Understanding the management strategies of principals in managing unionised and non-unionised teachers in South African secondary schools in Gauteng Province

Abstract

Management of teachers is one of the important tasks of principals at school, aside from their primary goal of ensuring that teaching and learning happens effectively at school, is their potential to manage two types of teachers present at school, unionised and non-unionised. It is well-established that principals have a mammoth task of identifying and implementing the correct strategies to manage these teachers. A review of the management styles in use today shows that the new management strategies are required to solve the problems encountered by principals in managing these teachers. Several methods of implementing these new strategies are described. These methods include creating trust between teachers and principals through fruitful communication and participation in decision-making. The application of the theory of emotional intelligence is described in detail. The theory of emotional intelligence denotes that the accomplishment in the management of human resources depends largely on the emotions, behaviours, and attitudes of managers. While past studies have detailed the effectiveness of the management styles used by principals to manage teachers, these studies have been confined to the management of teachers collectively. The present study distinguishes between teachers who are unionised and non-unionised and the individual, focus group interview and observation are the primary sources of data used in the study. The findings are intended to solve challenges associated with the implementation of the management strategies of principals in managing unionised and no-unionised teachers to attain improved quality teaching and learning in the context of South African secondary schools. The results show that developing trust between principals and teachers requires efforts from both parties. They also show that the main complaint about the management of teachers is unequal treatment of teachers and a lack of trust between teachers and principals in schools. The analysis of individual interviews, focus-group interviews and observations revealed that the establishment of strategies that address both types of teachers found at schools would be a significant step to take towards a positive management of teachers. It is proposed that the Department of Basic Education creates an environment where both teachers and managers’ personal and professional development is upskilled to expand their capabilities to deal with relational problems and challenges.