School leadership practices that work in areas of multiple deprivation in South Africa

Abstract

This paper reports on evidence from five school principals regarding leadership practices that work in multiple deprived contexts. The South African educational landscape is complex, often described as a cocktail of first and third world institutions. Looking at the schooling system on a continuum, on the one end there are first class schools which can compare favourably with the best in developed countries. On the other extreme there are dysfunctional schools. However, along the scale there are few schools in multiple deprived areas which display high degrees of resilience and perform at levels comparable to first class schools in terms of Matriculation examination results. This paper draws from a study based on the proposition that leadership was the greatest factor to explain such performance. The study was then informed by a quest for knowledge regarding the nature of such leadership. Such knowledge is needed as the country fights to turn around the many dysfunctional schools there are. While there is a corpus of scholarship that 'speaks' to this matter internationally, there remains need for home-grown insights in that regard. Two theoretical lenses (servant leadership and the asset-based approach) were applied. The study employed a qualitative approach involving individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews with five purposively selected school principals each representing their school. Findings suggest that the schools in question adopted inside-out development approaches involving the philosophy that they were masters of their own destiny. Time, commitment, and accountability were some of their greatest assets, things that did not have to come from outside the schools. Internal success paved the way for stronger and more fruitful synergies with the 'outside world'. We conclude that schools in areas of multiple-deprivation need leadership that moves them away from notions of victimhood and deficit thinking towards asset-based approaches.

Towards an asset-based approach to promoting and sustaining well-being for people with aphasia and their families: an international exploratory study

“…An asset-based approach has been applied extensively in the areas of community development (Dolezal & Burns, 2015;Johnson Butterfield, Yeneabat, & Moxley, 2016;Wu & Pearce, 2014); education (Chikoko, Naicker, & Mthiyane, 2015;Missingham, 2017;Ssewamala, Sperber, Zimmerman, & Karimli, 2010); social welfare (Carter et al, 2016;Culp, 2017;Soaita, Searle, McKee, & Moore, 2016); and business (Fisher et al, 2009;Tracey, O'Sullivan, Lane, Guy, & Courtemanche, 2017). For example, the basis of an assetbased approach within the field of community development is to create 'community' by focusing on assets available within the community and connecting these, rather than focusing on shortcomings and deficits (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993).…”

Kan die leierskorps van 'n onderpresterende Suid-Afrikaanse primêre skool ten spyte van 'n uitdagende skoolkonteks die skip van rigting laat verander? 'n Gevallestudie

“…Sedert die beëindiging van apartheid word die meerderheid Suid-Afrikaanse skole beskou as wanfunksioneel (Bush & Glover 2016;Chikoko et al 2015; Republiek van Suid-Afrika 2015:1; Spaull 2013:1; Spaull 2015:34) en in 'n staat van krisis, volgens die Minister van Basiese Onderwys (Nkosi 2016). Skole in informele nedersettings, townships en landelike gebiede staar verskeie uitdagings in die gesig, insluitend karige infrastruktuur, swak gekwalifiseerde en gedemoraliseerde onderwysers, sosioekonomiese probleme en armoede (Bush & Glover 2016:213;Mbokazi 2015:471).…”

“…Skole in informele nedersettings, townships en landelike gebiede staar verskeie uitdagings in die gesig, insluitend karige infrastruktuur, swak gekwalifiseerde en gedemoraliseerde onderwysers, sosioekonomiese probleme en armoede (Bush & Glover 2016:213;Mbokazi 2015:471). 'n Hele aantal Suid-Afrikaanse outeurs het reeds ondersoek ingestel na skole en skoolleierskap onder uitdagende omstandighede (Benghu & Myende 2016;Chikoko et al 2015;Mbokazi 2015;Mestry 2016;Moorosi & Bantwini 2016;Naicker, Chikoko & Mthiyane 2013;Mawdsley, Bipath & Mawdsley 2014;Naicker, Grant & Pillay 2016;Seobi & Wood 2016). Min inligting is egter beskikbaar oor hoe die leierskap van gelyksoortige skole daarin kon slaag om 'n nuwe rigting in te slaan deur hulle skool te omvorm van 'n onderpresterende na 'n hoogspresterende entiteit, onder leiding van dieselfde skoolhoof.…”

Comparative leadership: pathways, scope and values in DRC-English 'urban' schools

“…I draw on three selected literatures, all of which are from South Africa where there is a growing intensity of published reflections on leadership. The first one (Chikoko et al, 2015) is discussed at this stage since it gives a feel of how leadership, as a blend of 'authentic African' and other constructs, is performed in an…”

“…Such a proposition still needs to be empirically tested in the way that shared leadership in schools is experienced both in the DRC and England. Chikoko et al's (2015) …”