4.2 Data presentation and discussion of findings
4.2.5 Parents
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decide if all of them would be attending. Minutes showed that most of the time they sent delegates to the meetings, and as a result, the school kept functioning although there were union meetings that were taking place simultaneously. There were no forms of rejection or unnecessary contestations that were observed. This includes the cases where the principal assigned or delegated responsibilities to other staff members. The minute books also indicated that their meetings were interactive and principals accepted ideas from the staff concerning raised issues.
The positive attitudes that prevailed between the staff and the principal created a conducive atmosphere for good relations and enhanced school effectiveness. One principal (P-B) indicated that she made sure that she created a positive atmosphere in order for learning to take place. But at the same time she was decisive and assertive as a principal. She also provided a nurturing and caring environment to their subordinates if it is needed.
P-B reported:
All teachers take it as luck to have a female principal as they are not afraid to approach me even about their personal problem.
The above responses revealed that female principals that participated in the study demonstrated effective leadership qualities which may not be found among male principals. I am aware that my study did not focus on male principals, and therefore, I cannot say much about them. It is evident though that these principals were easily accessible to educators and they could ask for assistance from the principals. That, without any doubt created a vibrant climate and good human relations in the organisation (school). One can surmise with confidence that such a climate contributed to school effectiveness which ultimately had a good impact in learners’ good results more especially Grade 12.This is evidenced by the fact that both Schools were producing good Grade 12 results after the two principals took over in their respective schools.
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In response to the question on parents’ attitude towards the principal (P-A), the deputy principal (DP-A) and the female head of department (HOD-A) had similar view that parents had positive attitude towards their principal. P-A claimed that the long period (since 1988) she spent with the community enabled them to know and understand her abilities, and thus were comfortable with her leadership.
P-A highlighted:
I have stayed with them for a long time as a result they know me; understand my abilities, so they are comfortable with me as the principal of the school.
DP-A mentioned that parents’ attending meetings was an indication that they (parents) were happy. Besides attending meetings, parents did participate in the discussions and decision-making process. This was evident when I peruse the minutes of the meetings the principal had with parents.
DP-A stated:
Our learners’ parents are happy. The attitude is seen on their attendance and co-operation during meetings.
The female HOD-A further reported that the community was co-operative. She said that for a long time, P-A served as a principal, there was not even a single complaint from the community about her (principal) leadership, and thus they accept her.
The male HOD-A had a different view on the issue of parents’ attitude towards the principal.
He highlighted that some parents, particularly the males, still did not believe that women could lead. This became evident when there were problems at school, for instance if a parent was called to the school because his child has violated the code of conduct such as fighting another learner. Instead of looking at the problem of lack of discipline from the child, the parent usually viewed the cause to be the principal, usually because she was a woman.
The male HOD-A had this: “This could not happen should the principal is still Mr X”.
This implies that, some parents regarded woman principals as being unable to enforce discipline. Such a viewpoint can be regarded as being unfair because sometimes their
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comments were also on the things that happened in the school even before women principals took responsibilities of running their schools.
Against this background one may deduce that, although some parents had trust in female principals, there were some who still associated leadership with gender. P-A indicated that there were some problems of parents who did not attend meetings, and as a result, they did not comply with the resolutions taken. The worst part of it according to HOD-A and DP-A, the parents did not take their children’s education seriously. She also expressed the view that there were children who were the heads of their household from various reasons. Some of the reasons were that parents were working far away from their homes; some stayed with their grandparents because their parents had died, and that situation resulted in lack of discipline among them and a lack of proper guidance.
In response to the community attitudes towards the principal as a woman, P-B raised a different issue. She said that in the beginning some members of the community had a negative attitude towards her and she viewed their attitude as emanating from a tendency of criticising women in leadership positions.
P-B said:
Generally parents have that tendency of criticising a woman in the position of leadership; as a result, at first it was not easy to accept me as the principal.
Still on attitudes of parents towards the principal, DP-B mentioned that some parents whose learners were enrolled at school had a negative attitude towards the principal in the beginning. But he indicated that when they observed that discipline from the learners and the teachers, as well as the learners’ good results, their attitude changed. In his point of view negative attitudes of parents towards the principal was changed by the good result obtained in Grade 12 and the principal’s ability to maintain discipline in the school. On the basis of the above findings one may conclude that the display of good leadership skills by the principal caused parents to change their negative attitude towards her.
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The perceptions of women subordinate to men still existed irrespective of whatever good they could do. This position corresponds with a position earlier held by Madlala (2007) who argued that communities have no faith in females and their expectations of women as leaders were very low. Similarly, a female HOD-B highlighted a case of parents outside the school to which the male HOD-B also referred to as community at large. She maintained that they undermined women ability to lead. She highlighted that they showed a lack of trust in women leadership, and they therefore put the blame on the principal for any wrong thing that took place at school.
HOD-B reported:
If a child misbehaved you can hear them saying that it was better when Mr X was a principal [referring to the previous male principal].
Another challenge mentioned by one female HOD-B was that P-B was from the same community. Parents knew that P-B was soft, and therefore they could not imagine her being able to manage such a huge school particularly high school. On the basis of the above responses, it was clear that the P-B was expected to work hard in order to prove to the community that she could lead the school effectively.