Componente evaluación

address learner’s spiritual needs and to ensure that they remain positive and motivated. [Learners are being surrounded by church members whilst kneeling in the center]

Apart from the fact that the school benefited from this project, what stood out for me the most, was how the level of social competence increased and has moved beyond the boundaries of the school premises. Firstly, I observed evidence of improved social skills and social awareness:

It is nice to see that teachers who really care ― ZK (Ex-learner and community member) – 31 October 2012.

I learnt from you as a good leader the importance of networking, the importance and how to build bonds and the importance of teamwork. You always preach that the team is stronger than the individual. You [Johannes] were able to give honest feedback and acknowledge your colleagues who do things well, but also have tough conversations when necessary. ― Ms. T., 16 January 2013.

Credit is due to the hard work of the learners, the teamwork of teachers and the entire community – Mr. LH (Ex-learner and community member) 3 January 2013. I am happy for these guys, something much greater is waiting for them, not forgetting the support the Alumni, parents and all the stakeholders that made this possible. Hope everyone learned from what you [Mr. Johannes] achieved. ― BT (Community Member), 29 December 2012.

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A widely understood concept is: United we stand, divided we fall. This applies to schools, too. Collective team activities are vital in ensuring that a school reaches its goals. Some tasks cannot be accomplished, individually, but can easily be undertaken by a team.

Building a meaningful reflective capacity in teachers; helping teachers becoming more self-aware

Developing self-awareness is an important factor in building better relationships (Druskat & Wolff, 2001). If individuals with high emotional intelligence are capable of managing their own emotions and the emotions of others, it is reasonable to anticipate that they will also be able to manage relationships with others successfully (Jordan, Ashkanasy, Härtel & Hooper, 2002). In this cycle, I tried to make teachers aware of these sometimes hidden personalities and factors and what impact it might have on their relationships within the workplace. Self-consciousness includes consciousness of one’s own mental states, such as perceptions, attitudes, opinions and intentions to act (Vogeley, May, Ritzl, Falkai, Zilles & Fink, 2004). Self-reflection provides the capacities most necessary for the emergence of these self-conscious emotions. Based on a sound understanding of how we relate to others, we can adjust our behaviour so that we can deal with them positively. I mentioned in Chapter One that one of my concerns was that teachers found it difficult to make sense and meaning of themselves and their professional work. I further explained that reasons for this behaviour might be because they were not aware of the existence of contextual forces or did not understand how to negotiate these forces within the setting of the school.

By understanding what upsets us, we can improve our self-control (Baumeister & Exline, 2000). By understanding our weaknesses, we can learn how to manage them and still reach our goals. However, it is not easy to be objective when considering ourselves, and how others actually see us can be quite different from what we think they see. People can develop self-awareness on their own. However, coaching can be a

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better way of helping people view their own actions and reactions objectively, so it is useful for helping people to build self-awareness.

Building self-awareness

The Big Five traits (Goldberg, 1993) are general and broad personality concepts that are expressed in more detailed traits. Factor one: Openness to experience entails the ability to be creative, imaginative, perceptive and thoughtful. Factor two:

Conscientiousness is indicated by two major aspects: achievement and dependability.

Factor three: Extraversion represents the tendency to be outgoing, assertive, active, and excitement seeking. Individuals scoring high on Extraversion are strongly predisposed to the experience of positive emotions (Watson & Clark, 1997). Factor four: Agreeableness consists of tendencies to be kind, gentle, trusting and trustworthy, and warm. Factor five: Neuroticism or Emotional Adjustment, which is the tendency to be anxious, fearful, depressed and moody.

Personality traits/factors High Score Low Score

Openness to experience/Intellect

Tend to be original, creative, curious, complex

Tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow

interests, uncreative. Conscientiousness Tend to be reliable, well-

organised, self-disciplined, careful

Tend to be disorganised, undependable, negligent

Extraversion Tend to be sociable,

friendly, fun loving, talkative

Tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet

Agreeableness Tend to be good natured,

sympathetic, forgiving, courteous

Tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous

Neuroticism/Emotional adjustment

Tend to be nervous, high- strung, insecure, worrying

Tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy

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Before teachers took the test, ethical clearance was obtained to avoid any confidentiality risks associated with participating. Many psychologists consider Openness; Conscientiousness; Extraversion; Agreeableness; and Neuroticism as the five fundamental dimensions of personality. Hence, I decided to implement a questionnaire known as the Big Five or OCEAN model (Goldberg, 1993) in this study (see Appendix F). This is an online psychological test that helps people to understand themselves better and provides them with greater insight into their behaviour and performance at work.

After the test, teachers’ scores were issued and they had to compare it with the above table. They were given the opportunity to share with the rest of the group their own opinions about the accuracy of the results with regard to their personality and what kind of action they would take in order to change.

Appendix G shows examples of the scoring sheets of three participants who took the

test. Below are some of the responses:

The results given by the psychological test is quite interesting. It allows one to pause a little bit and to have a good look into areas of one’s life important for the correct frame of mind. Although I disagree with some of the results given, I am open to new experiences. It allows you to develop and grow and I am always willing to be developed. Yes, I agree I am not always well-organised and will keep on working on this area. Yes, sometimes I reserved myself at times, but I am also a sociable person. It is not that I always want to spend time with myself. I believe I am a forgiving person and are not holding grudges. I also believe that I am relaxed but depend on the situation I find myself in ― Ms L., 23 August 2012. I don’t fully agree with my results from the psychological test. I am somewhat curious and original. I am an organised person and can be relied on, because I always take good care what I am doing. Yes, indeed, I love the company of other people, because I use this opportunity to learn from them. I am sympathetic and forgiving, always try my best to remain calm and not stressing myself over things I have no control on ― Ms P., 23 August 2012

During these discussions, I expected the teachers not to easily accept the outcomes of the personality test. It is clear from the above responses that teachers accepted the positive comments more easily than the negative comments and at times tried to deny, defend and justify irregular personality traits. Initially, the idea was to have more

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deliberations and open discussions around the results, but unfortunately due to time constraints and me leaving the school, I did not get a chance to further interrogate the findings and outcomes of the personality test.

Improving teacher leadership through delegation/distributed leadership

In Chapter One, I identified teacher leadership as a critical factor in the transformation of South African schools and poor teacher leadership as one of the factors that might have influenced teacher morale within my school. I also explicitly narrated how my autocratic leadership style had created a barrier for the development of teacher leadership. In this section, I explain what I did to improve the situation, what I learned, and the significance of my action and learning.

Teacher leadership fundamentally entails the exercise of leadership by teachers, regardless of their position or designation. It does not place an emphasis on leader/follower perception, neither does it regard leadership potential solely as an individual characteristic (Harris, 2003). Instead, it implies that leadership is a collective phenomenon and an exercise of influence. According to Gronn, “the potential for leadership is present in the flow of activities in which organisation members find themselves enmeshed’ (Gronn 2000: 331). Hence, leadership is better understood as “fluid and emergent, rather than a fixed phenomenon” (Gronn, 2000:324). Wasley (1991:23) defines teacher leadership, as “the ability to encourage colleagues to change, to do things they would not ordinarily consider without the influence of the leader”. Similarly, Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001:17) define teacher leaders as: “teachers who are leaders lead within and beyond the classroom, identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders, and influence others towards improved educational practice”. Boles and Troen (1994:11) compare it to traditional notions of leadership, by defining teacher leadership as a form of “collective leadership in which teachers develop expertise by working collaboratively”.

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In promoting teacher leadership, I tried to increase teachers’ access to resources, information and expertise in order to positively affect and influence school change (Hallinger & Richardson, 1988). Under my leadership, leading was not restricted to just formal positions (Greenlee, 2007), but rather active participation and informed decision by all educational colleagues within the school.