Even though all of these three features were found to be main shapers of school culture at Fundiseka, embracing all of the features was leadership. Embracing about the leadership and therefore particularly enabling about it for the formation of a potentially supportive culture at the school about the leadership was diffusion and contingency, as discussed hereunder. One issue that served to convey this aspect was the following response to a question on who enculturated newcomers at the school or took leadership in shaping the school's culture:
Student: They (teachers) also let them (new students) know about the punishments. I remember when I arrived they told me what the punishments were and that they weren't afraid to hit you. So when they hit you can't complain because you knew from Day I.
Although ihe response pointed to corporal punishment, an illegal and controversial aspect of Fundiseka school culture, the response served as a strong illustrator of the school leadership's role in shaping the school's culture.
Diffusion
A reason found to be contributing to ihe capacity of the Fundiseka leadership to shape common understandings among the school's community was that the leadership was diffused and therefore accessible to the whole of the community. Particularly striking about the dispersion and probably contributing to its enabling capacity was the lack of resentment and suspicion on the leadership by individuals holding formal positions of authority at the school. Probably contributing to this was that the bureaucrats were themselves perceived as being of influence by individuals under their domain of
responsibilities. This finding was in line with recent findings that characterizing effective organizations, amongst others, is dispersed leadership and flatter
organizational structures (see, for example, Bennett, 1991; Coleman, 1994; Gold, et al., 2000 and Gold, 2003). What was found to be enabling the diffusion at the school was the leadership size, capacity, focus and shared responsibilities.
Leadership size
Pointing to the diffusion were a number of responses, including the following, to a question enquiring about the identities and numbers of individuals that influenced others' attitudes and activities at the school.
Student 1:1 think it is a big number of people because it includes both learners and teachers. For example learners that are in the RCL and others that are in other committees in the school and teachers have good influence over the learners in their behaviour and their learning habits (all 5 respondents in the learner focus group agreed)
Student 2: These teachers they all try by all means to make sure that the running of the school is straightforward no one can come here and do their own thing and change the way the school is run. They make sure that the students are disciplined when they are told to things they do it (sic). For example, - Mr N, Mr C and others, they are trying by all means to instill discipline in the school and that students get what they came to this school for. They make sure that students go home educated at the end of the day. We have period registers that teachers need to make sure are signed at the end of the period. If the teacher does not pitch up on this and find out why that teacher was not in class at that particular time. The teacher will have to explain because they need to make sure that students are attended to and taught at all times.
Teacher: Culture in this school is actually shaped by the majority of people. The majority are (sic) seeking a common goal and I think the majority are shaping the culture -.cultural excellence - wanting to do better. The majority of the people in the school want to do it, but as I said you will get, I don't even know them, you will get the minority that will pick and point fingers, whatever. But the majority of people want the best.
Contributing to the leadership size was that the school community did not view leadership as a preserve of a few individuals occupying official positions of authority at the school. Instead, the community allowed and enabled leadership to emerge organically and informally from all of the school's sectors. The school's practice of enabling leadership to emerge from the ground meant that the school had the number and type of leadership needed by its community. As a result, the leadership reached and was available to all of the school's community. One such emergence revealed itself on the very first day of fieldwork at the school when a group of students was observed rehearsing its drum majorettes' steps while awaiting the teacher coordinator who was delayed elsewhere. One of the students called out to the drummers and coaxed them to begin their paces and was able to get an immediate and intended response from the group. The student did not hold a formal position in the group but was able to command influence because, as informed by a nearby student on enquiry, she happened to be a good drummer and was generally perceived as a very
responsible individual. That the student was part of the elected RCL the following year gave the impression that she had demonstrated her leadership capacity on numerous occasions.
Leadership capacity
Also contributing to the enabling capacity of the leadership diffusion was its
'leadership capacity'. Helping bring this about were the school's multiple committees such as the RCL and its various subcommittees such as peer counselors; student education committee; sports committee and disciplinary committee. Contributing to the capacity of the committees is that they provided emergent leaders not only with ample opportunities to exercise leadership but also with opportunities to further develop their leadership potential under the guidance of staff leadership, as pointed out in interview responses such as:
RCL member 1: Sometimes we attend workshops and people come in to motivate us and tell us what to do, and how, in life.
RCL member 2: there are other committees that have student leaders. There is the matriculation committee, there is the committee for the English Academy and so on.
The teachers help them in improving their leadership skills. Although there usually
isn 't much that goes on, they may put you in contact with people on the outside, but generally they do their best to help out.
Shared responsibilities
Enabling about me leadership diffusion was not only the leadership size and skill but also its capacity to be different things to different people at different times. Making this possible were shared 'responsibilities' among the leaders, shared in the sense that the leadership, both formally and informally, offered the school community different aspects of leadership. For example, while certain sections of the leadership leaned more towards transformational and relationship orientation and/or nurturing forms of leadership, other sectors of the leadership were decidedly task-oriented. The
principal's leadership was, for example, so decidedly relationship oriented that the staff was very relaxed with him to the extent that the young addressed and referred to him in his clan praise name, in compliance with the Zulu custom of addressing respected elderly members of the clan. Also illustrating the shared responsibility orientation and the value attached to it by the school community was the following response by one of the teachers participating in the teacher focus group:
What I see with ... (praise name) is that we take him as a father figure. So whenever there is a problem we are able to sit with him and talk to him. So even when we are looking for jobs (promotional posts) he wants to know what is going on (progress).
On the other hand, descriptions of the deputy principal identified as the second most influential person at the school by both staff and students labeled the DP as a
decidedly task-oriented individual. Striking about this was that the orientation was equally valued by all of the school community. This is even though staff objection to an announcement by the DP during a particular morning assembly that students should report teachers who failed to honour their periods had initially given the impression that the staff was averse to the orientation. Subsequent events had however dispelled the suspicion. In fact, interview responses indicated that a small section of the teaching staff was of the opinion that the principal tended to be too lenient. For these members of staff a little bit of more of the DP's task oriented leadership could have lifted the school academic performance from its above average rating to that of excellence. Also indicating the acceptability of the orientation at the
school was the deputy principal's identification as the second most influential individual at the school by both teachers and students. A student's response
confirming this was that what he liked about the DP was a disciplinarian that 'makes sure that students go home educated at the end of the day'. When asked how he achieved this, the student's response was that he did this by making sure that teachers attended their periods by checking the time table and taking rounds around the school to make sure each class was attended by a teacher and also by checking that period registers were dutifully issued to teachers by class representatives.
Role modeling
To promote desired forms of behaviour from the school community, the school leadership modeled desired behaviour as contained in documents such as the 'Code of conduct' (see appendix 13), 'school's rules' (see appendix 14), the school's
development plan and mission statement (see appendix 15) and code of conduct (see appendix 16). That role modeling took place and succeeded to influence the attitudes and activities of the school community was discernible in a number of responses to a question enquiring about what the school utilized to initiate its newcomers:
Student: Students observe and imitate, for example the dress code, rule-following and work ethic. These are all rules, So if someone comes to the school they notice things like that and education and when we study we are serious.
Teacher: work is carrying on all the time. When you see a new comer and you see that work is going on (laughs), the principal introduces the teacher to the staff and to the HOD, then the HOD takes it from there, introduces them to the staff etc. and they can see that work is carrying on so he just follows the work schedule and he carries on (laughs)
Student: It is done especially by teachers because we are only students and the people who arrive know nothing about the school. The teachers try to address them and tell them how thing are done at this school. For example, we know that it is usually students that come from different schools and in this school what students value the most is our school uniform in its entirety. They try to address them about that and how to behave in class. The initiation that old students provide, the name calling is usually jokes but sometimes the newcomers do not take it well. It also happened to me and it didn 'tfeel nice. At the end of the day the teachers try to address newcomers in the proper manner by telling them the rules of the school.
Student: He (the principal) plays a big role in motivating the learners. He is always open. When J first got to this school I thought that I might have problems
approaching him for assistance, but I find that every time I go to him I get the
assistance I need. He is helpful, friendly and he always motivates the learners and the teachers. Because for the teachers to do what they do with us they go past him as well. He makes sure that before they can expect discipline themselves, they don 'tjust do as they please. That is what the principal does for the school and he also looks out for the well-being of the school that it is always alright.
Vigilance
Closely linked to role modeling was the vigilance with which various leaders at the school guarded against and discouraged behaviour deviating from acceptable behaviour. Responding to a question on how the school achieved its good academic performance, one of the teachers identified as one of the three most influential individuals at the school, for example, claimed that among other things, all teachers honoured their classes. When asked how the school accomplished this taking into consideration that a majority of schools in the township seemed to be struggling with the issue, the teacher claimed that whenever it was suspected that particular teachers were not doing their bit, staff would make pointed remarks aimed at correcting the transgressioa For example, influential teachers would stand up each time a change of period bell rang and enquire from all who remained seated whether this was because they had a 'free' period like him/her. The teacher claimed that whoever would be asking the question would be standing in the vicinity of the time table and gazing at it.
This would continue until all were satisfied that the message had achieved its desired effect. According to the teacher was that if this failed to drive the point home, the 'guilty' parties would then be directly 'reminded' of their responsibilities.
Caring
Also particularly striking about Fundiseka leadership was its concern for the school community's well being. Pointing to this was that all interviewees' descriptions of all of the individuals identified as influential included a caring aspect. This was the case, for example, with the description of Mrs Z., the lady teacher identified as the most influential female teacher at the school. Contributing to her influential capacity, for example, was that she played a very active role in the school's HTV-AIDS awareness
campaign and also went out of her way to help individuals living one way or the other with the pandemic. Her activities further involved coordinating the school's peer counselling team and providing assistance to students in dire economic need. Her influence was such that a number of student leaders she worked with had voluntarily undergone HIV testing and wore pins proclaiming their negative status with pride.
The purpose was to motivate other students to refrain from risky practices. Below are some of the responses that conveyed the degree to which a caring attitude was valued by the school community and therefore carried leadership capacity for the
community:
Student 1: For example, Mrs Z. looks after the well-being of the students. You find that some students are being abused a home and you find that they are too scared to say anything to anyone. She tries to find these people and help them. She is not alone on this. There are some other students she works with. Recently a student had a problem at home. It was painful. Apparently everyone at home was sick and she was the only one who does everything. Her mom and sister are mentally ill. Mr C. & Mrs Z and other teachers also try to help those students who get abused at home or people who re really poor.
Student 2: They also don't want students staying at home not doing anything. They organize bursaries for us.
Fairness
Fairness was one other characteristic found to be enabling about the school's leadership. Indicating the degree to which the school community valued this
'leadership' aspect were a number of interview responses, including the following by two students participating in the student focus group:
Student 1: Another thing I like about leadership in this school besides the RCL is that we use the same system that the rest of the country uses to vote. We use democracy and that is why things work, because people who are leaders are people who everyone has agreed on. This is what I like. We work democratically.
Student 2: It is very straight because everybody is always told that he or she must be responsible for the position that he or she has and handle it with great honour. The school must take the person as a member of the office and they must be exposed to what does gender means, equality in the school (sic).
Nurturing
Emerging from responses to a question on what interviewees liked the most about the school leadership was that, amongst these, was the nurturing provided by the
leadership, as illustrated in the following response.
They (teachers perceived as leaders) behave very well and when they give out advice they sit down and all your problems... They get different views from all the learners in the class and they put that together and come up with a solution listen to
Also pointing to the degree to which nurturing was valued by the school community and therefore contributed to influence capacity was that the student body had taken to referring to the lady teacher referred to in the above discussion as 'u-Ma wethu' (our Mother). This was with reference to her being available not only to students in need of caring but also to those in need of nurturing, as claimed not only by the above
responses but by all interviewees.