Leadership learning: a case study of departmental heads from two primary schools.

Abstract

Departmental heads (DHs) in primary schools in the South African schooling system play vital roles in leading and managing teaching and learning schooling phases. Research indicates that the Department of Education does not offer them formal training aimed at equipping them for their complex roles, nor does it require them to have formal leadership qualifications prior to assumption of duty as DHs. This study sought to explore how these leaders learn to lead. Specifically, it asked the following research questions; what are the departmental heads' perspectives on leadership learning in the case study schools? How do the departmental heads in the case study schools learn leadership? What do the departmental heads in the case study schools view as effective mechanisms for leadership learning? Two theories underpinned this study, namely, the Adult Learning Theory by Knowles and the Leadership Development Conceptual Framework by Lyham. This study is framed in the philosophical dimensions of the interpretivist paradigm within the qualitative approach. The methodology applied to understand how departmental heads learn was a case study. Two schools of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education’s Pinetown District were conveniently sampled, and four departmental heads were purposively chosen and interviewed. Document analysis was applied to supplement the data generated from the semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study revealed that departmental heads think it is very important for leaders to learn to lead and they understand that performing their core duties requires specialised guidance. Furthermore, leaders learn differently as driven by their goals. Their lengthy leadership experiences enabled them to recommend context understanding as a vital aspect of the leadership learning process accompanied by support largely from the principal of the school. This study concluded that departmental heads do not receive sufficient support from their school principals upon appointment and recommended that a collaboration between the departmental heads, leaders of Professional Learning Communities and the learned others be formed and a programme for newly appointed departmental heads be designed and shared with other schools in similar contexts.