Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University visit and the role of the South African School Principal

            Our group met with Dean of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.    The campus is beautiful!  Just like in the US, the university has partnerships with the local school district and provides teacher preparation programs.  We were able to discuss the current structure of the teacher preparation programs, its evolution and future goals for improving teaching and learning.  The Dean shared some of the challenges of the program and providing education to include limited resources for teachers and principals, the impact of parenting on student learning, and the inequality that many of the schools faced.   The Dean expressed a concerned that many of the schools were in bondage and unable to achieve high standards because of these challenges.  Schools are evaluated by their grade 12 results.  She expressed the importance of understanding the data to really evaluate the success of school buildings recognizing all factors involved in determining school progress.  She shared that there was a similar struggle like the US to get more black male teachers and maintaining a pool of qualified teachers.  The government had offered various incentive programs for teachers much like the US to secure a highly qualified teaching workforce. 

            The Dean shared that much like many schools in the US, many schools in South Africa also lacked the community involvement and support needed to be successful schools.   She said that children come into the schools with a variety of social/psycho issues that need attention often as a prerequisite to teaching and learning.   Much like the US, many of the children experience poverty, abuse, neglect, and unaddressed mental health issues.  At Emafini, we have experienced that learners are provided more time to socialize, talk, and participate in customs that help to support school community and increase a sense of belonging.  In comparison, US school systems are very concerned with the academic performance of students and the social/emotional pieces are often times minimized.  Many US schools work to implement programs to address student needs more effectively while also making sure that students are academically successful.  This takes the efforts of many staff members.  At the South African schools that we have visited, there were no social workers or school counselors.  Our US schools typically utilize people in these positions to address the social/emotional concerns of learners.  It appears that in South African schools, that teachers and other school personnel have to develop creative and sometimes non-traditional methods to make sure that their learners are healthier socially and emotionally which often times may not be connected to the objectives and goals student learning. 

            This dynamic has been very concerning for me as a school administrator.  In the US we have very structured daily schedules with processes for addressing students needs that are not specific to academic learning.  Here students/teachers are often seen outside of the classrooms either during class periods or are allowed to dismiss prior to the end of the school day.  The South African “time table” is more relaxed than the traditional US class daily schedule for students.  US schools typically schedule all half-day events in advance.  The building South African Principal or School Leadership manages teacher learning as one of the most important activities” (Bush, Joubert, Kiggundu, & Rooyen).  However there are some similarities in the differences between the US and South African school building leader.  The South African Standard for School Leadership, has established that:

The core purpose of principalship is to provide leadership and management in all areas of the school to enable the creation and support of conditions under which high quality teaching and learning take place and which promote the highest possible standards of learner achievement.

            South African principals are “mainly concerned with financial management, human resource management, and policy issues, with the management of teaching and learning’ was ranked only seventh of 10 leadership activities in a survey of more than 500 Gauteng principals (Bush, Joubert, Kiggundu, & Rooyen, p. 162).  South African principals have “little experience of instructional leadership but managing teaching and learning is one of the core modules in South Africa’s national ACE: School Leadership program, recognizing that this is perceived as a crucial role for school principals, deputy principals and heads of department (HoDs)”. (Bush, Joubert, Kiggundu, & Rooyen, p. 163).  South African principals focus primarily on:

• ·      Overseeing the curriculum across the school
• ·      Ensure that lessons take place
• ·      Evaluating learner performance through scrutiny of assessment data
• ·      Monitoring the work of HoDs (Head of Departments), through scrutiny of this work plans and portfolios.
• ·      Ensuring that HoDs monitor the work of educators within their learning areas
• ·      Arrange program of class visits followed up by feedback to educators
• ·      Ensure the availability of appropriate learning and teaching support materials.

            Throughout our observations and conversations, we have found that the Principal relies heavily on the HoDs to be the instructional leaders within the school environment.  They are seen in and out of the classrooms, and working with teachers and students.  In talking to the Principal and School District level leadership we have learned that teacher unions have enforced mandates and regulations, which have altered the supervision of teachers and Principals as instructional leaders as we know it in the US.  There is a teacher evaluation system that consists of annual administrator reviews and peer observations conducted by the HoDs.  Some teacher/educators did share their concerns about having administrative interviews which were similar to our US inception of teacher evaluation programs.  We could hear in the teacher comments and the District level representative that they were still working on establishing the trust necessary for and effective evaluation process to occur.   It has taken years for our process to become what we have today in US schools and I trust that with time and continued professional development as we have had, their processes will eventually become more successful. 

            The Dean at MMU did leave us with a final message that I think will remain with us forever.  She said, “Take on the challenge of where you are needed the most and NOT where you are the most comfortable”.

Reference

Bush, T. , Joubert, R., Kiggundu, E., & Rooyen, J., 2010.  Managing teaching and learning in South  African schools.  International Journal of    Educational Development 30, 162-168.