Browsing by Author "David, Kalaivani."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Leadership, professionalism and unionism : a case study of six teacher leaders.
(2011) David, Kalaivani.; Grant, Carolyn.
The arrival of democracy in 1994 saw the departure of certain policies and an education system that was congruent with an autocratic, apartheid South Africa. One of the many policy changes was the introduction of the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000) which suggests that teachers fulfil the seven roles as laid down in this policy, amongst them being the role of leader and manager. Prior to this, these roles remained exclusively for those holding formal management positions. Since this study adopted the stance that teachers are leaders, it was worked from the premise that all teachers have the potential to enact self-initiated, voluntary roles, and to lead from different levels within the organisation. Thus an organisation needs both leadership and management, with teachers conducting themselves as professionals. Against the backdrop of the National teacher strike of 2010, I became interested in understanding the leadership roles teachers, either post level one teachers or SMT members enact, especially in relation to their professionalism. As a consequence, I designed my research as a case study of six teacher leaders. The core question aimed to investigate how teachers can lead schools better to ensure that they are professional places of teaching and learning. The first subsidiary question involved an inquiry into how professionalism was understood by teachers. The second subsidiary question was about identifying the factors which enhanced and inhibited professionalism in schools. The duration of the study was approximately two months, and data were collected using semi-structured individual interviews, a focus group interview and a questionnaire. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The main findings of the study revealed that although the primary participants faced many challenges, they worked collaboratively as members of teams. This was made possible as a result of the support and encouragement from the principal and SMT members, together with there being a collegial school culture. Their innate goodness, love for their learners, and passion for teaching saw them lead in various social justice projects. This uplifted the plight of many learners who experienced financial, academic and emotional challenges. These teacher leaders were aware of the code of ethics as espoused by SACE, and conducted themselves accordingly. Some of the primary participants argued that, at times, the call of the union clashed with their role as professionals. This was evident when teachers were called out during the school day to attend union meetings. Since leadership and management roles did not lie exclusively with the principal and SMT, level one teachers also led in activities.
SMT members’ perceptions of their role in the Continuous Professional Development of teachers in two schools in the Umgungundlovu District.
(2016) David, Kalaivani.; Bhengu, Thamsanqa Thulani.
It is generally expected by those in the educational fraternity that members of the SMT contribute to the professional development of their teachers. Thus, this research study looked at the role played by members of the School Management Team (SMT) in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of teachers under their care in two Umgungundlovu schools, being Glow Primary School (GPS) and Diamond Primary School (DPS). Instructional leadership was judged to be the most suitable theoretical framework to underpin this study as it promotes the Continuous Professional Development of teachers. It is envisioned that teachers’ enlightenment through their engagement with professional development activities, may result in empowerment of their learners, thereby creating a progressive and positive culture of learning and teaching (COLT) in schools. Acknowledging that Professional Development (PD) is not just a once-off event, but continues throughout one’s career, the study suggested that it was in the hands of SMT members to exert their influence on teachers’ participation in CPD activities. In like manner, the leaders in this study were found to lead with a vision, and to stimulate their teachers intellectually through the provision of various PD enterprises within their schools. Their intention was to help their teachers to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge so that they can perform at their optimum and thereby contribute positively to their learners’ academic performance. A qualitative method of inquiry was employed to look at the two case study schools holistically within their context, and to illustrate the experiences of these schools. I documented the narrations and voices of my sampling population comprising of two school principals, one deputy principal and four heads of departments who recounted their perceptions and challenges experienced in their endeavours. I paid special attention to abstractions of the data which were elicited via semi-structured interviews so that I might acquire a clearer picture of the SMT’s attitudes, understandings and feelings during their enactment of their role. Thus, I approached this research project occupying the role of an interpretivist researcher, which meant that I made sense of the elicited data drawing from my personal reference framework. This process saw me looking for recurring patterns. These were identified based on my individual social meaning which I attached to the phenomenon of teachers’ professional development leading to improved learner outcomes. The SMT members were found to promote the ideology of teachers learning collegially and collaboratively in networked teams with others, although this proved a challenge at time. Furthermore, this study undertook to discover the extent to which the SMT members forged and built professional learning communities (PLCs) both within their schools, as well as externally with other schools. I demonstrated that cross-case analysis had a catalytic effect on comparison of commonalities and differences in the participants and schools under study. The findings highlighted that the SMT members and teachers in this study appreciated that they were lifelong learners, and both sought to continuously keep abreast with the latest trends. As agents of transformation in their schools as learning organisations, these leaders motivated, inspired, encouraged and offered their unwavering support to their teachers who coordinated projects to empower their peers, whilst participating in CPD initiatives to professionally develop themselves. This research study successfully produced new knowledge in relation to the manner in which these SMT members led, managed and overcame challenges in their quest to professionally develop their teachers. Thus, both new and existing knowledge and experiences were augmented and then disseminated for future use in the academic fraternity.