Pre test del cuestionario de clima escolar y de aula, en el colegio Moralba

As far as South Africa is concerned, with the new dispensation that was established in 1994, new legislation was promulgated which stipulates that government is committed to the development of a democratic system that provides for the participation of all stakeholders with a vested interest in education (Swanepoel, 2009). However, Singh and Manser (2008) point out that the school principal plays a pivotal role in a school-based management dispensation and the impact he/she has on the tone and ethos of a school is even more crucial than before in the process of building a culture conducive to change. It is also true that with school-based management, the responsibilities and workload of school principals are assuming even larger proportions than previously (Botha, 2004). These aspects include managing change whilst raising the achievement of learners and being part of a team of teachers who channel all their energies towards teaching learners to realise their full potential (Ngcobo & Tikly, 2010, Marishane & Botha, 2011). The burden for implementation of these measures has fallen squarely

on the principals of schools. As one principal in school declared “I feel like I am responsible for the whole world” (Fink & Brayman, 2004, p. 432). As such school principals are crucial figures

in the change processes taking place in South African schools and they have significant roles to play when new policies are introduced and implemented, which is a focus of this particular research study.

6.4 On-going support for principals

As mentioned earlier, support for principals in South Africa is often limited to workshops and short courses (only in recent years was a qualification developed (ACE: School Leadership) to equip practising and aspiring principals to improve their practise) (Bush et al., 2009). According to Marishane and Botha (2011) principals have been offered few incentives and have encountered many hazards for venturing into the school leadership domain. They identified that a weak knowledge base in curriculum and instruction, fragmented district expectations, territorial treaties negotiated with teachers, and the diverse roles played by the principal keep many administrators from carving this role effectively. They further assert that school districts can strengthen principal‟s hands in becoming strong instructional leaders by

 addressing the barriers noted above through policies and teacher development training

 defining the instructional leadership role so that administrators clearly understand what is expected of them

 using an assessment system that provides data on a principal instructional leadership that are both reliable and valid for accountability and useful professional

The importance of on-going support is evident in Darling-Hammond et al.‟s. (2010) study, conducted at Bank Street College, New York in the US, where principals participate in a year long programme that includes an intensive summer institute, bimonthly half day seminars, and a principal mentor and coach who guides first year-principals through their new operational responsibilities while grounding them in school improvement. Their design reflects an assumption that given the difficulty of maintaining an instructional focus in the complex rush of practise, principals benefit from meeting regularly with colleagues to reinforce their vision and develop and carry out a strong school improvement plan.

Similarly, in an international study conducted by the Cross city Campaign for Urban School Reform, principals received considerable targeted support including working with relationships district officials. All principals in the districts engaged in walk-throughs with district officials, monthly principal conference where instruction was the only topic, mentorship, support groups and visits to other schools to observe exemplary practice (Fullan, 2007).

Interventions such as these suggest the critical importance of on-going support to practising principals to enable them to improve their practice, cultivate continuous learning and reflection, and enable them to help their leaders to learn and try out new ideas, reflect on their findings, problem solve and accept peer support from colleagues (Darling-Hammond, et al., 2010).

District support and learning communities

South African and international literature research suggests that strong district support positively impacts on reform implementation and the lack thereof, especially when the actual policy directives lack detail on how the ideals might be realized in practice, negatively impacts

implementation (Rogan, 2007; Fullan, 2001). This suggestion is evident in schools that sustained reforms through district and state allies which protected their reform efforts during periods of transition or crisis and secured resources (money, time, staff and space) essential to reforms. Those schools that failed to sustain reforms were sometimes located in districts that were infamous for experimenting with new kinds of programmes and were not provided with any on- going support (Fullan, 2001). Huberman and Miles (1984, p. 273) emphasizing the central role that support plays put it thus, “… large scale change bearing innovations lived or died by the amount and quality of assistance that their users received once the change was underway.”

Fullan (2001) further asserts that professional learning communities or collaborative work cultures at the school and ideally at the district level are critical for the implementation of attempted reforms and that school learning that produces desirable outcomes, is a function of several in-school variables, i.e. school leadership, vision, culture, structure, strategy and policy resources, interacting with out of-school variables such as district, community, and government. Success is generated by a combination of external stimulus, external support, and internal school mobilization involving teachers, principals, students and community members.

Changing conceptions of curriculum

With regard to curriculum, Marishane and Botha (2011) maintain that principals need to know about the changing conceptions of curriculum, educational philosophies and beliefs, knowledge and specialization and fragmentation, curricular sources and conflict, and curriculum evaluation and improvement. With regard to instruction, principals need to know about different models of teaching, the theoretical reasons for adopting a particular model, the pedagogy of the internet and the theories underlying the technology-based learning environment. In terms of assessment, principals need to know about the principles of learner assessment and assessment

procedures, with emphasis on alternative assessment methods that aim to improve rather than prove student learning.

The instructional leader is thus responsible for the implementation of the core curriculum in the school, therefore there is much the principal must know and do in order to become an effective instructional leader. Leading the instructional programme of a school means a commitment to living and breathing a vision of success in teaching and learning which includes focusing on learning objectives, modelling behaviour of learning and designing programmes and activities on instruction (Marishane & Botha, 2011).