Governance model for South African schools based on a case study at West Bank Secondary School

[摘要] The core business of schools is to develop, implement and sustain an effective andefficient curriculum delivery process in order to provide quality education to all learners.External and internal changes though constantly affect the effectiveness and efficiency ofthe curriculum delivery process and it is required of schools to adapt and meet thedemands that are required by these external as well as internal changes. Successfuladaptation in an ever-changing environment also depends on how successful a schooltransforms itself into a learning organisation, develops conducive learning circumstancesfor learners and encourages constant learning by staff members as well.Research in this respect indicates that principals play a very important role intransforming schools into learning organisations. Schools as learning organisations arealso recognised as complex organisations, which consist of multiple relationships orlinkages between educators, learners, parents, fellow colleagues, provincial and nationaleducation departments, government, service providers, as well as other stakeholders.These relationships are never stable, nor predictable and it requires of principals tomonitor, understand and interpret changing circumstances and respond appropriately.Appropriate responses must reflect our country's constitutional values, which promotecollaboration and consultation with all stakeholders. It also requires of school principalsto apply a leadership approach, which not only facilitates participation by allstakeholders, but which focuses on empowerment as well.Furthermore, the role of principals in leading and managing schools has changedtremendously and there is a great need to empower principals and school managementteams with facilitatory-and-empowering leadership competencies. Such competencieswill enable them to understand, interpret and manage change in collaboration with otherrole-players much more effectively. It will also enhance their ability to effectively leadand efficiently manage the curriculum delivery process and all other supportive systems,such as the academic planning, assessment, finance, procurement, maintenance andhuman resources systems. Considering the former, this study focuses on the development of a governance modelfor schools, which considers schools as complex organisations continuously affected bychange in the external as well as internal environment. Hence, the governance modelprovides principals and senior staff members with the understanding how to managethese changes in terms of principles which are derived from complexity theory.Complexity theory informs the practice of school leadership coherently and providesprincipals with the insight to look at the school educational system as a whole in order toadvance organisational effectiveness continuously. According to complexity theory, nosystem is stagnant; it constantly changes, adapts, learns and evolves.The governance model therefore outlines various facilitatory-and-empowering leadershipapproaches which are required to cope in an environment which are continuouslyaffected by change. It also illustrates the supporting role of effective communication andsound labour relations in this respect and outlines various management roles, which arerequired of the principal to transform schools into learning organisations.The governance model also focuses in particular on three essential governance processes,which are applicable to the translation of monetary allocations into appropriate nonpersonnelresources. These governance processes are budgeting, cost management andinformation technology. The last part of the model focuses on the various controlsystems for quality assurance purposes, such as whole school evaluation, systemicevaluation, performance appraisal and risk management.In conclusion, West Bank secondary school was used as a case study to experiment withand study the impact of appropriate leadership approaches, management roles,governance processes and controls. The integration of existing research and practiceknowledge at this institution aims to extend the scope of application of the governancemodel to all schools in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University