expected examination results. This article investigated the understanding of principals of the possible motivational implications if the performance agreement is implemented. It also focuses on the issue of what may motivate principals to improve their performance towards sustainable quality education. Motivational theories are used as the lens to understand the principals’ perceptions of this performance agreement process. The focus group interviews indicated that most principals are not in favour of the intended implementation and that it may rather have a negative influence on their motivation levels
Race, identity and leadership in South African and English schools
No full textThis paper reports a pilot study. It adopts an international perspective in examining the perceptions and practice of leaders in a South African and an English primary school. Both schools have experienced a relatively swift and large scale diversification of learners away from the previous white profile to one where white learners are in the minority and there are various ethnic groups represented amongst the majority. In each case the educators, and particularly the senior management team, have not diversified to the same extent. Data from interviews with educators in South Africa and in England are explored to consider how diversity is conceived, and how ethnicity/race is placed within diversity. By considering instances of practice in two countries, similarities and differences are identified, in order to increase understanding of context, its relation to practice and the implications for managers and leaders
Skoolhoofde se onderwys praktyke binne die veld van plattelandse dorpe
Full text linkThis article focuses on the influence of the field of rural villages on principals’ educational
practices. The focus is on aspects of principals’ educational practices in a specific rural village
context. It is a Bourdieuian study of educational practices in the rural context in relation to the
influence of the field of rural villages. The focus of this study is the manner in which the field of
rural villages manifests itself in the educational practices of headmasters functioning within a
specific geographical context, namely a rural village. The conceptual question therefore focuses
on the endeavour made by the headmasters with the manifestation of the field of rural villages in
the educational practises of the headmasters in question.
The macro (global) field determines that principals in public schools in South Africa function
according to managerialism, where they are expected to meet the education department’s objectives
and requirements. The result is that principals’ educational practices are increasingly limited by
policy and control measures of the authorities, such as the establishment of performance goals,
with little space for leadership and more emphasis on management and the administrative system.
The macro educational field positions schools to function in a distinct way as the logic of the
market, privatisation, deregulation and the individual’s freedom of choice of school are manifested
in the school as field. A further outcome is that a particular leadership practice namely
managerialism, use of data, efficiency, performativity and a focus on outcomes and achievements
in the school is established in the field and proffered as norm. The school as field has a direct
impact on the educational practices of headmasters as it effects a distinct logic of practice which
endeavours to influence the headmasters’ leadership habitus in a certain way. Furthermore, it
tends to influence the headmasters’ reason to act directly in the form of policy changes and
indirectly when proposed as the norm or standard of practice.
On the other hand, the local micro field also has a direct influence. Each community requires
a lot from their headmasters, although the expectation is realised in different educational practices.
Priorities such as fundraisings for better and higher quality teaching and providing basic needs
like nutrition for learners are local priorities. In this regard, we emphasised that principals’
identity is partly given, but also partly acquired by their position in a given social field and how
principals adjust to the discursive influences of the local micro field on their work environment.
The research material for this article comes from a comprehensive research project on the
principals of rural schools in a town with the pseudonym Cogmans in the Western Cape. Focused
semi-structured one-on-one interviews were used to gather information through to principals’
own stories to hear about their own life, in order to allow a construction of the story of each one’s
social world. In this way “professional” stories about a school principal in a rural village are linked to the critical analysis of the principal’s teaching practices. The article is based on the
application of the theory of Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, habitus and
practices are used as theoretical lenses to highlight the analytical focus of this article, namely
the educational practices of principals in the field of rural villages. The data of the twelve
transcribed interviews (with the use of Atlas.ti computer programme) were coded by selecting
segments of the primary documents to which codes were accordingly linked. By applying Bourdieu’s
conceptual framework of habitus, field, capital and practice as “super codes”, the data were dealt
with thematically and organised accordingly.
The main argument we present in this article, is that the field of principals in rural schools
affect the educational practices of the principals involved. Each of the principal’s educational
practices responds in a unique way to the distinctiveness of their local and even national field.
An analysis of the data revealed that a headmaster increasingly has to play a dual role namely
that of manager plus that of professional educationist. The educational skills or practises associated
with those two roles are not always compatible. The latter places principals in a very difficult
position where, on the one hand they are expected to act as Representatives of the Department of
Education, while on the other hand, they have to function as professional educationists, the logic
behind these practices and their educational accountability may be questioned. Headmasters
however, despite the fact that the macro field seeks to enforce a uniform system upon them, respond
in unique, diverse ways in their educational practices. This can especially be attributed to the
fact that the creditworthiness of a principal in a rural town among the members of the community,
depends rather on whether the principal succeeds to fulfil the acts that Fataar (2009:324) described
as daily actions of the principals, acts that are not necessarily prescribed by legislation, but rather
determined by the principals’ successful implementation of the activities set out in legislation. OPSOMMING: Hierdie artikel fokus op die inwerking van die veld van plattelandse dorpe op skoolhoofde se
onderwyspraktyke. Die fokus is op aspekte van skoolhoofde se onderwyspraktyke in ’n spesifieke
landelike dorpkonteks. Die navorsingsmateriaal vir die artikel is afkomstig uit ’n omvattende
navorsingsprojek oor die skoolhoofde van plattelandse skole op ’n dorp met die skuilnaam Cogmans
in die Wes-Kaap. Gefokusde semi-gestruktureerde een-tot-een onderhoude is gebruik om inligting
te versamel deur na skoolhoofde se eie stories te luister oor hul eie leefwêreld, ten einde dit moontlik
te maak om die storie van elkeen se sosiale leefwêreld te kan konstrueer. Op hierdie wyse is
“professionele” verhale oor skoolhoof-wees op ’n plattelandse dorp verbind aan die kritiese ontleding
van die skoolhoofde se onderwyspraktyke. Die artikel is geskoei op die toepassing van die teorie
van Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu se konsepte van veld, kapitaal, praktyke en habitus word aangewend
as teoretiese lense om die ontledende fokus van hierdie artikel uit te lig, naamlik die onderwyspraktyke
van skoolhoofde binne die veld van plattelandse dorpe. Die belangrikste argument wat ons in hierdie
artikel aanbied, is dat die veld van skoolhoofde op die platteland inwerk op die skoolpraktyke van
die betrokke skoolhoofde. Elk van die skoolhoofde se praktyke reageer op ’n unieke wyse op die
eiesoortigheid van hulle plaaslike en selfs nasionale veld
Achieving educational goals through effective leadership: experience from a distance in Zambabwe
No full textTeaching and learning environments have become more complex and diverse, where effective leadership is to enhance the achievement of high standards of educational success. The evolving nature of school environments in Zimbabwe and the world over have placed new demands on educational leaders. What empowers learners to succeed and ultimately achieve their goals, is the leadership in the school organisation, which creates a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning. Educational leaders need to recognise and assume a shared responsibility, not only for learners' intellectual and educational development, but also for enhancing and advancing the achievement of educational goals. The goal of this qualitative study was to explore cultural, structural and agential challenges faced by school heads seeking to achieve educational goals. Six schools in the same cluster were purposively selected. Data were collected by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews with school heads and teachers, and a focus group with School Development Committees (SDCs). The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and the data were analysed by means of content analysis. In this study, we established that there exist challenges affecting the operations of school heads, which should be eliminated to enhance the achievement of goals
Principals' perceptions of the motivation potential of performance agreements in underperforming schools
Full text linkA formidable challenge most school leaders in South Africa face is to improve the academic results in state schools. In terms of their contracts, principals are accountable for the academic results as reflected in examination and test results for their schools. The National Department of Education (currently the Department of Basic Education) has made attempts to implement a performance agreement with principals and deputy principals, which would hold them directly and specifically accountable for the examination results. The article explores the proposed performance agreement and its potential influence on principals' motivation to improve their own, and therefore also the teachers' and learners' academic performance. The focus group interviews conducted with principals and deputy principals indicate that principals do not want to be held accountable, because there are too many factors outside their control. They perceive a performance agreement of this kind as potentially demotivating because they do not feel they would be able to achieve the goals it sets
Motivation to lead, manage or govern schools for results – which results
Full text linkInaugural lecture delivered on 25 October 2011.Includes bibliographyProf Jan Heystek started his professional career as a teacher in Pretoria in
1985. During the following years he continued with his studies, completing
honours, master’s and doctoral degrees while progressing from teacher to deputy
principal.
He started his academic career as a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria
in 1995. During his term at the university he played a leading role in restructuring
the honours degree, as well as the Advanced Certificate in Education Management
delivered to students via a mixed-mode delivery model. These programmes were
developed with the aim of “taking the university to the students”; this provided
thousands of students in rural areas the opportunity to achieve a university
qualification, which not only benefitted them as teachers, but also played an
important part in the development of rural communities.
In August 2006 Prof Heystek was appointed as associate professor in the Department of
Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University, and in July 2011 he was appointed Professor in
Educational Leadership and Management in the same Department. In November 2010 he received
a C2 academic rating.
Prof Heystek is the co-author of two textbooks, Human resource management in education
(2005) and People leadership in education (2008), as well as the author of six chapters published in
different international books.
Since 1995, four doctoral and 19 master’s degree students have completed their research under
his leadership.
Prof Heystek is the author or co-author of 26 articles published in nationally and internationally
refereed and accredited journals, and has presented numerous papers at international and national
conferences covering governance and leadership in the diverse and changing South African
educational landscape
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