Abstract
Attempts to advance the standard of teaching and learning in South African schools has resulted in the development of various legislative mandates advocating collaborative forms of school leadership. As a result, the school management team is left limited in their application. They are expected to raise student outcomes and pressure is consecutively thrust upon teachers to deliver academic excellence. Due to this and hierarchical bureaucratic systems in schools, collaboration is often viewed as a luxury rather than a priority. It is somewhat practiced in a contrived way instead of in an authentic collaborative manner steering towards a more holistic approach to school leadership. This quantitative study investigates the competence of school management teams in their use of authentic collaboration as an aspect of holistic leadership, via the perceptions of teachers. Analysis of data acquired from a sample of 700 teachers indicated indecisiveness of the teachers in this regard. The Structural Equation Model displayed a positive and direct relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of the competence of the school management team in using authentic collaboration to influence aspects of increased job satisfaction, indicating that as the use of authentic collaboration increases at schools, so too will the job satisfaction in teachers. However, aspects that hinder job satisfaction should be kept to a minimum as they influence the association of the two constructs. The school management team should therefore be cognisant of the potential use of authentic collaboration in schools to power efficacy, teacher retention, and teamwork in attaining the fundamental aim of education.
M.Ed. (Education)