Myende, Phumlani Erasmus.Mnyandu, Buyani Mcabangiseni.2026-06-292026-06-2920242024https://hdl.handle.net/10413/24480Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The role played by Departmental Heads as leaders in South African schools is crucial due to their indirect impact on learner performance and the school achievement. In this study, I explored the following aspects: the role of secondary school Departmental Heads in leading teaching and learning in the context of rurality, the leadership strategies that Departmental Heads use to enhance leadership for teaching and learning, and the various challenges that Departmental Heads face in their leadership role. This study is underpinned by leadership for learning theory. This qualitative study is located within the contours of the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected using two data collection methods, namely: in-depth face to face interviews and document analysis. To select the participants, purposive sampling and convenience sampling were used to identify and recruit the participants from three secondary schools in Zululand District under Bhekuzulu Circuit Management Cluster. The study purposively selected six Departmental Heads from each of the three participating secondary schools. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that Departmental Heads have different roles in leading teaching and learning. These include the monitoring of teaching and learning processes, moderating formal assessment tasks, mentoring newly appointed educators, appraisal and evaluation of educators using the Quality Management System. This study also revealed that Departmental Heads provide support for educators’ professional development by motivating them to attend workshops, which are organised by the district office to capacitate educators. Further, Departmental Heads were experiencing numerous challenges in leading teaching and learning in the context of rurality. I recommend that Departmental Heads should always provide support for educators’ professional development in the subject meetings and departmental meetings in order to capacitate them. Further, the researcher also recommends that similar studies be conducted in all districts in KwaZulu-Natal to explore what the Departmental Heads do regarding leading teaching and learning in the context of rurality. Further research can entail the Departmental Heads of primary schools to understand how they lead teaching and learning in their primary schools.enCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Teaching and learning.Instructional leadership--Schools.Departmental Heads--Role--Schools.Thesis