Leadership practices of principals in multiple deprived contexts : a case of successful schools

Abstract

School principals lead and manage schools to achieve success. However, some schools are located in multiple deprived contexts, which affect the school internally and externally. Little is known about how principals in well-performing schools manage teaching and learning despite the contextual challenges. This study explored the role of successful school principals managing teaching and learning in schools in multiple deprived contexts in Gauteng Province. A qualitative case study within a constructive / interpretivist paradigm was adopted for the research. The theoretical framework of this study is grounded in the Context-Responsive Leadership theory by Bredeson, Klar and Johansson. Eleven secondary schools performing well in the Senior Certificate Examination in Tshwane North District were purposefully selected for the study. The school principals were the participants in this study. The data was obtained from different sources which include semi-structured interviews, observations and documents review. The data was thematically analysed and the results were categorised according to themes and sub-themes. The findings of the study highlight the economic and social factors used by the principals to describe the context of their schools as well as other external and internal factors that affected teaching and learning. Collaborative leadership, as well as instructional leadership of the school principal, seem to be a common strategy used by the principals of successful schools to overcome the contextual challenges. The principals also applied other relevant context-responsive leadership practices in their multiple deprived schools. The study concluded that leadership practices of school principals seemed to be based on an understanding and interaction of self and the context in which the school operates.