The Restricted Reality of Teacher Leadership: A South African Survey

1
The Restricted Reality of Teacher Leadership A
South African Survey

• University of KwaZulu-Natal
• Callie Grant, Karen Gardner, Farhana Kajee,
  Ronnie Moodley and Sharila Somaroo

2
What is teacher leadership?

• Harris and Lambert (2003)
• Teacher leadership is a model of leadership in
  which teaching staff at various levels within the
  organisation have the opportunity to lead.
• Gronn (2000) Leadership as an emergent process
• South African context

3
Methodology

• What are teachers perceptions about leadership
  in schools?
• To what extent is teacher leadership happening in
  schools and what roles do teachers take up?
• What are teachers perceptions of the leadership
  context and culture in their schools?

4
Districts

• Umgungundlovu (70)
• No fee schools 7
• Umzinyathi (24)
• No fee schools 31
• Umkhanyakude (6)
• No fee schools 84

5
Research design

• Group research project
• 1055 completed questionnaires
• 54 primary
• 39 secondary
• 7 combined schools
• Sampling purposive and convenient
• Interpretive paradigm/quantitative
• Data entered using SPSS

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Teacher leadership model
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FINDINGS TEACHERS VIEWS ABOUT SCHOOL
LEADERSHIP

• Majority (75) -not only SMT should lead
• 72 - confident and capable of leading
• 8 - SMT should make decisions
• Perceptions reinforced by Task Team
• level of rhetoric support for distributed and
  teacher leadership

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FINDINGS TEACHERS VIEWS ABOUT SCHOOL
LEADERSHIP

• QUALIFICATION AND TEACHER PERCEPTION ABOUT
  ABILITY TO LEAD
• 62 under-qualified
• 77 4 year diploma or degree
• 72 5 year qualification or more
• Higher qualification greater confidence
• Data suggests teachers perceive themselves as
  leaders

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THE EXTENT OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOLS

• PURPOSE HOW TEACHER LEADERSHIP HAPPENS
• Emergent or delegated?
• 61 - always or often took the initiative
• Initiative per districts
• 64 - Umgungundlovu
• 57 - Umzinyati
• 46 - Umkhanyakude
• Variation contextual issues
• Question How does socio-economic status of a
  community impact on teacher initiative?
• Zones and roles model level of involvement

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ZONE 1 Leading within the classroom

• Focus- leadership within the classroom
• Attempts to elevate stds. of teaching.
• 77 - often or always critically reflected
• 72 - often or always updated knowledge
• Data teachers engaged in activities that
  promoted teaching and learning
• Strong correlation Umgungundlovu and Umzinyati
• Data from Umkhanyakude contradictory
• Perceptions not reality

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ZONE 2 Outside the classroom

• Focus
• Provision of curriculum knowledge
• Managing in-service training
• Providing assistance
• Performance evaluation
• Highest of often or always
• peer evaluation 38

12
ZONE 2 Outside the classroom

• Mostly involved in
• Extra- mural
• Text book selection
• Leadership restricted
• Emphasis on maintenance and administrative
  processes
• Leadership exception rather than norm

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ZONE 3 Outside the classroom in whole school
development

• Comprises two roles
• Participation in school level decision making
• Organising and leading reviews of school practice
• Findings Teachers - seldom fully involved in
  decision making processes

14
ZONE 3 Outside the classroom in whole school
development

• Limited participation in designing staff
  development programmes
• Harris and Muijs (2005) lack of confidence and
  leadership skills
• Need for meaningful professional development
  experience Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001)

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ZONE 4 Leading between neighbouring schools

• Focus-
• Providing curriculum development knowledge across
  schools
• Leading in-service education
• Assisting teachers across schools
• Participation in zone 4 not common practice
• Highest level of participation in extra-mural
  activities 25
• Findings concur with Rajagopaul (2007) and
  Khumalo (2008)

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TEACHER LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL COMMITTEES

• DATA ANALYSED TO DETERMINE
• Extent of teacher leadership
• Roles assumed
• Composition of committees
• How teachers became members

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TEACHER LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL COMMITTEES

• NAME OF COMMITTEE
• CATERING
• SPORTS
• CULTURAL
• TIMETABLE
• SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY
• SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
• MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE
• SAFETY AND SECURITY
• DISCIPLINE
• TEACHER UNION

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TEACHER LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL COMMITTEES
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CONTEXT AND CULTURE

• AIM
• To determine teachers perception of the school
  context and culture- barrier or facilitator
• SMT barrier distributive leadership and
  collegiality
• 29 felt SMT trusted their ability to lead
• Majority not fully acknowledged
• 27 - SMT valued their opinion
• Concurs with existing research (Ntuzela (2008),
  Rajagopaul (2007), Singh (2007)

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CONTEXT AND CULTURE

• OTHER BARRIERS
• Lack of professional development 32 satisfied
• Colleagues 19 no resistance

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Conclusion

• Teacher leadership
• Leading in zones
• School Management Team
• Teachers themselves
• Context and culture
• The future

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Questionnaire

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Instruction Place a CROSS in the column that
  most closely describes your opinion on the role
  of teacher leadership in your school.
• Scale 5 Always 4 Often 3 Sometimes
  2 Seldom 1 Never
• I believe
• 
  
• 
  
  
• 11. Only the SMT should make decisions in the
  school.
• 12. All teachers can take a leadership role in
  the school.
• 13. That only people in positions of authority
  should lead.
• 14. That men are better able to lead than
  women

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Questionnaire

• Scale 5 Always 4 Often 3 Sometimes
  2 Seldom 1 Never
• Which of the following tasks are you involved
  with?
• 15. I take initiative without being delegated
  duties.
• 16. I reflect critically on my own classroom
  teaching.
• 17. I organise and lead reviews of the school
  year plan.
• 18. I participate in in-school decision making.
• 19. I give in-service training to
  colleagues.
• 20. I provide curriculum development knowledge to
  my colleagues.