Managing to Learn

Internationally and locally, there is growing emphasis on the importance of effective school management and leadership in contributing to good student achievement outcomes. Instructional leadership has become a key concept in the research literature, reflecting an attempt to better understand the relationship between school leadership, curriculum and instructional matters, and student achievement. Managing to learn is the first study of its kind in South Africa, considering these issues in a sample of 200 schools in two provinces. The research reported in this monograph provides an extensive review of the literature around the management of curriculum and instruction, a framework and methodology for the research, and the empirical findings from the study. Through a series of regression analyses, the study presents those management factors identified across a wide range of schools as most crucial to improved performance of students. It brings greater clarity to the somewhat undifferentiated view of school management currently, and a sharper focus on its importance in relation to how students learn.

HSRC Press

Product Information

Format:

280mm x 210mm (Soft Cover)

Pages:

136

ISBN-13:

978-07969-2241-0

Publish Year:

2008

Rights:

World Rights

1 INTRODUCTION

Research questions
The organisation of the report

2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The context of studying school leadership in South Africa
South African studies on leadership
Definition of terms leadership and management
Conceptualising leadership different approaches
School effectiveness studies
Studies in instructional leadership
Conclusion towards a research design

3 A METHODOLOGICAL NOTE: DESIGNING THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY

A typology of effective leadership (the internal language of description)
Developing the questionnaires (the external language of description).

4 METHODOLOGY

5 DATA ANALYSIS

Student achievement gains over time
Analytic procedures
The sample
Limitations

6 FINDINGS

The principals: descriptive data
Variables associated with SAGOT

7 CONCLUSION

APPENDICES
Appendix A: Interview protocol
Appendix B: Principal questionnaire
Appendix C: Research Information Sheet
Appendix D: Additional tables

REFERENCES

Dr Ursula Hoadley holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, where she is currently engaged in postdoctoral research. At the time of writing this study, she was a specialist researcher in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development research programme at the Human Sciences Research Council. Her areas of research interest include the sociology of pedagogy, schooling and socialisation, teacher’s work and curriculum.

Dr Catherine L Ward is a senior research specialist in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development research programme at the Human Sciences Research Council. She holds a PhD in clinical community psychology from the University of South Carolina in the USA. Her areas of research interest include violence and its consequences for development and well-being, including risk behaviours such as substance misuse. She has published in the areas of adolescents’ exposure to violence, delinquency, and substance misuse.