Educators' perceptions of the selection process for the school management team at Mokolokotoane Public School / S.L. Nkoe

Abstract

The Department of Education has in recent years been recognised as one of the most important government departments; yet it is dramatically changing almost on a daily basis. Schools are faced with major challenges, some of which directly impact on the school management as well as on the effectiveness of the school. The principalship is more often spoken of in terms of joint responsibility of associates ("management team" or "administration team"). The school management team functions effectively in collaborative decision making with the school governing body. Although participating management is not discussed in the literature this concept has captured the interest of many managers in the schools since 1994. Participative decision management teams at schools are necessary for the selection progress during which educators are promoted to higher levels of the hierarchy within the school. One person alone does not promote educators, but the process involves the efforts of all relevant stakeholders. Involvement of stakeholders is regulated by the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) and the Employment of Educators Act (Act no 79 of 1998). The Department of Education wishes to prevent any flaws in the selection process of SMTs, because such flaws can be expensive. Since this process of selection involves people (educators), everyone has his/her own way of thinking about the process and this can have a long-lasting negative or positive effect on the effectiveness of the school. The implementation of selection process is not easy and may create dissatisfaction and conflict; therefore this study was undertaken to gain knowledge of the perception of educators on the selection process of the school management team at Mokolokotoane Public. The following aspects were investigated: Effectiveness of the selection processes. Composition of the selection panel Judicial requirements for the selection process. Those aspects, which according to the findings of the research, needed attention, were addressed at the end of the study.