The renewal of invitational education through principal succession in a South African primary school

Abstract

Numerous studies on leadership succession indicate that new principals have to address various challenges when they are appointed at a new school. This presentation used a qualitative research design and reports on the way in which a school under the leadership of the new principal maintained and renewed the practice of invitational education in the school. As such the lens used for the study focussed on the practice of invitational education. Data were collected through a number of interviews with the principal, including photo-elicitation interviews, and focus group interviews with staff who were present during the principalship of the predecessor. These interviews were conducted in the first and third year after the new principal took office at the school It was evident from the findings that principal succession can have significant implications for a school’s culture, especially after a predecessor’s length of service in the school, an established school culture and the leadership style of the new principal. It was in particular the new principal’s leadership style that he realised he needed to change. He experienced some challenges to treat people with more care and less autocratic. In conclusion, under the new principal’s leadership the school showed a clear focus on caring for people; it changed the physical environment; and it adapted and changed policies and programmes to allow for the development of all people in the school. The processes revealed in the study orchestrated these four qualities in a collaborative and cooperative way for the sake of sustaining and enhancing an inviting culture in the school.