I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Inba Naicker for his encouragement, support, guidance and expert supervision during the period of this study. I would like to thank all the school principals and teachers who participated in this study. Above all, I want to thank God Almighty for the spiritual guidance and immense strength given during the course of this study.
This study focused on the emotional intelligence of five female principals in relation to leadership practice. The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of emotional intelligence on school leadership practice, to explore and examine the strategies used by female secondary school principals to manage their emotions and those of others. This study was framed by Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence and Fullan's effective leadership theory.
Semi-structured interviews with female school principals and focus group interviews with teachers were used as data generation methods in this study. This suggests that the DoBE should provide induction programs and mentoring to newly appointed school principals regarding emotional intelligence.
DATA GENERATION METHODS .1 INTERVIEWS
DATA GENERATION INSTRUMENTS .1 INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
PILOT STUDY 3.7 SAMPLING
DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE STUDY SCHOOLS AND PARTICIPANTS
DATA ANALYSIS 3.10 ETHICAL ISSUES
CHAPTER SUMMARY
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 INTRODUCTION
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
- TO CREATE A CONDUCIVE/HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT 4.2.2 CREATING GOOD RELATIONS
- IMPROVES COMMUNICATION 4.2.4 MAKING SOUND DECISIONS
- DEALING WITH MALE RESISTANCE 4.2.6 SELF MOTIVATION
STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN MANAGING ONE’S EMOTIONS .1 TAKING TIME-OUT
- KNOWING ONE’S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN TERMS OF EMOTIONS
MANAGING THE EMOTIONS OF OTHERS AND RELATIONS WITH OTHERS
- DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP 4.4.2 REWARDING GOOD WORK
- SHOWING EMPATHY 4.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
SUMMARY OF THE STUDY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION
SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 5.3 CONCLUSIONS
- THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE PRINCIPALS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
- STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN MANAGING ONE’S EMOTIONS 5.3.3 MANAGING THE EMOTIONS OF OTHERS AND RELATIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
RATIONALE AND MOTIVATION FOR THIS STUDY
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS/TERMS
- EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
- LEADERSHIP
- MANAGEMENT
While Daft (1999) defines leadership as an influential relationship between leaders and colleagues who envision real changes that reflect their shared goals. Leadership is the process of influencing other people so that they will willingly and enthusiastically strive to achieve an organization's goals (Armstrong & Stephens, 2005). Bush (2003) agrees that leadership is the ability to influence the actions of individuals or groups.
Leadership is about helping people understand the challenges they face, supporting people to deal with these challenges and learn to live with the challenges (Sergiovanni, 2001). Management is the process of doing things through and with other people to achieve organizational goals (Van Rensburg, 2008). Management must design and implement processes that enable the realization of the organization's vision (Dunford, Fawcett & Bennett, 2000).
This term is important to this study in order to distinguish between the meaning of leadership and management. In this study, the concept of "management" refers to the activities of the school principal in a joint venture with all the actors involved.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews were also used as data generation methods in this study because the interviews will provide direct evidence of what stakeholders know and their interpretations (Cohen, Manoin & Morrison, 2011). According to De Vos, Strydom, Fouche & Delport, (2011) and Bell (2010) interviews are used to gain a detailed picture of the participants' beliefs and perceptions on a particular topic and it gives both researcher and participant much more flexibility. . This study examines the experiences of how female school principals deal with their emotions and those of others and relationships with others.
Bailey (1994) argues that in purposive sampling, the researcher uses his or her own judgment to select the participants who best fulfill the purpose of the study. Five female high school principals were selected based on the following selection criteria: variety of school contexts based on socioeconomic levels, urban or rural settings, and degree of ethnic diversity. Leedy and Ormrod (2005) argue that participants in purposive sampling are chosen because they are knowledgeable and informative about the phenomenon the researcher is investigating.
Focus groups of post-level 1 teachers were also purposefully selected as a source for the purpose of triangulating data. A member check was also conducted to find out the true meaning of the experiences (Creswell & Miller, 2000).
DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER OUTLINE OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The next chapter is devoted to the literature review and theoretical frameworks that underpin this study. The literature review, drawn from a diverse spectrum of research works, develops on the elements of the synoptic outline expressed in this chapter. A detailed explanation of the theoretical frameworks adopted for the study and the reason for the adoption is also fully discussed in chapter two of this research study.
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
- INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE
- THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERS’ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
- THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERS’ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION
- STRATEGIES USED BY LEADERS TO MANAGE EMOTIONS IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
- STRATEGIES USED BY SCHOOL LEADERS IN MANAGING EMOTIONS The personal qualities which are illustrated by the school principal’s role play a significant
- NATIONAL LITERATURE
- THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERS’ BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
- THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERS’ BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT IN EDUCATION
- STRATEGIES USED BY LEADERS TO MANAGE EMOTIONS IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
- HOW LEADERS MANAGE RELATIONS WITH OTHERS
The findings of the study show a positive and significant correlation between emotional intelligence and job performance. They also argue that emotional intelligence is an important factor that contributes to transformational leadership. Emotional intelligence is important in the process of leadership and should be considered an essential component of effective leaders (George, 2000).
The findings of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship between a school principal's emotional intelligence and school success. This illustrates that the emotional intelligence of school principals has a positive influence on the overall performance of the school. Cai (2011) agrees with Hayward, Amos and Baxter (2008) and Shahhosseini et al., (2013) that a school principal with high levels of emotional intelligence tends to adopt a transformational leadership style.
Hayward et al. (2008) investigated the relationship between employee performance, leadership style and emotional intelligence in the context of a South African parastatal. The article proves that the emotional intelligence of the principals of the two schools created a difference in the performance of the two schools.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
- THEORY OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Managing emotions: handling feelings so they are appropriate, the ability to shake off anxiety, gloom or irritability
Motivating oneself: marshalling emotions in the service of a goal, paying attention for self-motivation, mastery and creativity, delaying gratification and stifling
Recognising emotions in others-empathy: recognising emotions in others, empathetic awareness, attunement to what others need or want
Handling relationships: handling relationships is a skill in managing emotions in others, interacting smoothly with others (Goleman, 1995)
- THEORY OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
- MORAL PURPOSE
- UNDERSTANDING CHANGE
- COHERENCE MAKING
- RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
- KNOWLEDGE CREATION
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- INTRODUCTION
- RESEARCH DESIGN
- RESEARCH PARADIGM
- METHODOLOGY
- DATA GENERATION METHODS
- INTERVIEWS
- DATA GENERATION INSTRUMENTS
- INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
- THE PILOT STUDY
- SAMPLING
- DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE STUDY SCHOOLS AND THE PARTICIPANTS In the following table pseudonyms are used instead of the names of the participants and their
- DATA ANALYSIS
- ETHICAL ISSUES
- TRUSTWORTHINESS
- LIMITATIONS
- INTRODUCTION
- THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
- TO CREATE A CONDUCIVE/HEALTHY WORKING ENVIRONMENT
- CREATING GOOD RELATIONS
- IMPROVES COMMUNICATION
- MAKING SOUND DECISIONS
- DEALING WITH MALE RESISTANCE
- SELF-MOTIVATION
- STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN MANGING ONE’S EMOTIONS
- TAKING TIME–OUT
- KNOWING ONE’S STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES IN TERMS OF EMOTIONS
- MANAGING THE EMOTIONS OF OTHERS AND RELATIONS WITH OTHERS When the participants were asked about how they manage emotions of others and relations
- DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP
- REWARDING GOOD WORK
- BUILDING TEAM SPIRIT
- SHOWING EMPATHY
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
- CONCLUSIONS
- THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
- STRATEGIES IN MANAGING ONE’S EMOTIONS
- MANAGING THE EMOTIONS OF OTHERS AND RELATIONS WITH OTHERS
- RECOMMENDATION 1
- RECOMMENDATION 2
- RECOMMENDATION 3
- RECOMMENDATION 4
- RECOMMENDATION 5
Goleman (1998) states that emotional intelligence is one of the capabilities that effective or good leaders should possess. One section of the interview schedule was addressed to the principals of each high school. Each set of the interview schedule asked participants' perceptions of: the importance of emotional intelligence; how school principals deal with their emotions and those of others; and how they manage relationships.
In presenting the data, I wanted to ensure that the participants' voices were not lost. School leaders experience a variety of emotions in the day-to-day running of the school. This puts them under a lot of pressure, which then requires them to be able to control their own and others' emotions in order for the school to run smoothly.
Goleman (1995) argues that one of the components of emotional intelligence is social skills, which involve good interpersonal relationships. Mrs Nguse, the head teacher of Tholinhlanhla Secondary, also pointed out that it is important for female head teachers to manage their emotions well because it enables one to communicate the school's vision and mission well. The teachers in the focus groups agree with the views of the female school principals, who pointed out that the school principals know that they must always be in control of their emotions in order to avoid making bad decisions.
The data seems to indicate that it is important for female school leaders to be self-motivated in order to motivate others so that the school functions smoothly. Most of the participants from the focus groups confirmed what their school leaders said. Data suggest that time-out is one of the strategies that the school leaders use to deal with the negative emotions that they experience in the day-to-day running of the school.
The majority of the teachers in the focus groups confirmed what their school leaders said. One of the ways female school principals used in this study was to provide rewards for good work. This chapter focused on the presentation, discussion and analysis of the findings from the data generated through semi-structured interviews with the female school principals and focus group interviews with teachers.
The conclusions and recommendations are reached in light of the findings and with the aim of highlighting the importance of emotional intelligence in school leadership and also suggesting strategies that female principals can adopt to better manage their own emotions and those of others. The title of the project is "Emotional Intelligence and school leadership: A study of female principals in selected secondary schools in the Ugu district of KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of the study is to explore the Emotional Intelligence (EI) in relation to the leadership practice of female secondary school principals.
The purpose of the study is to explore Emotional Intelligence (EI) in relation to the leadership practice of female high school principals.
Biographic details
Importance of female school principals being emotionally intelligent
Strategies in managing own emotions
Managing emotions and relations in regard to others
General
APPENDIX D
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