Addressing the underside of student unrest in South African universities using collegial leadership as approach

Transformation in Higher Education

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Addressing the underside of student unrest in South African universities using collegial leadership as approach
 
Creator Omodan, Bunmi I.
 
Subject — power differentials; student unrest; decision-making process; university management; collegial leadership.
Description Universities in South Africa are confronted with student unrest, which has hindered the effective university education process. They have faced various shortages of academic activities and teaching and learning because of protests and subsequent management responses that culminated in the closures of universities at most times. Student unrest has made it difficult to actualise the set predetermined goals and objectives of the university. These challenges have severally been linked to problems with tuition fees, financial support for students, adequate and conducive hostel accommodation, student socio-economic background and university management styles. Among the management styles, according to the literature and observation, is the decision-making process where the issues concerning students are decided upon. This study explores the potential of the collegial leadership approach to enhance the university decision-making process towards alleviating student unrest in universities. This study is located within a transformative paradigm to transform social unrest in the university system. Conceptual analysis was employed to make sense of the adopted approach as a veritable tool for managing the power differential between the students and the university management. The study found that collaboration and teamwork, consensus building and organisational relationships are the dimensions of managing student unrest in universities. The recommendation is that collaborative management style, teamwork, consensus building and organisational relationships are encouraged in the university management process.Contribution: This article seeks to contribute to the higher education management system by providing a collegial leadership model. As an integral part of the university system, this model addresses student unrest and improves transformative prospects for the institution. By exploring new ways of managing internal conflict resolution, change is fostered, and improved conditions are cultivated. In this way, it directly responds to the journal’s focus on the transformation of higher education, making it an essential read for scholars and practitioners specialising in this field.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor Walter Sisulu university
Date 2023-07-14
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/the.v8i0.273
 
Source Transformation in Higher Education; Vol 8 (2023); 7 pages 2519-5638 2415-0991
 
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://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/273/563 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/273/564 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/273/565 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/273/566
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Bunmi Isaiah Omodan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT