Consequences of staff deployment in public primary schools in Cape Town

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This qualitative study explores the effect that staff deployment has on the morale andprofessional attitudes of educators who have been identified as being in excess at theirschools. The study was done by doing interviews with teachers who have been affected byrightsizing and redeployment and principals who have had to manage the process.The Department of Education goes through an annual process of determining the school'sstaff establishment for the next academic year. This determination is based on the number oflearners enrolled at the institution. The CEMIS statistics are used to determine the number oflearners enrolled at the school and the schools' staff establishment for the next academic year.If a school's learner numbers have increased since the last survey, the school will gain someteaching posts. Conversely, if the learner numbers have dropped a number of educators at theinstitution, as determined by the education department, have to be identified and declared inexcess. Change associated with staff redeployment can have a negative impact on the moraleand motivation of teachers. A school's functioning and ability to supply quality education canalso be compromised as a result thereof. This is especially true when schools do not have thefinancial resources to employ additional teachers out of school funds.The problem is researched by exploring the ‗lived experiences' of selected teachers at primaryschools in two of the education districts that fall under the WCED. Educators who wereselected to participate in the study were individuals who had been declared in excess and whowere redeployed or who were awaiting redeployment.Teachers were given the opportunity to relate their individual experiences. Their accounts ofthe process reflect how these experiences affect behaviour, professional attitude and generalhealth. My discussion of their perceptions pays particular attention to their perceptions of howtheir general health and well-being were affected. Two principals (who managed the processat their respective schools) also shed some light on their experiences of the effects ofdownsizing.It seems that whilst there are cases where the process of rightsizing and redeployment ishandled with the necessary care and circumspection, this is not always the case. Too oftenrightsizing and redeployment are handled in a clinical way, which creates the impression thatthe principals are biased and unsympathetic.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University