ABSTRACT

The move toward more shared and participatory approaches to leadership is gaining momentum in South African schools. This move is underpinned by the supreme law of the country – the Constitution which informs all laws including education law. Specifically, the National Education Policy Act No.27 of 1996 fosters democracy and wider participation in schools by advocating that teachers practice and participate in leadership. According to this policy, teachers need to participate in democratic decision-making structures that support learners and colleagues, as well as demonstrates responsiveness to changing circumstances and needs. One way in which schools can heed the call of the aforementioned policy is through creating informal leadership opportunities like subject head positions, which give ordinary teachers an opportunity to coordinate a group of teachers teaching a similar subject in a school. In this paper, we direct our focus to this informal leadership position. Through narrative inquiry methodology, the lived experiences of three subject heads in three secondary schools were solicited and examined. Upon the examination of these leaders’ lived experiences, the study brought to light the functions of subject heads, complexities experienced by subject heads and also their reaction to the complexities.

摘要

在南非的学校中，朝着更具共享性和参与性的领导方式迈进的势头越来越大。这一举措得到了国家最高法律——宪法的支持，宪法规定了包括教育法在内的所有法律。具体而言，1996 年第 27 号《国家教育政策法》通过提倡教师实践和参与领导来促进民主和更广泛的学校参与。根据这项政策，教师需要参与支持学生和同事的民主决策结构，并表现出对不断变化的环境和需求的反应能力。学校可以响应上述政策号召的一种方式是创造非正式的领导机会，例如学科带头人职位，这使普通教师有机会协调学校中教授类似科目的一组教师。在本文中，我们将重点放在这个非正式的领导职位上。通过叙事调查法，我们搜集并考察了三所中学三位学科带头人的生活经历。通过考察这些领导者的生活经历，该研究揭示了主题负责人的职能、主题负责人所经历的复杂性以及他们对复杂性的反应。