Abstract
Background: Low teacher morale remains a concern in South African education. The
principal’s leadership attributes are critical in influencing teacher morale. Servant leadership
attributes could contribute to raising teacher morale in the contemporary era.
Aim: This study explored whether servant leadership can be used as a strategy to improve
teacher morale in South African public primary schools.
Setting: The research involved schools in the Tshwane South school district in the Gauteng
province. Schools in South Africa are categorised into five quintiles based on the socioeconomic
status of the surrounding community. A school from each of four quintiles was
secured to participate in this study.
Methods: A generic qualitative design was used. Individual interviews were conducted with
two teachers and a principal from each of the four schools. Purposeful sampling enabled the
selection of participants who worked at each school for over 3 years. The study employed
thematic data analysis.
Results: Eight servant leadership characteristics emerged from the study. Five corroborated
with the widely recognised servant leadership characteristics namely listening, empathy,
growth, stewardship and building community. Three emergent servant leadership
characteristics are respect, empowerment and caring.
Conclusion: There was overwhelming support for servant leadership from the 12 participants.
Servant leadership attributes of listening, empathy, respect, growth, empowerment,
stewardship, community building and caring were identified as key to improving teacher
morale.
Contribution: School principals can play a role in improving teacher morale by means of
enacting servant leadership. Three new servant leadership attributes that emerged in the
South African context are respect, empowerment and caring.