Leadership approaches to negotiate challenges in a changing education landscape

Volume editor
Leentjie van Jaarsveld
Volume editor
Kobus Mentz
Volume editor
Charl C Wolhuter

Synopsis

The argumentative point of departure of this scholarly book is the common conviction of specialists in the field of education in South Africa that the national education system is not at a satisfactory level – in both the academic and the public discourse. Such allegations are made, and stronger adjectives than ‘non-satisfactory’ are frequently used. Results of international test series in which South Africa has participated, such as the 2015 TIMSS tests, confirm the negative verdicts found in the (public and scholarly) discourse. This book argues that although the lack of performance could be attributed to a multiplicity of factors, leadership can make a difference in the achievement levels obtained by learners in schools. The book demonstrates that a particular problem of both the scholarly and the public discourse on education in South Africa is an overtone of defeatism or resignation, blaming all ills in the education system and educational institutions on historical legacies and/or contextual factors (such as socioeconomic deprivation in the catchment areas of schools) or poor resources and infrastructure. This collected work was inspired by a recently published spate of articles on top-performing schools (including top-performing schools in rural communities), in which it was demonstrated that good leadership can overcome such contextual and other challenges. The book unpacks the issue of leadership in South African schools from various perspectives, thus contributing to developing the scholarly discourse on educational leadership in South Africa. The target audience of the book is scholars of educational leadership. The research reported in the chapters draws on various methodologies, including empirical (survey) research (questionnaires and interviews), critical literature surveys, and the comparative method.

Chapters

  • Chapter 1
    Leadership as an instrument to address the challenges faced by South African schools
    Charl C Wolhuter
  • Chapter 2
    Contextual factors and leadership at underperforming schools
    Charl C Wolhuter, Leentjie van Jaarsveld, Branwen H Challens
  • Chapter 3
    Moral leadership: An imperative for principals in underperforming schools
    Branwen H Challens, Charl C Wolhuter, Leentjie van Jaarsveld
  • chapter 4
    Influence of school principal’s leadership on the school climate in underperforming schools
    Leentjie van Jaarsveld, Branwen H Challens, Charl C Wolhuter
  • Chapter 5
    The principal’s leading role during change in schools towards sustainable improvement in disadvantaged settings
    Arrie van Wyk
  • Chapter 6
    School leadership, school climate and academic performance: Results of a study in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa
    Leentjie van Jaarsveld, Kobus Mentz
  • Chapter 7
    School principal leadership in the 21st century
    Leentjie van Jaarsveld
  • Chapter 8
    A model for the induction of deputy principals in diverse school contexts
    Jan B Khumalo
  • Chapter 9
    The need for curriculum leadership training programmes for members of school management teams
    Tshepo T Tapala
  • Chapter 10
    Managing schools with the use of information and communications technology: Needs of rural and township school principals
    CP van der Vyver, AC Malan
  • Chapter 11
    The influence of local school governance structures on creating an opportunity for establishing a positive school climate
    Deon Vos
  • Chapter 12
    Leadership and the challenges faced by South African schools in a changing world
    Charl C Wolhuter

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ISBN-13 (15)
978-1-928523-50-5
Publication date (01)
2020

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ISBN-13 (15)
978-1-928523-51-2
Publication date (01)
2020

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ISBN-13 (15)
978-1-928523-50-5
Publication date (01)
2020
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