Leadership practices in two successful primary schools in Soweto, South Africa educating learners afflicted by multiple deprivation
Date
2019
Authors
Hoosier, Brianetta
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Abstract
The study
investigated the ways in which principals and other school leaders navigated issues of multiple
deprivation to achieve high academic performance. The study was grounded in the theoretical
framework of the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (Bryk,
Sebring, Allensworth, Easton, & Luppescu, 2010), which proposes five essential supports
(5 Essentials) for successful schools. The framework was the lens used to understand whether or
not successful school leaders implemented these five essentials supports in response to their
learners’ battle with multiple deprivation.
The main research question of the study is: what can we learn about school improvement
from the leadership practices of successful school leaders in primary schools educating learners
afflicted by multiple deprivation in Soweto? Interviews were conducted with two principals,
three School Management Team (SMT) members, and three educators. Using thematic content
analysis, recurrent themes emerged including stakeholders involvement, policy, academic
support, progress monitoring, collaborative teachers, teacher quality, team building, parental
involvement, and distributed leadership.
In the South African context, this study expands the 5 Essentials framework through a
contribution toward the emergence of a model of leadership practices of successful school
leaders educating learners afflicted by multiple deprivation in primary township schools. In this
model, the four core leadership practice with related themes, explain the leadership practices that
underpin learner achievement. The core leadership practices and themes includes: (1) safety
practices: stakeholder involvement and policy; (2) instructional practices: collaborative teachers;
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(3) teacher quality and team building academic practices: academic support and progress
monitoring; and (4) family engagement practices: parental Involvement (Biological or Proxy)
Description
A thesis submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, in accordance with
the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand.
January 2019
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Citation
Hoosier, Brianetta, (2019). Leadership practices in two successful primary schools in Soweto, South Africa educating learners afflicted by multiple deprivations, University of the Witwatersrand, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/28120