Abstract
There are indisputably significant deviations in the degree of leadership and organisational success in countries across the world. School governance is understood as the driver that ensures that quality education is realised. In South African education, servant-leadership has been perceived as an unconventional leadership style that empowers principals to be able to discharge their leadership obligation. Leadership in South African schools is more unsteady and challenging than it has ever been. Therefore, the commitment of competent employees is critical to the success of the education system. Similarly, educators in schools are supposed to be the utmost productive assets in realising the Department of Education’s targets.
The purpose of this study was to investigate if the level of servant-leadership practices shown by principals has a positive impact on teacher morale at the secondary school level. The leadership theory that was used was servant-leadership (Greenleaf, 1970). The researcher utilised a quantitative research method to investigate the extent to which educators’ perceptions of their principal’s servant-leadership behaviour correlate with educator morale. A quantitative approach was the main driver of this study. Data were collected using a quantitative instrument called a questionnaire. Data collection involved a sample of 160 educators from four secondary schools in the Johannesburg South District in Gauteng.
The probability sampling, cluster randomised controlled, study design was used. Cluster sampling was commonly implemented as part of multistage cluster sampling. Slovin’s formula was used to determine the sample size of this research study. Correlation analysis was utilised to measure the link between servant-leadership behaviour and educator morale. Cronbach’s Alpha was used for measuring questionnaire reliability. The SPSS software was also used for capturing and analysing data. The educators’ teaching experience ranged between one to 35 years at the time of the study. The schools’ profile had not changed suggesting that the country’s democratic vision is far from being realised. To investigate the servant-leadership behaviour of the school principals, the servant-leadership survey (SLS) (modified) instrument developed by Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011) was utilised in this research study...