The role of the school management team on the academic performance of Mathematics, Science, and Technology schools in the Whiteriver circuit

Abstract

South Africa is one of the countries with a poor performance in Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) subjects. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of the School Management Team (SMT) on the academic performance of MST schools in the Whiteriver Circuit of Mpumalanga Province. This study is located within instructional and distributive leadership. The instructional leadership assumes that SMT members must be instructional leaders, while the distributive leadership assumes that the SMT members and teachers need to distribute or share leadership in an environment of trust. A qualitative approach was utilised in this study since it attempts to make sense of the SMT members and teachers experiences, views, beliefs, mentality, and behaviour in particular school settings. This qualitative study focused on the research paradigm of interpretivism. The interpretivism paradigm focuses more on what the teachers and SMT members in the study perceive as reality within their context. Using this approach involved investigating MST teachers and members of the SMT within their contexts and trying to understand their experiences and interpretation of management skills that result in learner academic performance. Five MST schools were purposively sampled, with five participants in each school; therefore, the study had twenty-five participants. A literature review was conducted on the role of the SMT on the academic performance of MST schools in South Africa and internationally. This study was approached from the human relations theory of management. The human relations theory was developed in the early 1920s by Professor Elton Mayo, an Australian psychologist and organisational theorist. The human relations theory of management assumes that teachers desire to be part of a supportive SMT that enables progress and development; hence, if teachers and other staff members receive special attention from the SMT and are encouraged to participate in school activities, they view their work as significant. As a result, they are driven to be more productive, resulting in good academic performance. Semi-structured interviews were used as the primary instrument to collect data. Data collected through semi-structured interviews was then triangulated with observation and document analysis in order to ensure validity and reliability of the data. This study revealed that the SMT plays a significant role in the academic performance of learners of MST schools. The findings also showed that MST schools use different strategies to improve the academic performance of learners. Moreover, MST schools face numerous challenges, and many factors are affecting the academic performance of learners in MST schools. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends the following: the SMT should ensure that daily directions are set in order to ensure effective school management. This includes the day-to-day operations of schools; hence, this can only be done if the SMT has operational plans that detail the activities and the time the activity should be done. Secondly, teachers should ensure effective teaching and learning is taking place in their classes. This study makes an important contribution to the academic improvement of MST schools.