Successful school leadership : narratives of women secondary principals in rural schools

Abstract

This study explores the narrated experiences of two women principals in their roles as leaders and managers of rural secondary schools in South Africa. Several studies have shown how women principals experience both leadership and management challenges in their roles. This study was conducted in rural public schools in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Despite such challenges, this study finds it important to mention that there are some women principals who successfully lead and manage their schools. Although a number of studies have examined women principals’ experiences at primary schools, not much has been done on women principals leading secondary schools. Moreover, too little is known about how they develop as school principals and what capabilities they need in order to perform their roles. This study seeks to do this by understanding how women principals develop capabilities in a changing social context in order to function as successful leaders, of secondary schools. The study used qualitative narrative inquiry research as a basis for the study. The aim of this study was to focus on women secondary school principals who are and continue to lead their schools successfully in order to bring a positive narrative of women secondary schools principals’ successful school leadership. The Capability Approach (CA) was employed as analytical framework based on Sen, Nussbaum and some educational scholars who expanded Sen’ Capability Approach. To generate data, the study conducted narrative interviews with two women secondary school principals from South African public schools, as well as journaling and letter writing. The study focused on elicit accounts of two women secondary school principals’ experiences from childhood to adulthood in order to understand how they developed their capabilities and how they came to take up leadership and management roles successfully. Findings link family relationships and educational experiences to the development of capabilities that prepared and influence them for leadership and management position. Based on key findings, this study concludes that the attributes and behaviours of successful women principals align with the development of foundational leadership and management capabilities which is termed, the Successful School Leadership Capabilities Theory.