The motivational roles of heads of department in learners’ performance and quality of schooling in South Africa

South African Journal of Childhood Education

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The motivational roles of heads of department in learners’ performance and quality of schooling in South Africa
 
Creator Bipath, Keshni Nkabinde, Mfulathelwa M.B.
 
Subject Foundation Phase Heads of Departments; Motivational role; quality schooling Educator; Foundation phase; HoD; motivation; Parent; South Africa Early Childhood Education
Description Background: The Global Competitiveness report shows that the quality of primary education in South Africa ranks 132 out of 144 countries. Statistics released by the Department of Basic Education in South Africa reveal that the average mark for Grade 3 learners in the Annual National Assessment (ANA) was 35% for literacy and 28% for numeracy.Aim: We seek in this article to share the voices of the Foundation Phase heads of departments (HoDs) regarding their motivational roles and responsibilities in learner performance. We also aim to understand their role in tandem with other contributors, as well as all stakeholders in the Department of Basic Education who are responsible for teacher development and curriculum delivery.Setting: Ehlanzeni, Bohlabela, Gert Sibande and Nkangala in Mpumalanga.Methods: A quantitative research approach was used, where questionnaires were distributed to 274 Foundation Phase HoDs in all four districts in Mpumalanga.Results: The findings indicate that HoDs have a moderate perception of their responsibility in motivating learners; moreover, they do not recognise the role of parents as motivators of learners. They seem too busy teaching in their classrooms and lack the time and skill of supervising their subordinates and involving parents in the education tripod. The legislative framework (PAM document), it can be argued, does not allow sufficient time for HoDs to efficiently perform their tasks.Conclusion: Retraining of HoDs to work collaboratively with teachers and parents will enhance the quality of schooling offered in South Africa.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Bongi Nkabinde, Prof Grobler
Date 2018-11-13
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Quantitative
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajce.v8i1.460
 
Source South African Journal of Childhood Education; Vol 8, No 1 (2018); 8 pages 2223-7682 2223-7674
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/460/821 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/460/820 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/460/822 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/460/796
 
Coverage Mpumalanga, South Africa Post Apartheid HoDs, Foundation Phase, Rural province
Rights Copyright (c) 2018 Keshni Bipath, Melanie Moen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT