An investigation into the emergence of teacher leadership: a case study at an urban state senior secondary school in the Oshana Region, Namibia
- Authors: Nakafingo, Saara Lovisa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Action research in education -- Namibia , Active learning -- Namibia , Continuing education -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144645 , vital:38365
- Description: Promoting a collaborative culture and collective leadership in school has the potential to improve school performance. This may be realised through, among others, the development of teacher leadership. Teacher leadership can be referred to as the opportunities that teachers have to exercise leadership in their schools. Teacher leadership has a potential as a mechanism to bring about change in schools (Grant, 2012). Nevertheless, the concept of teacher leadership seems to be a dream, as little or no attention is being given to the phenomenon. The literature on leadership focuses mostly on those in formal leadership positions. This study thus aims to critically investigate the emergence of teacher leadership (a more informal leadership) in a case study school in order to create opportunities for teacher leadership development. As a qualitative case study adopting a formative interventionist approach, the study engaged teachers and SMT members using questionnaires, interviews and observation as data generating tools for a deeper understanding of the concept. Additionally, some documents in the school were analysed for the purpose of crystallisation. The study was guided by five research questions namely: How is the concept teacher leadership understood by teachers and SMT members in the school? What leadership roles do teachers currently fulfil in their school? What are the cultural-historical factors that enable or constrain teacher leadership in a school? How can a series of change laboratory workshops develop teacher leadership in a school? How did the change laboratory workshop sessions benefit the participants? Data was analysed adopting the teacher leadership model as a framework (Grant, 2017b) and the lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory was also utilised in the analysis which enabled the participants to surface the systemic causes of challenges in the development of teacher leadership. The findings revealed that teachers and SMT members had an understanding of the concept teacher leadership, but their perceptions were different. Furthermore, evidence of teacher leadership existed across the various zones when teacher leaders fulfilled different roles; however, it was evident that teachers led more at the classroom level. Additionally, the study also found that certain factors enabled the practice of teacher leadership. However, it also emerged that challenges constrained the development of teacher leadership in the case study school. Some of these challenges included: the notion of top-down school management structure, time constraints and demanding teacher workloads, limited leadership knowledge, and teachers’ lack of courage and motivation to lead. For this reason, four change laboratory workshops were conducted and findings suggested that the establishment of a Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development club as a transformative agency for teacher leadership development was necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Nakafingo, Saara Lovisa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Action research in education -- Namibia , Active learning -- Namibia , Continuing education -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144645 , vital:38365
- Description: Promoting a collaborative culture and collective leadership in school has the potential to improve school performance. This may be realised through, among others, the development of teacher leadership. Teacher leadership can be referred to as the opportunities that teachers have to exercise leadership in their schools. Teacher leadership has a potential as a mechanism to bring about change in schools (Grant, 2012). Nevertheless, the concept of teacher leadership seems to be a dream, as little or no attention is being given to the phenomenon. The literature on leadership focuses mostly on those in formal leadership positions. This study thus aims to critically investigate the emergence of teacher leadership (a more informal leadership) in a case study school in order to create opportunities for teacher leadership development. As a qualitative case study adopting a formative interventionist approach, the study engaged teachers and SMT members using questionnaires, interviews and observation as data generating tools for a deeper understanding of the concept. Additionally, some documents in the school were analysed for the purpose of crystallisation. The study was guided by five research questions namely: How is the concept teacher leadership understood by teachers and SMT members in the school? What leadership roles do teachers currently fulfil in their school? What are the cultural-historical factors that enable or constrain teacher leadership in a school? How can a series of change laboratory workshops develop teacher leadership in a school? How did the change laboratory workshop sessions benefit the participants? Data was analysed adopting the teacher leadership model as a framework (Grant, 2017b) and the lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory was also utilised in the analysis which enabled the participants to surface the systemic causes of challenges in the development of teacher leadership. The findings revealed that teachers and SMT members had an understanding of the concept teacher leadership, but their perceptions were different. Furthermore, evidence of teacher leadership existed across the various zones when teacher leaders fulfilled different roles; however, it was evident that teachers led more at the classroom level. Additionally, the study also found that certain factors enabled the practice of teacher leadership. However, it also emerged that challenges constrained the development of teacher leadership in the case study school. Some of these challenges included: the notion of top-down school management structure, time constraints and demanding teacher workloads, limited leadership knowledge, and teachers’ lack of courage and motivation to lead. For this reason, four change laboratory workshops were conducted and findings suggested that the establishment of a Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development club as a transformative agency for teacher leadership development was necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Developing voice and leadership amongst a group of class captains
- Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Authors: Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Leadership in adolescents -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School children – Namibia -- Attitudes , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145034 , vital:38402
- Description: The notion that leadership can be reduced to that of a formal position such as principalship has become problematic in school leadership research and practice, globally and also in Namibia. It appears that when leadership is concentrated only at the level of a principal within schools, teachers and learners within the same school experience a lack of opportunities to contribute to leadership practices, thus losing a sense of ownership. Supporting a distributed leadership perspective and embracing transformative leadership, this study investigated how learner voice and learner leadership (see for example Mitra and Gross, 2009) can be developed within a group of class captains in a combined school in rural Namibia. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) underpinned the study which is located within a critical paradigm. Findings of the study were captured into two phases whereby phase one generated contextual profiling findings through the adoption of qualitative methods such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and two other participatory methods of mapping and transect walks. Phase two findings were captured through expansive learning actions in Change Laboratory Workshops. Observation notes, video recording and photographs and informal discussions were used as data sources during this phase. Both inductive and abductive analysis were employed. The findings revealed that a few enabling conditions to class captainship practice existed, but generally there was limited participation of class captains in school leadership. Class captains were seen as merely class representatives and their leadership was confined to a classroom level in the school. They performed more managerial tasks than leadership. It was also revealed that class captainship is not a documented practice in Namibia and it lacks support. Against this backdrop, during phase two of the study, seven contradictions were identified and two contradictions were prioritised for resolution during the Change Laboratory Workshops. Some of the resolutions included the development of a school based guiding document for class captains; an establishment of a class captainship club; and the promotion of a yearly election campaign of class captains. The study recommends more interventionist studies to be conducted on class captainship in order to see the practice documented in terms of policy in Namibia, perhaps in the near future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Nehunga, Jacobina Taukondjele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Leadership in adolescents -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School children – Namibia -- Attitudes , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145034 , vital:38402
- Description: The notion that leadership can be reduced to that of a formal position such as principalship has become problematic in school leadership research and practice, globally and also in Namibia. It appears that when leadership is concentrated only at the level of a principal within schools, teachers and learners within the same school experience a lack of opportunities to contribute to leadership practices, thus losing a sense of ownership. Supporting a distributed leadership perspective and embracing transformative leadership, this study investigated how learner voice and learner leadership (see for example Mitra and Gross, 2009) can be developed within a group of class captains in a combined school in rural Namibia. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) underpinned the study which is located within a critical paradigm. Findings of the study were captured into two phases whereby phase one generated contextual profiling findings through the adoption of qualitative methods such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and two other participatory methods of mapping and transect walks. Phase two findings were captured through expansive learning actions in Change Laboratory Workshops. Observation notes, video recording and photographs and informal discussions were used as data sources during this phase. Both inductive and abductive analysis were employed. The findings revealed that a few enabling conditions to class captainship practice existed, but generally there was limited participation of class captains in school leadership. Class captains were seen as merely class representatives and their leadership was confined to a classroom level in the school. They performed more managerial tasks than leadership. It was also revealed that class captainship is not a documented practice in Namibia and it lacks support. Against this backdrop, during phase two of the study, seven contradictions were identified and two contradictions were prioritised for resolution during the Change Laboratory Workshops. Some of the resolutions included the development of a school based guiding document for class captains; an establishment of a class captainship club; and the promotion of a yearly election campaign of class captains. The study recommends more interventionist studies to be conducted on class captainship in order to see the practice documented in terms of policy in Namibia, perhaps in the near future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Exploring parents’ participation in school governance with the purpose of developing parents’ leadership: a formative intervention in a Namibian combined rural school
- Authors: Nghiteeka, Hileni
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Parent participation – Namibia , Democracy and education -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145045 , vital:38403
- Description: In a post-independent Namibia, the Education Act 16 of 2001 accorded democratic rights and equal opportunities to all education stakeholders, including parents, to be involved in educational decision-making in schools. This involvement advocated increasing the voice of the educational stakeholders at a grass roots level in an attempt to redress the past injustices of the apartheid education system. However, the studies carried out internationally, as well as in Africa and Namibia, reveal that the issue of democratic participation in school decisions is a restricted reality. This study was conducted in Happy (pseudonym) combined school, a state rural school in the Oshikoto Region, Northern Namibia, aimed at exploring parents’ participation in school governance. The study adopted an interventionist approach to develop parents’ leadership in school. Framed by a distributed leadership perspective, the main purpose of the study was to seek parents’ voices through participation for them to be catalysts for change in transforming parents’ leadership in school. For its theoretical and analytical framing, the study adopted the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The study findings revealed that parents’ leadership as a concept was understood differently in the case study school and it was practiced within the boundaries of policies. Through the lens of distributed leadership, it was evident that distributed leadership was still in its infancy in the school, as only the characterisations of an authorised distributed leadership were evident in this school. The CHAT analysis revealed that parents’ leadership was constrained due to a number of challenges, including language barriers, transport to and from meetings and a lack of support from other parents and some teachers. Study participants, through participation in a Change Laboratory workshop process, envisioned some models such as raising funds to serve as an incentive for parents’ School Board members and for an information dissemination committee within the community to do educational campaigns in an effort to enhance parents’ leadership in school. To unleash distributed leadership in schools, the study offered some recommendations, including that parents’ leadership should be included as part of the curriculum at higher institutions in order to sensitise educators to this critical aspect of leadership, prior to joining the profession. Another recommendation was for stakeholders to make use of the study’s findings, when designing workshop materials and conducting workshops. Finally, the study recommended further interventionist research to be conducted on the same research topic, preferably on a larger scale, in an effort to add to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership and management, particularly with regards to parental leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Nghiteeka, Hileni
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Parent participation – Namibia , Democracy and education -- Namibia , Transformational leadership -- Namibia , Rural schools -- Namibia , School management and organization – Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145045 , vital:38403
- Description: In a post-independent Namibia, the Education Act 16 of 2001 accorded democratic rights and equal opportunities to all education stakeholders, including parents, to be involved in educational decision-making in schools. This involvement advocated increasing the voice of the educational stakeholders at a grass roots level in an attempt to redress the past injustices of the apartheid education system. However, the studies carried out internationally, as well as in Africa and Namibia, reveal that the issue of democratic participation in school decisions is a restricted reality. This study was conducted in Happy (pseudonym) combined school, a state rural school in the Oshikoto Region, Northern Namibia, aimed at exploring parents’ participation in school governance. The study adopted an interventionist approach to develop parents’ leadership in school. Framed by a distributed leadership perspective, the main purpose of the study was to seek parents’ voices through participation for them to be catalysts for change in transforming parents’ leadership in school. For its theoretical and analytical framing, the study adopted the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The study findings revealed that parents’ leadership as a concept was understood differently in the case study school and it was practiced within the boundaries of policies. Through the lens of distributed leadership, it was evident that distributed leadership was still in its infancy in the school, as only the characterisations of an authorised distributed leadership were evident in this school. The CHAT analysis revealed that parents’ leadership was constrained due to a number of challenges, including language barriers, transport to and from meetings and a lack of support from other parents and some teachers. Study participants, through participation in a Change Laboratory workshop process, envisioned some models such as raising funds to serve as an incentive for parents’ School Board members and for an information dissemination committee within the community to do educational campaigns in an effort to enhance parents’ leadership in school. To unleash distributed leadership in schools, the study offered some recommendations, including that parents’ leadership should be included as part of the curriculum at higher institutions in order to sensitise educators to this critical aspect of leadership, prior to joining the profession. Another recommendation was for stakeholders to make use of the study’s findings, when designing workshop materials and conducting workshops. Finally, the study recommended further interventionist research to be conducted on the same research topic, preferably on a larger scale, in an effort to add to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership and management, particularly with regards to parental leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The role of expansive learning in the potential development of rural youth as value creators: a case study of youth farming activity in the Amahlathi Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Matiwane, Lwazi Mandilive
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Lenye , Rural development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Unemployed youth -- South Africa -- Lenye , Social learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Educational change -- South Africa -- Lenye , Youth in development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Active learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146034 , vital:38489
- Description: Environmental sustainability and agriculture are key development and transformational concerns in South Africa while rural development and youth unemployment are key national issues pertinent in the Eastern Cape which ranks in the top three provinces for both concerns. As a formative interventionist researcher, working in a singular case study with youth in Lenye village located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, I sought to investigate the following: Can, and if so, how can expansive learning facilitated by a change laboratory intervention contribute to the development of youth as potential value creators for rural development? This was investigated through the following sub questions: 1) What value is created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory process and for who? 2) What value can still be created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory? 3) How is that value created via an expansive learning process? I collected data as I participated as a youth member through: extended contextual profiling via a focus group interview, individual interviews, note taking and document analysis. Furthermore, I attended village meetings, youth meetings and emergent youth development/youth in agriculture/agriculture opportunities. Additionally, change laboratory workshops were conducted and I used audio recordings and notes to capture data. The data collected was then analysed through second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory using the concepts of immediate, potential, applied, realised and reframing value. In conclusion, the expansive learning process may contribute to the development of rural youth as value creators for sustainable development through youth development, agriculture and community development. All forms of value were created along the expansive learning process for the formative interventionist researcher, the Lenye youth and the greater Lenye youth community. All forms of value may still be created for the Lenye youth, the formative interventionist researcher and the greater Lenye youth community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Matiwane, Lwazi Mandilive
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Lenye , Rural development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Unemployed youth -- South Africa -- Lenye , Social learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Educational change -- South Africa -- Lenye , Youth in development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Lenye , Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Active learning -- South Africa -- Lenye , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146034 , vital:38489
- Description: Environmental sustainability and agriculture are key development and transformational concerns in South Africa while rural development and youth unemployment are key national issues pertinent in the Eastern Cape which ranks in the top three provinces for both concerns. As a formative interventionist researcher, working in a singular case study with youth in Lenye village located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, I sought to investigate the following: Can, and if so, how can expansive learning facilitated by a change laboratory intervention contribute to the development of youth as potential value creators for rural development? This was investigated through the following sub questions: 1) What value is created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory process and for who? 2) What value can still be created at each point of the expansive learning process of the change laboratory? 3) How is that value created via an expansive learning process? I collected data as I participated as a youth member through: extended contextual profiling via a focus group interview, individual interviews, note taking and document analysis. Furthermore, I attended village meetings, youth meetings and emergent youth development/youth in agriculture/agriculture opportunities. Additionally, change laboratory workshops were conducted and I used audio recordings and notes to capture data. The data collected was then analysed through second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory using the concepts of immediate, potential, applied, realised and reframing value. In conclusion, the expansive learning process may contribute to the development of rural youth as value creators for sustainable development through youth development, agriculture and community development. All forms of value were created along the expansive learning process for the formative interventionist researcher, the Lenye youth and the greater Lenye youth community. All forms of value may still be created for the Lenye youth, the formative interventionist researcher and the greater Lenye youth community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
An activity theoretical investigation into how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school
- Authors: Kalimbo, Tomas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61734 , vital:28053
- Description: Literature suggests that developing leadership in learners benefits them and their schools in general. Learners are prepared as future leaders and they gain leadership skills and democratic values and principles. Learner leaders therefore contribute to transformation in their schools. However, research on the same topic has also found that learners have limited leadership development opportunities, as they are not authentically and democratically involved in leadership in many schools. Informed by the distributed perspective of leadership, this study investigates how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school. Its overarching goal was to develop leadership and build transformative agency within class monitors. The study was designed as an interventionist study, theoretically and analytically framed by Engestrom’s second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Multiple methods were used for data collection, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and Change Laboratory workshops. Data analysis took the form of content analysis and coding, as well as using the CHAT lens to surface contradictions. The findings of the study revealed that there was conceptual awareness on what learner leadership and leadership development meant among participants. However, little was being done to develop leadership in class monitors. Traditional leadership practices and cultural belief that learners are mere children, as well as confinement to formal leadership structures and policies were the main hindering inner contradictions within the research school. A formative intervention was instituted through the Change Laboratory workshop process and it resulted in leadership training to capacitate and empower class monitors, as well as enhance their transformative agency. The study thus recommends for a shift from traditional autocratic leadership practices to a contemporary distributed perspective of leadership that recognises the need to develop leadership in learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Kalimbo, Tomas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61734 , vital:28053
- Description: Literature suggests that developing leadership in learners benefits them and their schools in general. Learners are prepared as future leaders and they gain leadership skills and democratic values and principles. Learner leaders therefore contribute to transformation in their schools. However, research on the same topic has also found that learners have limited leadership development opportunities, as they are not authentically and democratically involved in leadership in many schools. Informed by the distributed perspective of leadership, this study investigates how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school. Its overarching goal was to develop leadership and build transformative agency within class monitors. The study was designed as an interventionist study, theoretically and analytically framed by Engestrom’s second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Multiple methods were used for data collection, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and Change Laboratory workshops. Data analysis took the form of content analysis and coding, as well as using the CHAT lens to surface contradictions. The findings of the study revealed that there was conceptual awareness on what learner leadership and leadership development meant among participants. However, little was being done to develop leadership in class monitors. Traditional leadership practices and cultural belief that learners are mere children, as well as confinement to formal leadership structures and policies were the main hindering inner contradictions within the research school. A formative intervention was instituted through the Change Laboratory workshop process and it resulted in leadership training to capacitate and empower class monitors, as well as enhance their transformative agency. The study thus recommends for a shift from traditional autocratic leadership practices to a contemporary distributed perspective of leadership that recognises the need to develop leadership in learners.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
An exploration of leadership development in a learner representative structure in a secondary school, Oshana Region, Namibia
- Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Authors: Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62450 , vital:28193
- Description: Before independence, Namibia inherited a system of Bantu education which was hierarchical, authoritarian and non-democratic. Upon independence, the educational sector went through numerous reforms which were meant to transform education and to make it more democratic, whereby all stakeholders can broadly participate. In spite of these reforms, leadership of schools has remained a hierarchical system, where a principal who, as an individual, runs the school without recognition of the potential leadership of others. Recent studies on leadership have called for shared leadership, whereby leadership is a practice, permeable to learner leaders and not associated with individuals. This research study aims to explore learner leadership development in the Learner Representative Council (LRC) structure at a secondary school in Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold - firstly, my personal interest in learner leadership was aroused by my teaching experience. The second reason was due to my realisation that the area was under-researched in Namibia, hence I wanted to fill the existing gap on learner leadership. The study critically engaged learners and teachers to help me get an understanding of learner leadership and the factors enabling learner leadership development. I also found that challenges which resulted in contradictions, hampered leadership development. The study took an interventionist approach and second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used to surface tensions and contradictions affecting learner leadership development. Change Laboratory workshops enabled the expansive learning process with the 12 LRC members. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and journaling. The study found that learner leadership was understood more in terms of traditional views of leadership, whereby a learner needed to possess certain qualities in order to lead. The findings further pointed out that the LRC members were mainly involved in managerial roles and not really leadership roles, as such, and they were not involved in decision-making at the school. Although provision for the LRC body is made in an Educational Act, historical and cultural forces account for teachers’ reluctance to support the LRC members, as well as for silence of learner voice. I hope that findings from this research study strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and contribute to the creation of knowledge on learner leadership in Namibia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62450 , vital:28193
- Description: Before independence, Namibia inherited a system of Bantu education which was hierarchical, authoritarian and non-democratic. Upon independence, the educational sector went through numerous reforms which were meant to transform education and to make it more democratic, whereby all stakeholders can broadly participate. In spite of these reforms, leadership of schools has remained a hierarchical system, where a principal who, as an individual, runs the school without recognition of the potential leadership of others. Recent studies on leadership have called for shared leadership, whereby leadership is a practice, permeable to learner leaders and not associated with individuals. This research study aims to explore learner leadership development in the Learner Representative Council (LRC) structure at a secondary school in Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold - firstly, my personal interest in learner leadership was aroused by my teaching experience. The second reason was due to my realisation that the area was under-researched in Namibia, hence I wanted to fill the existing gap on learner leadership. The study critically engaged learners and teachers to help me get an understanding of learner leadership and the factors enabling learner leadership development. I also found that challenges which resulted in contradictions, hampered leadership development. The study took an interventionist approach and second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used to surface tensions and contradictions affecting learner leadership development. Change Laboratory workshops enabled the expansive learning process with the 12 LRC members. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and journaling. The study found that learner leadership was understood more in terms of traditional views of leadership, whereby a learner needed to possess certain qualities in order to lead. The findings further pointed out that the LRC members were mainly involved in managerial roles and not really leadership roles, as such, and they were not involved in decision-making at the school. Although provision for the LRC body is made in an Educational Act, historical and cultural forces account for teachers’ reluctance to support the LRC members, as well as for silence of learner voice. I hope that findings from this research study strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and contribute to the creation of knowledge on learner leadership in Namibia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Developing leadership and learner voice: a formative intervention in a Learner Representative Council in a Namibian secondary school
- Authors: Haipa, Vistorina
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Law and legislation -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62188 , vital:28136
- Description: Learner participation in leadership in Namibian schools was legislated in 2001 through the Namibian Education Act, No. 16 of 2001. This has then become a requirement for all secondary schools to establish a Learner Representative Council (LRC). However, this legislation only gives mandates to schools with grade 8-12. Despite the impetus of having a LRC in secondary schools, learner leadership and voice remains limited, given that we are 26 years into our democracy. This awakened my interest to conduct a study aimed at developing leadership and voice within the LRC in a Namibian secondary school. Additionally, this study was conducted to contribute to filling the gap in literature of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) studies in the field of Education Leadership and Management. In this critical case orientation, the LRC were the subjects and the object of the activity was voice and leadership development within the LRC. I investigated participants’ perspectives on LRC leadership opportunities that existed in the case study school as well as factors that enabled and constrained leadership and voice development within the LRC of Omukumo (pseudonym) Secondary School in the northern part of Namibia. My study adopted a formative intervention design, using qualitative methodologies such as document analysis, observation, interviews, questionnaires and Change Laboratory Workshops. This study was framed by the second generation of CHAT. CHAT in this study was used as a methodological and analytical tool to surface the contradictions. Additionally, data were analysed by means of constructing categories and themes. Five sets of findings emerged: (1) a lack of conceptual awareness of the construct ‘learner leadership’: learner leadership was understood in terms of the LRC, (2) LRC members were not really acknowledged as equal participants in the school decision-making due to unequal power relations between the teachers and the LRC members, (3) misinterpretation of LRC policy that speak about the establishment of learners club and inadequate LRC training hindered the development of voice and leadership within the LRC, (4) the overall leadership role assigned to the LRC was to oversee the adherence of the school rules, and last (5) learner leadership and voice was still developing in the case study school. My key recommendation based on the research findings is the need for on-going LRC training at regional level; a need for large scale comparative studies between two African countries (Namibia, & South Africa) on the topic of learner leadership development and last, a need for workshops to train teachers on the implementation of national policies in schools, in particular those that speak to issues of learner voice and leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Haipa, Vistorina
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Law and legislation -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62188 , vital:28136
- Description: Learner participation in leadership in Namibian schools was legislated in 2001 through the Namibian Education Act, No. 16 of 2001. This has then become a requirement for all secondary schools to establish a Learner Representative Council (LRC). However, this legislation only gives mandates to schools with grade 8-12. Despite the impetus of having a LRC in secondary schools, learner leadership and voice remains limited, given that we are 26 years into our democracy. This awakened my interest to conduct a study aimed at developing leadership and voice within the LRC in a Namibian secondary school. Additionally, this study was conducted to contribute to filling the gap in literature of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) studies in the field of Education Leadership and Management. In this critical case orientation, the LRC were the subjects and the object of the activity was voice and leadership development within the LRC. I investigated participants’ perspectives on LRC leadership opportunities that existed in the case study school as well as factors that enabled and constrained leadership and voice development within the LRC of Omukumo (pseudonym) Secondary School in the northern part of Namibia. My study adopted a formative intervention design, using qualitative methodologies such as document analysis, observation, interviews, questionnaires and Change Laboratory Workshops. This study was framed by the second generation of CHAT. CHAT in this study was used as a methodological and analytical tool to surface the contradictions. Additionally, data were analysed by means of constructing categories and themes. Five sets of findings emerged: (1) a lack of conceptual awareness of the construct ‘learner leadership’: learner leadership was understood in terms of the LRC, (2) LRC members were not really acknowledged as equal participants in the school decision-making due to unequal power relations between the teachers and the LRC members, (3) misinterpretation of LRC policy that speak about the establishment of learners club and inadequate LRC training hindered the development of voice and leadership within the LRC, (4) the overall leadership role assigned to the LRC was to oversee the adherence of the school rules, and last (5) learner leadership and voice was still developing in the case study school. My key recommendation based on the research findings is the need for on-going LRC training at regional level; a need for large scale comparative studies between two African countries (Namibia, & South Africa) on the topic of learner leadership development and last, a need for workshops to train teachers on the implementation of national policies in schools, in particular those that speak to issues of learner voice and leadership.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Interrogating teacher leadership development through a formative intervention: a case study in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia
- Authors: Iyambo, David Kandiwapa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61547 , vital:28035
- Description: The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Iyambo, David Kandiwapa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61547 , vital:28035
- Description: The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Learner voice and leadership: a study of a Learner Representative Council in a primary school in Namibia
- Authors: Kapuire, Dominika Bertha
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Education, Primary -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62177 , vital:28135
- Description: Numerous literature world-wide emphasises the significance of learner voice and leadership in schools. These concerns are not new to the education system of Namibia, because the education system is shaped by policy which encourages the voices of all stakeholders in the schools. The Education Act 16 of 2001 introduced the Learner Representative Council (LRC) as a legitimised body in secondary schools which represents learners in school level decision-making. Learner Representative Council members in secondary schools are allowed to sit in on School Board meetings and voice their concerns about issues at the school. The Act also involved parents, allowing them to air their views on behalf of their children, by becoming part of the School Board. Although this is what the Act 16 of 2001 introduced, recent researchers have urged for the need to develop learner voice and leadership in schools, as many schools have turned a blind eye to its significance. This is also what prompted me to conduct a study on the development of learner voice and leadership. This research was conducted within the context of learner leadership at a primary school in the Otjozondjupa region, Namibia, focusing on the school’s existing Learner Representative Council (LRC). The study explores the underlying reasons for the current problems in the LRC structure and beyond, opening up leadership opportunities, and promoting learner voice at the school. Participants in the research were drawn from learners, teachers, heads of department, and the principal. As a qualitative case study in the interpretive paradigm, the study employed a range of data collection strategies - questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews, observation and Change Laboratory (CL) workshops - to gather data to answer key research questions: How is the LRC currently involved in the leadership of the school? What are the factors inhibiting the development of learner leadership in the school? What opportunities exist for the development of learner voice and leadership within the LRC? How can learner voice and leadership be developed through Change Laboratory (CL) workshops? The research was underpinned by the second generation of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as an analytical framework. CHAT had the potential to bring problems and challenges into focus, which was then used to open up expansive learning in the CL workshops. Data collected from the participants was surfaced as mirror data in these workshops. The study showed that the LRC was not active in their leadership roles and that they were not given enough opportunities to function freely in their roles. These learners were under a traditional system of leadership, whereby teachers had all the control and say in the learners’ leadership roles. The development of learner leadership was only recognised through the leadership training camp. Many factors that inhibited the development of learner voice and leadership also emerged in the study. Lastly, the notion of developing learner voice was also not understood by some teachers, which showed in their contradicting views. This study recommends that learner leadership should be developed, starting at an early age in the primary school. It also recommends that learners, however young, should be given a platform to contribute to the decision making at their schools.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Kapuire, Dominika Bertha
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Education, Primary -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62177 , vital:28135
- Description: Numerous literature world-wide emphasises the significance of learner voice and leadership in schools. These concerns are not new to the education system of Namibia, because the education system is shaped by policy which encourages the voices of all stakeholders in the schools. The Education Act 16 of 2001 introduced the Learner Representative Council (LRC) as a legitimised body in secondary schools which represents learners in school level decision-making. Learner Representative Council members in secondary schools are allowed to sit in on School Board meetings and voice their concerns about issues at the school. The Act also involved parents, allowing them to air their views on behalf of their children, by becoming part of the School Board. Although this is what the Act 16 of 2001 introduced, recent researchers have urged for the need to develop learner voice and leadership in schools, as many schools have turned a blind eye to its significance. This is also what prompted me to conduct a study on the development of learner voice and leadership. This research was conducted within the context of learner leadership at a primary school in the Otjozondjupa region, Namibia, focusing on the school’s existing Learner Representative Council (LRC). The study explores the underlying reasons for the current problems in the LRC structure and beyond, opening up leadership opportunities, and promoting learner voice at the school. Participants in the research were drawn from learners, teachers, heads of department, and the principal. As a qualitative case study in the interpretive paradigm, the study employed a range of data collection strategies - questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews, observation and Change Laboratory (CL) workshops - to gather data to answer key research questions: How is the LRC currently involved in the leadership of the school? What are the factors inhibiting the development of learner leadership in the school? What opportunities exist for the development of learner voice and leadership within the LRC? How can learner voice and leadership be developed through Change Laboratory (CL) workshops? The research was underpinned by the second generation of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as an analytical framework. CHAT had the potential to bring problems and challenges into focus, which was then used to open up expansive learning in the CL workshops. Data collected from the participants was surfaced as mirror data in these workshops. The study showed that the LRC was not active in their leadership roles and that they were not given enough opportunities to function freely in their roles. These learners were under a traditional system of leadership, whereby teachers had all the control and say in the learners’ leadership roles. The development of learner leadership was only recognised through the leadership training camp. Many factors that inhibited the development of learner voice and leadership also emerged in the study. Lastly, the notion of developing learner voice was also not understood by some teachers, which showed in their contradicting views. This study recommends that learner leadership should be developed, starting at an early age in the primary school. It also recommends that learners, however young, should be given a platform to contribute to the decision making at their schools.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
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