School Management Team members' understanding of their duties according to the Personnel Administration Measures

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate and describe the School Management Team (SMT) members' understanding of their duties as stipulated in the Personnel Administration Measures (PAM, 1998). A qualitative research approach was used to investigate SMT members' understanding of their duties within school management teams. Principals of three purposively selected Secondary Schools, in the Sepitsi circuit of the Lebowakgomo District of the Limpopo Province of South Africa, acted as participants for this study, together with two purposively selected members of their school's SMT. Each participant was interviewed, using a semi-structured interview. The study was framed by a conceptual framework made up of concepts gleaned from distributed leadership theory, together with the core duties of SMT members as stipulated in the PAM (1998). The main findings of this study are that most principals still have a problem regarding the concept of working as a team and that although participants have access to the PAM document, many have not read it and therefore do not know what their roles on the SMT require. This causes conflict and disunity among SMT members, with a negative impact on leadership and management effectiveness.