School based promotions: agony or ecstasy?

Abstract

This study examined the promotion policy of school-based educators and the manner in which it has been implemented in the Pinetown district of KwaZulu-Natal. Given the inordinately large number of disputes that have been declared since the inception of this policy in 1997 and the constant adverse publicity it has attracted in the media, the researcher sought to explore whether implementation of the promotion the policy is in keeping with national and provincial legislation. Given also that both provincial (Human Resource Management Circulars) and national (Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998, The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, etc) legislation exist to guide the process, the researcher sought to examine the reasons for the apparent gap between formulation and practice. Using policy and policy analysis as the theoretical framework, the researcher explored the notion that policy tools model (authority, incentive, capacity, symbolic and learning) could be utilized both to understand and implement this process effectively. Although essentially qualitative in nature, the researcher utilized the survey questionnaire (secondary method) to elicit the views and perceptions of a wider range of role-players to inform the more intensive case study (primary method). The findings indicate great disillusionment on the part of the educator and parent establishment with a policy whose implementation is fraught with problems. Selectors in attaching personal meanings to the implementation process have deviated from the principles enunciated in the policy. To counter this, the researcher suggests that the policy tools model be utilized to further inform the process and that policy be viewed as an interactive, consultative process i.e. a cyclic model.