Self-managed leadership: An alternative school governance structure

PurposeThe democratic constitution that came into effect in 1994 and ushered in the new South Africa recognises parents' role in education hence the established of an innovative school governance structure of which parents are in the majority. Before then, there existed parents–teachers association in schools. Its members were handpicked and therefore undemocratic and ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the innovation in school governance encourages parents in the rural areas to be productively involved in school matters.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the qualitative research method of focus group interviews to explore the extent to which the school governing body fosters active involvement of parents in school matters. The purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 21 school governors from three rural schools who were deemed information-rich to participate in the study.FindingsThe study found that the post-apartheid school governing body concept, which is an innovation in education management and leadership, encourages and promotes productive parents' involvement in education of their children.Originality/valueThe findings have lessons and implications for school management and leadership in the developing countries because as an Africa adage says, “it takes a whole village to bring up a child”.

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School Governance Structure and Its Impact on Student Performance: A Comparative Study between Four Provinces of China and the PISA2015 High-Scored Countries/Economies

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3739949 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Decheng Zhao ◽

Luhuan Wang

Keyword(s):

Comparative Study ◽

Student Performance ◽

Governance Structure ◽

School Governance

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School Governance Structure and Its Impact on Student Performance: A Comparative Study between Four Provinces of China and the PISA2015 High-Scored Countries/Economies

Best Evidence of Chinese Education ◽

10.15354/bece.20.ar072 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 825-843

Author(s):

Decheng Zhao ◽

Luhuan Wang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Student Performance ◽

Curriculum Design ◽

Governance Structure ◽

School Management ◽

School Governance ◽

Government School ◽

Modern School ◽

Principal Accountability ◽

The Impact

Improving the school governance structure and establishing a modern school system are the current research focuses in elementary and middle school management. Through a comparative analysis of the school governance structure of four provinces and cities in China (Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Guangdong, BSJG) and PISA2015 high-scored countries/economies, we found that the school autonomy in seven major aspects including “teacher selection, teacher dismissal, evaluation policy, enrollment policy, textbook selection, curriculum content, and curriculum design” in BSJG schools was significantly lower than that of high-scored countries/economies. The average decision-making of BSJG principals and teachers in various affairs was also substantially lower than the high-scored countries/economies. The multilevel analysis found that the impact of school governance structure on student performance presented different patterns between BSJG and high-scored countries/economies. Therefore, China needs to (i) expand the autonomy of school management further and establish a new government-school relationship; (ii) give priority to curriculum management and ensure its autonomy in schools; (iii) improve the principal accountability system, and strengthen the principal’s power and responsibility in school management; (iv) strengthen democratic management, thereby promoting teachers’ participation in the decision-making of school affairs.

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