Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies) by Author "Burger, Johann Richards Vivian"

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    Skoolhoofde se leierskapspraktyke met betrekking tot die skepping van ruimte by hul skole
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Burger, Johann Richards Vivian; Fataar, Aslam; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. Education Policy Studies
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This study provides an analysis of how two principals, through their leadership and spatial practices, create productive learning environments. It uses Lefebvre’s (1991) spatial triade, namely “physical space”, “mental space” and “social space” to investigate how the principals integrate these three dimensions of space in order to create healthy learning environments. The focus of this research is how the two selected principals, who are acknowledged as successful spatial producers, use their transformational leadership skills to acquire the commitment and cooperation of their school management teams and school governing bodies, in order to obtain support for their spatial and other projects. They put structures and systems in place that promote good working relationships between the managerial and governing components of their schools, preventing them from working independently (in silos) at their schools. The geographical contexts of the two principals differ from one another. One school is situated and operates in a rural area, while the other is in an urban area. The conceptual question therefore focuses on how the principals produce school space in two different geographical areas, with the aim of influencing users' thinking, their minds, inspiration, motivation, behaviour and creativity. The study looks at the extent to which the geographical and distinctive contexts influence the outcomes of the production of learning environments. This study further aimed to determine the "natural" leadership style of the principals, by measuring it against Leithwood and Jantzi’s (2006) Nine-dimensional Transformational Leadership Model, and by using Lefebvre’s (1991) conceptual and analytical lenses, observing how they go about producing inviting and inspiring learning environments. The data were collected by using semistructured one-on-one interviews, allowing the principals to contextualise how they produced space at their schools, how they experienced it, and how their biographies influenced it. A focus group meeting and observations were used to verify data obtained in this way. Based on Lefebvre's spatial triad, the analysis of the data revealed that the principals produced space instinctively or intuitively, creating what they believed would make a difference in the lives of their learners and educators, resulting in their schools benefiting from it. The main research finding is that each of the two principals follows a transformational leadership style, and instinctively or intuitively produces space that encourages professional interaction between their educators, as well as gaining strong collegial support for their spatial changes and projects. The other important findings, however, about the embodied or social spaces in the schools, are that the two principals have transformed the physical spaces at their schools into new mental spaces, influencing the perceptions, thinking, mind, behaviour and motivation of the users of that space.