Exploring School Leadership Strategies for Supporting Teachers to Address Learning Gaps of Progressed Learners: A Case Study in Selected Secondary Schools in Gauteng Province

Abstract

The study explores the challenges that teachers face when addressing the learning gaps of progressed learners and the school leaderships’ understanding of their roles in relation to supporting these teachers. When learners are progressed from one grade to another, due to not meeting the promotion requirements, they are to be provided with the necessary support by their teachers. As such, this implies that teachers need to have the necessary skills and knowledge to address the learning needs of these learners. This then necessitates the need for school leaders to support teachers as they work to support the progressed learners academically. This further highlights the importance of school leadership in the schooling context and its impact on ensuring school improvement. An interpretive research paradigm was used for this study since the rationale was to gather deeper insights into the learner progression phenomenon. Further, this study employed a qualitative research approach applying the research design of a case study. Twelve (12) participants from selected six (6) secondary schools in Gauteng were purposefully sampled. Data was gathered through eleven (11) face-to-face interviews and one online semi-structured interview. Thereafter, the data was thematically analysed through transcribing, coding, and re- reading to identify and discuss apparent themes. For this study, the theoretical framework used was the Instructional Leadership Theory and Bandura’s (1977) concept of Self-efficacy.The findings of this study reflect that teachers face numerous challenges when seeking to address the learning gaps of progressed learners. These challenges include firstly that progressed learners exhibit a deficit in motivation. Secondly, teachers face time constraints, which imply that they do not have enough time to attend to the progressed learners. Additionally, there appears to be a lack of proficiency among teachers in identifying progressed learners. Moreover, in schools, there seems to be a lack of teacher collaboration and effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Lastly, another challenge that emerged is the low level of school leadership support that is apparent in schools. On that, the findings suggest that school leadership has a greater understanding of their leadership role with regards to supporting teachers navigate these challenges and thus address the learning gaps of progressed learners. As numerous scholars assert, school leadership plays an enormous role in the improvement of their schools. Thus, the findings of this study outline school leadership strategies that could be employed by school leaders to support their teachers as they address the learning gaps of progressed learners. As such, the recommendations as stemming from the findings are that, viii when policies are implemented in schools, there should be follow-ups to assess their effectiveness and thus address their ineffectiveness. Moreover, school leaders need to ensure that their school culture aligns with the school’s vision. On that, in schools, it should be made mandatory to do frequent assessments of policy knowledge. This will be to ensure that implementers have a thorough understanding of what practices are expected of them. In addition, from the findings of this study, it is highly recommended that there be training and development programmes for school leaders to ensure that they are adequately prepared on how to support teachers to address the learning gaps of progressed learners.