| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this research study was to investigate how principals could enhance their caring role with regard to learners in schools. The Personnel Administrative Measures document (Department of Basic Education, 2016), which overlaps in various ways with the Policy on the South African Standard for Principalship (Department of Basic Education, 2015), necessitates that learners’ needs are accommodated for them to thrive academically, physically, psychologically and emotionally in a school setting where they feel cared for. These two documents contain the core obligations as required by law, in conjunction with the various caring roles and responsibilities principals have to fulfil to adequately provide in learners’ needs.
As the leaders of the school, principals face multiple challenges in accordance to identifying learners’ needs in terms of caring and the expectations placed on their shoulders by several role players. These challenges include inadequate time due to administrative responsibilities, a lack of school resources and funds and a lack of support from parents. In this study, the ethics of care theory formed part of the theoretical framework in explaining how principals and teachers could fulfil their caring duties. A qualitative research design, in line with the interpretivist paradigm underlining the research, was implemented to discover the nature of care experienced by primary school principals. A purposive sampling method was used to narrow down the participants in the study. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted to gain a better insight into the obstacles primary school principals face. Verbatim transcriptions of these interviews were used to do the data analysis via content analysis.
The main findings retrieved from the study consist of findings regarding the role and responsibilities of principals in primary schools. It has been found that principals have a lot of caring duties placed on them, especially in what contributes to the creation of a caring school climate and culture. It was found that both principals and teachers perceived their caring role as a calling that formed part of the education career they had chosen for a living. Furthermore, they affirmed that they carried the same responsibilities of caring for learners as the biological parents of these learners as soon as learners entered the school grounds, as stipulated by the Department of Basic Education in the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Other findings from the study indicated specific values or principles that school principals and teachers must adhere to in order to incorporate the caring responsibilities required for accommodating learners’ needs. Lastly, the study determined that the visibility and presence of the school principal in all aspects of the school influenced how successful a caring school climate was realised within the school environment. There is a wide range of methods and strategies that school principals and teachers have to integrate in the execution of their caring function, depending on the specific needs in terms of
caring learners require. It is expected of principals to identify guidelines that would assist them in their approach to challenges that arise in their caring tasks. The Department of Basic Education should also identify areas of improvement that would empower principals and teachers to effectively and thoroughly address learners’ needs in terms of caring.
Additional findings in this study involve the challenges principals and teachers face in their attempts to manage school affairs through standards of caring. In comparison with the situation a few decades earlier, the responsibilities of school principals and educators have changed drastically from merely providing education to essentially helping in the raising of children. It is expected of principals to be effective caretakers by empathising with learners’ needs, setting an example of caring for learners as individuals, always being approachable when learners require help, having a caring attitude that indicates learners are appreciated as individuals, ensuring that their deeds demonstrate their principles of caring, motivating learners towards success, building trusting relationships with learners and teachers through respect, being effective communicators and good listeners and showing interest in learners beyond solely pedagogic duties.
The findings from this study involve the formulation of guidelines for principals and teachers in primary schools to reduce the challenges they face in taking care of learners’ needs. Guidelines were formulated for principals and teachers to make their own lives less challenging by providing directions to them towards being more successful caregivers, with education still at the core. In the end, recommendations are made to the Department of Basic Education and principals to reduce the burden of obstacles experienced by school principals in primary schools. | en_US |
