Abstract
The education sector has recently focused more on results than on the quality of learning, often evaluating schools based on student pass rates and comparisons across districts. However, true learner performance depends on daily classroom teaching, which is shaped by how teachers are supported and monitored. Departmental heads (DHs), with their subject expertise and teaching knowledge, play a vital yet often underappreciated role in this process. Distributed leadership (DL), where leadership responsibilities are shared, is gaining recognition for its potential to improve schools. Despite this, little research has examined how DHs in South Africa use DL to enhance performance in Geography. This study explored the application of DL among department heads to enhance learners’ performance in Geography. Specifically, the study investigated departmental heads’ understanding of distributed leadership and how it differs from other leadership practices based on their professional experiences; examined how department heads practice DL in their day-to-day work; and identified the key challenges DHs face in the process of adopting DL to foster learners’ performance in Geography. James Spillane’s distributed leadership theory was adopted for this study. A generic qualitative design within a constructivist paradigm was employed to explore how Geography DHs implement DL to enhance learners’ performance, using interviews to interpret their lived experiences and leadership practices from public secondary schools in Mpumalanga’s Gert Sibande district. Using a non-probability sampling method, purposive sampling was employed to select six DHs from schools where Geography is offered up to Grade 12. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online using Microsoft Teams to collect data. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, thematised, and analysed using thematic analysis with Atlas.ti. Findings reveal that DHs apply DL to support teachers, promote collaboration, and improve Geography performance. Despite challenges like limited resources and learner disengagement, shared leadership enhances teaching quality and learner outcomes through delegation, stakeholder involvement, and team-based decisions. The study recommends that departmental heads adopt DL through ongoing development, mentoring, and collaboration. Delegating roles based on strengths and involving teachers and learners in decisions, alongside strategies like fieldwork and multi-
stakeholder support, can improve Geography performance and reduce resource disparities.