This was a survey of two secondary schools and was an example of teachers' perceptions of subject advisors as lesson leaders. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, critical questions were asked, such as how teachers conceptualize the role of subject advisors in instructional management and what teachers' experiences of instructional support provided by subject advisors have been.
Introduction
In such cases, the mediating role of the guidance guidance of subject advisors becomes even more crucial. The study was conducted in two secondary schools in Umbumbulu Central Circuit in Umlazi District.
Background to the study
It is contrary to this premise that teachers' perceptions of subject advisors as educational leaders were examined. The support and professional development programs of the subject advisors mainly consisted of substantive workshops and school visits.
Objectives and key questions of the study The aims and objectives of this study were
Subject advisor
Instructional leadership
Overview of research design and methodology
Organisation of the study
5 The second chapter presents an overview of the national, continental and international literature that was relevant to the study, as well as the theoretical frameworks that supported the study.
Chapter summary
Introduction
Outline of literature review
Elmore and Burney (1997) found that district officials' influence is achieved when they provide district professional development programs and instructional support that are responsive to the needs of schools and teachers and that focus on instructional practices. Such professional development programs and support ultimately shape and influence what principals and teachers do in schools and classrooms (McLaughlin & Talbert, 2003).
Educational leadership
At the heart of his argument is that raised standards in educational leadership and management and improved school and student outcomes are two sides of the same coin. In light of the view that education systems around the world are being reformed to achieve quality education for all, then it becomes important to understand the role of educational leadership in implementing and managing change.
History of instructional leadership
Instructional leadership was then overtaken by school-based management and facilitative leadership (Hallinger 1992a, as cited in Bush, 2003) and transformational leadership (Jenkins, 2009). In South Africa, instructional leadership is commonly referred to as curriculum management or the management of teaching and learning (Bush, 2014).
Instructional leadership behaviour
Talking with teachers
The suggestions offered to teachers under their guidance by effective instructors were characterized by relevance, focus, and lack of hostility. They also found that effective instructional leaders ask others questions, advice, and opinions about matters related to classroom practice.
Promoting teachers’ professional development
- Focus on the study of teaching and learning
- Promoting coaching relationships among teachers
- Inspiring and promoting redesign of programmes
- Using action research to inform instructional decision making According to the findings, teachers felt that effective instructional leaders used school-based
Similarly, effective instructional leaders were found to incorporate the principle of adult learning in the design and delivery of professional development programs. Therefore, PLCs are a professional development approach that addresses the principles of adult learning and results in professional growth and development.
Current landscape of instructional leadership internationally
United States of America
It was in relation to manifestation of change that professional development/teacher professionalism faced the main challenge. Professional development/professionalism of teachers therefore did not achieve significant educational reform as expected.
Wales
Ultimately, NCLB is criticized for focusing on student achievement but doing little to build teacher capacity to meet the challenges of standards-based reform. they receive does not meet all of these criteria for effective professional development (Darling-Hammond, et al., 2009). Leu (2004) writes that networking or clustering is a fairly new professional development model that is becoming popular among teachers.
Finland
For professional development, Finland has decidedly moved away from traditional forms of professional development. Instead of traditional workshops, professional learning communities are at the center of teacher development.
Current landscape of instructional leadership in Africa
Kenya
23 Instructional supervision is carried out by Quality Assurance Standards Officers (QASOs), an agency under the Ministry of Education. Wanzare (2012) reports that calls are being made to promote internal instructional supervision as an alternative strategy to improve the quality of education.
Botswana
25 on community values and cultural experiences had an inverse effect on instructional leadership achievement in the PSMD Project in Botswana. Pansiri's (2008) finding resonates with Christie's (2010) conclusion that South Africa's new education policies were decontextualized and thus further compounded the challenges of instructional leadership.
Current landscape of instructional leadership in South Africa
Fifth, principals and maintenance trainers do not prioritize teaching and learning management (Bush et al., 2009; Hoadley et al., (2009). In a study conducted in 142 schools in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, Hoadley et al. 2009 ) found that only 17% of principals directly manage teaching and learning.
Role of district offices in instructional leadership
This indicates that district officers (who have often been classroom teachers themselves) need to be developed and trained so that they can successfully carry out their instructional leadership roles. Additionally, Bantwini and King-McKenzie (2011) seem to make a similar argument that district officials lack knowledge about the teachers they work with.
Theoretical frameworks
- Promoting a positive learning climate
- Observing and improving instruction
- Assessing the instructional programmes
- Spillane, Halverson and Diamond’s (2001) theory of distributed leadership Spillane, Halverson and Diamond’s (2001) theory of distributed leadership is anchored on
- Leadership tasks and functions
- Task enactment
- Situational distribution of task enactment
To promote ownership of the school mission, all stakeholders (such as teachers, parents, students, community leaders, civic organizations) must be involved in its framing. Microtasks are the tasks that are carried out for the daily functioning of the school.
Chapter summary
This could be an example of a formal leader being willing to trust that the informal leader (based on their experience, skill and/or expertise) will make the right decision that will contribute to the realization of the common Goal. In other words, material goods are not an end in themselves, but managers use them to facilitate the realization of organizational goals.
Introduction
Research paradigm
The interpretivist paradigm also holds that reality is an individual and unique experience of social actors. In terms of epistemology, the interpretivist paradigm rests on the belief that knowledge is situational and a personal experience.
Methodology
The central ontological features of interpretivist paradigm that were considered attractive for this study was that it relies on participants' views of the situation under study. Naturalistic, interpretive and critical genres usually project qualitative methodology (Marshall & Rossman, 2010) and therefore this study used interpretivist paradigm.
Research design
Idiographic approach does not claim that findings are generalized to the wider population of the sample being studied, therefore it often uses case studies or small samples (Struwig & Stead, 2001; Terre Blanche & Kelly 2006; Marshall & Rossman, 2010). It was believed that information generated by the ten participants would enable the researcher to bring forth a comprehensive understanding of the topic under investigation.
Sampling
Heads of departments were selected to participate in the study because, by virtue of being school instructors for their departments, they had the most frequent and direct contact with subject advisors in instructional support meetings. Therefore, it is believed that they can provide insight into the role of subject advisors in instructional management.
Data generation methods
Interviews
Interviews were a data generation method used to generate primary data for this study. To preserve the original data, all voice recordings were transcribed verbatim (Maree & van der Westhuizen, 2009).
Documents review
Permission to voice record the interviews was sought in advance and in writing from the participants. Confidentiality concerns were addressed by transferring voice-recorded interviews to the researcher's password-protected computer immediately after the interviews were completed and shortly thereafter deleting from the researcher's voice recorder (Wayhuni, 2012).
Data analysis
Policy on the Role and Functions of District Offices, 2013; CAPS and Umlazi District Circular 1 0f 2014 and MDP: Vision 2030 were of interest to this study because they alluded to the roles and responsibilities of subject advisors in relation to teacher support and development. Content analysis was done by identifying patterns and themes that emerged in the interview transcripts.
Issues of trustworthiness
Inductive analysis was used to identify multiple realities that were present in the data (Maree & van der Westhuizen, 2007). Member checking was done by giving participants a summary of the interview to approve the way the data was presented (Lauer, 2006; Fouche, 2005).
Ethical issues
- Autonomy and respect for the dignity of persons
- Nonmaleficence
- Beneficence
- Justice
Wassenaar (2006, p. 68) explains that “the burdens of the research are borne by the participants, while the benefits accrue to the researchers who gain degrees, publications, reputation and promotion, while the circumstances of the participants remain unchanged.” For this study, equity was ensured in that , that the knowledge gained in the study has potential benefit for participants in that it has improved teachers' reflection and understanding of the role that subject advisors play in providing instructional support. The gatekeepers in this study were the two principals of the schools where the research was conducted.
Limitations of the study
Letters requesting permission to conduct research in the two schools were written to the two principals and permission was granted for both schools. Furthermore, letters were written to the selected potential participants in the two sites to ask for their consent to participate in the research study.
Delimitations of the study
To address this limitation, member checking (Fouche, 2005) was conducted by seeking participants' validation of the interpretation of data for final analysis (Flick, 2007). Triangulating the three data sets against each other served to establish similarities and contrasts in the participants' views of the supervisors' role as instructional leaders.
Chapter summary
This chapter presents data generated from semi-structured interviews and document analysis of teachers' perceptions of subject advisors as instructional leaders. What do teachers understand about the role of subject advisors in providing teaching support.
Discussion of themes emerging from the data
Participants’ conceptualisation of subject advisors as instructional leaders
- Subject advisors as providers of guidance
- Subject advisors as coaches
- Subject advisors as mentors
- Subject advisors as monitors
60 supported the participants' conceptualization of the role of subject advisors as providers of support and guidance. However, it was clear that their view of the role of subject advisors as mentors was similar.
Why participants need instructional support from subject advisors?
- Creating forums for sharing instructional problems
- Developing teachers’ content and/or pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) Some participants were of the view that subject advisors should meet their developmental
- Moderation of formal assessment tasks
Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a branch of knowledge that transcends content knowledge, as it specifically deals with, among other things, how and/or how different students do not learn or fail to learn subject content, how teachers use learning and teaching support materials. (LTSM) to improve students' understanding of subject content (Shulman, 1987). Some participants were of the view that they need subject tutors' support in moderating formal assessment tasks so that students would be exposed to assessments that were of national standards.
Participants’ experiences of instructional supports rendered by subject advisors The findings from the data analysis showed that the participants had varied experiences of
- Guidance and support
- Workshops
- Monitoring of policy implementation and compliance
- Judgemental attitude
The participants seemed to be dissatisfied with the lack of attention from their subject supervisors. The data revealed that some participants felt that visiting counselors was a terrible experience.
How subject advisors involve or collaborate with others to support teaching and learning
- Subject clusters
- Lead teachers
97 greater insight into how her subject advisor involved her in managing teaching and learning and in promoting collaborative learning among teachers of the subject. Interestingly, Miss Jupiter attributed her subject advisor's involvement with other teachers to a lack of competence in the subject.
Participants’ views on how else subject advisors should render instructional supports
- Subject advisors should work closely with schools
- Subject advisors should be appointed on the strength of subject competency
Finally, some participants felt that it is essential for subject advisors to understand the social dynamics of students' backgrounds. In this subtheme, participants expressed views that subject advisors should demonstrate competence in the subjects they lead.
Chapter summary
Secondly, they must also know and understand the contextual factors, such as features of communities and culture which invariably influence teaching and learning. The results from the data analysis were also discussed in relation to the critical questions presented in Chapter 1.
Study Summary Chapter One
Both were considered pertinent to improving understanding of the teaching role of subject advisors in supporting and managing teaching and learning. Chapter Three presented the discussion of the research design and methodology that framed and informed this study.
Conclusions
- Participants’ value the role of subject advisors in supporting teaching and learning The first conclusion drawn was that the participants viewed subject advisors as essential role
- Participants need various and differentiated forms of instructional support
- Positive relations facilitate conditions for effective teacher development
- Collaborative practices should be reconfigured to address teachers’ professional development needs
- Subject advisors should be closest to schools
- Subject advisors should be sufficiently developed and prepared for instructional leadership role
Regarding the participants' conceptualization of subject advisors as coaches, two conclusions were drawn. Participants presented numerous approaches used by their subject advisors to provide instructional support.
Recommendations
Recommendations to the Department of Basic Education
Recommendations to subject advisors
Additionally, subject advisors must actively seek to build trust and collegiality with the teachers they supervise. Therefore, it is recommended that subject advisors embrace the teachers they supervise as equal partners in the learning and professional development journey.
Recommendations to teachers
Classroom teachers must therefore be heard so that subject advisors do not harbor unrealistic expectations of them. Subject advisors must then listen patiently to teachers' concerns so they can learn from the people who are where the proverbial band meets the road.
Chapter summary
What do subject advisors actually do to support and manage teaching and learning in your department? What do subject advisors actually do to support and manage teaching and learning in your subject?
