Teachers’ understandings and experiences of the Integrated Quality Management System in a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Abstract

Various studies on professional development have examined related purposes of Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS) to assess strength and areas for development as well as to provide support and opportunities for continued growth. The purpose of this study was to explore the teachers’ understandings and experiences of IQMS at a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The study also intended to establish how IQMS support teachers’ professional learning needs since the Department of Education has undertaken training after realizing that IQMS implementation had many challenges, among others the inability of the South African education system to meaningfully identify and address teacher development needs. This study adopted a situated learning theory with an assumption that IQMS is socially organised in a school context where teachers learn from each other in different contexts and structures such as Developmental Support Groups (DSGs) formed by teachers, their peers, and mediate seniors. The study was located within an interpretive paradigm. Semi-structured interview and document analysis were used as data generation. All nine-post level one teachers that were selected from a primary school were sampled to obtain in-depth information about their understandings and experiences in the implementation of IQMS in their school context. Teachers, as co-developers of education policy on the ground, act as a driving force behind the actualisation of transformation in education. Although it appears from findings that the appropriate structures for implementation are in place in some schools, the policy document and prescribed steps were not followed. Furthermore, some anomalies and difficulties with regard to the implementation of IQMS were evident. The findings revealed the weakness of integrating development and a lack of knowledge as well as expertise on the IQMS processes such as mentoring, coaching, and monitoring were found to hamper the zeal to implement performance management. It was also discovered that some teachers have a negative attitude towards the IQMS. The majority of the schools do not have management plans for the implementation of the IQMS and consistency and follow-ups are sadly lacking as indicated by most teachers. The study findings could benefit teachers and the Department of Education to get a deep understanding of the implementation of IQMS specifically for professional development purposes. From the findings of this study it is recommended that DSG must look into ways of assessing educators in the out-of-class performance standards that could keep evidence in records, as these will enhance teacher’s participation in IQMS; teacher familiarization with performance management lexicon and systems is important. This includes the terminology that is used in IQMS as well as the wider educational goals of participating in IQMS; and could be used as a way forward to the implementation of the revised IQMS.