Abstract
D.Ed.
The White Paper on Education and Training (RSA, 1995:12) states that in many
schools serving the majority of the population, there has been a precipitous decline
in the quality of educational performance. The decline, amongst other things, is
the result of ineffective school management and negative educators' work
attitudes. Perhaps the most important challenge in improving the quality of
education in South African schools is to prepare school managers and educators
effectively to carry out their responsibilities in order to ensure that effective
teaching and learning takes place. The White Paper on Education and Training
(RSA, 1995:22) stresses the necessity of developing expertise and skills that will
enable educators to stimulate learning.
South Africa has introduced a new education system, Outcomes Based Education,
that forms part of the government's plan to transform the country's education. In
this way, the new generation will be better equipped for life (Lister, 1997:8). This
means that educators need to adjust to a completely new way of teaching and
school managers need additional skills and knowledge to manage the new
education system effectively in their schools. Further, the new system of
education, termed Curriculum 2005, gives an educator the room to create the kind
of lessons that any creative educator would like to teach, and lessons should be
designed to suit the learners. Curriculum 2005 introduces a remarkable amount of
flexibility into the teaching process. 'Creativity' is the word that best encapsulates
the new curriculum, which means that educators will have to be creative and
committed (Lister, 1997:9). Whilst the new education system presents an exciting
and stimulating challenge for educators and school managers, an inordinate
amount of its success, rests on the positive work attitudes of educators, and
effective school management.