The leadership role of the school governing bodies in selected South African secondary schools

Abstract

School Governing Bodies (SGBs) function across South Africa as governance structures aimed at improving effectiveness of the schools. The appointment of SGB's and their establishment to improve school governance is not only unique to South Africa but is a trend in all democratically elected countries such as the United States, Britain, Australia and Brazil. The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership role of the School Governing Bodies in selected South African secondary schools. The study was underpinned by four leadership theories namely, the contingency theory, participative theory, transformational theory and the instructional leadership theory. An empirical investigation was informed by the literature review. The qualitative study was guided by an interpretive paradigm. Purposive sampling was used to select four secondary schools in Nkomazi West Circuit, Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga. A total number of four SGB's from each school and the school principals participated in this study. Observations of SGB meetings, individual interviews with the principals of the participating schools and focus group interviews with SGB members were used to collect data, which were analysed using a qualitative approach. The findings revealed that SGB's in the four participating schools did not experience major challenges in executing their roles because they had a clear understanding of their responsibilities. However, lack of adequate training with regard to financial management was a challenge. Further findings indicated that all SGB members had received training on various aspects of school management before they commenced with their duties. Most training workshops were conducted in English and although this was not an obstacle to study participants, it was a challenge SGBs. It is therefore recommended that adequate financial management workshops be conducted and that further workshops be organised by principals at school level to address SGB members’ specific needs.