Leading for Learner Retention: Learning from Secondary schools' management team members.

Abstract

The South African Constitution under the Bill of Rights states that everyone has the right to basic education. The government invests a large portion of state funding into education to achieve its targeted goal, which is to promote learning opportunities for all by 2030 and 2063. The achievement of these goals by the Department of Basic Education demands that School Management Team members, together with other school stakeholders, play a crucial and dynamic role in ensuring that learners are retained. This study adopted a qualitative interpretive paradigm and employed a case study design to explore and understand how School Management Team members lead for learner retention in secondary schools. This study asks three key research questions: What meanings do School Management Team members attach to learner retention and leadership for learner retention? How do School Management Team members in secondary schools enact leadership for learner retention? Why do School Management Team members in secondary schools enact leadership for learner retention the way they do? The two methods of generating data used were one-on-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. I conducted the study in the province ofKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Through purposive sampling criteria, I recruited 14 School Management Team members, comprised of three principals, one deputy principal and 10 DHs from three schools under Umlazi and Pinetown Districts. The combination of Downton’s transformational leadership theory, Maslow’s theory of motivation and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory formed the theoretical frameworks that guided this study. Thematic analysis was used to interpret and analyse the generated data. The data generated by School Management Team members in the three participating schools show that learner retention does not have a single meaning. For instance, three perspectives were shared collectively by all participants in this study. Another issue that emerged as a major concern was the use of policies that are not specific to learner retention. The participants revealed that they used policies that were intended to increase the learner retention rates in the schools but were not specific to learner retention. The participants viewed these policies as indirectly pushing learners away from school and negatively influencing other learners who copied them and did likewise. The finding of this study is that participants adhere to these policies out of obligation to implement directives from the Department of Education. However, the Department did not provide explicit guidelines regarding the procedures to follow when children discontinue with their schooling. The findings indicated that in the process of leading for learner retention, School Management Team members are exposed to limited or sometimes no support from various levels of the education system. It is argued that the manner that people do things is influenced by how they link their understanding to reality. Research of this nature can be advantageous to alleviate social ills such as crime, substance abuse, and the continuing rise of ‘amaphara’ (derived from the word ‘parasites’ as they steal from families and communities) in South Africa. There is a need for similar studies that involve a wider category of participants, such as parents, community members, and school dropouts.