Female leaders navigating challenges in selected disadvantaged schools in Johannesburg North District
- Authors: Mia, Feroza
- Date: 2014-10-01
- Subjects: Women school administrators - South Africa - Johannesburg , Feminism and education - South Africa - Johannesburg , School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , Educational leadership
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12250
- Description: M.Ed. (Educational Management) , The focus of this study is to investigate strategies employed by females in school leadership in disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Disadvantaged communities in the South African context have arisen from a patriarchal and prejudicial system that was structured according to race, class and gender. Currently, many South African educational institutions bear the residue of this prejudicial system. This research will explore how female leaders in four disadvantaged primary schools in the Johannesburg North District navigate through the challenges of leading in a disadvantaged as well as patriarchal context. A specific emphasis has been placed upon feminist literature and debates in the context of female leaders. Discourse analysis is utilised to interpret the experiences of the female leaders. Analysis of recorded data on challenges facing females in school leadership in disadvantaged communities revealed themes on stereotyping of women, collaboration and liaison with stakeholders, leadership traits of women, the social stigma associated with schools in disadvantaged communities, women and emotional intelligence, women and conflict resolution. Themes on balance between family and school, opposing gender discrimination, networking with stakeholders, overcoming stereotypes emanated from the strategies employed by females in school leadership to overcome barriers in disadvantaged communities. The study reveals that in spite of significant gains since the implementation of favourable legislation on gender equity, women in school leadership continue to experience challenges within schools, from the community and in their personal lives. Stereotyping prevails especially in communities where patriarchal systems dominate. The research concludes with suggestions and recommendations for future research.
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- Authors: Mia, Feroza
- Date: 2014-10-01
- Subjects: Women school administrators - South Africa - Johannesburg , Feminism and education - South Africa - Johannesburg , School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , Educational leadership
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12250
- Description: M.Ed. (Educational Management) , The focus of this study is to investigate strategies employed by females in school leadership in disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Disadvantaged communities in the South African context have arisen from a patriarchal and prejudicial system that was structured according to race, class and gender. Currently, many South African educational institutions bear the residue of this prejudicial system. This research will explore how female leaders in four disadvantaged primary schools in the Johannesburg North District navigate through the challenges of leading in a disadvantaged as well as patriarchal context. A specific emphasis has been placed upon feminist literature and debates in the context of female leaders. Discourse analysis is utilised to interpret the experiences of the female leaders. Analysis of recorded data on challenges facing females in school leadership in disadvantaged communities revealed themes on stereotyping of women, collaboration and liaison with stakeholders, leadership traits of women, the social stigma associated with schools in disadvantaged communities, women and emotional intelligence, women and conflict resolution. Themes on balance between family and school, opposing gender discrimination, networking with stakeholders, overcoming stereotypes emanated from the strategies employed by females in school leadership to overcome barriers in disadvantaged communities. The study reveals that in spite of significant gains since the implementation of favourable legislation on gender equity, women in school leadership continue to experience challenges within schools, from the community and in their personal lives. Stereotyping prevails especially in communities where patriarchal systems dominate. The research concludes with suggestions and recommendations for future research.
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Management and leadership experiences in fostering a culture of teaching and learning in ethnically diverse schools in Johannesburg North District
- Authors: Buma, Anastasia Malong
- Date: 2012-11-14
- Subjects: School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , School improvement programs , Educational leadership , Educational planning , Educational change , Multicultural schools
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8199
- Description: M.Ed. , Since 1994, South African schools are increasingly becoming more diverse due to the implementation of new legislation to foster democratization in schools. Many schools whose communities were until 1994 defined along racial lines are increasingly becoming mixed in terms of learner, staff and parent bodies. Other external factors such as the increasing movement of people across the globe as a consequence of increasing globalization may also be contributing to the apparently growing diversity at schools. Such increasing diversity could pose challenges regarding fostering a culture of teaching and learning at these mixed schools. Therefore, school management and leadership, need to have the skills, knowledge and appropriate attitudes that are required in order to ensure that the culture of teaching and learning is advanced in ethnically diverse school. Considering her experience as a teacher at both private and public schools in South Africa over the last ten years, the researcher has observed significant changes in learner population across many schools with resulting implication to teaching and learning. These changes have placed tremendous demands on school principals and teachers who have to deal with the challenges such as, culture mismatch between student-student and student-teacher interaction, social tension and antagonism, communication problems, misinterpretation of values and behaviors that thus influence the process of teaching and learning. Hence, the researcher opted to do an investigation into how school leadership and management in ethnically diverse schools will advance opportunities that encourage a culture of teaching and learning. In order to do the investigation, the researcher firstly employed an extensive literature review to explore how the leadership and management of ethnically diverse schools advance opportunities that cultivate a culture of teaching and learning. The research design and methodology employed involved a mixed method approach consisting of quantitative as well as qualitatative methodologies. During the first phase of the empirical study, the researcher carried out the quantitative method of data collection where a set of questionnaires were filled in by the principal and the HoDs of the selected schools. In order to validate the findings of the quantitative survey, the researcher employed in-depth individual interviews with the teachers and students of the selected schools. Through qualitative analysis of the data, the research findings confirm that the diverse culture of schools in Johannesburg North includes characteristics of both traditional and liberal multicultural education. Also, societies are becoming more complex in terms of social, economic and political needs. Therefore, the implication of the findings are that, in addition to teaching the basic skills of reading, writing and math, school leadership and management should advance a culture of teaching and learning that will involve social justice issues where students will learn to become reflective, moral, caring and active citizens as is inherent in liberal multicultural education. Finally, the researcher recommends that regular survey on different aspects should be carried out in ethnically diverse schools in order to get such schools to open up to the demands of liberal multicultural education.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Buma, Anastasia Malong
- Date: 2012-11-14
- Subjects: School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , School improvement programs , Educational leadership , Educational planning , Educational change , Multicultural schools
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8199
- Description: M.Ed. , Since 1994, South African schools are increasingly becoming more diverse due to the implementation of new legislation to foster democratization in schools. Many schools whose communities were until 1994 defined along racial lines are increasingly becoming mixed in terms of learner, staff and parent bodies. Other external factors such as the increasing movement of people across the globe as a consequence of increasing globalization may also be contributing to the apparently growing diversity at schools. Such increasing diversity could pose challenges regarding fostering a culture of teaching and learning at these mixed schools. Therefore, school management and leadership, need to have the skills, knowledge and appropriate attitudes that are required in order to ensure that the culture of teaching and learning is advanced in ethnically diverse school. Considering her experience as a teacher at both private and public schools in South Africa over the last ten years, the researcher has observed significant changes in learner population across many schools with resulting implication to teaching and learning. These changes have placed tremendous demands on school principals and teachers who have to deal with the challenges such as, culture mismatch between student-student and student-teacher interaction, social tension and antagonism, communication problems, misinterpretation of values and behaviors that thus influence the process of teaching and learning. Hence, the researcher opted to do an investigation into how school leadership and management in ethnically diverse schools will advance opportunities that encourage a culture of teaching and learning. In order to do the investigation, the researcher firstly employed an extensive literature review to explore how the leadership and management of ethnically diverse schools advance opportunities that cultivate a culture of teaching and learning. The research design and methodology employed involved a mixed method approach consisting of quantitative as well as qualitatative methodologies. During the first phase of the empirical study, the researcher carried out the quantitative method of data collection where a set of questionnaires were filled in by the principal and the HoDs of the selected schools. In order to validate the findings of the quantitative survey, the researcher employed in-depth individual interviews with the teachers and students of the selected schools. Through qualitative analysis of the data, the research findings confirm that the diverse culture of schools in Johannesburg North includes characteristics of both traditional and liberal multicultural education. Also, societies are becoming more complex in terms of social, economic and political needs. Therefore, the implication of the findings are that, in addition to teaching the basic skills of reading, writing and math, school leadership and management should advance a culture of teaching and learning that will involve social justice issues where students will learn to become reflective, moral, caring and active citizens as is inherent in liberal multicultural education. Finally, the researcher recommends that regular survey on different aspects should be carried out in ethnically diverse schools in order to get such schools to open up to the demands of liberal multicultural education.
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Female principals leading disadvantaged secondary schools in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Authors: Ginya, Lindiwe Angel
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women school principals - South Africa - Johannesburg , School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , Education, Secondary - South Africa - Johannesburg
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/286329 , uj:30981
- Description: Ph.D. , Abstract: The post-1994 democratic government of South Africa consciously decided to empower women by passing various laws and implementing policies designed to promote and ensure gender equity. Legislative policies resulted in a perceptible number of female principals being appointed to lead and manage the learning institutions. Nevertheless, evidence of the relationship between the policies and the actual practice does not exist. As a woman who managed to break the glass ceiling, I still experience the challenges of gender stereotyping and persistent patriarchy. This study focuses on female principals leading in disadvantaged contexts, and who despite various challenges achieve high learner outcomes. The study investigates the strategies female principals employ to manage effective and successful schools. For this study, the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) standards and preferred indicators define an effective and successful school. The DBE regards schools that achieve above 80% in Grade twelve results as effective and functional. The different types of leadership style employed are explored to understand how these female principals use their institutional power to influence learner achievement. The dearth of literature documenting the success of black female principals leading in disadvantaged contexts motivated this research, which seeks to contribute meaningfully to our lack of knowledge in this instance. This study is also relevant to local discussions about the quality of education offered to students who come from disadvantaged communities. This study can be replicated in settings where a similar set of characteristics defined a school and its leadership structures. I adopted a qualitative research approach and used a multiple case study method. Four female principals were purposively sampled. The schools led by these participants were the reason for selecting particular participants. Academic achievement for the past three consecutive years and the social-economic status of the surrounding community guided my selection of these schools. I used semi-structured interviews with the principals, who are the unit of analysis, to gather relevant data. In addition, for the...
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ginya, Lindiwe Angel
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women school principals - South Africa - Johannesburg , School management and organization - South Africa - Johannesburg , Education, Secondary - South Africa - Johannesburg
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/286329 , uj:30981
- Description: Ph.D. , Abstract: The post-1994 democratic government of South Africa consciously decided to empower women by passing various laws and implementing policies designed to promote and ensure gender equity. Legislative policies resulted in a perceptible number of female principals being appointed to lead and manage the learning institutions. Nevertheless, evidence of the relationship between the policies and the actual practice does not exist. As a woman who managed to break the glass ceiling, I still experience the challenges of gender stereotyping and persistent patriarchy. This study focuses on female principals leading in disadvantaged contexts, and who despite various challenges achieve high learner outcomes. The study investigates the strategies female principals employ to manage effective and successful schools. For this study, the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) standards and preferred indicators define an effective and successful school. The DBE regards schools that achieve above 80% in Grade twelve results as effective and functional. The different types of leadership style employed are explored to understand how these female principals use their institutional power to influence learner achievement. The dearth of literature documenting the success of black female principals leading in disadvantaged contexts motivated this research, which seeks to contribute meaningfully to our lack of knowledge in this instance. This study is also relevant to local discussions about the quality of education offered to students who come from disadvantaged communities. This study can be replicated in settings where a similar set of characteristics defined a school and its leadership structures. I adopted a qualitative research approach and used a multiple case study method. Four female principals were purposively sampled. The schools led by these participants were the reason for selecting particular participants. Academic achievement for the past three consecutive years and the social-economic status of the surrounding community guided my selection of these schools. I used semi-structured interviews with the principals, who are the unit of analysis, to gather relevant data. In addition, for the...
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