8. Introductory Remarks
2.2. About Validation and Experience
2.2.3. Awarded Schools and Recent / Caretaker Principals
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Due to this influence, Mann considers the pass rate to be important and allows him to restrict admission of “at-risk” learners. This creates a tension between his social justice agenda and his view of the importance of the pass rate. Mann looks to his participation in the wider professional association for validation. To illustrate an overview of my analysis of this second set of congruents, I present this as a schematic diagram represented by Figure 5.
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Figure 5. Principals’ Experiences of School Leadership in At-Risk Schools Dropping pass rate
resulting in pressure from Department to improve
pass rate.
Principals turn inwards – MY school. Transactional
leadership Tension Traditional role model.
Principal as implementer of Departmental policies
Mann Renton
Principal’s Name
New / Acting principals Principal’s Experience
(appointment status)
At-Risk Schools Category
Biographic Influence Social Justice Agenda. The
bigger picture of education.
Academic success
School Tension as Understood by Principals
Systemic incongruencies and selective implementation of
policies by Department compounded by: open admission
policy, language barriers and SEM’s passing learners
Leadership Orientation
New Focus is Validated by Factors other than the
Pass Rate
Involvement in “bigger picture”- subject
committees.
Legislation first (technical
focus) Focus on removing at-risk
learners (gatekeeping justified) New Focus of Principals
(Leadership)
Hard work
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Naidoo was deliberate in his strategy to improve the pass rate. He used a “people- centred” approach and appealed to the educators to improve the pass rate. He realised that he first “had to win over the educators” (I2). If he could gain the trust of his educators, then it will be easy to improve the pass rate. This was the beginning of his charismatic style of leadership at the school. He appealed to the educators to try and improve the pass rate not only because “how much it means to me, but how much it means to all of us if we can get involved with our children… because we know that the parents are uneducated and we have to do the work of the parents as well” (I2). His approach succeeded in improving the pass rate to such an extent that his school won the most improved school award. Naidoo is a transformational leader and he sees the pass rate as a benefit to the learners. Naidoo says that “it is not so much for personal glory but the fact that my children have benefited from that” (I2). He argues that the validation of his leadership role by the Department is not his motivating factor. He is driven to maintain the high pass rate not to please the Department but to please himself. He claims that this “is what I want… it’s something that I as an individual want. It will give me some intrinsic pleasure to actually see my school high up there” (I4).
Winning the award for most improved school brought new confidence to Naidoo.
Instead of trying to maintain the high pass rate at all costs, Naidoo starts to question the role of the pass rate as the main indicator of school success. Although Naidoo concedes that “I guess the Department has made us concentrate on the results we produce in grade twelve” he will not put the pass rate above all other considerations (C6). For example, learners are not forced to do “less academically demanding subjects” in order to ensure that they pass and thereby protect the school’s pass rate. To do that is “totally, totally wrong” because “you may be robbing a child of their dreams” (I9).
Naidoo is sceptical about using the pass rate as an indicator of school success. He thinks that “too much emphasis is placed on the pass rate” (B5). What irks him is the silence of the Department about the many openly –flaunted gatekeeping strategies that principals use to prejudice many learners in their quest to maintain a high pass rate. Naidoo identifies some of these strategies as follows:
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• Exclusion of learners (either by denying them admission into their schools or by asking them to leave their schools) who are not able to match the high academic standard of the school
• High failure rate in grade eleven (due to more stringent pass requirements) to ensure a high pass rate in grade twelve
• Discouraging learners to do subjects on the higher grade
• Denying learners the opportunity to choose “more academically demanding”
subjects such as Physical Science and Mathematics
Naidoo claims that by focussing on the pass rate, the main objective of education is lost.
Naidoo asserts that “when too much emphasis is placed on the number of children passing at the end of the year, then we tend to lose sight of the objective of having children at school which is to develop children all round and to make them good citizens. More emphasis should be placed on sport as it is done in countries of the East…
and this will ensure the all round development of the child” (B5). Additionally, Naidoo sees the disparity in financial resources at schools as a contributing factor to the difference in the pass rates in schools.
Thembani’s school is also an “awarded” school like Naidoo’s school. Thembani is the acting principal at her school. This school is plagued with crises and has had a rapid turnover of principals. It had five principals in the five years of its existence. Four of these principals were in temporary “acting” positions. The first principal was Indian and he was the only permanently appointed principal at this school. He left when he received death threats. These threats made specific reference to his race. The second principal was Coloured and in the year that he was there, the school received the award for being the most improved school. He also received a death threat similar to the one received by the first principal and decided to leave. Two other principals served for short periods and left of their own accord. Thembani was the only member of management (Head of Department) left at her school and she was asked by the Department to assume the role of the principal. She is well aware that her position is a temporary one. She sees her role as that of a caretaker principal until “a strong, Black, male principal is appointed” (G5).
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Thembani was not the principal when the school received the award the previous year for being the most improved school. She is vague about her feelings about the pass rate as an indicator of school success. Initially she claims that she feels “under no pressure to maintain the high pass rate” (I3). This comes from her belief that she has “done everything that I could possibly do…and at the end of the day, if it is not right, I won’t blame myself. They can blame me but I won’t blame myself” (I4). Despite doing all that she can do, there are many circumstances beyond her control that impact negatively on the pass rate. Thembani lists some of these circumstances as:
• One senior educator was on sick leave for two months. He was traumatised and felt unsafe at the school because his name was mentioned in the written death threats received by the principal. There was no replacement educator in his place, and his grade twelve classes were not taught.
• There was no permanent science educator at the school. Two science teachers came and left within a few weeks of each other. Thembani tried to “twin” with a neighbouring school in order to share their human resources (specifically their science educator). These attempts were unsuccessful.
Despite the odds being against her, Thembani remains optimistic because she is
“working with God” (C1). However despite her protestations, she identifies two sources of pressure to maintain the high pass rate. The first comes from the Department in the form of the SEM. He “was here yesterday…solely to talk about that (the pass rate). He said that I must be aware that if the results go down then I am the one who is to be blamed” (I2). The second comes from the community which “tell me that they expect the results to go up. They want me to maintain the pass rate or improve it. They want nothing less…this is not fair and by telling me that I don’t sleep at night” (I4). Thembani understands that these are the two sources of pressure that she has to negotiate with regard to the pass rate. She therefore relies heavily on these sources of pressure (Department and community) and gives them (rather than her) ownership of the school and its pass rate. If the high pass rate is maintained under her leadership, the “SEM will probably be very happy and so will the community” (I4). Thembani allows the parents on the governing body to “to do things which other principals won’t allow. I allow it because they have the love of the school but sometimes because of their ignorance, they
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don’t know how far they should go… I don’t want to fight with them because I don’t want to be unpopular with them” (D1).
Experiences of School Leadership: Principal’s Biographies
While Naidoo and Thembani are at “awarded” schools, what accounts for the different ways in which they come to understand leadership in the context of the pass rate?
Naidoo has had a long association of over twenty-five years with his father-in-law who served as his role model. His father-in-law was a school principal and is now retired.
Naidoo is full of praise for his father-in-law and holds him in very high esteem. Naidoo speaks to his father-in-law often and still seeks his advice on educational matters.
Naidoo’s father in law is “very respected in the educational field … he is a strong leader with a well rounded personality who is able to win the love and respect of the staff as well” (C1). Naidoo feels compelled to follow his charismatic father-in-law’s example.
Naidoo sees the role of personality as being the single most important factor in the principal’s leadership role. This personality must be such that “one must be able to win the trust of the educators” (C1).
Other influences in Naidoo’s biography point to his childhood. He comes from a large family with ten siblings. There are many school principals in Naidoo’s family and he knew “from an early age that he wanted to become an educator” (A1). His love for reading “and the love to acquire knowledge” also influenced his decision to become an educator. His affiliation to the community is also very strong. He specialised in history and in physical education. He sees physical education as an important part of the all- round development that is needed for his learners.
Thembani’s role model is a former principal under whom she worked. This principal was a male and he was a “strong principal with a no-nonsense approach” (B1). People could not take advantage of him and “his word was final and the school was running very smoothly” (B1). His authority was not challenged. However, Thembani points to an important condition that must be fulfilled in order for this type of leadership to be
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successful. The principal must have the best interests of the school at heart. The principal “must be a good democratic person to run the school” (B1). In this type of leadership, the apparent contradiction of autocracy and democracy is nullified when the stakeholders believe that the principal is working in the best interest of the whole school and not for the benefit of a few individuals.
The strongest influence in Thembani’s life is her belief in God. She believes that whatever happens is due to a Divine plan. Her position at the school is not by accident.
She has been “put by here by God for a certain purpose… and God is with me” (C1). For Thembani “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord… I have invited priests to come and talk to the learners because when they become aware of the Lord, they will know that they need to fear the Lord and that’s how they will change” (C2). To illustrate an overview of my analysis of this third set of congruents, I present this as a schematic diagram represented by Figure 6.
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Figure 6. Principals’ Experiences of School Leadership in Awarded Schools Charismatic principal as
role model, family influences
Naidoo
Faith. Strong, black, democratic, male principal
Acting (temporary appointment) Recent
(6 years)
Awarded Schools
Previous principal Current principal
Thembani
School /leadership in crisis.
Principal in interim caretaker role
Use of Award Leadership Orientation
Name of Principal Principal at the time of the
Award Category
Award used as capital to push for transformational leadership with emphasis on charismatic leader.
Focus is no longer solely on pass rate.
Ownership / responsibility of maintaining “award” is abdicated to Department
and SGB. Focus is no longer solely on pass rate.
Biographic Influence Principal’s Experience
Principal seen as saviour by demonstrating Charismatic leadership
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