Departments' instructional leadership role in Primary Schools

Abstract

Abstract: The South African education system is characterised by poor learner performance; the structure of Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) programmes; poor communication among various stakeholders; inadequate resources; incompetent heads of departments (HoDs); inferior teacher training; and the lack of support from the Department of Education (DoE). Using qualitative research within an interpretivist paradigm, this study explored teachers' experiences of their HoDs as instructional leaders in primary schools. HoDs are unclear of their roles and responsibilities, and they therefore have problems in balancing management demands and curricula and instruction. HoDs should take on an instructional leadership role and ensure that teachers provide effective teaching to improve learner performance. When teachers experience problems in teaching, HoDs are required to provide professional development programmes. Twelve teachers, purposefully selected from four primary schools, were interviewed. Three themes emanated from the study: Understanding the concept instructional leadership; the instructional leadership roles of HoDs; Teachers’ expectations of their HoDs in their instructional leadership role. Findings showed that participants had a good understanding of the concept instructional leadership and were also aware of the importance of HoDs taking on an instructional leadership role. One of the primary responsibilities of HoDs is to effectively implement the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) with the view to identifying the pedagogical needs of teachers and providing CPTD. The study also showed that the DoE provided insufficient professional support to HoDs and teachers. The study recommends that HoDs and teachers need to effectively implement the IQMS policy. Teachers must carefully select an effective staff development team (SDT) which includes the HoD and peers who have expertise in the teacher’s field. The HoD and SDT should work collaboratively to provide professional development programmes. Key words: professional development, head of department, instructional leadership, Integrated Quality Management System.M.Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management