Navigating the pathways to opening a new, effective community school : a case study in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality of South Africa
- Authors: Damons, Bruce Peter
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Community schools -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Educational leadership -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- Recruiting -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9578 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019857
- Description: The provision of low cost housing has become one of the current South African government‟s top priorities. With the establishment of these new housing developments comes the need for accompanying social infrastructure. This includes the provisioning of schools, police stations, clinics and sports fields. In this study, I attempted to identify and explore the key basic elements that needed to be present when opening a new community school in one of these low income housing developments. The study gives voice to what key stakeholders thought these elements should be. The stakeholders were the teachers and community volunteers, which included parents of the learners. They actively participated in this study through the methodology of participatory action learning and action research (PALAR). The participants identified strong, compassionate and visionary leadership as an essential element that need to be present when opening up a new school. The study further shows that this leadership must have some knowledge of effective management systems in order to support the establishment of a new school. The findings also show that leadership and the effective implementation of these management systems rely heavily on the support of a variety of internal and external stakeholders, especially when support was lacking from the Department of Basic Education. The study further shows that the roles of the various stakeholders should be clearly defined and managed, so as to avoid tensions that might arise by having a large number of people involved in a confined space like a school. Teachers and community volunteers emerged as the key stakeholders who contributed to the effective functioning of the new school. Their continued involvement in the school requires on-going professional development and support.
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- Date Issued: 2012
The impact of redeployment of teachers in Port Elizabeth schools
- Authors: Zokufa, Feziwe Angela Nomvuyo Nozipho
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Teachers -- Supply and demand -- South Africa , Teachers -- Recruiting -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9491 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/677 , Teachers -- Supply and demand -- South Africa , Teachers -- Recruiting -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: The aim of this study was to establish new strategies on how redeployment of teachers should be conducted and enable teachers to adapt to the redeployment process, especially in Port Elizabeth schools. This investigation was set within both qualitative a quantitative framework. Five schools where some of teachers were affected by redeployment in Port Elizabeth were investigated. Purposive sampling was used for selecting the respondents for this study and also for selecting these five schools. Questionnaires and interviews were used for the collection of data. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of redeployment of teachers in Port Elizabeth schools. The findings revealed that there is needs to upgrade the qualification of the teachers, that effective human resource planning should result in the involvement of teachers when decision making takes place, especially issues that affect them directly such as iv redeployment and that provincial Department of Education and teachers organizations like South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), National Professional Teachers Organization of South Africa (NAPTOSA), South African Teachers Union (SATU) should work closely in the area of redeployment. This topic is useful for all who are in the teaching profession, whether as redeployed teachers or as practicing professionals. A number of conclusions and recommendations, in line with the findings of the study were made. Recommendations on how redeployment of teachers could be conducted in Port Elizabeth schools were presented. An attempt has also been made to include items that are of special interest to South African teachers in general and Port Elizabeth teachers in particular.
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- Date Issued: 2007