School Management Team strategies for the enactment of teacher leadership in secondary schools

Abstract

South-African post-apartheid legislation enforced democratic school management through the establishment of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and School Management Teams (SMTs), and paved the way for distributed- or participative teacher leadership (TL). The significance of the enhanced enactment of TL is grounded in the improvement of culture and climate of schools, teacher effectiveness and capability, learner motivation and participation, and subsequently overall school performance. Although the functioning of SMTs is described in legislation (South African School’s Act 84 of 1996; Personnel Administrative Measures (PAM), 2016), the problem emerged that the roles and responsibilities of SMTs, especially regarding the enactment of TL, are vague and unclear. In this qualitative phenomenological study, embedded in the interpretative paradigm, the researcher endeavoured to determine strategies that can be employed by SMTs to enhance the enactment of teacher leadership in secondary schools. The study is a significant endeavour to set guidelines for future policies in describing the exact roles and responsibilities of SMTs, especially in relation to the enhanced enactment of TL. The study encompassed a population of four quintile one rural secondary schools, and one quintile four semi-urban secondary school in the Volksrust circuit of the Gert Sibande district, on the Highveld of Mpumalanga. The researcher used non-probability convenience sampling to select the participative secondary schools and purposive sampling to select the participants from the selected schools. The sample size comprised six post level one teachers occupying informal TL positions and six SMT-members, occupying formal TL positions. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured interviews and the inductive process of content data analysis was used. A common understanding of the concept of TL was reached, where TL was enacted within as well as beyond the classroom. The role of SMTs was identified as a management role, as well as a TL role, with the responsibilities of SMTs being the formulation and implementation of school policy, managerial responsibilities, the enhanced enactment of TL and teacher development. Teachers expected to influence and learn from one another in an educational environment where uncontrolled, unrestrained relations pertained, and identified their needs for the enactment of TL as a collaborative school culture and support mechanisms provided by the SMT. The nature and structure of PD practices, as well as the limitations of current PD practices and features of effective PD practices for the enhanced enactment of TL, were identified. The researcher utilised the findings of the research study to develop a schematic presentation of SMT strategies for the enhanced enactment of TL.