41 the principal (Grant, 2006). In this regard the middle managers can therefore be seen as leaders of their departments because they too develop “new skills, capabilities and understanding” in their team members (Senge, 1996, p. 45). The middle managers can thus lead the change process within schools through this transformed leadership style.
The leadership can be around “curriculum issues, assessment, teaching and learning, community and parent participation, school vision building, networking, the
development of partnerships, and so on” (Grant, 2006, p. 514). Transformational leadership moves away from a traditional understanding that involves transactions between members of the department in schools (see Caldwell & Spinks, 1992). In transformational leadership, followers are committed to change (Hallinger, 2003).
Eagly (2007) proposes that women leaders are more transformational than male leaders because of their stereotypically feminine qualities of co-operation, mentoring and collaboration, which are qualities of transformational leadership.
Therefore, within the South African policy context transformational and collegial leadership and management is proposed so that schools with leaders/managers such as women heads of department are capable of meeting the challenges of a changing education system.
42 life experiences are singularly based on differences in class positions, ethnicity,
religious beliefs, sexual orientation and age.
Even within the role of middle management some scholars such as Cubillo and Brown (2003) show that women are often assigned pastoral duties involving nurturing and caring whereas men are given responsibilities for aspects such as finance and curriculum. The literature review shows that the middle management position is complex because of the multiple roles the middle manager in secondary schools plays.
Harris (1999) expresses this complexity by distinguishing its four dimensions: first, how the HoD is able to translate the perspectives and policies of senior staff into practice in the department; second, how the middle manager is able to encourage the teachers in the department to form a group identity; third, how the middle manager is able to improve staff and student performance; and fourth, the liaison or representative role of the HoD. Some scholars like Adey (2000) indicate that middle managers are beginning to adapt to the changing role in respect of managerial responsibilities, but has yet to develop their leadership role as middle managers.
The literature shows that within the middle management tier of educational
management, leadership and management functions tend to impinge on each other;
hence the concepts of management and leadership need further clarification. Singh and Lokostch (2005) point out that educational management in South Africa has traditionally been based on rules and regulations and control of system impetus and outputs, but contemporary management in education is based on shared leadership and a shared vision. Thurlow (2003) shows that management and leadership in education have changed in South Africa from a bureaucratic system to decentralised decision- making that promotes self-managing, autonomous schools. Coleman (2003c) equates leadership with vision and values, and management with processes and structures.
Several literature sources note that even the educational policies within South Africa promote a new type of transformational leadership within schools. The type of leader and manager for the changing educational context is a leader who leads as a
transformational leader accompanied by the devolution of power within the school (DoE, 1996a).
My findings from the literature review are useful for this study because the following points can be highlighted:
43
Seeing women as a specific category is important in educational management since women tend to have their own style of leadership, something that is often overlooked or incorrectly viewed as a deficient style of management when compared to their male counterparts.
The middle management tier is an integral part of the educational management hierarchy because middle managers drive the core function of a school, the curriculum and its associated teaching and learning processes.
A new approach to educational management in the ethos of transformational leadership is required in South Africa‟s changing educational context.
As documented in the sources consulted, not much is understood about how women middle managers in schools lead their departments as transformational leaders.
There is a dearth of research on women in middle management and how women become managers and develop their management capabilities and creates a gap in the literature.
In the next chapter I discuss the capability approach and transformational leadership theory in order to understand why women middle managers are able to become transformational managers. I will apply these theoretical approaches to investigate how women middle managers develop capabilities from their formative years to function as transformational leaders in their departments.
44 CHAPTER THREE
THE CAPABILITY APPROACH COUPLED WITH TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY FOR STUDYING WOMEN MIDDLE MANAGERS
IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
In Chapter Two I discussed various scholars‟ work about women in education
management, the “middleness” of the HoD role and the challenges faced by managers occupying this important position in the school management hierarchy, closing by reviewing the literature on management and leadership in education. In this chapter my purpose is to consider a set of ideas about how people develop capabilities that enable them to function in later life. I refer to these ideas as the “matrix of alignment of the sets of ideas of the capability approach and transformational leadership theory”.
The capability approach from Sen (1999) and Nussbaum (2000a) is useful because it enabled me to explore how women middle managers come to be the managers they are. Looking at Nussbaum‟s central human functional capabilities, and how these capabilities are developed in the women managers from their formative years, and paying attention to the concept of professional capabilities as used by Walker, et al.
(2010), I reflect on the capabilities essential for women middle managers to function as professional women. I then turn to the transformational leadership theory because this form of leadership underpins South Africa‟s policy for school leaders such as women middle managers. The Transformational Leadership Theory may be a relatively “old” leadership theory, but it is integral in this study because it is used to explain how women middle managers are able to function within a post-apartheid changing educational context. The transformational leadership theory as applied by Bass and Avolio (1994) and Leithwood, Jantzi & Steinbach (1999) is useful as it enabled me to explore the transformational leadership functions of women middle managers.
I find the capability approach is a useful theoretical lens to understand how women HoDs have developed capabilities to become middle managers, and how they are thus able to function in their management roles. The concept of human capability was developed by Amartya Sen and expanded by Martha Nussbaum. Transformational leadership theory, also used in this study, will additionally explore how women middle managers are able to lead their departments effectively in the post-apartheid
45 period seeing many changes are taking place within the transforming education sector in South Africa.
The central idea of the capability approach is that human beings need to be
acknowledged as dignified and free people who shape their own lives in cooperation and reciprocity with other people, rather than being passively shaped or acted on by the world in the manner of a “flock” or “herd”of animals (Nussbaum, 2000a, p. 72). In addition, the capabilities or freedoms to which the women middle managers have been exposed are integral to this study and will be a focus in this chapter. Sen‟s
instrumental freedoms and Nussbaum‟s list of capabilities are used as a means to evaluate the capabilities, freedoms and opportunities experienced by the women participants. These enable them to lead worthy and meaningful lives and to flourish in their management roles. The transformational leadership behavioural components of Bass and Avolio (1994) and the leadership attributes and dimensions of Leithwood et al. (1999) from an educational context, will be used to understand how women middle managers function within their roles.