All the life lessons you taught me will carry me to my dying days. There were times when I doubted myself, but you made me believe and you always encouraged me to do more.
- Introduction
- Rationale
- Problem statement
- Purpose statement
- Research questions
- Primary question
- Secondary questions
- Research objectives
- Conceptual framework
- Organisational culture
- Well-performing schools
- Previously disadvantaged schools
- Overview of the research methodology
- Significance of the study
- Delimitations of the study
- Chapter division
- Chapter summary
The importance of this study is particularly the nature of the organizational cultures of these schools. Therefore, the present study aims to understand the nature of the organizational cultures of high performing, previously disadvantaged secondary schools in the Metsimaholo Municipality.
Introduction
Conceptualisation: school organisational culture
- Culture
- Organisational culture
- The levels of organisational culture
- Aspects of organisational culture
- Intangible aspects of organisational culture
- Tangible aspects of organisational culture
At the base of the organizational culture lies the mission and vision for the school (Confeld, 2016:7). The character of the school can influence the way members of the organization experience school life (Xaba & Janson, 2013:131).
Understanding organisational culture: A synthesis
Therefore, it is concluded that three main constructs are important in understanding the organizational culture of historically neglected schools in this study, namely: strategy, structure and behavior or performance. It is also crucial to understand the types of organizational culture in order to understand the cultures of schools in the context of the types they typify.
Types of organisational culture
- The adhocracy culture
- The market culture
- The clan culture
However, Schein (2012:42) argues that the adhocracy culture is based on isolated decision-making and that the members of the organization become less involved in issues related to the organization. In this sense, it can be concluded that the clan culture is a typical cooperative culture.
The school organisational culture
- School organisational culture and main school functionality areas
- School organisational culture and leadership
- School culture and learner achievement
- School culture and teacher performance
- School culture and school performance
The culture of the school as an organization is referred to as the school organizational culture in this study. It is therefore clear that the type of organizational culture of the school has a relationship with the performance of teachers.
Factors that influence school culture
- Central philosophy
- Overall school strategy
- Community involvement
- Funding and resources
- Emotional Intelligence
- Empowerment
It can be argued that the type of philosophy shared by the school members will influence the culture of the school. This is the plan used to guide the behavior of the school members to create a positive school culture.
Changing and maintaining school culture
In other words, goals and objectives should be shared and understood by all members of the school. When the basic assumptions of the school are not understood by the members of the school, change and resistance arise. It can be affirmed that in order to change or maintain the culture of the school, leaders must understand the climate of the school.
School leaders must therefore regularly communicate the mission and vision of the school in order to successfully maintain a positive school culture.
Summary
Introduction
Research methodology
- Research paradigm
- Research design
- Strategy of inquiry
- Participants and their selection
- Data generation method
- Interviews
- Observations
- Data collection process
- Data analysis and interpretation
- Role of the researcher
- Quality criteria
- Ethical considerations
The aim of the study is to examine how successful schools in Metsimaholo municipality experienced organizational culture and how it affected the performance of their schools. The participants were principals and directors who were deemed best suited to deliver. Only pseudonyms were used in the analysis and interpretation of the data, and neither the real names nor the identifying characteristics of the participants were mentioned or used.
During data collection, background information about the study was shared with participants so that they could understand their role in the research and understand the purpose of the study.
Summary
Furthermore, data relating to learner discipline was collected from participants' narratives and data relating to orderliness and school uniform were collected from school archives and websites.
Introduction
Recapping the data analysis
These categories further revealed the essential levers of school organizational cultures in this study. I identified these features for a contextual understanding of the nature of organizational cultures of previously disadvantaged, high performing schools in Metsimaholo Municipality and included them in a priori identified categories as stated in the conceptual framework.
Data presentation and discussion
- Demographic features of participants
- The demographic profile of principals
- The demographic profile of HoDs
- Intangible aspects of organisational culture
- Tangible aspects of organisational culture
- Visual Manifestations
- Behavioural Manifestation
- Verbal Manifestation
This is part of the school's rules and regulations and aims to convey the expectations of the school to everyone who enters the school. It is striking that the schools have different types and status of the physical infrastructure. This conveys the school's values of safety and care for all members of the school.
For example, the slogan "We can" at Ikatleleng High School communicates the intention to use all energy to realize the vision of the school. It seems that this is also how the culture of the school is transmitted: from the school leaders to the students. School rules and regulations also apply to teachers and school management.
Chapter summary
It appears that most of the identifying features of the school's organizational culture are prevalent in the schools, as gleaned from the participants' responses and observed artefacts in the schools. It was also evident that tangible aspects of school culture are influenced by intangible aspects, which echoes in most literature expositions on aspects of organizational culture manifestations. It is also clear that the tangible and intangible aspects of school culture have a telling and significant effect on the behavior of school members.
These findings are important for this study's objectives regarding the nature of school climate and lessons that can be derived from the participating schools' organizational cultures.
Introduction
Summary
Investigating the nature of the organizational cultures of the selected schools required insight into how intangible and tangible aspects are manifested at the schools. The determination of the nature of the organizational cultures of the schools in the study could not be considered separately on the basis of intangible and tangible aspects. These commonly shared values, visions and missions of the schools project the standards and expectations shared by the members of the schools.
He also noticed that the schools did not have modern equipment.
Conclusions
- Types of organisational cultures at the schools
- Lessons from the findings on school organisational cultures
An important conclusion from the schools' management is to create supportive organizational cultures while being steadfast in demanding accountability and emphasizing the completion of work. It is therefore concluded that principals' pursuit of cooperation, communication and teamwork are values that stem from their deep-seated philosophical beliefs and convictions and are therefore driving forces for the types of organizational culture in schools. The traits of the market culture are expressed where the goals and objectives of the schools are aimed at achieving 100% pass rates and maintaining the schools reputation for high performance.
These goals and objectives lead schools to focus on competition and winning as a core value.
Recommendations
- Recommendations
- Recommendations for further research
These observable manifestations of predetermined strategies are also manifested in the visual and verbal manifestations of schools. Furthermore, the use of school heroes and heroines can be a key lever for promoting these aspects. It is therefore recommended that further studies include all schools in the district and other districts.
Future research could be conducted using a larger sample and quantifiable data to enable the generalization of the findings.
Limitations of the study
This study focuses primarily on the nature of school organizational culture in successful, previously disadvantaged high schools. Other variables such as the relationships between school organizational culture and school performance, student achievement, teacher job satisfaction that may influence school culture may be areas for further research. However, I made good use of the available data and drew conclusions based on the data.
For example, some of the photographs used in the manuscript are shown with their identifiers blurred, even though some are in the public domain.
Conclusion
This observation guide will be used to help maintain a focus on the school's organizational culture when conducting school site observations. Observations will be conducted at the school without involving anyone and will not disrupt school programs in any way. You will be informed of any new relevant findings by the researcher through verbal communication.
The observations will therefore take place as unobtrusively as possible and there will therefore be no disruption to the school processes.
INFORMATION TO THE PARENTS/GUARDIANS ABOUT
During the observations, no photos or video recordings are made of the school building, staff or students. Therefore, the observations will not cause any harm or risk to the school, staff and your child. If you have any objections to the observations carried out at your child's school, you can make your objections known to the principal of your child's school.
If you do not object to the observations, we assume that you have given permission for the observations to be carried out at your child's school.
A sample of interview transcripts
Sometimes students decide to do something out of the blue, then we have to call them to order, so that helps us a lot because they often see us supporting them all the way. Kahobotjha-Sakhubusha High School was founded in 1990. The mission of this institution is to continue building and not just the physical building, but the holistic building development of our products. It is that mission and vision that we share as an institution that always drives us to ensure that now when our students leave our institutions and enter tertiary education or wherever they go after secondary school, they are holistically have been developed. That's why we use a lot of building blocks to achieve that so from 1990 onwards we've produced quite a number of pupils who have excelled in whatever fields they've entertained, we've produced lawyers, doctors, we've produced in the technical field, we've had a lot of graduates who carry the Kahobotjha-Sakhubusha Secondary School tag, and professionally we have teachers who have been promoted and who are moving on to other institutions there are principles we can boast of some of the teachers who have left this institution to become subject advisors to serve in the district so we continue to build holistic people and we are always flexible and compliant with the demands if there are economic demands we always try and strive to align with bringing forth the people who are a meaningful contribution and impact in our communities in this country. Very positive because this is also reflected in the drop in disciplinary cases that we used to have and we don't know when our disciplinary committee last had a case in my office as we have our help in handing out disciplinary action.
At the end of the day if you are consistent and focused, we achieve one goal, it drives us to achieve one goal, as if we set our own targets for the year.
