A B S T R A C TThis article examines the factors which impact upon the creation of a school environment for the effective management of cultural diversity as legislated for in the directive principles of the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Schools Education Act of 1995. The two Acts determine that every person shall have the right to basic education and to equal access to schools and centres of learning. It is within this framework that this research was undertaken employing a quantitative research method. The research demonstrated that a school environment for the effective management of cultural diversity can be achieved through creative approaches to professional management and school governance, characterized by a collaborative management style. Managing cultural diversity can often be complicated by communication problems and stereotyping due to differences based on moral, ethical, socio-political and economic issues. The previous divisions of schools under the pre-1994 regime according to departments of education and mother tongue were found to be both statistically and substantially significant as independent variables for the management of cultural diversity. K E Y W O R D S collaborative management, cultural diversity, governance, management of diversity, school effectiveness
<p>This research explores and compares two leadership behavioural styles – relations- and task-oriented behavioural styles – of school leaders in Finland. This study aimed to explore and understand the behavioural style of school leaders, specifically related to relations-oriented and task-oriented behaviour. Three schools in Finland were selected. In-depth interviews were conducted with school principals, as school leaders, and other school actors, such as vice<br />principals, teachers, special-education teachers, and administrative staff members. The results suggest that leadership behavioural styles in terms of relations-oriented and task-oriented behaviour are equally important for accommodating changes and development in schools. The results suggest that relations-oriented behaviour was preferred by those who had been in the organisation for a longer time. The task-oriented behavioural style was found to be adopted when changes were required by the municipality (school district), which needed to be urgently addressed to meet the current requirements for school infrastructural development and changes in the educational system. In addition, the school leaders with task-oriented behaviour were more effective, while leaders with relations-oriented behaviour were efficient and generated social harmony. These findings suggest that contextual variations enabled flexibility in leadership behavioural style.</p>
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