Abstract
South African school management teams are increasingly confronted with culturally diverse demographics of learners within their schools. Many of the learners enrolled at urban mainstream South African schools are foreign national learners. Immigrant learners have migrated to South Africa for various situational reasons. They bring with them cultures, practices, experiences, and socio-economic backgrounds that leaders and teachers may be unfamiliar with. Consequently, situational issues as well as the needs of the learners have changed. In this study, the concept of inclusive teaching practices is posited as a strategy to enhance teaching and learning through integrating greater diversity and multiculturalism within curricula and pedagogy. Furthermore, inclusive teaching practices are conceptualized within an organizational culture that explicitly develops, embraces, and enhances inclusive practices within a multicultural context. Adopting and addressing teacher competencies and a school culture that bridges the gap between learners’ cultural identities and their knowledge building have becoming critical (Bottiana et al., 2018). This study explores the role of senior management teams (SMTs), in managing and promoting inclusive teaching practices for immigrant learners in South Africa. Using a qualitative research approach, data collection was undertaken by conducting semi-structured interviews. Nine SMT members were interviewed in three different high schools within the Cape Town metropolitan area. All nine participants are classroom teachers as well as members of their school management teams. The study explores the perceptions of school management teams in promoting and managing inclusive teaching practices, how SMTs are managing and promoting these practices, and what impact SMTs have on inclusive teaching practices for immigrant learners. The findings revealed contrasting and conflicting perceptions of SMTs toward inclusive practices for immigrant learners. However, the findings also reveal the influence that inclusive teaching practices for immigrant learners can have on immigrant learners’ socio-emotional and academic enhancement within and outside of the classroom. A strong need for training of SMT members and teachers in inclusive teaching practices for immigrant learners was identified.
KEYWORDS: Immigrant Learners, Inclusive Teaching Practices, School Management Teams (SMTs), Multicultural