This article reports on an exploration into the human relationships practices of school leaders at faith-based schools as viewed through a servant leadership lens. The researchers employed a qualitative research design. Data were collected by means of individual semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The interviews were…

Teachers who lack professional maturity will never be able to be responsible teacher leaders; hence, school leaders who strive for school improvement constantly try to introduce various alternative practices, and teacher leadership may be among these. Teacher leadership is defined in numerous ways: Some understand it as teachers who have taken on…

The community engagement project described in this article took the form of the re-invention and re-interpretation of a historic symbol (Diana the elephant) on the Potchefstroom Campus of North-West University (NWU), South Africa. In 2015, the Faculty of Education Sciences invited staff and students to reinterpret the elephant (a symbol of…

This article reports on a study that investigated how collaborative leadership can influence sustained learner academic performance in secondary schools. The key problem resounds about secondary schools that are unable either to sustain or improve learner academic performance when intervention strategies rolled out from the district offices are…

Active parental involvement (PI) in any child's academic performance is regarded as an essential aspect to enhance high learner achievement particularly in disadvantaged communities. The purpose of the study reported on was linked to the growing notion that PI is a crucial asset that may have important consequences for teaching and learning. The…

In search of embodying values that underpin democracy at school level, the objectives of the article include exploring expectations generated by the constitutional dispensation (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 108/1996, section 41) and delineating those moulded by the South African Schools Act (84/1996, Preamble). While the latter…

Discipline-specific knowledge and associated technical skills as well as generic skills have represented distinct and separate aspects of chemical sciences in university studies (linear training). In addition to technical skills gained through laboratory training, employers now require a soft skill set such as strengths in analytical thinking,…

In South Africa the challenges facing the post-school vocational education system are daunting. There is a lack of coherence, resulting in fragmentation of the system. A Training Needs Assessment Study commissioned in 2014 revealed several major academic challenges facing college leadership. The most pressing issues were poor leadership and…

The government has made great strides in redressing past imbalances in education through the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) policy that focuses on equity in school funding. This NNSSF model compels the state to fund public schools according to a poverty quintile system, where poor schools are allocated much more funding…

The notion of "openness" in terms like open distance learning (ODL) is sometimes rather carelessly used, for example in the work-integrated learning (WIL) of distance learners (such as the teaching practice of UNISA's education students, where schools and UNISA form a partnership). We indicate that there is very little…

In April 2008, an interactive information communication technology (ICT) network was established in Mpumalanga, South Africa. the network involved the implementation of SMART board interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and collaboration between a leading school and several disadvantaged schools. the main purpose of the Mpumalanga IWB project was to reach…

The South African higher education fraternity has experienced an outflow of senior research capacity during the past decade, resulting in a large influx of younger and less-published academics. More emphasis is therefore placed on the role of the central institution in ensuring research output. The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at a…

This article looks at how the application of the concept of a "learning organisation" can be used at a specific organisation in South Africa to change the work performance of its employees. We do this by exploring different theories, models and definitions of organisational learning, learning organisation, organisational knowledge and…

This paper examines the collaborative relationship between principals and School Governing Bodies (SGBs), and how this impacts on the management of financial resources in public schools. In South Africa, educational trends such as decentralisation, the shift of responsibility in roles, community involvement, building of partnerships and…