1 THE ROLE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MEETING CHALLENGES FACING PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN LIMPOPO DR SHUTI STEPH KHUMALO 2015/04/15

2 OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION 1.Introduction & Statement of the problem 2.A case for transformational leadership 3.Description of transformational leadership 4.Methodology 5.Results and discussions 6.Conclusion & Recommendation

3 Introduction and Statement of the problem  Covey in his serious challenge survey, asked respondents on every continent to name the biggest challenge their country faces, providing a good education was ranked top most (Covey, 2011).  Twenty first century presented organisations and schools in particular with a plethora of challenges.  The majority of schools in South Africa are unable to function according to the expectations of the set standards.

4  Even though budgetary allocations in the education system far surpass other departments, the schooling system remains challenged.  These challenges could be packaged in the following broad categories: structural, systemic, technological, political, social and behavioural.  School leadership is widely recognised as a critical factor in the process of achieving school effectiveness and improvement (Bush & Oduro, 2006; Robinson, Hohepa & Lloyd 2009) in Govinda, Lingam & Lingam (2014).

5 A case for transformational leadership Considerable literature evidence suggests that transformational leadership practices have an effect on educators’ commitment (Nguni, Sleegers & Denessen, 2006). This study responded to the following research question: Do principals exhibit transformational leadership traits?

6 Description of transformational leadership Leithwood and Janzti (2006) describe the following as important elements of transformational leadership: personal commitment to the organizational goals, increased effort and common goals. Didin, Basri, Rusdi & Samad (2014) argue that transformational leadership is a leader who can persuade his employees to act in pursuit of specific objectives that describe the values and motivations, desires, needs, aspirations and expectations of the organisation Flowing from the description by different scholars, the researcher describes it as facilitating the building of shared vision through PDM with a view of achieving employee motivation, commitment and satisfaction.

7 Identified transformational leadership elements Shared vision Commitment Motivation Job satisfaction Participative decision-making Methodology Qualitative semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used. Respondents were selected from Waterberg District Department of Basic Education in Limpopo, Republic of South Africa.

8 Simple random sampling was used to select 100 educators and 80 principals for the purposes of questionnaire administration. 100 questionnaires (educators) were distributed in four circuits namely Warmbad, Nylstroom, Vaalwater and Thabazimbi. 96 % of educators responded to the questionnaires (45 % females) and 55 % (males). 80 questionnaires were distributed to principals in 10 circuits (DoBE, Waterberg District) Warmbad, Nylstroom, Vaalwater, Thabazimbi, Bakenberg, Mapela, Mokopane, Palala North, Potgietersrus and Mahwelereng. 84% of principals responded to the questionnaires (30% females) and 70% males). Purposive sampling was used to select 5 principals, 5 educators and 5 circuit managers for interview purposes.

9 Findings The findings are based on the identified elements of transformational leadership and the following themes emerged:  Stakeholder engagement (Distributive leadership)  Striving for commitment  Keeping the staff motivated  A struggle to keep staff satisfied.

10 The views of respondents gathered through survey data and qualitative semi structured interviews indicated that there is a significant relationship between identified leadership emphases in Limpopo primary schools and the key features of transformational leadership. Recommendation Based on the findings of this study, a 5 Dimensional Transformational School Leadership model (5D-TSL) was recommended. The model is represented in figure 1.

11 Fig: 1. 5 D-TSL Model Organizational productivity Shared vision Participative Decision making Stakeholder Engagement commitmentsatisfactionmotivation

12 Principles of the 5D-TSL model Stakeholder engagement The transformational school leader creates a genuine environment and opportunities for role players to fully participate in the decision-making processes of the school and the shared vision building. Ownership & Accountability The transformational school leader holds role players accountable to the implementation of the shared vision. Results driven Stakeholder engagement and ownership results in teacher motivation, commitment and satisfaction.

13 THANK YOU