The preparation of teachers to serve as teacher leaders in primary schools in Gauteng

Abstract

Teachers are expected to execute leadership duties and responsibilities in schools. These leadership duties and responsibilities are not properly explained in the manuals that govern the way teachers should teach and exercise leadership. For example, there are seven functions of a teacher in the Norms and Standards for Teachers, but only one of these functions indicates that a teacher has some leadership roles to accomplish. The functions of an teacher as a leader are not clearly explained. Hence, teachers must construe meaning of how to execute leadership duties on their own and carry on in accordance with their own, individual, interpretation thereof. This has led to multiple discrepancies in how teacher leadership is interpreted and executed in the South African context. These differences vary from school to school, and from teacher to teacher. An in-depth literature review was conducted to establish how teachers are instructed to enact leadership duties in the schools. This review reveals that there is not much being done by the Department of Education to prepare teachers to implement leadership roles in schools, both in- and outside of the classroom, in the inter-schools’ community and in the community at large. This study is guided by a principal question: How prepared are schoolteachers to serve as teacher-leaders in Gauteng primary schools? The interpretivist paradigm was used to probe teachers in their social environment. This research made use of a qualitative approach and a phenomenological research design was adopted. The population was made up of primary school teachers in the Johannesburg North District of the Gauteng province. A sample size of twelve teachers was identified from this population. Convenience and purposive sampling were adopted to identify the sites of the study, thus four primary schools that are close to each other were selected. Schools were purposively selected to make sure that schools from different quintiles were included. Purposive sampling was adopted to identify the participants. Trustworthiness was guaranteed in the gathering and interpretation of the collected data. The gathered data was transcribed and analysed using content analysis. It was then organized into themes and sub themes. The major findings of the study comprise the following: Research findings relating to the nature of teacher-leadership in the South African context. The findings show that teacher leadership is not an easy concept to understand and implement in the South African context. It is understood differently and enacted differently depending on the factors affecting each school and different individual teachers. Teacher leadership is understood differently by teachers in the same school and also conceived differently from school to school. There is no common understanding of what constitutes teacher leadership. Terms such as informal- and formal leadership roles are not familiar to

some of the teachers in the selected schools. The participating teachers identified the following principles as essential to the concept of teacher leadership: positive influencing of people at schools, which include inspiring learners and influencing other teachers and other school staff; and influencing the community at large with a view to bring about positive change. Research findings relating to how teachers perceive the concept of teacher leadership - Literature review reveals that some, if not most, teachers have scant understanding of the notion of teacher leadership and what it entails. The research shows that most teachers perceive teacher leadership as confined to the classroom only or that teacher leadership has to do with the learners whom they teach only. Some participants also indicated that the concept of teacher leadership refers to teachers as classroom leaders only. Research findings relating to views of teachers regarding their preparation to serve as teacher leaders. All the participants expressed the view that they did not receive any training to serve as leaders. The schools’ departmental heads who were interviewed in this study stated specifically that they were not trained to serve as leaders outside the classroom during their teacher training courses. They explained that they reached out for mentorship and were mentored to serve as leaders by persons they regarded as suitably experienced to do so. Research findings relating to how teachers can be prepared to serve as teacher leaders Participants suggested that teacher training institutions should include modules on teacher leadership training. This includes more practical sessions on teacher leadership that will prepare teachers to be leaders in their classrooms, schools in general and in their communities at large. Teachers have to be introduced to teacher leadership training courses during pre-service and be exposed to ongoing in-service leadership training courses and workshops. Recommendation flowing from the study - This study has distilled recommendations to different stakeholders whose contribution is significant in the enactment of teacher leadership in schools. These various stakeholders include, teachers, schools, and the Department of Education.