Teachers' experiences of conflict with school principals: the impact on teachers, teaching and learning.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
The year 1994 was a historic and an extremely important one for South Africa. The transition from
the apartheid era prior to 1994 to a democracy subsequently heralded many changes especially in the
Department of Education. There was a complete overhaul which warranted the writing of a new
constitution for the Republic of South Africa, passing new legislation and change in policies and
restructuring of the demarcations for education nationally. Schools were transformed with the
amalgamation of all races which brought about a new culture in schools and in teaching and learning.
The voices of the teacher unions were more vociferous and louder. However, many principals are
still on the bandwagon of authoritarian, autocratic and dictatorial dispositions in running their
schools. This type of leadership was subtly infiltrated by the apartheid government among heads of
institutes. Despite twenty years of democracy this study has shown that principals’ leadership styles
and behaviour towards teachers has not changed to comply with provisions of the constitution, thus
leading to conflict between teachers and principals.
A literature review nationally has shown that research on many aspects of conflict and the lack of
management skills among principals of schools were done. However, areas where research was
lacking were the types of conflict situation inflicted by principals on teachers and the effects these
conflicts have on teachers and teaching and learning. Hence to fill this gap, even partially, these
aspects were researched. This study adopted the interpretative paradigm and through qualitative
research methodology, purposeful sampling of the participants and semi-structured interviews, the
following were some of the findings that surfaced. First, most importantly, what emerged are the
deleterious effects of conflicts on the physical and mental well-being of the teachers. In the second
instance the repercussions of strained social relationships between the affected teachers and their
colleagues, family and friends. Thirdly, principals tend to conceal conflict situations that arise hence;
the public and senior officials of the Department of Basic Education are unaware of such
occurrences. The fourth finding showed that teachers were unaware of the legal structures and
organisations that existed in the Department of Education, for example, the Educator Psychological
Service (EPS) and South African Council for Educators (SACE), School Governing Body (SGB) and
School Management Team (SMT) which they can revert to for assistance. Further, teacher training
courses did not equip them to cope with conflicts with the principal. Participants also highlighted the
fact that principals ought to be mentored and prepared holistically in school management and
leadership. Finally, this study also lists recommendations for further research in the different aspects
of conflicts.
Description
M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.
Keywords
Teacher-superintendent relationships--South Africa., Teacher morale--South Africa., Conflict management--South Africa., School principals--South Africa., Teachers--South Africa.