The management of interpersonal relations in secondary school subject departments

Abstract

From the social network theory perspective, this qualitative study attempts to gain understanding regarding how heads of departments manage, maintain and develop interpersonal relationships with educators within the organisational context of different schools and departments. Based on existing literature, a detailed discussion is provided on what interpersonal relationships are, the difference between managers and leaders, the structure of subject departments, distributed leadership, teacher leadership, subject departments as communities of practice, conceptualising interpersonal relationships, the link between interpersonal relations and communities of practice, the role of interpersonal relationships in schools and a look at the social network theory. Prior research indicates that interpersonal relationships play a vital role in the implementation of learning and teaching in a classroom. Research generally focuses more on the interpersonal relationships between educators and the principal or educators and their learners. Limited research has been conducted on the interpersonal relationship between HODs and their departments. A qualitative approach has been used in this study to explore the perceptions and understanding of interpersonal relationships between educators and teachers. A multiple case study design has been used. Three secondary schools were purposefully sampled and three participants from each school have been invited to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the participants. The findings confirm that there is an indelible link between the HOD and the educator’s relationship regarding work ethics and motivation. We cannot ignore that a head of department is a key link between principals and the teachers in their classrooms.