Vision as a guiding leadership strategy for school effectiveness

Abstract

Even though the Department of Education (DoE) has implemented various policies to establish school effectiveness, serious concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of South African schools. Schools are required to have a vision, mission and school development plan (SDP) in place to enhance effectiveness. Literature indicates that the implementation of the vision as a leadership strategy is the key factor to direct a school towards effectiveness. Therefore, in this study, the vision as a guiding leadership strategy to establish school effectiveness was investigated. A literature review was conducted to determine the importance of a vision as a leadership strategy in a school. Furthermore, the implementation of the vision, using the mission and SDP, was investigated in this study. The empirical investigation aimed to determine whether there was a difference in how often and to what extent SMT members and non-SMT members experienced the use of the vision as a leadership strategy. The researcher further enquired whether there was a difference between the biographical variables with regard to how often and to what extent the principals used the vision as a leadership strategy. A nonexperimental quantitative research design was used. The study was conducted within a post-positivist framework. The study was demarcated in the Matlosana area in the North West Province, where a convenience sampling method was used. For the purposes of this research, only primary and secondary schools with more than 500 learners were selected because these schools will have more than one SMT member. The sample included respondents from 61 schools that satisfied the criteria, but only 238 respondents from 51 schools filled in the questionnaire. A self-compiled structured questionnaire, comprising of 45 closed-ended questions, was used. Furthermore, the researcher made use of a four-point Likert scale as an ordinal scale, allowing respondents to rate the statement on a scale of 1-4, indicating the level to which they agree or disagree with the statement. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed in this study. The data were analysed through exploratory statistical techniques. In order to determine the experiences of SMT members and non-SMT members as well as the various biographical variables on the use of the vision as a leadership strategy, a factor analysis, Kaiser’s measure of sample adequacy (MSA), was used. Furthermore, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were used to assure internal reliability of the constructs and were based on inter-item correlations. Practical significant differences were determined between the means of constructs for independent groups, using Cohen’s effect sizes (d). The literature review vis-à-vis the findings of this study revealed that a vision for a school plays an energetic and inspiring role to motivate stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of the school. The empirical investigation showed that SMT members and non-SMT members did not experience a difference on the use of the vision as a leadership strategy by the principal. In contrast, teachers from township schools and farm schools did perhaps not experience that the principals of their schools used the vision as a leadership strategy, as often and to the same extent, as those teachers from the inner-city schools. As the literature review indicated that the use of the vision as a leadership strategy improves school effectiveness, it is recommended that all principals should use the vision as a leadership strategy.