2.3 THE SCHOOL AS AN ORGANISATION
2.3.2 School Administration Management and Leadership
Every organisation needs both management and leadership to achieve its objectives, respond to the changes in its internal and external environment and be sustainable.
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While leadership and management differ, organisations cannot survive without either.
In the school’s organisational structure, there is no provision for the existence of a manager and a leader as separate entities. Therefore, the bureaucratic nature of the school as an organisation dictates that both management and leadership responsibilities be vested in one entity, the principal. Van der Westhuizen (2002:89- 90) views the bureaucratic structure of a school as “an attempt to formalize roles and patterns of relationships that will accommodate organisational goals and individual needs”.
It has to be pointed out that the boundary between management and leadership is blurred and non-static. However, it is important to make a distinction between the two functions. Clarke (2007:1-5) pointed to the fact that different responses are required from one asked to manage the school and one required to lead the school. According to Kotter (2001), management is about planning, organising, coordinating, budgeting and mentoring people with high potential in the organisation. In Bennis and Nanus’s (1985) assertion that managers do things right, it can be inferred that managers follow strict procedures and systems to achieve organisational goals. Management is about developing working ways and keeping them running while leadership is about providing the direction and vision. Both leadership and management come with responsibilities that the incumbent must exercise to accomplish the organisation’s objectives.
Mestry (2017:253) states that principals are encountering new demands, more complex decisions and additional responsibilities than ever before. These require innovation and versatility, and the ability to handle different tasks simultaneously. The principal’s day is filled with diverse administrative and management responsibilities such as procuring resources, managing learner discipline, resolving problems with parents, and dealing with unexpected crises from learners and teachers. The National Policy on Whole School Evaluation (RSA, 2011:12) states that, “the executive authority for the professional management of the school is vested in the school principal supported by the school governing body (SGB)”. As a manager of the school, the principal is required to also focus on the administrative functions. As Clarke (2007) pointed out, the principal’s management role is to create systems for operational efficiency, organising staff and making sure that everyone knows what is expected of
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them, and delegating management duties to ensure that policies and management responsibilities are carried out.
In their review of empirical research spanning the years 1980-1990, Hallinger and Heck (1996:5) found that “strong administrative leadership was among those factors within the school that makes a difference in student learning”. The author indicated that the manager creates an expectation of predictability and good order. The Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 allocated the professional management of the school to the principal. According to the EEA, the principal is responsible for:
• General administrative management of personnel by providing professional leadership to the school.
• Engaging in teaching duties according to the post level.
• Recruitment and advocacy of extra and co-curricular activities.
• To serve the SGB and render all necessary assistance to the SGB in their performance of their functions in terms of SASA.
• Communication with the members of the staff, the SBG and the stakeholders in maintaining the efficient and smooth running of the school (RSA, 1998).
The administrative and management roles of the principal are enabled by the bureaucratic structure of the school as an organisation. Arnold and Feldman (1996:241) describe the organisational structure as “a formal arrangement of operations and activities within an organisation to describe the lines of responsibilities and authority within the organisation”. Theron, cited in Botha (2011:25) indicated that the school as organisation is a formal structure in which people stand in authority to one another within the organisation, where people’s actions are directed towards certain common objectives.
Ivancevich and Matteson (1999) define leadership as the exercise of influencing subordinates to achieve organisationally relevant goals. Van Deventer and Kruger (2003:63-70) see a leader as someone with charisma, flair and ability to inspire others.
The leader finds a way forward and provides a clear direction. The leader rallies followers and provides direction, purpose and the reason to pursue a new cause.
Leadership is about forecasting tomorrow and having the courage and conviction to venture into the unknown. The leader inspires followers to believe in the ideals of the dreams and provides the stimulus for the pursuance of the dream. The principal
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spends time on building teamwork and encouraging collaboration. According to Wells (1996), leadership is the process of influencing others to achieve organisationally relevant goals. Therefore, the leader uses influence, authority, persuasion and power in other to achieve the organisational goals. In the case of the school principal, the authority is derived from SASA section 16(3) and 16A which states that the professional management of a public school must be undertaken by the principal under the authority of the Head of the Department (RSA, 1996).
It is clear that a good principal has to be strong both as a manager and as a leader of the school. All the responsibilities that the principal execute in a typical day require both management and leadership skills, fused together or separately.