Professional Development of School Leaders In Supporting Effective Teaching And Learning In The Shiselweni Region, Eswatini

Mashaya Jethro M.; Nsibande Njabuliso H.; Makondo David

doi:10.18535/ijsrm/v10i5.el09

Abstract

The study investigated how professional development of school leaders may support effective teaching and learning in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini. This was achieved through the following research objectives; to identify skills that school leaders have gained through professional development in their efforts to support teaching and learning activities; to determine how teachers perceived school leaders support as a result of their professional development for quality teaching and learning; to examine the challenges faced by school leaders as they transfer the skills gained through professional development and; to ascertain strategies for effective professional development which in turn supports teaching and learning. Using the mixed method approach, data was collected through interviews and questionnaires. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data and SPSS version 20 package was used to calculate frequencies and percentages which were used to analayse quantitative data. The findings of the study revealed the following; (1) School leaders acquire relevant managerial skills through professional development like instructional leadership, financial, personnel and organizational management. (2) There is a general agreement that school leaders empower teachers through in house and teacher training workshops. (3) School leaders are challenged in many ways such as financial constraints, limited resources and teachers’ resistance to change. (4) If properly trained and using a more structured approach, schools would benefit from instructional leadership, peer supervision of school leaders, performance appraisals and wellness programmes. The study recommended that (1) MoET should develop a policy on professional development of school leaders and teachers for more accountability on what has been gained. (2) There is need for a content-focused curriculum linked to effective teaching and learning. (3)Schools must develop their own capacity to learn through couching, mentoring, adopt to change and SLOs approach. (4) Shared leadership and collaboration at different levels of the school system should be encouraged as strategies for enhancing effective teaching and learning. Finally, it is recommended that INSET should conduct a needs assessment to ensure that the training is not ad-hoc and that the personnel should further their studies in institutions of higher learning.

Keywords

Professional developmentschool leaderseffective teaching and learning

References

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Vilakati, N. (2011). Leadership effectiveness in meeting the induction needs of primary school beginner teachers in Swaziland. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Swaziland, Kingdom of Eswatini.Google Scholar ↗
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World Bank. (2010). The education system in Swaziland. Training and skills development for shared growth and competiveness.No.188 Washington, D. C: World Bank.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-1] Antonion, P. (2013). ‘Developing of research on school leadership through evidence-based and theory approaches: A review of school leadership effects appraisal and utilization. Philadelphia: Lippincott approaches. London: Thousand Oaks.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-2] Botha, E.M. (2012). Turning the tide creating professional learning communities (PLG) to improve teaching practice in South Africa public schools. African Education Review 9 (3): 395-411.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-3] Bush, T. & Clover, D. (2009). School Managing Teaching and Learning: Concept Paper, Johannesburg MGSLG.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-4] Bush, T. (2013). Educational Leadership and Management: Theory policy and practice. South Africa Journal of Education 27(3): 391-405.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-5] Creswell, J.W., & Clark, V.L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research, (2nd ed.). Sage Publications. Los Angeles. U.S.A.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-6] Creswell, J.W., & Creswell, J.D. (2018). Research design in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. (5th ed.). Sage Publications. Los Angeles. U.S.A.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-7] Crosky, A. (2011). Qualitative research methodology. Citeseer Swansea: University of Wales.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-8] Drage, K. (2010). Professional development: Implications for Illino is CAREER and Technical Education teaching. Journal of career education 25 (2).Google Scholar ↗

[refR-9] Evans, L. (2008). Professionalism and the Development of Education Professionals. British Journal of educational studies 56 (1): 20-38.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-10] Evans, L. (2011). The ‘shape’ of a teacher professional standards performance management, professional development and the changes proposed in the 2010 White paper. British Educational research journal37 (5): 851-870.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-11] Geyer, N. (2013). ‘A New approach to professional practice’.Juta Academic publishers, Cape Town, South Africa.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-12] Gule, J.M, & Makina, J.C (1993). Head teacher management training program: formative evaluation: University of Swaziland.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-13] Hao & Rashad, (2015). How effective leaders can facilitate change in Organization through improvement and innovation: Global Journal of Management and Business Research Administration and Management, Volume 15 Issue 9 Version 1.0 .Google Scholar ↗

[refR-14] Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source for learning and development (vol.1) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-15] Kolb, D.A. (2015). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-16] Leedy, P. (2009). Practical research, planning and design. McMillan Publishers. New York. U.S.A.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-17] Lieblich, A. (2013). Narrative Research: reading, analyses and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. U.S.A.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-18] Lonesco, V. (2014). Leadership, culture and organizational change manager, (20), p65. Longman.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-19] Lunata, K. (2012). Designing continuous professional development programmes for teachers. A literature review, Africa Education Review 9 (2) 350-379.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-20] Miller, M. (2019). Professional Development and Differentiated Instruction in an Electuary School Pullout program: A Gifted Education Case Study. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 42(4), 362-395.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-21] Mizell, H. (2010). Why professional development matters? Learning Forward 504 S. Locust St. Oxford, OH 45056. Printed in the United States of America. Retrieved from http:///www.leanring forward.org/docs/pdf/why p.d matters web.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-22] Moloi, K. & Bush, T. (2006). Overview of Education Management in South Africa: management in Education, 20 (5), 15-22Google Scholar ↗

[refR-23] Morgan, D.L (2014). Pragmatism as a paradigm for social Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 20 (8), 1045-1053.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-24] Moroosi, P. (2012). Mentoring for school leadership in South Africa Professional Development Education, 38 (3), 487-503.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-25] Msila, V. (2012). School Management and the struggle for effective schools. Africa Education Review, 8 (3), 434-449.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-26] Nzeli, A. (2013). Challenges faced by female head teachers in the management of secondary Schools: A case of Kangundo district in Machakos, Kenya. Unpublished master’s thesis. Kenyatta University, Kenya.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-27] Pont, B., Nusche, D., & Moorman, H. (2018). Professional development for principals and their outcomes: Qualitative research. SAGE Publications, Los Angeles, U.S.A.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-28] Scotland, G. (2011). Theory and practice of leadership. Sage Publications, London. United Kingdom.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-29] Sebastian, J., Huang, H., & Allensworth, E. (2016). The role of teacher leadership in how principals influence classroom instruction and student leaning. American Journal of Education, 123 (910), 69-108.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-30] Simelane, L. (2016). Secondary school leadership practices in the implementation of the Swaziland Education Sector Policy on equity and inclusion. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Eswatini, Kingdom of Eswatini.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-31] The Ministry of Education and Training. (2018). Education and Training Sector Policy. Mbabane. Kingdom of Eswatini.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-32] Vilakati, N. (2011). Leadership effectiveness in meeting the induction needs of primary school beginner teachers in Swaziland. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Swaziland, Kingdom of Eswatini.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-33] Wong, P.M. (2004). The professional development of school principals: Insights from evaluating a programme in Hong Kong. School Leadership and Management 24 (2): 140–162.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-34] World Bank. (2010). The education system in Swaziland. Training and skills development for shared growth and competiveness.No.188 Washington, D. C: World Bank.Google Scholar ↗