The aim and scope of this study are to explore strategies for the encouragement of participative management at secondary schools in patriarchal South Africa. The study adopted the positivism paradigm to explore this empirical investigation, with the use of questionnaires as the data collection instrument. The school principals were the target of the target population. A total of 200 public high schools were selected across the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The sampled schools were randomly selected for the study. Findings reveal that principals, deputy principals, and departmental heads in patriarchal South Africa used management and leadership strategies that did not align with the twenty-first century. The adoption of ubuntu (humanness) and lekgotla (Sesotho term for “an African participatory approach to decision-making”) was advocated for, in making various decisions at secondary schools in South Africa. The study also established that the teaching responsibilities of the principals should be reduced or removed to enhance administrative functions through effective implementation of participative management practices at secondary schools in patriarchal South Africa.
Received: 8 March 2022 / Accepted: 13 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022
This interpretivist qualitative study explored lived experiences of rural secondary schools’ female principals' career development. Participants were female principals who were purposively selected from rural schools in South Africa to provide in-depth information to the study. Thus, eleven female principals from 11 public secondary schools within Ilembe District, Limpopo were engaged in semi-structured interviews, which lasted between 20-30 minutes each. The interviews were audio-recorded with permission of the participants to capture exact information. The audio-recorded data was systematically transcribed, coded to generate common themes for the presentation and discussion of findings. Findings revealed that some communities’ cultures continue to dominantly influence women principals’ career pathways, despite policies or efforts to promote gender equality in South Africa. The social attitude or ‘injustice’ against female principals in rural environments has limited their quest to pursue their career further or to aspire top administrative leadership positions in education. It is recommended that necessary government structures and other stakeholders in education sector should provide necessary support to female principals in rural schools.
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