Abstract
M.Ed. (Education Management)
Taking up the first principalship is a demanding career
transition involving emergency professional development, not
only for the new principal to move from the role of teacher and
administrator, but for him to successfully diagnose a new
culture. The degree of success that a new principal -has in
discovering, understanding, developing further and managing a
new school culture within the first year of his appointment,
will determine his overall effectiveness in managing the new
school.
Against this background, the focus of this research paper will
be to identify and define school culture. Included here will
be a discussion of what constitutes culture, the process of
acculturation, the influence of sub-cultures and the impediment
of culture on both management and change.
The role of the new principal in managing and where necessary
changing existing culture in a school is described in this
paper. The problem areas likely to be encountered and the
solutions to these problems are also discussed.
A strategy is proposed to assist future new principals with the
problem of managing existing culture in the school. Divided
into three parts, the strategy assist the new principal to read
the existing culture of the school. Secondly, it proposes that
the new principal follows a collaborative process for the
review of and transformation of existing school culture. The
final part of the strategy is to revise and establish
innovative communication networks to ensure the strategy's
overall success.