Interrogating the role of contextual intelligence when applying professional discretion by South African public-school principals

Abstract

This research, rooted in the contextual intelligence theory, aimed to investigate how contextual intelligence influences the capacity of public-school principals to exercise professional discretion. The research delved into the decision-making processes of principals when confronted with challenging decisions related to legislation, policy, leadership, and management within the distinctive operational context of their schools. Utilising pragmatism as a paradigm, this was a mixed-methods study during which survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the data collection techniques. The findings revealed that principals frequently encounter context-specific scenarios that require contextual intelligence to appropriately apply professional discretion in their decision-making. In prioritising the well-being of learners and staff, principals often find themselves compelled to deviate from official policies that fail to consider the contextual nuances of their schools. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Findings from the quantitative phase during which a survey was used, informed the semi-structured interviews in the qualitative data collection phase. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were respectively applied in the quantitative and qualitative phases of the study. Quantitative data was analysed using Google Forms and descriptive statistics. In the qualitative phase, thematic analysis was conducted using Atlas. Ti software, allowing for detailed exploration and elaboration of the quantitative results.