Leadership and rurality: deputy principals’ leadership experiences in secondary schools in a rural context.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of deputy principals leading in schools located in a rural context. Meanings shaping their leadership practices and the practices they exert to respond to the demands of rurality and to contribute to effective school functioning were explored. Three research puzzles were constructed to give direction to the study, namely; What are deputy principals' experiences of leading schools in a rural context? What meanings shape deputy principals' leadership practices in schools located in a rural setting? How do deputy principals respond to the demands of the context of rurality? The context-responsive theory and generative theory of rurality constituted the theoretical framework which was used to understand the experiences of deputy principals leading in schools located in a rural setting in this inquiry. This study was conducted within Narrative Inquiry, which is a methodology that studies the experiences of individuals through generating stories as field texts. Field texts were generated through narrative interviews, collage inquiry and photovoice. The field texts were then analysed at two levels; namely, narrative analysis (first level) and analysis of narratives (second level). The study revealed four exasperating experiences of deputy principals leading in a rural setting, namely, leading and teaching with minimal resources, a struggle with cultural activities that intrude on teaching and learning, juggling between teaching and management, poor socio-economic background and lack of parental support. Furthermore, the study revealed three meanings shaping leadership practices of deputy principals, namely, rurality is not a comfort zone, but rather it is demanding, striving to capacitate learners to change their lives, love and care shaping leadership practices. Finally, the study revealed five strategies used by deputy principals to respond to the demands of rurality and to contribute to effective school functioning, namely; leading adjacent to the community and its local traditional leaders, networking with surrounding schools, employing collegial leadership and teamwork to maximize effectiveness in rural schools, leading by example to encourage other colleagues to work effectively, promotion and monitoring of extra classes to ensure learner excellence in rural schools.